David Tennant leaves

t'is a sad day in the land of doctor who

That sucks... 10th is excellent!

I'd like to say Tennant's own lines back to him: "..You know what, Doctor? You were  my Doctor..."

The Master got around that, so I think they can do that for The Doctor too.

I'm an old school Doctor Who fan (grew up watching Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker playing the Doctor).  For me, Tennant just hasn't been a Doctor that I've warmed too.  I've always thought the Doctor should be way more removed from the whole human emotion thing, and Tennant has made him more human to some extent, which I just haven't liked.  Maybe that was just more down to the storylines, I don't know.  Some of the episodes the last couple of series have been great.  John Simm playing The Master was a fabulous choice, he was superb in the role.

Which brings me on to my question...  Who do we think should take over as the next Doctor?  I'd love to see John Simm doing it (and I think the whole prospect of The Master and The Doctor being kind of the same person could be really interesting), but I don't even think his name is in the frame.

I'd like to see Sean Pertwee do it, I think he could pull it off.  Some of the other people who seem to be in the running I don't much agree with.  Still, it's not down to me to pick the next one... 

That would be a mistake of colossal proportions. Once Tennant leaves after the 4 specials air next year, the current show runner Russel T. Davies is quitting as well (but that was known for some time) and Steven Moffat takes over. If you ask, "Who the hell is Steven Moffat?", I'll just list his episodes: The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances (1x09 and 10), The Girl in the Fireplace (2x04), Blink (3x10), and Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead (4x08 and 09). They are all, by far, considered the best Doctor Who 2005 episodes. (Moffat incidentally wrote all four seasons of the brilliant sitcom Coupling and a sci-fi thriller series Jekyll, both extremely good.) So in other words, one of the best writers in UK television is taking over Doctor Who starting with season 5 and you do not want to miss that. I have great hopes that Moffat's Doctor Who is going to surpass Davies' in all aspects.

Now Moffat not only gets a "cleaned up" Who-verse, but also gets to choose his own Doctor, all to his liking. While I still mourn the departure of Tennant - I believe he was extremely good as a human, emotional Doctor - I cannot but feel excited for what Moffat's vision will be. While I am not foolish enough to expect all of the new episodes to be of the quality of Moffat's previous episodes - he did after all have about a year to write each of them and the other writers of Doctor Who, those who happily created the farting aliens and the felatio-with-a-cobblestone scripts, are not gone - I do believe the show is going to improve tremendously and maybe, even maybe, be really about time travel (Moffat's were the only episodes that actually worked with the concept).

Having said that, there is something to be also said about how Moffat created those amazing episodes within an established universe of a high quality (Russel T. Davies is to be thanked for that), a great actor who inhabited the role perfectly (both Eccleston and Tennant) and with no doubt rigorous constraints on how the story should fit in the greater arc of the season. Moffat then managed to create the diamonds of perfection we all came to enjoy and expect of him. Now, with all the shackles removed, so to speak, we will see the 100% of Moffat's vision, which might not be to our liking. Overindulgence has killed many a movie (King Kong, anyone?) I would hate for it to happen to Doctor Who. So while I do not believe that Moffat's Doctor Who will be a letdown, I am kind of sad that other than losing a great actor playing a wonderful version of the Doctor, we are losing yet another constraint on Moffat, something that would force him to make the show great and part of a larger legacy ... now we will be getting basically a new show.

Uhm, yeah, I wouldn't count on it. The reason we won't be getting a season 5 next year, but have to make do with 4 specials is because David Tennant wanted more time off to do theater. (He can actually be seen as Hamlet in Royal Shakespear Company's play of the same name.) And now he quit - seems kind-of a dick-move, doesn't it? So he'll get new roles, but mostly in theater, because that's what he loves. I wouldn't hold my breath for him appearing anywhere on screen for the foreseeable future. Having seen him as Hamlet, I have to admit that being away from Doctor Who will do him good, since, unfortunately, his Hamlet was very much like Doctor Who and he needs to lose some of Who's mannerisms before he can become a great actor ...

"We're on the side of the demons, Chief. We're evil men in the gardens of paradise, sent by the forces of death to spread devastation and destruction wherever we go."
-- Colonel Tigh