One very striking element of the new series (Eccleston, Tenant, and Smith) is that the Doctor keeps making promises to his friends and companions - promises he cannot possibly keep, because they are beyond his control. Mostly promises that the person he's talking to will be OK, that the situation will not degenerate.
Season 5's Doctor, I noticed, also keeps telling people to trust him - while also openly admitting that he (a) has no plan, (b) is unarmed, and (c) in the case of Amy Pond, is not telling her the truth.
It's amusingly self-conscious and hip, I suppose, for the Doctor to acknowledge that he consistently goes up against overwhelming odds and implacable enemies armed only with his wits... and yet by focusing our attention on the implausibilities, he undermines our ability to suspend our disbelief and simply enjoy the tale.
I'm more disturbed by his statement to Amy/Amelia in Flesh & Stone: "If I always told you the truth, I wouldn't need you to trust me." Logically and morally, it doesn't add up. He is telling her, in effect, that he needs to deceive her. Are we supposed to infer that this is for her own benefit? How so?
Don't get me wrong, I like the new series (in fact, I absolutely loved the episode Midnight with David Tenant), and the classic series obviously had its flaws. But all this Trust me and I promise business bothers me, perhaps for the same reason they bother me when I see parents dealing that way with their children. (E.g., a parent who says NO but then caves in 2 minutes later, teaching a child that No means Maybe.) Or is the problem really promises without consequences, promises made lightly without due consideration of one's ability and willingness to perform? If the Doctor is committing his word and honor to outcomes he cannot reasonably guarantee, how are we to trust him?
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