So I thought I’d rank all of the Doctors from Doctor Who in order of how much I liked them and why.
0.) Jodie Whittaker. I’m leaving her aside in the 0 position because, well, I’ve never seen her play the Doctor. I don’t know how good, or bad she may be at it, and I don’t know where she will fit into my lineup. I don’t really care about any of the outrage or politics or percieved politics surrounding her casting as the Doctor. I’ll wait until I see her in action before I form an opinion on her.
13.). Matt Smith, the Eleventh Doctor. Yes, that’s right, New Who fans. I absolutely hate Matt Smith as the Doctor. He is my least favorite of all the actors who have played the character. I consider him a blight upon the show, and he annoys me more than Adrick does. Yes. I just said that. I would rather watch any number of episodes centering around Adrick than I would a single episode featuring Matt Smith. I don’t like how goofy, childish, and oblivious he plays the character. He’s not the Doctor. He’s a child trapped in the Doctor’s body. And his performance is not helped at all by the writing for his character, which was absolutely horrible. I can’t even think of a single episode during his entire run that I actually enjoyed. I chuckled a bit when Rory said, “Shut up, Hitler,” Before locking him in a closet. Honestly, throughout Matt Smith’s run, Rory really is more the hero of the series than the Doctor is. I somewhat liked the 50th anniversary special, but not because of the writing or the Matt Smith. I liked it because David Tennant, my favorite of the new Doctors came back, and because John Hurt is just amazing in everything he does. Plus getting to see Tom Baker back was great too. But, you know what, I felt that the Peter Davidson written and directed spoof the Five-ish Doctors that was released at the same time on You Tube was a far better, and far more entertaining, tribute to 50 years of Doctor Who than the actual 50th anniversary episode, so there you go.
12.) William Hartnell, the First Doctor. The problem with William Hartnell is that he was the first. He was there before the show really figured out what it wanted to be. He had some really great stories, and introduced two of the Doctors longest running enemies, but he’s kind of a douche.
11.) Christopher Eccleston, the Ninth Doctor. I think his problem was that he just wasn’t around long enough for me to get to like him. Again, like with William Hartnell the new series started with him, and at the time, it seemed like it just hadn’t really found it’s stride in the new format and era yet. He’s not bad in the role, but I never really saw him as THE Doctor.
10.) Peter Capaldi, the Twelth Doctor. Here’s the thing about Peter Capaldi. I really like him as the Doctor. I really like how he plays it. The problem is that he was let down by the writing in a huge way. He took on the role right as Steven Moffat hit full speed in his nose dive in the quality of the series. During Capaldi’s run Doctor Who became a parody of itself. I haven’t even watched two of his three seasons because I was so insulted by the ending of his first season’s finale where they took the freaking COPRSE of a much beloved character from the original series, whose actor had passed on recently, AND TURNED IT INTO A ZOMBIE CYBERMAN!!! Way to show your disrespect for a fan favorite character, and for a man who spent more than a decade as a supporting character in the old series, there Moffat, now find the nearest convenient fire and go die in it, you hack! It is because of this that I have refused to watch another new episode of Doctor Who until Moffat is gone! That was unforgiveable and inexcusable and I refuse to support the show again until the man that thought that that was an acceptable send off for a recently deceased actor tied to the series has been shown the door. The episodes of Capaldi’s that I did watch were just terrible. They were just plain awful. There is not a single one that was in any way good. I mean, Kill the Moon? Really? Can anyone honestly look at that episode and tell me that Moffat is a good show runner?
9.) Paul McGann, the Eigth Doctor. I like Paul McGann. I really do. He’s a great actor when he’s doing something he’s clearly invested in. Unfortunately he’s clearly NOT invested in being the Doctor. But wait, you say, he was only in that one movie, how can you form such an opinion from just that? Well, head on over to Bigfinish.com. They take actors who have previously played the Doctor and make up new stories for them in audio format. Paul McGann is heading into his Seventh season over there titled “The Time War” for all you New Who fans that really want more of the Time War. Some of his seasons are really great. I reccommend Dark Eyes, The Time War, and season four of The Eigth Doctor Adventures. The problem is that McGann clearly doesn’t want to be there. He’s so boring and lacking in energy. You can tell he’s just doing it to pay the bills and isn’t really invested in the character. He comes off as really bland, and somewhat lacking in personality. The stories may be good, but the actor playing the Doctor doesn’t seem to care.
8.) Peter Davidson, the Fifth Doctor. Peter Davidson is kind of on the low end of the middle for me. He’s got some really good stories, like Earth Shock, Spare Parts (Big Finish) and The Caves of Androzani, but during his tenure, the BBC instituted some budget changes that really killed his run. They didn’t have the money they needed to do the stories they wanted and had to cut a lot of corners. And Davidson himself is a little boring in the role too. To be fair, it would have been nearly impossible to follow up Tom Baker, but he did well enough. He wasn’t a bad Doctor, but he wasn’t exactly great either. And most of his companions really annoyed me. Uhg, Tegen, Turlough, Adrick, no thanks.
