This weekend, to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Doctor Who, we asked you to name your favorite incarnation of the Doctor. In at first place with 28.6 percent of the vote was, rather unsurprisingly, David Tennant’s Doctor, the Tenth and now Fourteenth version of the Time Lord. While he wasn’t there at the start of the revival in 2005 (stepping in to replace Christopher Eccleston after his sole season), Tennant became the Doctor for a whole new generation. Brash, charismatic and romantic, Tennant reinvented the character as a dashing leading man; no wonder he’s been brought back to pave the way for Ncuti Gatwa during the 60th anniversary specials.
In close second place with 24.5 percent was Tennant’s successor, Matt Smith, who faced an enormous challenge after the widespread love his predecessor received, but he pulled off the role swimmingly, propelling the show’s popularity in the US to startling new heights. Despite being the youngest actor ever cast in the role, Smith managed to embody showrunner Steven Moffat’s vision for the Eleventh Doctor, portraying him as a gentle old soul, who happened to look much younger than he really was. If Tennant was a generation’s hero, then Smith was their grandfather.
In third place with 16.3 percent was Tom Baker, the Fourth Doctor, who was an older generation’s Time Lord after piloting the TARDIS for most of the 1970s. While more alien and aloof than you would expect, Baker’s wide-eyed appearance, childish behavior, and booming voice has cast a long shadow over every Doctor before and since (even literally in the case of that scarf); it was perfectly apt then that the 50th anniversary special, “Day of the Doctor,” established the character would one day reassume Baker’s appearance after they retired. To Baker: the once and future Doctor.
We usually stop here, but since it’s the 60th anniversary, let’s indulge a little: in fourth place with 12.2 percent was Twelfth Doctor Peter Capaldi, and in fifth (rather appropriately) with 6.1 percent was Fifth Doctor Peter Davison. Both actors essentially faced backlash for not being Smith and Baker, but there is so much to appreciate about their versions of the character, and how different they are from their predecessors. Capaldi, who is my personal favorite, is easily the coolest Doctor (OK, after Jo Martin), and he happened to star in two of the single best episodes: “The Zygon Inversion,” and “Heaven Sent.”
Thanks to everyone who voted; we really hope you’re enjoying this month’s specials, which we’ll begin going into spoilers for tomorrow. And be sure to check back for our next Reader Poll, arriving Friday afternoon!
