Your Favorite Doctor (Who)

[Zeroillusion]

I've been on a massive Dr. Who kick the last couple of days. The other day I rented a few Key of Time episodes I found at the video store, and have been thinking about who my favorite dr. currently is. In the past it was Tom Baker, and I still think he's amazing in the part, but I'm starting to think David Tennant is the best Doctor yet.

[Daniel Strange]

David Tennant is the best Doctor yet -- he's basically the perfect Doctor. Eccentric like Baker, occasionally moody like Eccleston, young like Davison, and cool -- like Tennant.

[KillingPickman]

I'm holding out for them to get Dylan Moran.

[Madman Mundt]

In many ways Tennant is the perfect amalgam of all the previous Doctors...he can be goofy, stern, vengeful, arrogant, witty, charming, aloof, etc, but still feels like a complete individual character.

It also helps that he's got Moffatt, Cornell, Davies, etc writing his episodes (I've got some problems with Davies' style from time to time, but he's most consistently good when it comes to the character of the Doctor).

[sunwukong]

Well, as my favourite episode is Pyramid of Mars, I gotta go with Tom Baker. One of the aspects of the (earlier) character that I thought he brought through well is that The Doctor is essentially an alien. A very humanistic one, yes, but not a human being.

[Matt OCallaghan]

Tom Baker all the Way!

[Steven Lapcevic]

Tom Baker hands down.

[Matt OCallaghan]

You also didn't include Paul McGann! If Cushing counts, McGann counts!

[Matt OCallaghan]

It also helps that he's got Moffatt, Cornell, Davies, etc writing his episodes (I've got some problems with Davies' style from time to time, but he's most consistently good when it comes to the character of the Doctor).

Davis can be a bit weak at times, but agreed, as far as characterization goes he is brilliant. He isn't just great at bringing the Doctor to life but he has an uncanny knack of fleshing out secondary characters as much as you could given the time constraints and general speed of narrative.
The double parter finale for the third season is one of the shows finest moments for my money, in what was a pretty outstanding season all up.

[Timothy225]

Though I love 'em all, and agree with everyone on how much Tennant kicks ass as the Doctor (Eccleston rocked too, would've liked to have gotten another season out of him), for nostalgia's sake, I gotta go with Davison for personal reasons. He was the Doctor back when I was really into the show, and I got a chance to meet him at a convention. True gentleman, funny guy.
The Children in Need special "Time Crash" brought back a lot of good memories of those days - and it also re-enforced on how much I dig Tennant's turn as well.

[Daniel Strange]

I'm so glad someone gave Pertwee some love. He's an underrated Doctor, in my opinion -- the first to bring a sense of nobility to the role, the first to tone down the grumpiness, and the first to start ASS-KICKING!

[Matt OCallaghan]

I think McCoy is the really underated Doctor. The scripts he had to work with were mostly dog shit, but he really nailed the part, and was the first to bring a sort of hidden malevolance to the role. It's the continutation of this guy that you could really believe would wipe out his own species just to stop the Daleks.
Colin Baker was easily the worse. I'll neg rep anyone who votes for him.

[billylove]

Tom Baker. He's just got that charisma. And his fashion scene is very "alien"?

[billylove]

I thought he brought through well is that The Doctor is essentially an alien. A very humanistic one, yes, but not a human being.

Exactly, a human loving alien.

[Greg David]

I would happily have seen Colin Baker ousted from the list for Paul McGann. That was a shameful run.

My vote was Eccleston. I'm in the minority, obviously, but I give him the bare edge over Tennant. I found that when he turned on the intimidation, I bought it more than I have with any other Doctor. I bought that the Daleks would shake in their bins when he arrived.

[Richard Dickson]

I'm so glad someone gave Pertwee some love. He's an underrated Doctor, in my opinion -- the first to bring a sense of nobility to the role, the first to tone down the grumpiness, and the first to start ASS-KICKING!
That would be me -- he was the first Doctor I ever saw and I'll always have a soft spot for his characterization. He also seemed to be the first to bring a really eccentric take to the character -- Hartnell and Troughton sort of went the "grumpy absent-minded grandfather" route, but Pertwee was out there.

And his hair was better than Baker's.

[Greg David]

I didn't get to see any Pertwee until just last year. I liked him a lot. That run's gimmick of stranding him on Earth with a busted TARDIS got a little tired, (how many alien invasions does the Earth get in a year?) but I loved his characterization. He was more like the cool grandpa who you always got the impression raised major hell back in his day. I loved the way he always found someone to rub the wrong way in every story.

[Matt OCallaghan]

And his hair was better than Baker's.

Blasphemy!

[Matt OCallaghan]

My vote was Eccleston. I'm in the minority, obviously, but I give him the bare edge over Tennant. I found that when he turned on the intimidation, I bought it more than I have with any other Doctor. I bought that the Daleks would shake in their bins when he arrived.

