Favorite Doctor (Doctor Who)

[kkhohoho]

This might be an iffy one, as I'm not sure how many people on these forums watch Doctor Who, but with Series 9 starting up in just a few days, I figured there was no better time to do this. As anyone worth his salt in DW lore knows, there have been a good deal of Doctors over the years. Everyone's bound to have their favorites, and this is where you can vote which is yours. Or, in other words, the answer to the oldest question in the universe, hidden in plain sight: Doctor... WHO?!

For me, the answer to the oldest question in the universe is... Sylvester McCoy, the Seventh Doctor, which is a bit odd considering just how un-Doctorish he can seem compared to any Doctor before and since. Whereas most Doctors made a life's work of running from their troubles, gallivanting across the universe and helping out wherever he happened to turn up, the Seventh Doctor made a life's work of facing his troubles head on, specifically planning out his trips ahead of time and deliberately seeking evil and injustice out, rather than merely stumbling upon it. Destroying planets, outwitting eldritch abominations, and toppling empires was practically his dayjob. (Especially in the Expanded Universe, though he does at least one of each in his short run of TV stories as well.) Also unlike other Doctor's, who prided themselves on being masters of improvisation while only delving into manipulation when they needed to, Seven was manipulative as a matter of course, playing the universe like his favorite toy while still able to cover himself whenever he screwed up.

All of that said, he still had enough familiar traits in him to be the Doctor. He still loved exploring the universe, and still truly cared about saving innocent lives and fighting injustice, so much so that he goes to such manipulative and extreme lengths in order to combat it. That's part of what makes him so interesting: How far is one willing to go in the name of justice or the greater good? He could also be downright imitating and even scary at times, and showed little mercy towards his enemies, but this was balanced out his by calm, collected, pleasant demeanor, and a sense of mystery that hasn't often been touched on since his tenure. Also, towards the end of his tenure, he did begin to get called out on his more ambiguous actions and especially so in the EU, which meant that said ambiguous actions were treats as such by the narrative rather than being glorified.

And of course, McCoy played the character with aplomb, able to transform from his rather goofy self in his first season into his standard persona seen later on, giving the Doctor a sense of inscrutability and mystique. He was an excellent Doctor, and it's a shame that he only lasted 12 stories before the Classic Series got booted off the air. (Although he's since been part of a long-running series of DW audio's for 16 years now, which are quite good, so he at least has those to make up for his short TV run.)

[Podmark]

Actually I believe we're on series 9 now.

My favourite is Matt Smith. He was a fun character full of life and had some neat little quirks. I also really liked that era of the show. I really enjoyed Amy, Rory, River, Clara and the plots that occurred. Even the sound track was great - I Am the Doctor is actually my ring tone even now.
I consider Smith my first Doctor, technically. My first Doctor Who episode was a Tennant episode I watched randomly one night, but I really became familiar and got interested in the character by hearing about the Smith era. I believe the Smith era was already under way before I saw that Tennant episode. So before I started watching the current show I already knew the Doctor as Matt Smith, he was who I thought of. When someone says Doctor Who that's who I picture.

I only got into Doctor Who recently and I've only watched the new series so far, so I can't comment on any of the Doctors before Eccleston. I enjoyed Eccleston and Tennant a good deal, and I like Capaldi too so far.

And my favourite companion is Amy.

[kkhohoho]

Actually I believe we're on series 9 now.

My favourite is Matt Smith. He was a fun character full of life and had some neat little quirks. I also really liked that era of the show. I really enjoyed Amy, Rory, River, Clara and the plots that occurred. Even the sound track was great - I Am the Doctor is actually my ring tone even now.
I consider Smith my first Doctor, technically. My first Doctor Who episode was a Tennant episode I watched randomly one night, but I really became familiar and got interested in the character by hearing about the Smith era. I believe the Smith era was already under way before I saw that Tennant episode. So before I started watching the current show I already knew the Doctor as Matt Smith, he was who I thought of. When someone says Doctor Who that's who I picture.

I only got into Doctor Who recently and I've only watched the new series so far, so I can't comment on any of the Doctors before Eccleston. I enjoyed Eccleston and Tennant a good deal, and I like Capaldi too so far.

And my favourite companion is Amy.

I like Eleven as well, though there's a good reason as to why he's as wonderful as he is. Matt Smith basically based his performance off of the Second Doctor, Patrick Troughton, and if you compare the two, the only real difference is that Smith is a good twenty years younger than Troughton. Other than, they're largely the same character, more or less, though both Troughton and Smith give fantastic performances regardless. If you've got Netflix, The Mind Robber is a great standalone Troughton story to check out. It's probably one of the best DW episodes ever made, at least IMO.

Also, if you've got the time, you might want to check out Seasons 26&27 if you want. They're the last two seasons of the classic series, and begin to feature elements that would become dominant in the new series, making it the perfect bridge between Classic&New Who. They're both just completely fantastic in their own rights as well, and with only 26 half-hour episodes making up 8 different stories, (the equivalent of a New Series season,) it's not that much to go through either. If you're ever interested in checking out Classic Who, Seasons 26&27 are a fantastic place to start.

[Podmark]

Thanks. Definitely interested in checking out the classic shows, just haven't gotten around to it yet.

[Glitch Girl]

I can only vote for one? 

I am deeply torn between 4th and 10th. 

[catwhowalksbyhimself]

New Who, it's Matt Smith.  Classic who, its John Pertwee.  Yes, I prefer him over Baker.

[kkhohoho]

New Who, it's Matt Smith.  Classic who, its John Pertwee.  Yes, I prefer him over Baker.

...



For shame.

(Just joking, don't worry. Seriously though, Pertwee's... okay, but to me, he's as dull as wet cardboard. At least Baker was fun.)