Rank the Doctors

Discussion in 'Doctor Who' started by ToddCam, Jan 4, 2013.

  1. ToddCam

    ToddCam Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

    Joined:
    Jul 15, 2003
    Location:
    Philadelphia, PA, USA
    Over the last year, I got into Doctor Who, starting with the modern stuff, then going back. I don't have any friends who are into the classic stuff, so I wanted to make some comments somewhere.

    I love ranking things, so I decided to rank the Doctors from least favorite to favorite. I hope others will offer their choices. I did a search for a similar thread but couldn't find any.

    11. Fifth Doctor (Peter Davison)
    I feel bad saying anything bad about any of the Doctors, but he was just too bland. Classic Doctor Who is filled with so much padding, so the Doctor and the companions really have to pull their weight. Besides having the terrible Adric, the unrealized Nyssa, the underused Turlough, and the whiny (whingy?) Tegan, the Fifth Doctor just lacked any real personality. So bland!

    10. Ninth Doctor (Christopher Eccleston)
    When I started watching the show with "Rose," I was lukewarm towards the Doctor himself, and it took me some time to get into it. I liked the premise, so I stuck it through (it probably also helped that I knew there were two other guys playing the Doctor in the "future"). Ultimately, I think the Ninth Doctor worked as a transition Doctor, with all that anger. His relationship with Rose was far less trying than it would be with the Tenth Doctor. Toward the end of his run I came to like him. His relationship with Jack was also cool, and it was probably the peak of that character, as Torchwood pretty much ruined him.

    9. Eighth Doctor (Paul McGann)
    As anyone could probably guess, the Eighth Doctor is one I have a hard time placing, as he only made one TV appearance in that awful TV movie. I really liked the Doctor in it, but he just can't make as much of an impression as any of the others. I have listened to a couple of his audio adventures, and he is pretty cool, but it's not enough to put him higher on the list. Also, Grace sucked.

    8. Seventh Doctor (Sylvester McCoy)
    I have very ambivalent feelings about the Seventh Doctor, as he is such a weird cross between extremes. He's kind of a loveable little guy with that great brogue, but it kind of feels like a retread of Troughton's Doctor. Then there's the whole Grand Manipulator aspect, which I find distasteful, but very interesting. I think he and Ace make a great team. I haven't really seen much of he and Mel.

    7. Fourth Doctor (Tom Baker)
    The blasphemy! Apparently everybody else's favorite classic Doctor, I do like him very much, and his oddball ways, the giant scarf, and creepily wonderful grin are all things in his favor. However, he's just so hard to read, and it makes me feel a little distrustful. He obviously had a big conscience, but I can't tell if he actually cares for any of his companions. He had a great rapport with Sarah Jane and Romana, Leela was really interesting, and Harry's apparent idiocy is pretty enjoyable. I had a hard time coming to appreciate K-9 because I found his voice somewhat grating at first. Adric is still garbage. Overall, I think the Fourth Doctor's overrated.

    6. First Doctor (William Hartnell)
    The First Doctor, the one who started it all, is a joy to watch (so far). I didn't like him in the first episode, as he just seems evil, but his grandfatherly/old geezer ways really appeal to me. I love how he flubs his lines! I really love that family feel the ones with Susan, Ian, and Barbara (and Vicki, I guess) have. Ian and Barbara are great interacting with the Doctor, and Steven's pretty cool. Susan/Vicki/Dodo had some trouble with being interchangeable.

    5. Sixth Doctor (Colin Baker)
    More blasphemy? The most arrogant of the Doctors, and with the worst sense of taste, I understand why he is so disliked by most fans. It doesn't help that he was paired with the incredibly tedious Peri, whose purpose seemed to be just to show cleavage, and whose terrible American accent drives me nuts. But there's just something about Six that really makes me riveted by his performance. He's such a jerk, but ultimately, he is a very good man. Maybe because of the Trial of a Time Lord, which was my first big exposure to him, which as an arching story really appealed to me.

    4. Tenth Doctor (David Tennant)
    It's really hard for me to put him so (relatively) low, since he was the Doctor who made me fall in love with the show. When I got to the point where he regenerated, I couldn't immediately get into Eleven because it was so upsetting. But now, all I can really see are his faults. His relationship with Rose was beyond annoying (no Doctors and companions should ever be romantically involved), and poor Martha was a character who only shined after she left his side (she even made Torchwood tolerable!) when her unrequited lover storyline had ended. While he and Donna were great, the moping about til the end was trying, and I saw them all within the span of a few weeks! To top it off, he immediately starts out with this holier than thou attitude toward Harriet Jones that just pisses me off. I need to re-watch this stuff to regain my love for the character, I guess. For now, nostalgia keeps him at number four.

