Review: Doctor Who, The Rebel Flesh/Almost People : comments.
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Re: A *bit* of apples and oranges, yes
I got bored. Really, truly, that was the problem with S05 for me. I stopped watching at The Lodger because the effort involved in locating the show on iPlayer was greater than the expected reward in mindless entertainment. I mean, I watch Glee and I used to watch Hotel Babylon. Mindless entertainment is definitely a thing I can live with.
When I watch Glee or Hotel Babylon, I'm at least engaged at the level of 'I like some of these characters'. They pay back the minimal effort required to turn them on. S05 hasn't even managed that for me.
(I do agree with you about RTD's all-emotion problem, but at least I liked his characters when they weren't whining. The specials were dire though.)
Re: A *bit* of apples and oranges, yes
Even when you're looking forward to change, it can still be difficult. I think children may have it easier in this regard, but even much-anticipated change can be hard to digest as you get older. For me, I went into Series 5 (and I have to admit I'm behind on watching --- I'll catch them all eventually) not so much with a "different is good" attitude, but with a "different will be different, so try to have zero expectations on all levels." It works for me. That, and the fact that the amount of time I'm willing to put into tracking down a program is inversely proportional to the amount of truly free time I have on my hands. I'm sure that if I cared enough about anything to divert time and energy I could spend on something I like better/that is more productive to track down any show, then wait until it all finished downloading or whatever it's doing, I'd be much less tolerant of everything I watch.
I'm at least engaged at the level of 'I like some of these characters'.
True, there has been a definite shift on DW from focusing on weekly character development as a means of getting us invested in the show (which has its downside --- a character who has an epiphany every week can never grow because they keep getting wiped clean; the mentioned whining can never end as a result) to developing a story. To me, that approach is more reminiscent of Classic Who than prior seasons. Not to say everything's perfect now, but it's at least it carries the comfort of familiarity.
Re: A *bit* of apples and oranges, yes
Yeah, OK, I worded that badly. My point was that it's really easy to find new episodes of Doctor Who on iPlayer, because they tout it on the front page every week. It got to the point where I couldn't be bothered to type 'ipl' into Firefox's address bar and hit enter, then click a link. Which is the minimum amount of effort required for doing anything online anyway ;)
I liked Eleventh Hour and The Doctor's Wife, and I was mostly on board with the S05 finale. The majority of the other episodes... I like them intellectually, but I don't find them fun, and that's a killer for me when it comes to TV. If I want intellectual then I'll read Chaucer or try to translate Thucydides or do a crossword or something.
Watching a lot of Eleven's plots, for me, is kiiind of like watching a chess tournament. I can see that something very clever is going on, I can appreciate the cleverness of it, but socially speaking it's just some guys playing with their little puzzle. I'm completely locked out of the experience.
By comparison, something like Glee is the complete opposite, which is why I call it mindless entertainment. There's very little intellectual about it. It's completely silly, people spontaneously burst into song every chance they get, and it's all about engaging the audience. That actually doesn't work 100% on me either, because I do generally prefer to have my brain engaged, but. You don't get a much greater opposite to the chess tournament than a meaningful look and a spontaneous singalong, and oh, look, the band just happens to be standing by.
Oh, yes, absolutely. But I liked those characters (except Mel. Yes, I even like Adric). I'm not after character development every week, I'm just after characters who I don't despise. I'm fond of Rory, I did like River but I'm steadily going off her the more I see of her, but don't get me started on Eleven or Amy. There's a massive difference between a cast of static characters who are likeable and enjoyable, and cast of a static characters who the viewer wishes would all get drowned together.
tl;dr: I get that change can be hard, but I honestly do just find Moffat's plots dull and Eleven and Amy soulless. There are good bits. For me, they don't make the bad bits worth it.
Re: A *bit* of apples and oranges, yes
Fair enough as to the rest. At some point, it really does come down all to a matter of personal preference. For example, I love the movie "Pi" (actually, it was the symbol but I don't know how to get that off my keyboard); I think it's intellectually engaging and roller coaster ride emotional. On the other hand, one of my dearest friends with whom I agree on matters of taste more often than not found it utterly detestable because he found it more cerebral and thinking/paying attention-intensive than he'd thought it was going to be; this same friend loves all of Ten's tenure but won't watch anymore for, in part, similar reasons to yours. (He also won't watch Series 1 or any Classic Who with me beyond a very few of Five's episodes, so I'm sure there's a whole walloping dose of "Gimme teh pretty! Gimme smokin' hot, sexy-boy David Tennant right now! Gimme, gimme, gimme!" going on there, but there ya go. I love him all the same.) Taste and preference are as different as people, which is really a wonderful thing.
Old fogie here What is this tl; dr I keep seeing? (I could use Google, but I'm lazy, too.)
Re: A *bit* of apples and oranges, yes
It's definitely a large part personal preference with me, yes, which is why I'm doing my best to keep quiet and biding my time until Twelve turns up or Amy dies in a fire, whichever happens first. I do think there are writing problems there too, especially with River and the Doctor, but as you said - to each their own.
Re: A *bit* of apples and oranges, yes
Also thanks for the link to Twain. I hadn't read that essay in 30 years. Still love it.
Re: A *bit* of apples and oranges, yes
I guess whether they have antlers depends on the gender of the person who wrote the teal deer?