I once described Ten as an unstable element which then 'decays' (or changes) into the very stable Eleven.

And don't get me wrong, I very much enjoyed watching Ten, but as you say it got very painful towards the end. He had to go, for his own sake.

The life lesson? Either a) RTD likes big and dramatic and way overdoing things, or b) sometimes the change you resist is exactly the change you need. Actually, I guess it's both. :-D
DEFINITELY both! :D