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While we're all asking the question... Sixteenth Doctor, who? It’s time to decide: who’s the best from One to Fifteen?
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00:00Once upon a time, life was simple, and there was just one Doctor.
00:04But since then, we've had fugitives, warriors, faces in holograms, faces on screens,
00:09timeless children, and probably several other possible Doctors I can't even think of right now.
00:14But anyway, with the wait for our next Doctor at least one year away,
00:17and November being the anniversary of a certain show about a space wizard in a blue police box,
00:22now's a pretty good time to assess all the main Doctors we've seen so far.
00:26Now before we begin, it goes without saying that this is one of the most subjective topics among Doctor Who
00:32fans.
00:32Every Doctor is fantastic in their own way, but someone has to be last, and someone has to be first.
00:38Many of you won't agree with this list, and that's absolutely fine, how I don't agree with everything on this
00:42list.
00:43But let's have a respectful debate in the comments, shall we?
00:46And we do want to hear your rankings too, so why not drop them in the comments section while you're
00:49there.
00:50First up, a couple of honourable mentions.
00:53It wouldn't be fair to compare the War and Fugitive Doctors to their full-time counterparts,
00:59but it also wouldn't be fair to leave them out entirely.
01:01The War Doctor is the embodiment of necessity being the mother of invention.
01:06When Christopher Eccleston refused to return for the 50th anniversary special in 2013,
01:10Stephen Moffat opted to introduce a whole other incarnation between 8 and 9.
01:15It was an audacious move, but John Hurt was so good as an older, gruffer Doctor that no one batted
01:21an eyelid,
01:22and casting an actor who could theoretically have played the part during the Wilderness Years was inspired.
01:27Fast forward seven years, and Chris Chibnall introduced another additional incarnation,
01:32whose placement has never been officially confirmed, though it's heavily implied that she comes before William Hartnell.
01:37She might only have had a handful of appearances, but Jo Martin instantly won fans over as the Fugitive Doctor,
01:44giving us a glimpse of a sterner and more serious incarnation opposite the joyful Jodie Whittaker.
01:49And while we're here, shout out to the endless one-off Doctors too.
01:53The Morbius Doctors, the Metacrisis Doctor, the Master Doctor,
01:56not to mention the ones that have appeared outside the main canon.
01:59Richard E. Grant, Rowan Atkinson, Joanna Lumley, and the rest.
02:03But that's a rabbit hole for another time.
02:04Let's get going, shall we?
02:05Coming in at number 15, The Fifth Doctor.
02:09The Fifth Doctor was a big departure from his predecessors.
02:13Adopting a younger body and a calmer demeanour, he generally felt less in control,
02:18constantly quarrelling with his companions and struggling to make a difference in an increasingly violent, nihilistic universe.
02:24Did it work? Sort of.
02:26Peter Davison provided a marked contrast to the moody, sombre Doctor that Tom Baker had become by the time he
02:32departed.
02:33And there was an attempt to tie everything up thematically in his final stories,
02:37particularly the Caves of Androzani, which sees the Doctor give his life to save a woman he's just met.
02:42Ultimately though, and this isn't to sound too harsh, but he's just a bit bland.
02:47And then there's his costume.
02:48Admittedly, it's become iconic in its own right.
02:51Doctor Who fans haven't looked at celery in the same way since.
02:54But the combination of cricketer kit and decorative vegetable is undeniably odd,
02:58and doesn't exactly scream, I am the Doctor and I'm going to save you all.
03:02That said, as the youngest actor to play the role until Matt Smith came along,
03:06kudos must go to Davison for proving that the Doctor doesn't have to be a man in his 40s or
03:1150s.
03:12And he was one of David Tennant's favourites.
03:14So he must have done something right.
03:16Number 14. The Eighth Doctor
03:19The Eighth Doctor has many fans and proved influential in so many ways.
03:24He was a much more human Doctor than the ones before him,
03:27plus the first to be characterised as a romantic hero and the first to kiss his companion.
03:31However, he only actually got one full story, most of which he spends in a post-regenerative haze.
03:37Paul McGann's performance is compelling, and there's plenty to enjoy about Eighth's characterisation,
03:42from his infectious love of life to the cheeky nod that he's half-human on his mother's side.
03:48He's also a Doctor that feels particularly British,
03:50partly due to everything around him being so American.
03:53But it's not quite enough to rank him any higher than this,
03:56which is a shame, as McGann had so much potential.
