Has Eleven helped anyone, really? It's a genuine question: I found the episodes dull and soulless the first time around and haven't rewatched any of them since, so I don't remember them all that well. I have the increasing sense that rather than taking Ten's heart and getting rid of the angst, this new regeneration has cut out his heart to cope with the Time War, and is just going through the motions regarding saving people.

I was listening to October/November's 8th Doctor Adventures, Deimos/Resurrection of Mars, earlier tonight... it's a fantastic deconstruction of the Doctor's morality, but the part that grabbed me is when Eight discusses Seven. Paraphrasing: "That's how evil gets started, when you sacrifice forty lives to save forty thousand. Doing the maths, that's what it ends up being about. Eventually I was travelling alone, because I didn't trust myself with anyone's life. [...] And now I make sure I always have someone with me, to remind myself that every life is precious."

He's talking about Seven, but it reminded me even more strongly of Eleven and this Christmas episode. That's exactly where Ten got to, isn't it? Travelling alone because his companions always got hurt. And Seven and Eleven do share that very forced quirkiness. Maybe this time, he didn't bounce back into a friendly Eight; maybe this time, he carried on his downward spiral.