Why is the Fourth Doctor so great?

[Prydonian]

Rose was a good idea starting out, on paper and in the earlier episodes, but left a bland aftertaste in my mouth shortly after. her story arc was complete but they ruined it I feel by bringing her back in Series 4. No companion before or since has been given such consideration, for lack of a better word. And if anyone deserved it, then Sarah Jane or Leela or even Romana I sure did. The new series has yet to reach the heights of what Tom accomplished.
And oh my yes, jelly babies are great, Ive had a variation of it and no wonder Tom's Dr enjoyed them in the series.

[Clara Listensprechen]

Definitely. The next time Matt Smith's Doctor yells to the skies, "what am I missing? What am I overlooking?" I'm going to yell at the screen "JELLY BABIES! JELLY BABIES!!!"

[Prydonian]

My he does overlook a lot, doesn't he?

In all fairness he is still getting used to the part. It was said long ago that it takes an actor more than just 1 year to get used to playing the Doctor. I wonder if that's true?

[metalheadjay]

Nah, the Jelly babies belong to Tom's doctor. I don't think any of the recent incarnations want to totally rip him off although a clear case of that can be made for David Tennant.

[tch]

Jelly babies aren't a 'ripping off of a previous Doctor', just a nice bit of carry over from Doctor to Doctor. Like most of them liking tea or having a sonic screwdriver.

[Clara Listensprechen]

Didn't Pertwee's Doctor snack on jelly babies? Or am I mis-remembering?

If they're exclusive to Tom's Doctor, then the Doctor isn't the Doctor in all incarnations, is he.

[tch]

Troughton's Doctor had a bag of sweets, but not sure if they were jelly babies.
Pertwee was more a wine and cheese kind of guy.

[MCH]

Despite his looks the Doctor isn't getting any younger. Even Matt Smiths Doctor said that he was an old man in a cool package. Or some such. Maybe more like, don't let the cool package fool you, I'm very old.
The thing is that with over 900 years of information in his head the poor Doctor would have a hard time recalling things instantaneously. I think Matt does a great job balancing being an ancient guy in a new young man suit.

I have been rewatching some of Tom's Doctor Who shows. I realize now that a lot of his humor zoomed at light speed past my brain pan. In places where I thought he was serious it was actually funny. I have to admit that British humor has that effect on me. Anyway, I am enjoying 'getting it' the more I watch them. Hmm, that's probably the same effect his wit has on his foes. Keep them baffled and spinning in circles. I wouldn't have stood a chance! Lol.

[Clara Listensprechen]

I've noticed the body age trend in the revival series, actually--from Eccleston to Smith, it's been progressively younger. Perhaps that fling at the "not really a chapel" incident (and all that football) was just hormones the Doctor hadn't been used to in a few hundred years. Or maybe he was enjoying being free from arthritis. I can only guess.

And one can only guess at how much of Tom's Doctor's wit was writing, Tom's collaborations with the writers, or Tom's own improv. I expect it was a mixture of all three, with Tom's impeccable delivery in each case, making the script and the Doctor his very own. I do credit the writers fully for things like that imprisonment...let's see, was that Genesis of the Daleks? I think so...where a captor was going through the pockets of his coat and produced just an apple core and a bag of jelly babies. The Doctor was in dire straits but there was that chuckle.

[Prydonian]

Regadring that scene in Genesis of the Daleks, Tom's Doctor actually put more stuff on the table, in addition to the apple core and bag of jelly babies. I believe there was a yo-yo (used in The Ark in Space to nice effect) and other things. The general idea was he had LOTS of things crammed into his multi-dimensional pockets.