Eccelston was a far superior Doctor to Tennant. He bought something new to the character. Other folks have said the thing they like about Tennant is that he is a perfect blend of the previous Doctors but that is the thing I don't like about him. Tennant's charasmatic enough but his Doctor seems like a Cut and Paste of the good bits of the ones that came before him, where as Eccelston presented a whole new take that for me was the perfect re-introduction to the character after such a long hiatus. His alternation between manic happy and deep depression was something we haven't seen before, and I for one thought it was a brilliant take on the character.
Tennant will be tough to replace though, methinks.

[Michael Shaver]

Tom Baker, just because I saw most of his episodes.

Although John did spawn Sean, so he has that going for him.

[Spike Marshall]

Thanks to a careful selection process in what episodes I saw, I'd have to say that McCoy was my favourite Doctor. Thankfully I've only been able to watch his work in the last series, and his portrayal of the Doctor as this dark, arch, master tactician is just fascinating. He's the first legitimately unsettling Doctor since Hartnell and I think if you ignore his first season he has some of the finest episodes in the entire series.

Remembrance of the Daleks, The Happiness Patrol, The Greatest Show In The Galaxy, Ghostlight and the Curse of Fenric are all incredible, incredible, episodes which are marred by the sheer atrociousness of what proceeded them.

[Daniel Strange]

Eccelston presented a whole new take that for me was the perfect re-introduction to the character after such a long hiatus. His alternation between manic happy and deep depression was something we haven't seen before, and I for one thought it was a brilliant take on the character.

It's true. Eccleston was pretty darn good too. And he was the right choice for the re-introduction, but once you get rolling I think you want someone a little more fun to spend time with.

Really, though, there are fewer Doctors that I don't like than ones I do.

[Richard Dickson]

I didn't get to see any Pertwee until just last year. I liked him a lot. That run's gimmick of stranding him on Earth with a busted TARDIS got a little tired, (how many alien invasions does the Earth get in a year?) but I loved his characterization. He was more like the cool grandpa who you always got the impression raised major hell back in his day. I loved the way he always found someone to rub the wrong way in every story.
The stranding on Earth was a budgetary move -- Pertwee's series were the first ones broadcast in color, and to cover the added cost, the show was Earthbound (albeit with a clever reason and premise). Plus Pertwee's run gave us the first appearance of the Master.

[BrianM]

When I think "Doctor," I think Baker. I love the humor in his eyes, he always seemed very 'Hitchiker's Guide.'
Probably also my fave because he was the Doctor when I was a kid, and by far the one I've seen play the role most often.

[Spike Marshall]

I think Eccleston has been the best actor to play the Doctor, but I think his Doctor would have completely outstayed his welcome if he'd had more than one season.

[Richard Dickson]

When I think "Doctor," I think Baker. I love the humor in his eyes, he always seemed very 'Hitchiker's Guide.'
Makes sense, since Douglas Adams was a script editor during the Baker years. In fact, the plot for Life, the Universe and Everything was originally written as a Doctor Who script.

[Richard Dickson]

Just did some digging -- it wasn't a broken TARDIS that stranded the Pertwee doctor on Earth, he was exiled there by the Time Lords. The Second Doctor was put on trial for constantly breaking the Time Lords' law of non-interference, and when he was found guilty, he was exiled to Earth and forced to regenerate. Only after "The Three Doctors" story was the ban lifted.

[RathBandu]

I'm still holding out hope that they get Nighy after Tennant's tenure is up.

[EdHocken]

While my avatar is that of the fifth doctor, I enjoy Tennant's role the best however I like to separate the two eras seeing how they were set up differently. Admittedly I haven't seen much of the other doctors (Only have seen Tom Baker, Davison, Eccleston, and McCoy) and I think Sylvester McCoy would've been the best had he had better material to work with.

But there's something about the fifth's subdued nature that I really enjoy which is why it's the avatar.

[The NZ Natural]

Grew up with Baker and Davison, so they win by default. I kinda tuned out after Davison's run ended, and only caught sporadic episodes of the different incarnations since then, so I can't really judge. But what I did see didn't capture the imagination like those two did.

I would've been something like 7 or 8, but I still vividly remember watching the regeneration from Baker to Davison on TV. Having not known the Doctor could do that at the time, it completely blew my mind.

The 'Time Crash' Children In Need special this year bought back alot of nostalgia-flavoured memories for me, too, as it did alot of you by the sound of it.

But beyond who I grew up with, it's pretty hard to ignore Tennant's ridiculously inexhaustible charisma - whether you like his take on the character or not, I don't think anyone can deny he's so just so damn watchable.

[dclaymoore]

All of the Doctors are great, I'll pick Tennant because he's got the role right now and is doing a great job.