    3. Third Doctor (Jon Pertwee)
    Man, this guy is so cool. He just carries himself with this dashing air that is amazing. I think he had some of the best stories, possibly due to "grounding" him, even though at times his frustration with his exile was somewhat tiresome. I love reversing the polarity of the neutron flow and Venusian aikido. I haven't really gotten a sense of Liz yet, but he and Jo had a great rapport, and I think he works well with Sarah Jane. The best relationship he had was with the Brigadier though, who is one of my top five favorite companions (or pseudo-companions). Their cantankerous relationship and its evolution into one of mutual respect and friendship was great.

    2. Eleventh Doctor (Matt Smith)
    I feel kind of like a jerk for putting the "latest and greatest" so high up on this list, but after my initial disdain for him, the Eleventh Doctor has consistently been a great Doctor. He has this great balance of fun and serious, and has a big heart. I love his relationship with Amy and Rory, and I have to say, the highly controversial River Song is a personal favorite (sorry, I don't know much about Bernice Summerfield). So far Clara is pretty awesome, too. It can't hurt that he has said Patrick Troughton was his favorite classic Doctor, and he seems like a spiritual successor of sorts to the greatest Doctor of them all, without feeling like a retread.

    1. Second Doctor (Patrick Troughton)
    Damn you BBC! What an incredible lack of foresight! It boggles my mind, and is incredibly frustrating that so much of my favorite Doctor is missing. But from the stuff I've seen, the cosmic hobo is definitely the best of the bunch. Plays the fool, but isn't one. Oh my giddy aunt! I love the Second Doctor so much. The recorder, the giant fur coat he ties closed with a rope, everything! He had the greatest rapport of all with a companion, the slightly dumb Jamie McCrimmon. Zoe was pretty cool, and I like Ben (is that a real Cockney accent?). Polly and Victoria are ok. In this 50th anniversary year, it saddens me the most that Patrick Troughton will not be able to return.

    Thoughts?
     
  2. Pindar

    Pindar Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Apr 20, 2001
    Location:
    NCC - 1031
    Ha haven't seen one of these for at least a month.

    I'll do it short hand this time and change my preferences based on what I have been watching lately.

    1 4
    2 2
    3 6
    4 10
    5 1
    6 3
    7 8
    8 5
    9 11
    10 7
    11 9
     
  3. Smoked Salmon

    Smoked Salmon Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

    Joined:
    Apr 12, 2012
    1) 8
    2) 4
    3) 10
    4) 1
    5) 2
    6) 6
    7) 5
    8) 3
    9) 9
    10) 11
    11) 7

    To be honest though there are no Doctors that I actively dislike, nor is by gap between 1st choice and last all that big.
     
  4. Starkers

    Starkers Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Apr 22, 2001
    Location:
    Behind Enemy Lines
    11 - I always used to complain when people cited Tennant as their favourite Doctor and now here I am doing the same with Smith but I can't help it, the guy is awesome and was born to play the part.

    5 - Davison is my Doctor, I watched a lot of Tom, and I have a vague memory of Pertwee but for me the Firth Doctor cememented my love of the show, and Tegan would rate highly on any best companion list as well for me.

    2 - Obviously Troughton came and went before I was even born, but damn I wish there was more of his stuff out there. Doesn't hurt that he had great companions in Jamie and Zoe either.

    10 - Tough call this, and on another day he and Eccleston would have swapped places. At times he's clearly trying too hard, and comparing him to Smith it's curious that Smith seems more relaxed in the role. I guess David had more weight on his shoulders being a fan. You can't deny his gleeful enthusiasm for the role, and I doubt anyone else could have played his meeting with Sarah Jane any better. When he was good he was very good, unfortunately when he was bad he was gurny...

    9 - Oh chris, if only you'd done one more series at least. Loved the stripped back, survivor guilt ridden Doctor who still had moments of lunacy, and I doubt any actor could have played that scene in Dalek any better, spine chillingly good.

    4 - Like Smith Tom seems to be a man born to the role, a man who exudes alieness without even trying. Longest serving Doc which counts for and against him. Clearly couldn't be arsed by the end but like Tennant, when he was good...

