Rank the New Series Doctors

Since Doctor Who relaunched in 2005, three actors have taken on the mantle of the Time Lord. Which one was the best? Which was the worst? And which was in-between? Welshy has a highlights reel of each if you need refreshing.

 

Tennant, Eccleston, than Smith.

 

The beginning of season 1 was mehtastic, but Smith's stuff has been much more consistently good, and the best of Smith easily compares to the best of Eccleston.

 

Smith's a better actor but his stories have been somewhat meh. Tennant's fairly one-note in acting but has had fantastic episodes.

 

Tennant is easily #1 for me. I think I prefer Smith over Eccleston, but it's a close call.

 

Tennant, black leather jacket guy, then Smith.

 

Smith a hair over Tennant and then Eccleston a distant third.

 

Eccleston beats the other two by far in sexiness.

I haven't seen all of Tennant's episodes, but I do like him. His regeneration story was part of the 20+-hour marathon I watched over Christmas, and damn if I didn't start to cry. I haven't cried during a regeneration scene since Tom Baker regenerated into Peter Davison!

Smith... just meh. Really. I don't like his wrinkled forehead or his voice. And the new Master is just awful. Are there no handsome, roguish British gentlemen left in the UK who could play this role? Obviously Roger Delgado and Anthony Ainley completely spoiled me for any other sort...

 

Silly Valka, sex appeal is what the companions are for.

 

I went for Smith, Eccleston, Tennant. But it was really close between Eccleston and Tennant.

 

Not for women who prefer guys. I've been trying to remember the last sexy male Companion the Doctor had... (no, it's not Captain Jack; he doesn't do a thing for me).

Think, ponder, muse...

Let's review the male Companions, okay?

We'll dispense with the new Doctor Who stuff - none of the guys fit my personal criteria, and while I might find whats-'is-name (Amy's husband) cute, he's married. Off-limits, according to my personal code of honor.

Doctor #Eight had one male Companion (Chang Lee). He was too young.

Doctor #Seven had no male Companions, just a lamentable set of irritating female Companions (Mel and Ace).

Doctor #Six had no male Companions, an equally lamentable set of irritating female Companions (Peri and Mel).

Doctor #Five had three male Companions: Adric (too young), Kamelion (robot), and Turlough (weird eyebrows). Female Companions: Nyssa, Tegan, Peri.

Doctor #Four had three male Companions: Harry Sullivan (cute, age-appropriate, but not within my personal definition of "sexy"), K-9 Mk I and II (robot dog), Adric (too young). Female Companions: Sarah Jane Smith, Leela, Romana I, Romana II, Nyssa, Tegan.

Doctor #Three had no male Companions. Female Companions: Liz Shaw, Jo Grant, Sarah Jane Smith.

Doctor #Two had two male Companions: Ben (nonentity, really) and Jamie (cute; the female fans at the time - in the late '60s - considered him incredibly sexy). Female Companions: Polly, Victoria, Zoe. Zoe was petite and rather cute.

Doctor #One had three male Companions: Ian Chesterton, Steven, and Ben. Female Companions: Susan, Barbara, Vicki, Katarina, Sara Kingdom, Dodo, Polly.

Honorary Companions: the guys of U.N.I.T.: Sergeant Benton, Captain Mike Yates, Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart. Mike Yates was kinda cute, I suppose.

But my choice for sexiest male Companion? No contest: Ian Chesterton. Runner-up: Jamie McCrimmon (I've said it before on CFC: I enjoy looking at men in kilts!).

 

Seriously? He does quite a few things for me. What about Mickey? Regardless, I don't think it's really best to put too much weight on apparence when judging Doctors. None of them prior to Davidson strike me as conventionally handsome.

Also, I feel I can't endorse your opinion on the Tenth's regeneration. If you're getting rid of a beloved actor and you want audiences to accept his replacement, "I don't want to go." really isn't an ideal last line of dialog.

 

Which is good, 'cos he's mine first. Personal orientation be damned.

Tennant first, with Eccleston and Smith in a dead heat. I really wish Eccleston had gotten one more season, and while I love Smith I don't think he's had enough episodes to truly shine (when he gets such episodes, though, he's outperformed both of the others). I prefer to reserve judgement until he finishes his run.

 

Tennant>Smith>Eccleston

Smith is awesome, but I still love Tennant the most.

 

FLAPDOODLE!!!

I'm quite aware that appearance isn't everything. I make my judgments on looks, yes, but also on personality, presentation, body language, voice, whether everything matches up - is the person sincere in what he says? Does his body language match his words? If not, why not? It's all a huge part of figuring out whether or not you like a person.

Mickey does nothing for me. No personality whatsoever, in addition to being rather dumb.

I once saw part of an interview Tom Baker gave during the height of his run as the Doctor (late '70s). He was asked what it was like to be a sex symbol - because it can't be denied that he was very popular with a lot of women. Baker blushed and gave a gracious reply (sorry, I don't recall exactly what he said). But I do consider him THE sexiest, THE handsomest, and THE most personable of ALL the Doctors. Period.

That line is not meant to be interpreted as "I don't want to leave this job." It's meant to be interpreted as "I don't want to die." The Doctor does explain that even though his life continues, regenerating is like dying in a way, because he gets a new body and new personality, and not all of the things and people that were important to him before will continue to be important to him in his new life.

 

Fair enough. I suppose being straight and underexposed to conventional standards of good lucks in the 70s puts me at a disadvantage here, so I'll take your word for it.

That might be true in a sense, but I would have gone for something closer to this:

Link to video.
or this:

Link to video.
He's come to terms with things. It's not a happy moment, but it's not set up to make you miss the guy as much as possible And I think that maybe, just maybe, if Davies had handled the end of Tenth's run more gingerly, and put him in a situation where he was willing to give himself up out of necessity, we wouldn't have so many people who simply can't accept that Smith has taken over and who make crap like this:

Link to video.

 

I am watching Doctor Who from the beginning.
I am on season 2, episode 7, and am hating Tennant.
Eccleston could be silly and serious and was fun to watch both times.
Tennant is just silly and does a terrible job of being serious.
What's worse is that I am stuck with him for 2 series' after this.