Trust me.

Well, I was on vacation for the past few days and it was goooood. A hot pink cowgirl hat bearing the legend “Pirate Princess” may or may not have been purchased, I ain’t sayin’ one way or another. But a grand time was had by all.

And quickly here because I have so much other stuff to catch up on…

I would just like to assuage the fears of anyone who may think that there can be no better doctor than Christopher Eccleston…ok, maybe there can’t. I don’t know. But we all have our favorite doctor. I bucked the trend years ago and declared Peter Davison my favorite. In some ways he was actually the most boring doctor ever, but he also played Tristan on All Creatures Great and Small and that was enough to win me over. I know Jules was always a fan of Tom Baker and I think he is the doctor that most Americans think of when you mention "Dr. Who", but there were so many others. And that’s the thing about the doctor; you can’t really get too attached. He’s gonna change eventually, that’s just the way it works. Well, at least he will change 12 times, and then the writers need to find a way to explain it all away.

Anyway the point of this is just to say (mostly to you, Brenda), the new Doctor, he is good. I loved the casting of Christopher Eccleston probably as much as anyone. I have drunkenly recounted the night I first heard that he had been signed (while at Comic-Con) and how I got drunk (OK, so talk about Dr. Who a lot when I get drunk, so what?) and discussed the merits of Eccleston as the good Doctor with anyone who would listen, many times. And I was surprised that I was not sad when it was announced that he would not be returning to the role that he had…"given new life" doesn’t begin to do justice but I can’t think of any other way to put it at the moment. I realized that I was actually OK with the idea of new Doctor because Eccleston had blown it out of the water and I would rather him go out on top then play the role for ten years and let it just become sad. I looked up David Tennant and realized that I had actually seen him in a number of things that I had really enjoyed, and that he was a good enough actor that I couldn’t picture him just as David Tennant. I could remember the characters he had played but not really the man underneath. And I liked that.

Now I have seen him as the Doctor and I am well pleased. Believe me, I loved the ninth doctor more than any previous doctor, but I am not sad to have a tenth. He’s good. Trust me. He’s different but familiar. Eccleston made the character his own by the sudden turns from goofy to steely eyed that left me reeling. Tennant is…different, cute, floppy, boyish even, but I think that in his first episode he showed some of the same steel that has given an old character new life. I didn’t steer you wrong when I recommended the show, did I? Trust me on this one. You may not love him as much, but I think you will at least like him.

P.S. If you’d like a primer on David Tennant, keep an eye out for Viva Blackpool, Bright Young Things, and the BBC version of Cassanova (written by Russell T. Davies, current producer and writer on "Dr. Who") and if you still need your Christopher Eccleston fix, check out The Second Coming(also by Davies), Shallow Grave and the early episodes of the original “Cracker” with Robbie Coltrane. I don’t want to spoil anything but I did cry when I saw Eccleston’s last episode of this one. It’s absolutely brutal (and it also features more Brit boys that I love (Robert Carlyle and Robbie Coltrane).

Damn, that wasn’t quick at all!