30 Days of TV - Day Thirty
May. 31st, 2010 05:05 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
caz963Has it been thirty days already? Blimey. What am I going to do with myself now? I've had fun doing this, although there were times when I felt I was posting about the same shows too often. But then most of the prompts included the word "favourite", so I suppose that was bound to happen.
Anyway, the meme ends on a somewhat depressing note, as for the last day, I have to post about the saddest character death.
No surprises here, either, I'm afraid.
There were several I could have chosen. The deaths of Mrs Landingham or Leo McGarry in The West Wing, Babylon 5's John Sheridan and ER's Mark Greene all made me cry a bit ... but considering we're talking about the SADDEST character death (which I'm taking to mean the one that made ME saddest), in the end, I think it HAS to be this guy.
I don't think I've ever cried at a TV show as much as I did watching this, and I still can't watch this scene (and most of the episode!) without crying my eyes out. Even listening to the music will start me off; obviously, because I associate it with what's going on and can visualise it in my mind's eye, but also because it's fucking beautiful and hugely emotional - surely one of Murray Gold's finest achievements to date.
I felt such a strong emotional attachment to Ten; in fact I could go so far as to say it's the strongest attachment to a fictional character I think I've ever had. I still don't really know why, other than to say it's probably a mixture of terrific stories, amazing writing and a great performance by a hugely gifted actor at the top of his game.
The Tenth Doctor wore his hearts on his sleeve and got them broken time and again; but it didn't stop him from putting them out there - until he lost Donna. From then on, he was a broken man, still fighting but without much of the conviction he'd had for most of his 'life'. He was guilt-ridden, hubristic, arrogant, ruthless... funny, garrulous, sociable and sexy. He'd seen - in fact, caused - the destruction of his people, seen so much death and destruction across the universe and yet he still found an incredible amount of joy and wonder in the things around him - even when they were out to kill him! He loved everyone and everything, could see the potential in everyone and everything - which surely is why his last words are so poignant. I know that some saw them as whiny and self-indulgent, but I don't think they were. I like to think that at the end, despite all the crap life had thrown at him - the loss of his home and his people (twice!), of his best friend, his 'daughter', someone he would become close to in the future - despite it all, he still wanted to live and experience that 'universe teeming with life' he spoke about so often and so clearly loved.
The 'death' of the Tenth Doctor was also, as Russell T. Davies quite rightly points out in The Writer's Tale a genuine cultural event. Doctor Who was once a show that the BBC didn't care about and treated like crap but has now become their flagship programme (and cash cow). It's taken its rightful place in the national consciousness, and a lot of that success is undoubtedly due to David Tennant. He's well on the way to becoming a "national treasure" (if he's not one already!), because of his talent, his enthusiasm and his graciousness. He took his role as the Doctor - both on and off screen - very seriously, I'm sure in part due to his having grown up as a fan. He knew what an iconic role it was; and having become the most popular Doctor ever (and arguably the most popular actor in the country), his departure was A. Big. Deal. I hope there will be other actors who are able to define the role as wonderfully as he did, but Ten's MY Doctor and is likely to remain so.
To paraphrase the words of Sarah-Jane Smith - "No-one's ever going to forget him."
I certainly won't.
Anyway, the meme ends on a somewhat depressing note, as for the last day, I have to post about the saddest character death.
No surprises here, either, I'm afraid.
There were several I could have chosen. The deaths of Mrs Landingham or Leo McGarry in The West Wing, Babylon 5's John Sheridan and ER's Mark Greene all made me cry a bit ... but considering we're talking about the SADDEST character death (which I'm taking to mean the one that made ME saddest), in the end, I think it HAS to be this guy.
I don't think I've ever cried at a TV show as much as I did watching this, and I still can't watch this scene (and most of the episode!) without crying my eyes out. Even listening to the music will start me off; obviously, because I associate it with what's going on and can visualise it in my mind's eye, but also because it's fucking beautiful and hugely emotional - surely one of Murray Gold's finest achievements to date.
I felt such a strong emotional attachment to Ten; in fact I could go so far as to say it's the strongest attachment to a fictional character I think I've ever had. I still don't really know why, other than to say it's probably a mixture of terrific stories, amazing writing and a great performance by a hugely gifted actor at the top of his game.
The Tenth Doctor wore his hearts on his sleeve and got them broken time and again; but it didn't stop him from putting them out there - until he lost Donna. From then on, he was a broken man, still fighting but without much of the conviction he'd had for most of his 'life'. He was guilt-ridden, hubristic, arrogant, ruthless... funny, garrulous, sociable and sexy. He'd seen - in fact, caused - the destruction of his people, seen so much death and destruction across the universe and yet he still found an incredible amount of joy and wonder in the things around him - even when they were out to kill him! He loved everyone and everything, could see the potential in everyone and everything - which surely is why his last words are so poignant. I know that some saw them as whiny and self-indulgent, but I don't think they were. I like to think that at the end, despite all the crap life had thrown at him - the loss of his home and his people (twice!), of his best friend, his 'daughter', someone he would become close to in the future - despite it all, he still wanted to live and experience that 'universe teeming with life' he spoke about so often and so clearly loved.
The 'death' of the Tenth Doctor was also, as Russell T. Davies quite rightly points out in The Writer's Tale a genuine cultural event. Doctor Who was once a show that the BBC didn't care about and treated like crap but has now become their flagship programme (and cash cow). It's taken its rightful place in the national consciousness, and a lot of that success is undoubtedly due to David Tennant. He's well on the way to becoming a "national treasure" (if he's not one already!), because of his talent, his enthusiasm and his graciousness. He took his role as the Doctor - both on and off screen - very seriously, I'm sure in part due to his having grown up as a fan. He knew what an iconic role it was; and having become the most popular Doctor ever (and arguably the most popular actor in the country), his departure was A. Big. Deal. I hope there will be other actors who are able to define the role as wonderfully as he did, but Ten's MY Doctor and is likely to remain so.
To paraphrase the words of Sarah-Jane Smith - "No-one's ever going to forget him."
I certainly won't.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2010-06-01 12:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-06-02 06:33 pm (UTC)I couldn't remember the music, so I played it and got all of thirty seconds in before I had to stop due to sobs.
IT'S BEEN LIKE SIX MONTHS. WHY IS THIS STILL HAPPENING.
no subject
Date: 2010-06-02 07:06 pm (UTC)It's nice to know I'm not the only one who still feels bereft though - I'm going to have to do a "six-months" on post or picspam at the beginning of July I think.
As to why we still feel like this, I have no idea. I tried to find reasons in a couple (http://caz963.livejournal.com/315453.html) of posts (http://caz963.livejournal.com/317169.html) I wrote a few months back, but all I keep coming back to is it's because Ten was such a wonderful character as written by Rusty and played by David. There's a lovely tribute post by
Anyway - thanks for commenting and sharing the Ten!love - stop by anytime!