Warbler said:
The Doctor is the hero of the series, he is supposed to be likeable.
This gets to the root of my question: Why?
I don't think "that's the way it always has been" is a good excuse to not change things when the time comes to make a decision.
The Doctor is supposed to be a dynamic character, no? Maybe this unlikable Doctor will learn something in the course of doing unlikable un-Doctor-y things and his next regeneration will pop out someone much more down-to-Earth.