03:59Thankfully, Eighth has had plenty of time and space to develop off-screen in the expanded universe.
04:05This has led to returns in The Night of the Doctor and The Power of the Doctor,
04:09with the former offering us a grittier, warier take on his incarnation at the end of his life.
04:14In a way, then, McGann has never really stopped playing the part,
04:17and despite his lack of screen time, he feels as proper as any other Doctor.
04:22Number 13. The Third Doctor
04:26By the end of the 1960s, there was a suggestion that Doctor Who should wind down.
04:31But the show bounced back with a radical new format,
04:33involving a suave, more action-oriented Doctor who was stranded on Earth.
04:38The Third Doctor was a reassuring presence who is fondly remembered by many.
04:41His bromances with the Master and Brigadier be in particular highlights of the era.
04:46There are other aspects, though, such as his love of vehicles and Venusian Aikido,
04:50which work fine in context and are a perfect fit for John Pertwee,
04:54but ultimately feel more James Bond than Doctor Who.
04:57Which is unsurprising, given that Bond was clearly an influence on this incarnation.
05:01That said, there are two things we can't fault about the Third Doctor.
05:05His love of science and gadgets, which would be a major influence on the character going forward,
05:10and his impeccable dress sense.
05:12Let's have a Doctor Who wears capes again.
05:14Please make it happen.
05:16Number 12. The Sixth Doctor
05:18The Sixth Doctor rubbed many viewers the wrong way when he burst onto screens in 1984,
05:24and there were certainly some missteps with this incarnation.
05:27Having him try to strangle Perry probably wasn't the best idea,
05:30even if it was just a side effect of his regeneration.
05:33And his constant bickering with her does grow tiresome quite quickly.
05:37Ending his debut story with him telling viewers that he's the Doctor,
05:40whether you like it or not, also wasn't a great look.
05:43But underneath the bold personality and even bolder multicoloured coat is a fascinating take on the character,
05:49which brought back some of the spikiness and unpredictability of William Hartnell.
05:53The plan was to soften him over time.
05:56However, Colin Baker was sacked before he got a chance to see it through.
05:59He's since made up for it, enjoying a massive renaissance on audio.
06:03But the foundations were laid in his original stories, and that shouldn't be overlooked.
06:07His debates with Davros in Revelation of the Daleks
06:10and righteous anger in being put on trial in Trial of a Time Lord
06:14are particular highlights that demonstrate how engaging the Sixth Doctor could be.
06:18He's by no means perfect.
06:20No Doctor is.
06:21But Sixth was undeniably done dirty and doesn't get the praise he deserves.
06:26Number 11. The Fifteenth Doctor
06:29It still feels weird to say that Shuti Gatwa is no longer the Doctor.
06:33Though never officially acknowledged, it's all but confirmed that his era was cut short.
06:37And regrettably, that's part of the reason why he's not higher.
06:40We never got to see this Doctor's story culminate as intended,
06:44and Gatwa clearly had so much more to give.
06:46That's not to downplay what we did get, though.
06:49Character-wise, the Fifteenth Doctor was arguably the biggest shake-up since the Ninth.
06:53Both carefree, cheeky and charming, with a new costume every episode,
06:57or sometimes every scene, and both hearts firmly on his sleeve.
07:01For those who like their Doctors more consistently dressed and less emotionally available,
07:05it was a reimagining too far.
07:07But it was a distinctive take on the role,
07:09and you could feel Gatwa settling more into his portrayal throughout his second season.
07:13Fifteen wasn't without more serious, steely moments either,
07:16with Gatwa rising to the challenge in stories like Boom and Lucky Day.
07:20Though some beats, such as the Doctor's angst in Joy to the World,
07:24felt rehashed and at odds with the idea of a Doctor who had undergone therapy.
07:28Hopefully, one day he'll get a bit more development, perhaps in the expanded universe.
07:32But the fact that his era ended the way it did will never not be frustrating.
07:37Number 10. The First Doctor
07:40Pitting the original Doctor alongside his successors always feels weird.
07:44He set the template for every Doctor that has followed,
07:47and yet he's also not quite the version of the character that we know and love today.
07:51Echoing Doctor Who's own origins as a show that should both educate and entertain,
07:56the First Doctor was a traditional Victorian-slash-Edwardian adventurer,
08:00simply out to explore the universe.