    7 - Mainly this high because I love Fenric so much. Perhaps the weakest actor to ever play the role, still when he played it dark he was quite disconcerting. Too often played the bufoon, yet not as cleverly as Troughton did.

    3 - I do like a lot of what Pertwee brought to the role, but I guess he's just not quite Doctory enough for me, he plays the role too straight (which was probably a good choice after Troughton).

    8 - Hard to guage on on TV film (which he isn't even in a third of) but he definitely had potential. Haven't listened to any of the audios.

    1 - I guess I just haven't seen enough of his tenure, and what I have seen doesn't grab me the same as Troughton's era does.

    6 - Maybe it's the outfit, maybe it's the arrogance, maybe it's the fact that Who was at a low point anyway when he arrived, or maybe it's down to the fact that, as a child, he killed MY Doctor! :) I have warmed a little to him in recent years, but still my least favourite.
     
  5. Venardhi

    Venardhi Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Location:
    The Great Wide Somewhere
    11
    4
    10
    3
    9
    8
    6
    2
    1
    5
    7
     
  6. Winterwind

    Winterwind Commodore Commodore

    Joined:
    Feb 11, 2007
    Location:
    London, Canada
    Oooh, been a bit since we've done this. Wonder how much mine have changed?

    4
    9
    6
    2
    1
    3
    11
    10
    8
    7
    5
     
  7. The Mirrorball Man

    The Mirrorball Man Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
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    Location:
    Switzerland
    I love 2 and 11.

    I really like 1, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 and 10.

    I don't like 3 and 7.
     
  8. VDCNI

    VDCNI Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

    Joined:
    May 26, 2009
    Location:
    London UK
    I find it really tricky to do this - there's not really that much of a gap between them all!

    1 - 4th
    2 - 2nd
    3 - 5th
    4 - 1st
    5 - 7th
    6 - 6th
    7 - 10th
    8 - 11th
    9 - 8th
    10 - 9th
    11 - 3rd

    Pertwee is always last (though I don't particularly dislike him) but the rest would change all the time!
     
  9. Captain Crow

    Captain Crow Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

    Joined:
    Mar 7, 2009
    1. Troughton
    2. C Baker
    3. Hartnell
    4. Pertwee
    5. McGann
    6. Davison
    7. T Baker
    8. McCoy
    9. Smith
    10. Eccleston
    11. Tennant
     
  10. Sindatur

    Sindatur The Gray Owl Wizard Admiral

    Joined:
    Jan 2, 2011
    Location:
    Sacramento, CA
    The Current Doctor is usually pretty high on my list, since he's the current one, and I like Pertwee and Davison alot.

    I don't dislike Colin Baker or Slvester McCoy like many do (Though it's nice to see Colin Baker isn't in the bottom two in a lot of the posts of this thread, as is often the case)

    I enjoy all of the Doctors, so, it's really hard to rank them. Eccelston, having only 1 Series is least known (McGann, I have gotten to know through the Audios), and I need to dive into the Troughton era, as I haven't given him much of a shot, since so many are missing (I have all the Reconstructions, just haven't gotten around to sitting through them). I think I'll work my way through Troughton when I finish Red Dwarf (Just finished Series 8, so only S9 and S10 left to go)

    So, yea, I ike them all,

    Smith, Pertwee and Davison at the top, Eccelston and Troughton at the bottom and everyone else in between, though the gap in likey-ness for the top tier to the likey-ness for the bottom tier is extremely small.
     
  11. OmahaStar

    OmahaStar Disrespectful of his betters Admiral

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    Top of the list - Sixie
    Then everybody else, followed by Three.

    It's not that I don't like Three. It's that for 60% of his run, he was saddled with the most useless, annoying, shrill idiot in the history of the world.
     
  12. Starkers

    Starkers Admiral Admiral

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    Bessie wasn't that bad..
     
  13. Mr Awe

    Mr Awe Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Jan 15, 2002
    This is always really tough and could change depending on stories that I've seen recently. Also, many are tied and trying to distinguish between them is pointless. So, I've got several tiers where everyone in a tier is essientially equal. From best to worst:

    Tier 1: Smith, Davison, T. Baker
    Smith and Baker were both definitely born for the role. They exude a certain alieness, naturally. Davison was my Doctor.

    Tier 2: Tennant, Pertwee, Troughton, They are all great. Can't really distinguish between them. Just a smidge behind the top tier.