7.) David Tennent, the Tenth Doctor. Of the Doctors in the new series, David Tennent is my favorite. I thought he was a little too hyper at first, always running and talking a million miles an hour, but he grew on me as hsi run went on. He’s the only one of the New Who Doctors that ever really FELT like the Doctor to me. Peter Capaldi COULD have, had the writing been better, but David Tennent succeeded where he failed.
6.) Tom Baker, the Fourth Doctor. What’s this? Tom Baker isn’t number one? Nope. He was a great Doctor. He really was. And he’s probably the most iconic Doctor of them all. I like his personality, the energy he brings to the role, and his ability to break the fourth wall without it feeling like he’s pandering to the audience. He always seems so upbeat and jovial, even under the worst of circumstances. But the truth is, there are other Doctors I like more than him. He may have had some GREAT stories, Genesis of the Daleks is probably my favorite of his, and he was the Doctor longer than any other actor, but he’s not my favorite.
5.) Sylvester McCoy, the Seventh Doctor. Despite having a bit of a rocky start, Sylvester McCoy turned into an amazing Doctor before the show was cancelled. I really like how cold, and calulating he is. He’s a big schemer, and he has usually won before the story even starts, because he was so smart he was able to foresee his path to victory before the game even began. Definitely check out Remembrance of the Daleks, a call back to the very first episode of Doctor Who, that ran for the 25th anniversary of the series. I also really liked his companion Ace. She took out a whole squad of Cybermen with a slingshot and a bunch of golden coins, and beat a Dalek to death with a baseball bat.
4.)John Hurt, The War Doctor. John Hurt only showed up in two episodes of the new series, but he did get out one twelve episode season of The War Doctor at Big Finish before his death, which was excellent. I really like his personality as the Doctor. He’s very sarcastic, and tortured, and kind to those that deserve it. His one season of the War Doctor is probably one of the best that Big Finish has ever released. I really enjoyed it, and John Hurt is really great in the role. You can tell that he’s a fan, and having the time of his life.
3.) Jon Pertwee, the Third Doctor. Well, number three ended up in the number three spot. When Jon Pertwee took over, the show was completely reinvented. The Doctor was banished to Earth by the Timelords, so there was no more travel through time and space. Instead, he joined with Unit to protect Earth from the Master and many other alien threats. His era has a really cool, old-timey spy drama feel to it, with a sci-fi twist. And one of the all-time best companions was introduced near the end of his run, Sarah Jane. He was like Sherlock Holmes to the Master’s Moriarty. And I really like dhtat. Plus I really enjoyed the way he played the Doctor. Smooth, confident, and able to whoop some ass whenever the occasion demanded.
2.) Patrick Troughton, the Second Doctor. And two lines up with second, nice. Patrick Troughton was one of the best. He’s an amazing actor who put his all into the role. the budget may have been low, and the effects and costumes silly, but that man could act circles around it like you wouldn’t believe. He plays the Doctor as a bit of a jokey trickster that can be serious when he needs to be. Unfortunately huge numbers of his stories have been lost, and only about half of them remain intact. Which is a shame, because he really is great as teh Doctor, and he has my all time favorite compainion Jamie. The two of them are like the ultimate and original space bros. I also liked Zoe a lot too. His final story, The Wargames, is one of the longest ever Doctor Who serials at ten episodes, and it is GREAT.
1.) Colin Baker, the Sixth Doctor. Okay, so, Colin Baker is usually on lists of people’s most hated things about Doctor Who, and I completely understand. The show was complete crap during his run, and it was entirely not his fault. The BBC was being run by a man that hated Sci-fi and was actively trying to kill the show off. He succeeded. HOWEVER, I really like his personality as the Doctor. He’s arrogant, sarcastic, kind of a dick to everyone, but he does it in a really likeable way. He kind of reminds me of the way that Robert Downy Jr. plays Tony Stark. He also has a great sense of humor, and good comedic timing. During his run on the tv series, his stories can be sorted into one of three categories. Crap. Less crap. And watchable. BUT, when you get to his audio shows with Big Finish, I have not listened to a single one of them that I didn’t love. The Apochalypse Element is amazing, the Last of the Cybermen is awesome, the Light at the End is great (that was the big finish 50th anniversary special and featured Doctors 4-8). The Trial of the Valeyard was extremely entertaining, mixing a lot of comedy with some very serious, and dark story elements that work surprisingly well together. And they even made an actual regeneration story for him in The Last Adventure. If you didn’t like him much on TV, you may like him in the Big Finish stuff. He is my favorite Doctor.
And there you have my Doctors ranked, and I killed twenty minutes waiting for the shower to be free.
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