Who is/was the best Dr Who and why?

Answer 1

How can you beat the manic/depressive Ninth Doctor played by Christopher Eccleston? Best doctor, hands down, because he's the one that needs his companions the most. The most extreme sadness coupled with the most extreme joy. I mean, have you *seen* The Doctor Dances?

Answer 2

Tom Baker was definately the best and no-one has come close with the exception of his predecessor Jonathon Pertwee. I did have a soft spot for Peter Davidson though. Tom Baker was very good at displaying the eccentricity of the character and could add comedy and drama in any given situation. Toms portrayal also saw the introduction of k9 that added an interesting depth to the series with humour. Tom delivered lines in a way that you actually believed what nonense he was saying unlike more recent portrayals where their delivery is rushed for dramatic effect. Toms manic expressions also seem to fit the bill of a alien whose character changes so readily and often you would think it would cause you to be schizophrenic.

Answer 3

Dr Who

Answer 4

While Tom Baker was my childhood Dr Who and will always stand out in my memory, I love David Tennant as the Dr. He's witty, has a wry smile, sexy good looks and brings the Doctor up-to -date without losing any of his previous charm.
The real question should be who was the worst? Silvester McCoy or Peter Davidson.

Answer 5

Chris Eccelston (the 9th Doctor) said something interesting in an interview about the different doctors. He said that the doctor a person grew up with would always be "their" doctor. That's probably true for a lot of people.
I was recently introduced to Doctor Who so I'm still learning a lot about the different regenerations.
I've liked the 10th, 9th and 5th doctors the best so far. What I've seen of the 2nd and 4th doctors has been really entertaining.
If I had to pick one favorite it would be the 10th doctor.

Answer 6

I always preferred Jon Pertwee - he seemed to portray The Doctor best and he had "the CAR" lol - however now I think David Tennant ROCKS!!!!His is a much more interesting characterisation ,a Doctor that`s seen it all and is not going to take any more crap from anyone no matter how powerful.
Downside is that his foes for the most part suck!!
Now - worst Doctor???Hands down Sylvester McCoy.

Answer 7

John Pertwee, because he was the first one I saw, and I met him when I was 3, I really thought I'd actually met Dr Who.

Tom Baker, he just was Dr Who.

Answer 8

I think people may think the best one is the first one they saw. I think Tom Baker was the best of the old bunch... I rest my case.

I really do like the last 2 doctors though, much more than I thought I would.

Answer 9

Tom Baker with his Jelly Babies. Just thought he played the best Doctor Who and thought the episodes were better when he was in it.

Answer 10

the dr now is the best as my kids love him

Answer 11

Lot of good theories here, but as an old Dr Who fan, the question really makes me think.

I started watching towards the end of Tom Baker's time, and he had the amazing ability to balance on the line of genius and madness, serious and manic, that seemed to resonate with a lot of people's idea of an alien intelligence. Baker was a much better actor, in being able to do this, than people usually give him credit for.

Doctors previous to him had all been slightly odd in their own ways - William Hartnell was like a strict schoolmaster, but when his Doctor was enthused by something, he came over all smiles and impish charm. Patrick Troughton, for all he was cast to be a completely different personality, kept a lot of this - the charm was more up front with him though, and he seemed to be a doctor you could have more fun with. Jon Pertwee's Doctor was a little more standoffish and fanciful, and if I'm honest, for me he was a little...empty...Baker we've covered. Peter Davison - the real reason I first got into the show - was, I think, as underrated as Tom Baker. His Doctor played it straighter, and he worked hard to perfect a portral of a very old, wise mind inside a young body. Some of his later episodes took this almost to the point of parody, but I don't think he ever went entirely over the top.

Colin Baker's Doctor was pretty much over the top from the word 'go.' I think, in all fairness to a good actor, no-one exactly knew how to write the sixth Doctor to get the best out of him, so there were lots of lines and traits stolen almost directly from other Doctors - when confronting authority he sounded like Pertwee, when playing for laughs, like Tom Baker. Perhaps the two major exceptions were veteran Who writer Robert Holmes, and new kids on the block Pip and Jane Baker, who in their stories 'The Two Doctors' and 'The Mark of the Rani" gave us a tantalising glimpse of what the Colin Baker Doctor could have done, if he'd been given the chance.

Sylvester McCoy's Doctor I think suffered from McCoy's own history as a largely comic actor - his Doctor started off funny, because everyone assumed that's what he should be, but then got darker and darker and progressively more brooding and mysterious as time went on. The result was a Doctor whose chief characteristic seemed to be an awareness that time was catching up on him, and as such, he didn't especially appeal to a majority audience.

The eighth Doctor, Paul McGann, only appeared on screen in one episode and it's probably unfair to judge him on that, because regeneration stories are famously off-kilter. His script gave in much too often to the idea that "The Doctor Knows Everything and Everyone", but subsequent stories in print and in audiobooks offered a broader, more rounded Doctor than had been seen on screen since the end of the Peter Davison era.

Christopher Ecclestone. Doctor number 9. What can be said of him? He arrived on screen at the start of the show's re-invention for a new age and a new audience. He also appeared with a ready-made hook - he was the "scarred" Doctor, damaged by the experiences of a war that killed his entire species and roasted his planet to dust. Ecclestone pulled off a miraculous performance, one that not only wove that very real emotion into the character, but saw him do what only Tom Baker had successfully done before - balance dark and light, manic and serious, on the head of a pin, and STILL add something new of his own: a vulnerability, an ability to be genuinely shattered and hurt, that made the Doctor relevant to its new fans.

And then there were Ten. David Tennant...he has matinee idol looks, and has at least an understanding of the balancing act that made both Baker and Ecclestone such tough acts to follow. As yet, he hasn't, for this old fan's money, succeeded in following it with his own miracle - in fact, he does try and do the balancing act, but usually ends up zigzagging from melodrama to broad comedy in a faintly queasy manner. But I believe there's hope for him, given good writers. He came in well in 'The Christmas Invasion' and made me give him a chance. Until the penultimate episode of his first season, Army of Ghosts, he hasn't really had much scope to justify that chance, though there have been moments of brilliance. Finally though, he's beginning to feel like a credible Doctor, rather than just "the new guy in a cool coat."

So to answer the original question...for my money, Christopher Ecclestone is the most watchable Doctor Who, because of the layers of his performance, the energy, the simple fact that from his first moment on screen to his last, he WAS the Doctor, rather than just an actor on screen playing a role. Tom Baker and Peter Davison are next in line, followed by Paul McGann, and after that it's anyone's guess.