08:02Stern and stubborn, he nevertheless had a twinkle in his eye,
08:05plus a grandfatherly warmth incorporating elements of Father Christmas and The Wizard of Oz.
08:10This was also the Doctor at his most mysterious,
08:13unencumbered by the lore additions that would come later,
08:16and in some respects would weigh down and overcomplicate the show and the character.
08:21Regrettably, William Hartnell's ailing health impacted his performance as time went on,
08:26resulting in regular line fluffs, which are nevertheless charming in hindsight,
08:30a reduced role in later stories, and ultimately his departure from the show.
08:34In the years following, other actors and writers would develop the character of the Doctor more,
08:38but none of that would have been possible if Hartnell and co.
08:42hadn't created such a compelling character in the first place.
08:46Number 9. The 14th Doctor
08:49When David Tennant returned for the 60th anniversary,
08:52it would have been so easy to just have him play the 10th Doctor again,
08:56with his older appearance explained away as a temporal distortion,
08:59or something along those lines.
09:01Fortunately for us, Russell T. Davis delivered something altogether more interesting.
09:05A second David Tennant Doctor, who comes directly after 13,
09:09and carries the weight of everything that has happened in between.
09:12There are traces of 10, but 14 is a very different man,
09:16more mature, more sophisticated, and more relaxed with his emotions.
09:19This idea reaches its climax in the giggle,
09:22when he's granted a more hopeful end rather than a rehash of the 10th Doctor's regeneration.
09:27His arc was necessarily constrained to three episodes,
09:30but you can't help but wish he'd been given a full season, or even a full era.
09:34The way he's written and played, with Tennant bringing an old-school,
09:37doctory gravitas to the table, plus an extra 13 years of experience,
09:41makes it a more satisfying performance than 10 in some respects.
09:45And some might say that his costume is even better.
09:48Of course, 14 has a better reason than any other to return to the show,
09:52so we've not necessarily seen the last of this incarnation yet.
09:56Number 8. The Second Doctor
09:59Arguably no Doctor has had such a difficult job as Patrick Troughton did.
10:03He achieved the impossible, not just taking over from Hartnell,
10:06but becoming a successful Doctor in his own right,
10:09proving that Doctor Who could continue,
10:11and that its title role could be played by other actors.
10:14This was largely due to the fact that Troughton and the writers
10:17evolved the character rather than repeating what had gone before.
10:20The Second Doctor was scruffier and sillier than his predecessor,
10:24displaying a more rebellious streak and an impish glee.
10:27However, his bumbling, clownish persona was, to an extent,
10:30a facade to mask his true intelligence and cunning.
10:34And whereas before, the Doctor had always been something of an aimless traveller,
10:38this was the incarnation who consciously chose to rid the universe of evil.
10:41In his own era, this eventually resulted in his time-travelling rights
10:45being revoked by the Time Lords.
10:47But beyond this, it's informed every subsequent interpretation of the character,
10:51becoming an integral part of the Doctor's mission statement.
10:53As with Hartnell, if we hadn't had so many imaginative portrayals of the Doctors since,
10:58Troughton would definitely be higher.
11:00Indeed, many of the Doctors who came after him cite him as their favourite.
11:03He's one of my personal favourites,
11:04and if I'd written this list, he definitely would have been higher.
11:07Just saying.
11:08Number 7.
11:09The Tenth Doctor
11:11If you ask someone on the street who the best Doctor is,
11:14chances are they'll say David Tennant.
11:16Although please don't just walk up to random people in the street and ask them about Doctor Who.
11:19Though not present from the start of Revived Who,
11:22he's the one who took it into the stratosphere.
11:24And given that he was a lifelong Doctor Who fan who also happened to be a charmer,
11:28it's not hard to see why.
11:30The Tenth Doctor benefited from both a distinctive, trendy appearance,
11:33with his spiky hair, sideburns, trench coat, pinstripe suit,
11:37Converse trainers and geek-chic glasses,
11:39and compelling characterisation.
11:41Having been affected by Rose,
11:43he's more human and easygoing than his immediate predecessor,
11:46even enjoying the odd romance.
11:48He could also be ignorant, arrogant and overconfident.
11:51For instance, in his treatment of Martha in Series 3,
11:53his attempt to take control in Midnight,
11:55and his crusade against time in the waters of Mars.
11:58This less likeable behaviour is seen as grating by some,
12:01while Tenn's overall popularity means that he's inevitably accused of being overrated by others.
