Late to the thread.
Watched this series with DS (10) who expressed an interest after his best mate was talking about it. He loved it, I thought it was OK-ish.
But then we went back and watched on Netflix from Ecclestone on, and MY GOD, the difference in quality. I'd seen them when they came out but not since. CE was so much better than I remembered. He was fun and ebullient, but he had this edge, didn't he? The moments of coldness and fury, the flashes of superiority, just this alienness every now and then that reminded you, hang on, he's not a big friendly puppy, he's unfathomably old and has seen everyone he's ever cared about die.
And now we're up to mid-era Tennant and have just watched the Human Nature / Family of blood two-parter, and I mean, the quality is in the stratosphere compared to the most recent series. The writing is fantastic, the character work outstanding, the acting perfect. It was exciting and scary for the kids but also nuanced and thought-provoking, and added so much to the Dr's character - what it means to be him, and to have to choose to be him.
I just thought it was flipping brilliant and I wish the show still had that sort of depth and insight, you know? I'd seen these eps before, but not for quite a few years, & I think there's been a boiling-the-frog effect whereby the gradual decline in quality made me think it was still OK.
Of course, Blink is up next, and I remember how awesome that one was, so looking forward to watching that tomorrow 
End of musings!