Originally I thought I didn't like him, but in actuality he's a fantastic doctor and a nice deviation from the Tennant/Edelsson mix. I found the writing in the last season of the show to be abysmal, though. Didn't feel like Doctor Who at all.
(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".