Haha, I know the pain. I was forced to not watch Iron Man without my last girlfriend and ended up ditching the promise because I had waited so long for the movie.
I know the pain of watching a doctor pass. I could cheer you up with some observations though, about the transformation process having an effect on the type of doctor that comes out. :3
I think that when Tennant's doctor was born out of Eccleston, he was born with a lot of energy from the Tardis' fuel-source, and he was born directly after the conflict with the Daleks, which easily drained him quite a bit. Being born out of conflict also continually became a theme for him since he was drawn into it a lot more than usual. He has had perhaps the most calamitous set of companions one after another, whereas, in his transformation, we see Matt Smith being born into a Tardis which is collapsing, and in need of healing. I think that is also part of theme with the shreds in the universe. This new doctor is meant to heal some of the damage done in part by his own kind. I think that the shreds in the universe might be a consequence of Tennant's doctor's meddling with storylines where he shouldn't have interfered.
The interesting thing is that these doctors never get to choose what their destiny will be. It is sort of a choice made for them. They run into the same kind of conflicts that fit their story, and this is in part what makes The Doctor different from other Time Lords and other creatures. His title means that he is responsible for healing other people, and similarly, the Master is responsible for mastering other people, and so they have to bump into one another again and again. Eventually, whether The Doctor is born directly out of conflict, or whether his path converges with it, he ends up having to heal great and often irreparable damage, leading to his own demise. And although this cycle goes on and on forever, we still don't call him a tragic hero.
