Doctor Who? (New Who)

Hi, everyone! I realize that I haven't exactly been consistent about blogging in these past few weeks. What happened, you ask?

The timey-wimey stuff consisted mostly of marching band and summer homework. But now that I've got a break in between band camp and school, and I've also finished all my summer homework, I've got some time to blog again! Yay! And thanks for continuing to read my blog, even when I don't post very often.

Okay, enough exposition. Today's topic: The Doctor. Specifically, the War Doctor and the 9th-12th Doctors, as I haven't seen much of Classic Who. They're all the Doctor, but each incarnation has his own unique personality. What sets them apart? Let's take a look at each of them in turn.

The War Doctor (8.5), played by John Hurt

What he did, he did without choice. In the name of peace and sanity, but not in the name of the Doctor. The War Doctor is pretty different from the other Doctors in that he had some control over who he was. In "The Night of the Doctor", we see the Eighth Doctor, desperate amidst the Time War, take a potion to turn himself into a warrior. That warrior is the Time Lord we call the War Doctor. He is full of pain, anger, and fear, but he also carries a great deal of responsibility with him, feeling that the Time War must end and he must be the one to stop it. After killing all the Time Lords and Daleks (at least, that's what he thought he did), he is filled with guilt, sadness, and possibly regret. He is probably the most unhappy Doctor of all of them, and for most of the time, he isn't even called the Doctor. Nevertheless, he is important, and without his act of bravery, Gallifrey would have fallen.

Appears in:  The Night of the Doctor,  The Day of the Doctor

The Ninth Doctor, played by Christopher Eccleston

Fresh from the Time War, he is still filled with anger and regret. Over the course of season 1, we see as the Doctor shows kindness and is friendly to those he takes a liking to. Rose changes him from a distant, angry alien to a human being. Well, more like a human being anyway. Though he can be dark, angry, and fierce, he tries not to go too far. And though he may seem like he's a killer, he'd rather be a coward, any day.
Appears in:  Season 1

The Tenth Doctor, played by David Tennant

By this time, the Doctor has moved on enough that he isn't constantly showing anger and bitterness. The Tenth Doctor is cheerful and friendly, even flirtatious. At any rate, he certainly is popular with the ladies (and Jack, too, for that matter). Despite his pleasant appearance, though, he is not a man to be messed with. In the face of danger, the Tenth Doctor transforms into a hero and saves the day. Especially later in his life and when he's traveling by himself, he gains a sort of righteous fury, and right from the beginning, we see that he does not give second chances. And through all of this, he is the man who regrets. Though he's happier and more friendly than 8.5 and 9, he is still full of sorrow and regret, and he never forgets Gallifrey.
Appears in:  Season 2, Season 3,  Season 4,  The Next Doctor,  The Waters of Mars,  The End of Time, Pt. 1,  The End of Time, Pt. 2, The Day of the Doctor

The Eleventh Doctor, played by Matt Smith

At this point, he's become the man who forgets. He is the youngest incarnation of the Doctor (by "youngest", I mean Matt Smith is the youngest actor to play the Doctor. The youngest Doctor is, of course, the First Doctor.), and we can see that in his personality, as he is filled with childlike silliness and a fascination with the universe. However, he wouldn't be the Doctor without a dark side to his personality. By this point in his life, the Doctor has become too big. People run away from him in fear. Wars are started because of him. This goes against everything the Doctor believes in, so he has to sink back in the shadows for a while, trying to undo the damage he's done.
Appears in: Season 5, Season 6, Pts. 1 & 2, Season 7, Pt. 1, Season 7, Pt. 2, The Day of the Doctor, The Time of the Doctor

The Twelfth Doctor, played by Peter Capaldi

The Twelfth Doctor shouldn't even have existed. Time Lords only get 12 regenerations, and the Doctor had used up all of them (if you're wondering how that adds up, the regenerations are: 1 to 2, 2 to 3, 3 to 4, 4 to 5, 5 to 6, 6 to 7, 7 to 8, 8 to 8.5, 8.5 to 9, 9 to 10, 10 to tentoo, 10 to 11). However, Clara convinced the other Time Lords to give the Doctor a new regeneration cycle so he could keep going. This new Doctor is much more dark and mysterious than his last few predecessors. He wants to know if he's a good man, and he worries about what sort of person (or rather, Time Lord) he is. He's really strange, but in a good sort of way.
Appears in: Season 8

And that's all I've got on each of the Doctors. If someone knows Classic Who well and would like to write a guest post describing the first 8 Doctors, that would be great (just tag me in a private post on Google+ and we can discuss it). As I'll be pretty busy pretty soon, I don't know when my next post will be, but in the meantime, you're welcome to read old posts. Allons-y!