Who was the best Dr Who?

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When rating Dr. Who, it is important to remember that the actors don't choose the scripts. Keeping this in mind, my favorite doctors would have to be, in order of most to least: Sylvester McCoy, Tom Baker, John Pertwee, Peter Davison, William Hartnell, Patrick Troughton, Colin Baker, David Tennant, Christopher Eccelston, and then Paul McGann (whom the BBC seems to officially consider a doctor).

And while we are on the subject of McGann, why would the BBC even count him? The airing of the Doctor Who "movie" in America was a complete flop. No one that I personally know liked him. And according to the conventions I have been to, it is only the most hardcore fans that count movies with unknown actors (Peter Shilling as the 1st Doctor, and McGann as the 8th) and radio shows (With Mr. Bean or paul McGann as the Doctor) and stage plays as Doctor Who.

In terms of "style" of episodes I would rank Doctor Who this way:

Later Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Early Tom Baker, John Pertwee, William Hartnell, Patrick Troughton, Sylvester McCoy, Colin Baker, Paul McGann, David Tennant, Christopher Eccelston.

Favorite episodes: Keeper of Traken, Logopolis, Castrovalva, Ressurection of the Daleks, Remembrance of the Daleks (although Davros is reduced to a raving idiot in that one, but that Special Weapons Dalek was cool), The Horror of Fang Rock, the Talons of Weng Chiang, the Dalek Invasion of Earth and that Colin Baker one with the Rani in it.

I've never seen the 1996 Doctor Who movie.

Hmm, which story was "Resurrection of the Daleks" again? Is that the one with Peter Davison, in which Tegan leaves? Or is that the one with Colin Baker and Peri?

"Horror of Fang Rock" was one of the first Doctor Who stories I had ever seen, and that is a very good Tom Baker story. I think the Colin Baker story with the Rani that you are referring to is "The Mark of the Rani."

I've seen 8-10 of the Hartnell stories. At first I wondered, why do the Hartnell stories have so many episodes in them? And then I noticed that these stories tended to be really long and drawn out. Perhaps it is due to the original design of the series as a kids show. For example, I remember one story where Barbara was thinking about what to do next (I've forgotten which story it was). She must've taken the next 5-10 minutes going, "Hmm, I wonder what I could use. What could I do??" and walked around in a circle in a room, thinking. She would think aloud, considering various options and strategies, exploring each one further or discounting them as likely to fail. I thought that the plots themselves were quite interesting, but the pace of the storytelling was very slow.

It's the one where Tegan leaves.

Davros is released from a cryo chamber and begins to build a new Dalek army. We are led to believe that he dies due to the Movellan virus, but then he appears in Revelations of the Daleks unharmed and making Daleks out of corpses on the planet Necros.

The Hartnell era had 52 22 minute episodes per year. This was whittled down to 26 22 minute episodes per year during the Tom Baker era, and down to the equivalent of 13 22 minute episodes in the last year of the Colin Baker era.

One must remember that Doctor Who was a kid's show in the first place and that is why the episodes were initially slow paced.

It got banned from the airwaves once due to excessive violence (during the Colin Baker years) because it was STILL considered a kid's show then. It got cancelled due to silly plot schemes that even children could not really undestand at the end of the McCoy era.

Now I do not know what it is classified as, but I don;t like the way it is set up for two reasons:

1) The Tardis interior looks like some cheap lash-up. (You'd think the Doctor would have improved it with age, and

2) The Doctor is more like a casual observer than an actual participant in the adventures.

Gone seem to be the days when the Doctor peeped around corners and investigated things like Sherlock Holmes. Now he seems to be a sort of intergalactic NT wanna be mugging for the camera in between battles with alien monsters.

The special effects are good, but, for the most part, the dialogue is about as thick and real as an apparition. But what can you do by way of plot in 45 minutes these days?

The man with a piano key smile!! !!

Tom baker

the 4th doctor!

Jon Pertwee was my favorte. I haven't seen the new series yet I'm afraid.

I also got to meet Jon Pertwee at a convention back in the 1980's and he was great with the fans. I even got his autograph. Sad to say he's gone now.

I met John Nathan Turner at a convention years ago and gave him a script. He sent it back with a schedule for an upcoming season that had not gone into production yet and a letter that he personally signed. Some of the titles of the shows had working titles or were never produced. Very cool.

Pertwee, Troughton, Colin Baker, and Peter Davison were at the table when I handed Turner the script.

I really liked Peter Davison. He was very under-rated. I thought he pulled off the 'Looks generally normal, but with something not quite normal about him' aura that the Doctor should have very well. Although I agree that Tom Baker's probably the quintessential Doctor.

I still say the BBC missed a golden opportunity by not asking David Dixon (Ford Prefect in the TV series of Hitchhikers' Guide To The Galaxy) to do a stint as the Doctor at some point.

This is why I, as somebody with AS, strongly identify with the Doctor. Kinda clumsy, stumbles around a bit, but with amazing intelligence and a big heart. Very prone to being misunderstood. A wanderer and explorer, just like me!

At our house, we just switched our votes from Tom Baker to David Tennant. He's adorable, in an enthusiastically weird way...

=^_^=
TheRoaroftheGreasepaint