Haha ok I think the point is there a danger of taking DW far too seriously. If you had a show like, I dunno, Battlestar Galactica or something with an episode called "Dinosaurs on a Spaceship" that would seem out of character tonally. But DW has always been a bit daft and quirky and, yes, childlike. It is aimed at a family audience, and as much as some older fans might wince at some of the more slapstick elements of the current era - and I include myself in that! - it's worth remembering a) that it is not that different from similarly daft things in past eras and therefore tonally okay for the show and b) we are not the only people the show is for, and there will have no doubt been thousands of children watching the show who adored every last minute of Dinosaurs. You can go too far in that direction, but I don't think Moffat, who has made many many questionable decisions in his era, has.
The thing is I like to take doctor who seriously. I've grown up with doctor who pretty much all my life, and I never really saw any humour in it. I've always liked things dark and gritty, probably why I liked Torchwood so much. But doctor who, humour, I don't like the two together. Sure add a little humour, make a few jokes, but over all, doctor who is not a comedy. I don't want doctor who to go through a silly phase, just give us some great stories instead. In my mind, dinosaurs on a spaceship was too far in the silly and childish direction. However, I will admit the following episode, "A town called mercy" was so much worse. corny cowboy music, utter shit. In my mind, doctor who needs to go back to the slightly more mature and dark direction of the seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth doctors eras.
Wasn't McCoy initially cast because of his background in comedy? His Doctor is quite humorous in his first few serials. Lots of slapstick too.
Forget children, this 42 year old loved every second of Dinos on a spaceship Bit silly to ignore the hmour/silliness that's been ever present in Who. I mean, to quote Sarah Jane Smith in School Renuinon "Loch.Ness.Monster" Anyway my rankings have probably shifted a bit since the last time I did this but... 1. Smith (and yes I'm a hypocrite cos I always complaind when people voted Tennant so highly when he was the incumbant) 2. Davison (My Doctor even though he wasn't my first Doctor) 3. Troughton. (Such a fantastic Doctor, great companions too) 4. Tennant (When he's good he's very good, unfortunately he's not always good...) 5. Eccleston (Different take on the Doctor in all sorts of ways, yet still recognisable as the Doctor, and though we only had him for a year he's a huge reason why the show succeeded when it returned-wish he'd done the 50th but I don't begrudge him not) 6. Tom (He stayed in the role too long, got way too big for his boots then patently didn't care anymore, but at his best he is superb, often cited as the ultimate Doctor which I always find odd given there's little of the first three Docs in his portrayal. I'm not saying an actor should be beholden to his predecessors but there should be odd glimpses of other Doctors in there, Davison did this perfectly IMO, Tom was just Tom) 7.McCoy (Much like Tennant when he's good he's great, unlike Tennant the amount of times he's good is far too limited. Still he's the Doctor in my favourite ever serial so that counts for something.) 8. Pertwee (I like Pertwee Ive just never quite been able to feel the love for his Doctor, not quite sure why, I think I just like my Doctor's to appear a little more bumbling, less in control of the situation) 9. McGann (I liked a lot of what I saw of him, he reminded me a bit of Davison but never listened to the audios so I only really have about 60 minutes of screen time to judge him on, not enough. 10. Baker (The Doctor of extremes, from his outfit to his attitudes. An arrogant, moody Doctor is fine, if those traits are compensated for by others, I didn't see enough of the softer/more vulnerable side of Colin unfortunately) 11. Hartnell (As with McGann I haven't seen enough of his Doctor to really make much of a judgement call)
My favourite is Patrick Troughton but I am old enough to have seen and remember all his lost episodes. My next two favourites are Matt Smith and David Tennant.
Ahh. That's a shame. You've really missed out a huge part of what makes DW so special. Humour is an integral part of its DNA. "Dark and gritty" are not synonyms I would have used to describe it, well, ever. Certainly not in its TV incarnation. But back on topic, my favourite Doctor remains Troughton, followed by McCoy (S25-6) and then BF McGann. But they're wonderful chaps, all of them
McCoy. This may or may not have anything to do with me having just watched Greatest Show in the Galaxy.
I've never been a big Baker fan. Besides, I'm too young to remember Bakers era. I've seen his DVDs, but I wasn't even alive in his era.
^ "See no evil, Hear no evil, Speak no evil" I'm pretty sure as in, "I'm just going to ignore you speaking ill of Four so I don't say anything bad."
And here I thought he was implying there were two other monkeys around ... joking. Yea, See no Evil... was what instantly came to my mind, too
I voted for Tennant. But the more I watch Smith, the more I like him. So after a few more episodes, my view may change. Still, of the relaunch Doctors - really the only ones I'm familiar with - there hasn't been a bad Doctor.
A quick question: of the 71 voters, I wonder how many feel they can assess all 11 Doctors, and how many have only really seen the new series and are choosing only from the latest three??
The question is subjective. If someone has only seen the new show and feels Tennant is the best out of all three, then shouldn't his/her opinion be just as valid as someone who chose Tennant and has seen all Eleven Doctors in action?
Oh, the opinion's equally valid, for sure, but... Someone who's seen all eleven Doctors can still vote for the last three, but someone who's only seen the last three can't really vote for the first eight. For instance, I voted for Troughton, but if I was naming my top three, there'd be a new series Doctor in there, and two in my top five. Whereas obviously someone who's only seen the new show would have trouble choosing beyond their top three... ;-) It would just be interesting to know the breakdown. I'm sure that a lot of Tennant and Smith's votes come from people who've seen the lot (or everything that survives). And equally, that some of Tom, or Colin or Sylv's votes come from people who came in with the new series and worked back...