Doivid said
I still haven't solved the mystery of what makes dr who so amazing to people. I've seen most of the 2005 series, but it's like "Well that wasn't too bad but it was really rushed"--every damn episode. It's fun, it's creative, but it's a little lacking in substance overall.
2005 was with Chris Eccleston, right? Yeah, that wasn't the strongest of the Nu-Who series. Eccleston was good, but what Tennant and Smith did with the character was far better, in my opinion. Under Eccleston, the character didn't see much development - and yes, it did often feel rushed as everything was rounded up in a single episode, every time, and he was only contracted for one season. With Tennant as The Doctor, the character saw a lot more subtle development, more complex plots were allowed two episodes, and there were two seasons. When Smith took over, they took this a step further - there were now narratives and mysteries stretching for entire seasons, or even across seasons, and The Doctor began receiving even more development as a character.
I can understand why you feel the way you feel having only seen the 2005 season - but like many shows, the first season wasn't the best, and it went from strength to strength. I think the only section worse than the 2005 season (which I still love anyway) has been very recently, when Smith had Clara as a companion, where it hit somewhat of a rut.
EDIT: In short, I think that the 2005 season was somewhat testing the waters, and when it received a positive response they felt freer to do more with the characters and storylines in following seasons, to an ever-greater extent.
