“The way I see it, every life is a pile of good things and…bad things. The good things don’t always soften the bad things, but vice versa, the bad things don’t necessarily spoil the good things or make them unimportant.” -The Doctor (‘Vincent and the Doctor’)
I am man enough to admit that I honestly cried at the last moments of The Tenth Doctor. In the two-part send-off The End of Time, the Tenth incarnation confronts the Ood about their original prophecy and is led to present-day Earth where, in the second part, the newly-resurrected Master (played by John Simm) restores Gallifrey and the Time Lords to existence, although he redeems himself by assisting The Doctor to defeat Time Lord President Rassilon (played by Timothy Dalton) before disappearing alongside the other Time Lords. The Doctor sacrifices his life to save Wilfred Mott, exposing himself to 500,000 rads of deadly radiation and thus triggering his regeneration.
He holds it back and is shown visiting several of the companions we came to know during his run on Doctor Who.[a] He gives Donna Noble (played by Catherine Tate) a winning lottery ticket on her wedding day, buying it with money he borrowed from her late father in the past, saves Martha Jones and Mickey Smith (played by both Freema Agyeman and Noel Clarke) from a Sontaran sniper, saves Sarah Jane’s son Luke (played by Tommy Knight) from a car, introduces Captain Jack Harkness (played by John Barrowman) to a potential romantic interest (played by Russell Tovey), and finally, just before regenerating into The Eleventh Doctor (played by Matt Smith), he informs Rose in 2005 that she is about to have a “great year”. As he begins regenerating, his last words are “I don’t want to go”.
It’s here that I began sobbing like a baby, and most Whovian fans would agree, one tends to grow attached to a particular Doctor they have connected with, and The Tenth was truly my Doctor. Besides brilliant storylines courtesy from the amazing Doctor Who writers and production team, the actors themselves with their flawless acting give you no choice but to believe in their performance and thus you click with them on an emotional level as you would with someone like a best friend or loved one. It was sad to see The Tenth Doctor go and it was an amazing ride. To David Tennant, thank you for giving us a memorable and definitely unforgettable Doctor.
But like always, Doctor Who is about looking forward and pressing on. Thanks to new show runner Steven Moffat and the rest of the Doctor Who production team, the future of the series continues to flourish with the wise casting of Matt Smith as The Eleventh incarnation of The Doctor. At first, I was a little taken back by this new Doctor, and funny enough, I found myself withhold from opening myself completely to a person I apparently didn’t know anymore. But that didn’t last long as The Eleventh Doctor ultimately wins you over with his newly reconfigured energetic and eccentric personality, while at the same time doing and saying things that will remind you that he in fact is The Doctor… But just a little different in the noggin.
The Eleventh Doctor is portrayed as a brash and lively man who is rather arrogant and vain but has a great deal of affection for his loved ones. He’s at times arguably downright childish, which allows him to connect very well with children. However, there are also times when he acts his age, such as when he retires in Victorian London after the loss of Amy Pond and Rory Williams (two companions that the newly regenerated Doctor befriended earlier on in his new life, and are played by both Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill) and becomes a grumpy and solitary man who refuses to interact with others until he is charmed by Clara Oswald (played by Jenna-Louise Coleman).
Unlike his two most recent incarnations, this Doctor seems oblivious to details about human mainstream pop culture, besides a few references to classic literature, and is often seen embarrassing his companions with his attempts to be cool (including enthusiastic dancing). He even seems unfamiliar with certain adult activities such as sharing a bed, providing bunk beds in the TARDIS for the married Ponds, and drinking wine, spitting it back into the glass after trying it. He is also helpless at responding to romantic advances, acting awkwardly when River Song (played by Alex Kingston), Amy, and Clara try to seduce him; however, there are times when he behaves more maturely in romantic situations, frequently flirting with River and eventually marrying her, despite his usual discomfort with romance.
The Eleventh Doctor takes us through several adventures that introduce us to both new villainous alien life-forms as well as marking the return of some old ones, New friendships are made while old ones come to an end, and among anything else, he takes us through several new story arcs that not only reinvents the manner clever time-traveling plot devices are used, but how we see The Doctor himself. This becomes even more apparent when we finally discover the very secret The Doctor has been hiding this whole time; In “The Name of the Doctor“, the Doctor falls victim to a plot devised by the Great Intelligence, who holds the Doctor’s friends captive on the planet Trenzalore, where the Doctor will one day die and be buried.
Within the Doctor’s tomb, the Great Intelligence uses the Doctor’s remnants—his disembodied “timestream”—to spread himself across the Doctor’s history, turning his many victories into defeats. Despite objections from River Song, who at this point in her timeline is dead and is guiding Clara from beyond the grave, Clara goes after the Great Intelligence and is scattered throughout the Doctor’s timeline, where she undoes all of the Great Intelligence’s work, becoming Oswin Oswald and Clara Oswin Oswald, among others in the process. The Doctor has a sorrowful conversation with River’s phantom, and with a kiss gives his dead wife some closure. The Doctor enters his timeline to retrieve the original Clara; while rescuing her, she discovers a previously unknown incarnation (played by John Hurt) that he says broke the promise he made by taking “the Doctor” as his name, even though it was for the sake of peace and sanity.[34]
This is where we are left off in the whole history of Doctor Who, and will find out more when The Eleventh Doctor comes back during the Doctor Who’s 50th Anniversary Special episode, which also includes the return of The Tenth Doctor (played by David Tennant) and his companion Rose Tyler (played by Billie Piper). Finally, we will learn of The Doctor’s ultimate destiny during the Christmas Special and beyond.
In closing, sketching these eleven Doctor Who portraits were a blast to do, and it will definitely not be the last time I do something like it again. I have some really cool ideas for future Doctor Who inspired pieces. But till then I’m going to be focusing on further improving my illustration skills, exploring new subject matter, and aiming to perhaps changing or modifying my rendering style. Till then, folks! Thanks for watching!
Johnny Tie Studios 