The Doctor is an iconic character. He can change his entire face, body, and mind, yet remain the same person at heart, with the same memories and the same abilities. Doctor Who has been around for a long time, so it never made sense that William Hartnell could keep going forever, so allowing him to (canonically) change face via regeneration, was a stroke of genius.
We’ve ranked all of the actors to have played The Doctor over the years, from the ancient original series, all the way up to the new episodes of the revived version, based on an average of their IMDb score.
15 Honorable Mention: John Hurt
Oscar-winning John Hurt was an incredible actor to have been able to get on board for a humble BBC show. He appears for only a few episodes as the infamous War Doctor, who doesn’t have an official ‘number’ like the other Doctors.
He was the incarnation of the Time Lord who is ashamed of his actions in the pre-Ninth Doctor Time War.
14 Honorable Mention: Jo Martin
Jo Martin is the first black person to play a version of The Doctor, only we don’t really know which one yet. She was introduced towards the end of the most recent season of Doctor Who, with Jodie Whittaker’s 13th Doctor meeting this mysterious past version of herself.
We know she existed somewhere before the War Doctor, but we don’t quite know where yet.
13 Jodie Whittaker (6.0)
Jodie Whittaker’s appointment as The Doctor was always going to be controversial, as a woman had never played the role before. Of course, The Doctor has referenced the fact that it is possible to regenerate into a woman, and the concept of a ‘Doctor’ doesn’t have a gender attached to it, so it makes sense, really.
Unfortunately, Whittaker’s portrayal comes off as desperate and rather annoying, with abysmal writing just making things worse for the northern actress.
12 Paul McGann (6.4)
Paul McGann is the George Lazenby of the Doctor Who world. He appeared just once, and people didn’t particularly like his portrayal. McGann’s attempt came all the way back in 1996, through an attempt to revive the show seven years after its last episode.
It didn’t go well, as no series was born. McGann has received retrospective praise for his role and has played The Doctor in various audio dramas and the mini-episode ‘The Night of The Doctor’ in 2013.
11 Colin Baker (6.4)
Amongst the classic episodes of Doctor Who, it seems Colin Baker is often regarded as the weak link. He first appeared in Arc Of Infinity back in 1983 but provided to have a bit of trouble on his hands just a few months later. The show was receiving very negative reviews, citing its violence and Baker’s poor performance.
While he himself enjoyed the role and was keen to stay on for a long time, the show was only commissioned for another series on the condition that Baker was removed...
10 Sylvester McCoy (6.6)
The 7th Doctor ended up being another relatively forgettable incarnation. He was Colin Baker’s enforced replacement but didn’t exactly help give the show the new legs it so desperately required.
He started his time playing the character overly comedically, before going way too far the other way at the end of his tenure, before the show was put on hold altogether.
9 Peter Capaldi (7.2)
When the old Scottish actor was announced as Matt Smith’s replacement, people across the world were rightly shocked. This was a man known for his swear-heavy starring role in The Thick Of It, not a children’s show.
His performances were largely forgettable, though he did give the character an interestingly unique edge. Despite him being provided with a very cool concept in which he met his first incarnation, the episodes Capaldi was given just didn't do him justice.
8 William Hartnell (7.2)
The first Doctor ever to grace our screens was Willian Hartnell. He was in his fifties when he first appeared and brought an old-man attitude to the character, which was, of course, all anyone knew The Doctor to be at the time.
This version of The Doctor was resurrected during Peter Capaldi’s run, with David Bradley playing Hartnell playing The Doctor.
7 John Pertwee (7.3)
Known more for playing Worzel Gummidge than Doctor Who, John Pertwee was an interesting Doctor. He actively wanted the role, and added a unique twist on things, using his desire for fancy clothes and secret-agent-like adventures to his advantage.
He continued to attend conventions and give interviews related to the show right up until his 1996 death.
6 Peter Davidson (7.3)
The fifth Doctor is another who seemed to truly love the show. He returned a number of times since his departure in 1984, including meeting David Tennant’s 10th Doctor for a special episode in 2007.
While his portrayal is well-loved, he lost some respect amongst fans for his opposition to a female Doctor.
5 Patrick Troughton (7.5)
William Hartnell’s insistence that his character transforms into Patrick Troughton seemed like a spot-on suggestion.
While one of his original ideas as to how to play The Doctor was “in blackface and a turban”, he ended up going for the much safer route of a funny, almost Charlie Chaplin style dramatization.
4 Christopher Eccleston (8.0)
While many of the Doctor Who cast seem to love the show and be willing to return and chat about it and appear at conventions, Christopher Eccleston let the show go as soon as he left after one season.
He gave the character an interesting balance between straight-edged no-nonsense, and one-liner-laden sarcasm.
3 Matt Smith (8.0)
Even though the introduction of Matt Smith happened to coincide with the drastic drop in writing quality and huge loss of viewing figures that came with Russel T Davis’ departure from the show, his energetic, bouncy and funny version of The Doctor was a great way to move past the iconic David Tennant.
2 Tom Baker (8.1)
The top two on this list are basically down to your age. Those who grew up with the classic Doctor Who are all going to choose Tom Baker.
He was funny, happy and wore a huge scarf, and people loved him. He stayed on for seven seasons and quite recently returned to the show as a character called The Curator in ‘The Day Of The Doctor’.
1 David Tennant (8.2)
David Tennant is to many the most iconic Doctor of all time. He took over from Christopher Eccleston back in 2006 and stayed on for a number of years, winning the hearts of basically every single person who ever watched the show.
He was incredibly funny, clever, and was given some truly heart-wrenching storylines. His role was so iconic that his send-off was spread out over four increasingly dramatic special episodes. We can only hope he returns to the series again one day.
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