I haven't watched Doctor Who since we left Austria and no longer get BBC via cable. I hadn't seen the new Doctor. Kind of a shock: wow, that guy's young. How is he as The Doctor?
(Although I disagree with you on last season. It didn't feel like traditional Doctor Who, but I really liked the direction, and although Season 5 was much better end-to-end, Season 6 had some of my favorite episodes.)
I very strongly agree. For example, it's pretty hard to imagine that the Doctor, upon learning of the Tesselactor's modus operandi, would have any reaction other than "stop this atrocity at all costs".
Though, still, I wish they hadn't gone there. I preferred some of the past doctors. I don't dislike Smith as much as I used to, though. I'm pretty neutral on him now.