The Next Doctor / The New Doctor
 

The Next Doctor being the title of the 2008 Christmas Special. Did anyone watch?

I liked it well enough, but given that prior to Christmas, there Tennant said he wasn't going anywhere and then came the rumours that there would be a new Doctor after the 2009 specials, I expected that this "Next Doctor" was not a new incarnation of the Doctor at all. Still, it was a fun story with pretty good FX. But 'meh' on the Cybermen.

Now, the new Doctor, Matt Smith -- I've not seen anything he's been in. Anyone got any opinions?

Re: The Next Doctor / The New Doctor
 

I'm pretty much indifferent at this point. He looks good, but I'll have to wait and see what he does with the role. I should be caught up well before he takes over the role. I'm currently at the end of season 2.

Re: The Next Doctor / The New Doctor
 

I can't really judge the new doctor until I've seen him, but I thought they did a good job with the first transition so I'm inclined to trust them with this one.

Btw, the family's been watching season one (got the DVD for christmas), and enjoying it thoroughly. It's clear they started with a vision for a whole arc, because I'm picking up things in the first few episodes that didn't come into play for whole other seasons (eg the Doctor telling Micky his name is really Ricky).

Re: The Next Doctor / The New Doctor
 

Yeah, I never thought Bad Wolf was satisfactorily resolved, but it gets addressed in S4 as well, which was nice.

I wonder how much was set up in advance, and how much was just a good opportunity.

Every time I rewatch S1, I realize how much I liked Eccleston as The Doctor, and when he regenerated, how much I wasn't sure if the show would suck or not. Tennant was immediately likable, and his version of The Doctor is pretty different than Eccleston's. I'm guessing that Smith's will be as well. In fact, I expect the entire show to shift gears with Moffatt taking the reigns in 2010.

Re: The Next Doctor / The New Doctor
 

I'm watching the show through Netflix, and that just made Christopher Eccleston's turn as the Doctor seem that much shorter.