12:06But he was undeniably a great Doctor,
12:09and deservedly ranks in the upper echelons of any list like this.
12:13Again, if this was my personal ranking,
12:15then Tenn would take top spot,
12:16but I think nostalgia plays a big part in that.
12:19Number 6, The Ninth Doctor
12:22Doctor Who's return to TV in 2005 was something of a crossroads moment.
12:27The show could have floundered and failed, but it didn't.
12:30The decision to move away from the lofty, eccentric Doctors of the classic series,
12:34and make the character a northern man with a leather jacket and a bus cut,
12:38was a huge part of this.
12:39Nine was nothing short of groundbreaking,
12:42bringing the Doctor right down to earth for 21st century viewers.
12:45He was still alien, but in a way that was less obvious,
12:48less conspicuous, and less distracting.
12:50The perfect Doctor at the perfect time.
12:52Another aspect that made this Doctor relatable was his backstory.
12:55The Doctor of the classic series was always someone who lived in the present,
12:59but the Ninth Doctor had a past, and a troubled one at that,
13:02albeit one that he was eventually able to overcome with the help of Rose.
13:05He's another Doctor that left under something of a cloud.
13:08However, on this occasion,
13:10the production team had enough notice to accommodate his exit properly.
13:13The silver lining is that he didn't outstay his welcome.
13:16His tenure was short but sweet, just 13 weeks,
13:19and he has the distinction of being the only mainline incarnation
13:22to not have played the role across multiple years.
13:25Yet.
13:27Number 5.
13:28The Seventh Doctor
13:30Following the sacking of Colin Baker,
13:32Doctor Who could have descended into complete chaos in the late 1980s.
13:37But against all the odds, the show managed to turn things around,
13:39with quirky comedy performer Sylvester McCoy cast as a darker and more complex Doctor.
13:45The Seventh Doctor was essentially an extension of the Second,
13:48outwardly clownish but cool and calculating at hearts,
13:51manipulating events like pieces on a chessboard for the sake of the greater good.
13:55The greater good.
13:56Sorry, I couldn't help myself.
13:57He starts off silly but gradually shows more of his true colours,
14:01forcing his companion Ace to confront her troubled past,
14:04then admitting that he engineered their very first meeting
14:07in order to use her as a pawn against an ancient evil.
14:10Elsewhere, there were hints towards the Doctor's own past too,
14:13part of a concerted effort on the part of script editor Andrew Cartmel
14:16to reintroduce an element of mystery to the character,
14:19hence his question mark pullover and umbrella.
14:21The show's cancellation in 1989 curtailed plans to take things further
14:26by revealing that the Doctor was in fact a founding figure of Time Lord society.
14:30Even so, Seven's arc doesn't feel incomplete.
14:33On the contrary, this was a revolutionary take on the character
14:36that remains wonderfully enigmatic.
14:38When he flips that switch and you see his darker side emerge,
14:41there really isn't another Doctor like him.
14:444. The Thirteenth Doctor
14:47Jodie Whittaker was facing an uphill battle when she took on the role in 2017,
14:51but together with Chris Chibnall,
14:53she gave us the most enthusiastic, optimistic Doctor yet,
14:56bringing warmth, energy and humour in spades.
14:59Thirteen was a beacon of hope at a time when the real world
15:02was getting more and more turbulent,
15:03particularly during a certain global event that happened in 2020.
15:07Though let down by the writing for some of her stories,
15:10Whittaker herself was a joy to watch.
15:12It felt like this was the sort of Doctor the show needed at this time,
15:15with the revival being dominated by much angstier Doctors
15:18and darker storylines up to this point.
15:21In fact, you could argue that this Twelve into Thirteen shift,
15:24bridged by Twelve rediscovering his purpose in Twice Upon a Time,
15:28was a much better look at a Doctor having undergone therapy
15:31than what we just saw with Fourteen and Fifteen.
15:33There was also a sense that Thirteen was the beating heart of the universe,
15:37constantly racing against time in order to keep everything together,
15:40quite literally in the case of Swarm and Azure.
15:42Due to the frustratingly long space between seasons,
15:45by the time she departed in 2022, she'd had one of the longest tenures ever.
15:50It was a fitting achievement for one of the show's more groundbreaking incarnations.
15:55Number 3. The Fourth Doctor
15:57The other Doctor that regularly tops Best Doctor lists is Tom Baker,
16:02whose portrayal won over viewers up and down the country
16:04during his record-breaking seven-year tenure.
