"You look Time Lord."

But with the Silents, he ENJOYED it.

I think it's a matter of perception. One person's enjoyment is another person's expedient and successful solution.

What I note that Eleven does that his predecessors did not (or perhaps they did not; it's arguable, at any rate) is that he makes up his mind as to what needs to be done and executes on his decision without looking back. It's an interesting trait that been picked up from embryonic nuances. I think it harkens all the way back to One ready to bash the caveman's head in out of nothing more than fear for his personal safety; even Two once had enough chilling lack of respect for life --- and human, at that --- to say "They're just soldiers" when his companion commented on the horror of battlefield death. What Eleven does with it, though, is very interesting, and I'll be the first to admit that it's probably down to some brilliant acting rather than an intentionally written characterization. Eleven, young as the acting playing him is, comes across as an old man, one who's seen some serious, serious evil and has learned that you have to play evil's game at times for the "greater good", whatever that it. He may feel regret for things he's done, but that doesn't keep him from either owning the actions or from being ready to do them again if that's what it's going to take to take care of a problem. Not a nice old man, not even necessarily a good old man, but a solid old man who has done and remains ready to do arguably bad things if those things will correct the situation with any hope of permanency. (And now I'll stop, or my little essay I'm filling in gaps on will be totally redundant by the time I post it. And besides, I'm reminding myself of the two sergeants in the movie "Platoon".)