Doctor Which

[Riley]

The great thing about Doctor Who is it’s done just about everything over the decades. Just about anyone can find something to like. And just about any era has fans.

But that glum crankiness just isn’t for me. The only versions I like less are William Hartnell and Colin Baker’s version on TV. I watch for the goof and the panto and the weirdness. Once it starts taking itself seriously I check out.

I was a moody, lonely, desperate-for-sci-fi 11 year old boy when I came across Series 18, and found its preoccupation with entropy and decay absolutely riveting and revelatory.

But Tom Baker hated that version of Doctor Who. And I like (i.e., desperately wanted to be) Adric. So judge accordingly.

 

[kigmatzomat]

Tom Baker because he was my "first" Doctor.

Peter Capaldi - Because he was a "mutant" doctor who eschewed the sonic screwdriver and asked "why am I like this?", while most Doctors accepted themselves fully without question. Lastly, the Missy / Bill / Clara /Me arcs could have been trash if Capaldi didn't pull off some gravitas.

And Whitaker because she had the biggest challenge, dealing with Nerd Rage. Her stories were meh but she managed to emote a ton of empathy, which made her the most approachable.

 

[Riley]

And Whitaker because she had the biggest challenge, dealing with Nerd Rage. Her stories were meh but she managed to emote a ton of empathy, which made her the most approachable.

In what I’ve seen of her episodes, I thought Jodie was a fabulous Doctor. But the stories were terrible.

It felt a lot like like trying to watch Sylvester McCoy’s first series. But unlike Jodie, Sylvester was gifted some great stories, starting with his 2nd opener Remembrance of the Daleks.

 

[overgeeked]

In what I’ve seen of her episodes, I thought Jodie was a fabulous Doctor. But the stories were terrible.

It felt a lot like like trying to watch Sylvester McCoy’s first series. But unlike Jodie, Sylvester was gifted some fabulous stories, starting with his 2nd opener Remembrance of the Daleks.

Sylvester McCoy is definitely in my top five. His era gets a lot of flack, some of it justified most of it not, but I absolutely love his wildly over-the-top children's show host style. I'm eternally disappointed that they dropped the malapropisms, though I'm grateful they kept the goofy physical comedy.

 

[Riley]

Sylvester is my second-favorite classic Doctor, so he got my 2nd vote after Tom Baker.

I chose Chris Eccleston as my favorite modern Doctor. I found him an absolute joy to watch: funny and serious. caring and heartless. both alien and very, very ‘real.’ He was great when he had a great script, and he exuded an intensity that could carry an episode when the script itself could not.

It’s such a shame that he departed prematurely. Whenever I watch David Tennant’s series, I keep thinking how Eccleston would have played it, and I often think he would have made it better. Especially at the end, when I completely fail to believe Tennant’s evolution/descent into the “Timelord Victorious.”

I believe Chris could’ve pulled that off.

(But remember that I like Adric and Series 18 Tom Baker, and - again - adjust accordingly.)

 

[Riley]

I'm quite partial to Joana Lumleys Doctor

She was great! I think it’s the only Joana Lumley performance I’ve ever enjoyed.

And Jonathan Price’s Master was great. Wasn’t his name floated once or twice as a rumored/potential modern Doctor?

 

[Paul Farquhar]

She was great! I think it’s the only Joana Lumley performance I’ve ever enjoyed!

Wut!? Purdey was awesome!

 

[Riley]

To each their own.

 

[Staffan]

Sylvester is my second-favorite classic Doctor, so he got my 2nd vote after Tom Baker.

I chose Chris Eccleston as my favorite modern Doctor. I found him an absolute joy to watch: funny and serious. caring and heartless. both alien and very, very ‘real.’ He was great when he had a great script, and he exuded an intensity that could carry an episode when the script itself could not.

It’s such a shame that he departed prematurely. Whenever I watch David Tennant’s series, I keep thinking how Eccleston would have played it, and I often think he would have made it better. Especially at the end, when I completely fail to believe Tennant’s evolution/descent into the “Timelord Victorious.”

I believe Chris could’ve pulled that off.

I can see that. Tennant is great at... blathering, I guess you could call it, and that's a fairly important part of Doctoring. And he's definitely easy on the eyes. But when it comes to intensity, he's at best "fine". Both Eccleston, Smith, and Capaldi have him beat in that department.

 

[jdrakeh]

Three way tie between Pertwee, Baker, and Davison for me. Those were really the three that I grew up watching and all of them have some VERY strong serials.