16:07Baker's detached, aloof nature, as well as his unruly curls, booming voice and big grin,
16:13made him perfect for the role.
16:15Indeed, in behind-the-scenes interviews,
16:17it's often difficult to work out where the Doctor ends and Tom Baker begins.
16:20He wasn't the same Doctor throughout, though.
16:22On the contrary, his characterisation shifted under different producers and script editors,
16:27from wide-eyed and eccentric, to frivolous and witty, to brooding and mournful.
16:31But generally speaking, he was bohemian, somewhat intimidating, and utterly alien,
16:37an incarnation who, by contrast to his Earth-bound predecessor,
16:40is at his happiest when he's venturing through time and space.
16:43There's also his playful streak,
16:45manifested most strongly through his tendency to offer jelly babies to everyone he meets,
16:50and his unpractically long multicoloured scarf,
16:52which hilariously actually gets longer as the era goes on.
16:5550 years on from his debut, Baker remains as popular as ever.
16:59For many, he's never been matched.
17:01Now, he's not quite topped this list,
17:03but when it comes to the best classic Doctor, there's no competition, really.
17:08Number 2. The Eleventh Doctor
17:11In theory, following David Tennant was always going to be a tall order.
17:15But in practice, the show struck gold with Matt Smith.
17:17The Eleventh Doctor is a combination of unlikely elements.
17:21A thousand-year-old Time Lord in the body of a twenty-something,
17:24with a great big quiff and the wardrobe of a university professor.
17:26Yet, Smith absolutely sold it, serving up a quirky yet alluring performance,
17:31and single-handedly making tweed jackets, bow ties, fezzers, and stetsons cool.
17:35As well as Smith, much of Eleven's success was down to the way he was written.
17:39Elements of the Doctor's personality that were present before,
17:42his intelligence, his eccentricity, his childlike wonder,
17:45were dialed up to Eleven,
17:47resulting in an incarnation who's intellectually one step ahead,
17:51yet easily distracted and utterly hopeless at reading social cues.
17:54It was an incredibly fun mix,
17:56and it's no surprise Smith struck the global chord that he did.
18:00This was also the beginning of Stephen Moffat's examination of the Doctor's ego,
18:04with his opinion of himself and his place in the universe constantly questioned.
18:08It's weighty stuff for a children's TV show,
18:10but made for fascinating viewing across a satisfying three-series arc.
18:14All these years later, the love for Eleven is more apparent than ever,
18:17and if Tennant can come back, surely he can too.
18:21Number 1. The Twelfth Doctor
18:24Following Matt Smith's own departure,
18:26Moffat went to the opposite end of the scale,
18:28casting the oldest Doctor yet, Peter Capaldi.
18:31The result was an incarnation that embodies the character better than any other,
18:35not least because Capaldi, like Tennant, is a massive Doctor Who fan,
18:39and was able to incorporate shades of old Doctors in his performance.
18:42He also had the best character development of any Doctor,
18:45starting off as prickly and intense, but softening over time.
18:49Basically, the Sixth Doctor's arc done right.
18:51A big part of this was the continuation of the character destruction introduced in the Smith era.
18:56Underneath the often blunt, sarcastic exterior,
18:59Twelfth struggles to see himself as a good man,
19:02both because of the harsh choices he has to make,
19:04and the high standards he holds himself to.
19:06As a result, he's also one of the more mature Doctors,
19:09recognising when he's gone too far,
19:11such as when saving Clara in Hellbent,
19:13and deciding that ultimately all that really matters is being kind.
19:17It's Moffat's interpretation of the Doctor distilled,
19:20that they're not a hero per se,
19:22rather a traveller passing through and doing their best.
19:25Add to that Capaldi's classy, sophisticated performance,
19:28and you have something truly special.
19:30Twelfth really was a Doctor for the ages,
19:32and he deservedly tops this list.
19:36And that concludes our list.
19:38Now, this particular ranking was written by our wonderful writer Richard Lloyd,
19:42and as I said at the beginning,
19:43my opinions are slightly different,
19:45as I'm sure yours are as well.
19:46So do let us know your personal ranking in the comments down below,
19:50but remember, be kind to one another.
19:52It's okay if we have different views.
19:54That's absolutely fine.
19:55In the meantime, I've been Ellie for WhoCulture,
19:57and in the words of Riversong herself,
19:59goodbye, sweeties.
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