    Tier 3: Eccleston, McGann, Hartnell
    I've enjoyed all of these Doctors, but certain characteristics are easier to identify as things that I don't like. For both Eccleston and McGann, part of it could be due to the brevity of the time in the role.

    Tier 4: C. Baker and McCoy
    Ugh. So many of their stories and just can't stand. Of these two, I think McCoy got the better character while Colin got the better scripts (relatively, though many were bad). But, there are exceptions to that overall pattern. But, generally, not a big fan of either. I've warmed up to Colin a bit over the years, but not enough to get him out of the basement.

    Mr Awe
     
  14. diankra

    diankra Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Jun 22, 2005
    Location:
    UK
    It's always a bit arbitrary, but...

    1) Troughton
    2) Tom

    3) Smith
    4) Hartnell
    5) Eccleston

    6) Davison
    7) Tennant
    8) McGann

    9) Pertwee
    10) Colin
    11 McCoy


    The gaps indicate MrAwe's tiers... Doctors may swap around within them depending on who I've most recently watched (and whether they were on form).
     
  15. tomalak301

    tomalak301 Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Location:
    San Jose, CA
    Just doing the 3, since I haven't seen the ones that came before 2005.

    Chris Eccleston - Yeah he only had one season, but I really liked the range, from comedic to dark and everywhere in between, and I really do wish he would have stayed on for a season 2.

    David Tennant - Basically because he is just not as quirky as Smith's Doctor, at least in Season 6

    Matt Smith - He could take the two spot after this season though. He's showing a more serious side and that's what I've wanted for a long while. His role in The Snowmen was really good and really eye opening.
     
  16. Saga

    Saga Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Location:
    VA
    but Mel was a companion of the 6th and 7th Doctor! :p
     
  17. Mark_Nguyen

    Mark_Nguyen Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Location:
    Calgary, Alberta
    Question: Who is your favorite Doctor?

    Answer: Yes, Who *is* my favorite Doctor. :)

    Mark
     
    Mike McDevitt likes this.
  18. Admiral2

    Admiral2 Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Sep 14, 2004
    Location:
    Langley
    Yep, that's blasphemy all right.

    Here's the proper list (Rank/Doctor):

    11th: 6th
    10th: 11th
    9th: 5th
    8th: 2nd
    7th: 10th
    6th: 8th
    5th: 7th
    4th: 9th
    3rd: 1st
    2nd: 3rd

    And always and forever:

    1st rank: The Fourth Doctor
     
  19. The Mirrorball Man

    The Mirrorball Man Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Dec 18, 1999
    Location:
    Switzerland
    I love the fourth Doctor, and when Tom Baker was on, he was very good, but there are stories, if not entire seasons, when he's so bored, so disinterested, so flippant about the show (not to mention drunk) that I can't just ignore that aspect of the actor's performance and the character he portrayed.
     
  20. Orac Zen

    Orac Zen Mischief Manager Super Moderator

    Joined:
    Mar 14, 2000
    Location:
    Land of drought and flooding rain
    1. Pertwee. Not the first Doctor I saw, but my Doctor, now and always.

    2. Troughton, Smith. Troughton was just a joy, and his influence on Smith's interpretation is clear.

    Smith managed to revive my interest in new Who and I hope he's around for several years yet.

    4. Hartnell, Davison. Hartnell's Doctor is greatly underrated, IMO. I enjoy his irascibility and the way his attitude to his companions changed.

    For a long time Davison was my second favourite. He was a different and much more likeable Doctor than Baker's, and just what the series needed at that time. It's a pity he didn't have better material to work with.


    They're a long way out in front of the rest.

    6. C Baker, Eccleston. Colin Baker was saddled with the some of the worst stories and shabbily treated by TPTB, but his enthusiasm for the role shone through. How he's managed to retain that enthusiasm is beyond me.

    As for Eccleston... I dunno, I just liked the way he played the role. A year was probably right, though.

    8. T Baker - a number of my favourite serials are from (early in) his era but while his interpretation of the role started off okay, the mugging, the attitude ("I'm Tom Baker and I can do whatever the hell I like") and smug smart-arsery became increasingly unbearable the longer he stayed.

    9. McGann - not really possible to make a proper assessment on one (rather ordinary) movie, so this seems both a bit harsh and about right.

    10. McCoy and Tennant - can't stand either of them. McCoy's Doctor wasn't the Doctor and Tennant's over-the-top fanboyism was even more irritating than Baker's mugging.


    As in all things, to each their own. :bolian: