The Lodger

The Doctor rents a room.

When the Doctor is separated from Amy, he tends to become more proactive, which seems to be rare in the current season. The problem with this story is that he is not proactive enough. Any Doctor that we have previously seen would have gone to the upstairs room immediately to investigate regardless of any danger. It seems that this obvious course is avoided to allow space for more comic elements.

It is fun to see the Doctor sharing an house with an 'ordinary bloke' and entering normal interactions. Having the Doctor join and soccer team and show himself to be a brilliant player seemed gratuitous. I think Moffat stuck that in to spite us sports-hating Doctor Who fans. I am sure a million of us feel a sense of betrayal. There is no reason why the Doctor should not be brilliant at football, after all he seems to be able to do anything, though it just does not quite seem 'Doctorish.' When you get the Doctor doing lots of 'unDoctorish things', it weakens the character. Perhaps one of the best moments of the show was the Seventh Doctor's clumsy dancing in Delta and the Bannermen. Perhaps the football scene reminded me of the Third Doctor embarassing the Brigadier by showing of his perfect knowledge of Chinese.

Craig's desire to see the Doctor leave is an interesting and very understandeable reaction. The Doctor could easily come across as just too wonderful. He is so much better at everything than you could ever be. How can you exist on an equal level to somebody like that?

Craig and Sophie's relationship just does not quite seem convicing. From the beginning they seem just too close and intimate, too perfect a couple for them to be stuck in the 'just friend's stage.'

The Doctor's imparting information to Craig by headbutting him seemed really stupid and annoying. We have never the Doctor do that before, so it seems odd he should try it now.

I am bothered by the Doctor's comments to Sophie about how she could do anything she wants. The truth is that we cannot all go out and explore the universe. We are limited by the circumstances in which we are placed. The Doctor has seen enough injustice, oppression and poverty to know this. To have the Doctor naievely suggesting that we can all go out and be adventurers weakens the progressive political message of Doctor Who.