Who's your favourite Doctor, now...?

[MacNimon]

Well, that's the celebrations over and done with. Now that we officially have a new Doctor to squeeze into the line-up in the shape of John Hurt, as well as giving us (a little) more from McGann to enjoy and a very brief glimpse of Capaldi in the TARDIS, does any of this change how you view the character of the Doctor? Has it changed who you rate as your favourite? How does Hurt compare if you were now to make a list of your favourite Doctors? He's probably had just about as much screentime as McGann has had, if not more...

It's been a while since we've had such a simple poll as Favourite Doctor, so please vote on who you regard as your favourite and if possible, list them in descending order of preference.

Although we haven't really seen Capaldi yet, I've included him just because the list looks so much more impressive than it did several months back!

And Peter Cushing isn't going to be an option, before anyone asks...

[Wayne]

Give ya one guess.

And Peter Cushing isn't going to be an option, before anyone asks...

You're no fun.

[SiHart]

Matt Smith. I'm as surprised by this as anyone (and was recently mocked for this by some friends!) but I just find him utterly beguiling to watch. There's something about him- the way he moves and the way his body does the opposite to what his brain is telling him to do, something about the his ungainly gait perhaps- it fascinates me. I was hooked from the moment he popped his head out of the crashed TARDIS in The Eleventh Hour and I fell for a Doctor in a way I don't think I have since I first saw the show and Tom's Doctor got me hooked.

I'm not sure any other actor has ever nailed the Doctor being young but ever so old so well as he has. Davison gave it good stab, but there are so many moments where Matt has looked so old just selling it in his eyes- far older than he is.

He may not have been served too well by all the scripts he had to work on, but he's not given a bad performance at all. I really, really don't want him to go- I'm sad because it feels like his Doctor has so much more potential and Matt has so much to give to the role.

[Nyder]

I didn't mock you Si - I love Matt as The Doctor too! He comes a close 2nd to Tom - maybe we could have proportional representation in this poll. Or the method where the least "favourite" Doctor is knocked out and we vote all over again! Then again, maybe not!

[Andrew Curnow]

I really, really don't want him to go- I'm sad because it feels like his Doctor has so much more potential and Matt has so much to give to the role

I absolutely agree with you there, Si. Much as I'm looking forward to seeing what Peter Capaldi does with it, I'd very much like to have seen Matt stay on for at least a cwoouple more years - dare I say, with a different showrunner? I just think we'll look back in years to come and wonder what might have been...

As to Who I'm voting for... I'm not sure yet!!

[WhiteCrowNZ]

What an impossible choice! I think this has to be a really timey whimey one - it varies in time.

When Tennant was Doctor, I thought he was absolutely amazing. But now I do find him at times a bit annoying - this esp came out during the specials. I didn't like Matt at first at all, but he has really grown on me. That said with his arc heavy stories which feel a bit too repiticious, I don't think the writing for him has been as good. And unfortunately a "good Doctor" is a combination of a great actor and a great script.

John Hurt just lit the screen in his tale as the Doctor. He is one of my favourite actors anyway. I am really really tempted to go with him.

I've been doing a lot of rewatching the last couple of months - I've enjoyed Bakers, and Troughtons tales esp. But I've ended up watching a lot of Jon Pertwee. And typically I've never been a great fan of the Pertwee era. And yet, because of this, it means I've never really watched them much. So it's been a bit of a delight unearthing his stories - so for that, I'm going to go with him.

[Rob McCow]

Right now, it's William Hartnell. This may change again in a few minutes and I'll have forgotten who William Hartnell was, shows how fickle we are.

Most of the companions who worked with him said that he had a certain magic and believability that was unique. While the others are all fantastic, it was Hartnell who kicked it all off. His performance in the first episode alone is utterly captivating and it's all there- the world-weariness, the impishness, the righteous anger, the humour and the mystery. Everything that any Doctor has done since (outside of sleeping with Elizabeth I) is derived from his performance.

What's more, he's the most alien Doctor of them all - even though at the time, he may not have been an alien at all.

[MacNimon]

It has to be Pertwee, for me. Pure nostalgia there, he the Doctor I grew up with and nothing that ever happens in the series will ever change that.

To be honest, however, there really isn't much seperating the first four Doctors imo and any one of them could easily be said to be my favourite. They're all so good they're practically interchangeable when it comes to favourites...it just depends on who I've seen the most of, recently. There's a big gap to the fifth on my list though, and I'd rate Eccleston as easily the best of the new series Doctors and better than the latter day original series ones. McGann follows, largely thanks to Big Finish but given a boost by the minisode a few weeks ago. After that, probably Davison, Smith, and Colin...not much seperating them. I'd rate Hurt's Doctor along with this bunch, simply because we don't really know the character despite him giving an excellent performance. Down at the bottom of my list are the three Scots Doctors (which really makes me sad to admit! ) with Tennant just being annoying at times. Capaldi is below him simply because we haven't met him yet, and above McCoy because he simply can't be anywhere as bad as him , however hard he may try!

[Perry Vale]

Matt Smith, for all the same reasons Si Hart gave.

However I accept him leaving with no problems, really. Three years/seasons is enough for any Doctor in my view (I could happily lose 4 seasons of Tom).

[Dirk Gently]

(I could happily lose 4 seasons of Tom).

HERETIC!

[Perry Vale]

Sorry, I forgot the emoticon....

[Wayne]

(I could happily lose 4 seasons of Tom).

But which 4?

[Dirk Gently]

I voted Tom naturally. But I'd happily put Troughton & Smith 2nd, with Hurt*, Eccleston, Tennant, McGann* next & then the rest. I'll abstain on Capaldi until I actually get to see him do something more than just stare at the camera in a menacing way.




*What we got of them.

[Perry Vale]

But which 4?

Ok, I was probably exaggerating a little.

S15 and 16 could go, and even though I adore City Of Death, 17 as well.

[Renewed]

I found that I really liked John Hurt's Doctor, and the mystery of his time adds considerably to that. Appropriately, I now place him between the classic and new series Doctors in my favourites list, which is slightly unfair on Smith in a way.

I had a bit of a downer on Matt Smith when Day was broadcast, but I watched Dinosaurs on a Spaceship a few weeks ago and got my enthusiasm back for his Doctor. It seems to me that, like Patrick Troughton's, I preferred his Doctor at the beginning of his era rather than at the end, where the humour was too over-the-top.

My favourites list is now as follows:

Sylvester McCoy
Tom Baker
Paul McGann
Jon Pertwee
Colin Baker
William Hartnell
Peter Davison
Patrick Troughton
John Hurt
Matt Smith
David Tennant
Christopher Eccleston

I'm hoping that Peter Capaldi will be the first new series Doctor to break into the classic actors. He'll have to be good!

[stephenhannan]

I voted Peter Divison

Always was the best (so hard to follow TB) always will be and should have stuck by his instincts and have done a fourth season

[SiHart]

I'm very fond of his Doctor too. It's probably the hat. I do love his hat.