I agree with this. The thing about Doctor Who is you get so damn attached to each Doctor. The 9th Doctor was the first time I had watched the show since I was a little kid (Tom Baker reruns) during the early 80's. I absolutely loved Eccleston and I remember having a conversation with my fiance about how I just don't see how Tennant would be any good, in fact I thought he would be terrible. By the end of his run, I was nearly in tears not wanting him to regenerate and then they added that heartbreaking "I don't want to go..." line. Again with Smith, I had the same experience, although for whatever reason I just wasn't attached emotionally.The wait at the end of RTD was the worst. 4 eps for the entire year I think? Easter, Autumn, X-mas/New Years.
Smith really was a great Doctor. His casting caused hair pulling and gnashing of teeth everywhere. Then by the end of his first ep with his 'I am the Doctor' speech he won most folks over. As insane as this sounds....Capaldi has VERY BIG shoes to fill. Matt Smith was imo the oldest Doctor we've ever seen. His portrayal really gave me the sense this is a very old man in a young persons body, and that was all Matt Smith.
If there is one thing I have learned about Doctor Who, it's you can speculate and gripe all you want about casting choices, but at the end of the day we really just need to see them in action before passing judgement.