Ranking the Doctors from Doctor Who - Revisited

Why the heck not!

In March of 2010, right before Matt Smith became the 11th Doctor, I ranked the Doctor's of Doctor Who.  This is how my list broke down:

10. The 6th Doctor Colin Baker
9. The 3rd Doctor Jon Pertwee
8. The 7th Doctor Sylvester McCoy
7. The 1st Doctor William Hartnell
6. The 8th Doctor Paul McGann
5. The 2nd Doctor Patrick Thoughton
4. The 5th Doctor Peter Davison
3. The 9th Doctor Christopher Eccleston
2. The 10th Doctor David Tennant
1. The 4th Doctor Tom Baker

I need to revisit this list because I need to figure out where to put Matt Smith, but I also have to deal with the War Doctor, and fine tune two of the other doctors.  First off Matt Smith.

The 11th Doctor Matt Smith - I really liked him as the Doctor.  He understands the balance of keeping true to the character while interjecting his own personality.  The River Song story line, while initially I did not like it, I found it to be very rewarding, and well thought out (go to YouTube and watch it from her perspective.  Very Cool!).  And he made Cybermen scary as all get go again.  Two problems though, one the Amy and Rory story ended not with a bang but with a thud.  Having the Weeping Angels take them out, especially in such an afterthought manner didn't sit well, but their characters were on a downward cycle anyway.  The other problem is Clara.  She is fun (and beautiful) but, at least as of now, I am not sure where her character and story line is going.

The War Doctor John Hurt - The fact that such a respected and well known actor would take this role tells you enough about how much of a following Doctor Who now has.  It was a great touch, and a needed one too, to help traverse the 8th to 9th gap which has existed since the relaunch.  His appearances have been limited, but I imagine you'll read more of his stories in future publishing.  He held his own nicely on The Day of the Doctor and having him regenerate at the end was a nice touch.  Still, as far as amount of content to judge him on, kind of thin around the edges.

Now we need to talk about two other Doctors.  First the 8th Doctor Paul McGann.  The Night of the Doctor did a lot of things, but two of the more important ones were to give him a regeneration sequence to the War Doctor, and, when getting ready to regenerate, he mentions all of his companions, companions previously restricted to the audio dramas which kept Doctor Who going before the reboot.  This added a lot of depth to his body of work to be considered.

The other Doctor is the 9th Christopher Eccleston.  This is not sour grapes because he didn't show up for a regeneration sequence for The Day of the Doctor.  Actors are busy people and the ones I know who are good are usually committed to projects years ahead of time.  This has more to do with clearly ranking him higher just because he was the doctor when they relaunched.  Dalek is still a top all time episode and overall I really liked his tenure, but as I get further away from his time, the luster is coming off the apple.

New list:


12. The 6th Doctor Colin Baker
11. The 3rd Doctor Jon Pertwee
10. The 7th Doctor Sylvester McCoy
9. The 1st Doctor William Hartnell
8. The War Doctor John Hurt
7. The 2nd Doctor Patrick Thoughton
6. The 9th Doctor Christopher Eccleston
5. The 8th Doctor Paul McGann
4. The 11th Doctor Matt Smith
3. The 5th Doctor Peter Davison
2. The 10th Doctor David Tennant
1. The 4th Doctor Tom Baker