Who is your favorite Doctor Who?
the photo was taken from http://drfaustusau.deviantart.com
Doctor Who is one of those pop culture phenomenons that have invaded our lives for many generations. And with regeneration as the Doctor’s method of cheating death, this allowed many actors over the years to create their own interpretation of how The Doctor will look, act, and behave.
Who is your favorite Doctor?
When people learn that I am a fan of the show and that I have been watching for a long time THAT is usually the first question I get asked … even by people who are not even really into the show.
I cannot speak for my fellow Whovians but I, actually, find that question very difficult to answer. As a matter of fact, it takes me a while to give a complete answer. Each regeneration of The Doctor brings with it not only a completely new body but also a completely new personality. Some things I like, some I don’t but, let’s be honest, it’s the full package that makes The Doctor the most interesting, intriguing character that he is.
From the first doctor to the latest, every single one of them has that special something that makes the Doctor one of the most interesting fictional characters in speculative fiction (also known as sci-fi/fantasy).
Perhaps it would be safest for me to answer in this manner … by categorizing.
Who is my favorite classic Doctor Who?
The Doctor I met first.
Tom Baker plays the 4th regeneration of Doctor Who
The Doctor, I believe, I was introduced to as a child was the 4th Doctor, Tom Baker (from 1974 to 1981). Since I was a child when I saw these on our black and white TV I did not have clear recollections of what happened on the episodes of the show but I remember the funny man with the scarf running around. 😀 Also, I liked his companions, Sarah Jane Smith and K-9!
Elisabeth Sladen played Sarah Jane Smith in the Sarah Jane Adventures. She was also the original Sarah Jane Smith opposite Tom Baker.
Speaking of Sarah Jane and K-9, I was really happy to find out a few years ago that they were given their own show called The Sarah Jane Adventures which ran from 2007 to 2011. I totally agree that she was a companion that deserved her own show. I was sad to see it end but accepted that even good things had to end sometime. I got a kick every time she said, “Mr. Smith, I need you!”
Peter Davison is my classic Doctor Who!
Peter Davison plays the 5th regeneration of Doctor Who
Perhaps because I was older by then, I found that I enjoyed watching the 5th Doctor, Peter Davison (from 1981 to 1984) the most. He didn’t have the ‘fro (LOL!) and scary eyebrows of Baker.
Doctor Who and his companions Tegan, Nyssa, and Adric.
In contrast, Davison was actually babyfaced! What I had difficulty understanding, though, was why 5 (Davison) had so many companions! Let me see if I remember it correctly — there were these two non-humans, a girl and a boy, then there was a female (human) flight attendant. Did I miss anyone?
I always wondered, though. Why did The Doctor use a celery stalk to accessorize his jacket? I personally like the smell but I certainly won’t use it to accessorize my clothes! I’d eat it before I’ve even left the house! Lol! I’m sure the answer is out there somewhere. Hmmm … googling it now. 😀
Who is my favorite 21st-century Doctor?
Every time a new doctor comes out I tend to change my mind (or reaffirm my earlier opinion). 😀 The better question, perhaps, would be … Who is your favorite Doctor Who RIGHT NOW? And to answer that, I would like to do a rundown first of the Doctors who appeared starting 2005.
Before 2005 the last Doctor Who to grace the screen was Paul McGann in 1996. He has the privilege of being the actor who played Doctor Who onscreen the shortest (one episode/movie) yet held the role longer than anybody else (1996 to 2005). While not onscreen Doctor Who was kept alive through radio plays and books.
Paul McGann plays the 8th Doctor Who in the TV movie. Check out how Victorian his TARDIS IS! How the Phantom of the Opera meets steampunk! 🙂
Christopher Eccleston (the 9th Doctor)
Christopher Eccleston reintroduces Doctor Who to a new generation of Whovians as the 9th Doctor Who
While The Doctor has never been the most cooperative or congenial character, I guess I expect him to not look too sinister either.
When Christopher Eccleston made an appearance as the 9th Doctor I had mixed feelings. I loved the clothes (leather from H2T, how can you go wrong?) but he just didn’t quite fit the image in my head of what The Doctor should be like … this is while knowing that each regeneration is different from the previous ones, mind you. I suppose, in my head, this was because I was still seeing him in other roles where he usually played the villain such as in The Seeker: The Dark is Rising.
That aside, though, I concede that he did a pretty good job. Otherwise, I would have lost interest in the series and stopped watching, instead of being completely hooked on it as I am. 😀
David Tennant (the 10th Doctor) stole my heart.
David Tennant is the Doctor with the catchy catchphrases … alonzi! molto bene!
When Eccleston regenerated into David Tennant in mid-2005 I wasn’t sure how I felt. While I was ok with Eccleston as The Doctor I didn’t know what to expect with Tennant. It took me, perhaps 1 or 2 episodes to settle in and then I could not help but love him. 😀 To be more precise, I really enjoyed his portrayal of The Doctor that I did not want his stint to ever end. I believe he felt the same way. Doing a flashback now on his last episode where he actually says, “I don’t want to go.” and pouts.
I remember a time when I called him a kissing bandit because, of all the Doctors, he was the one who got to kiss the most people. And then it hit me. He wasn’t the one stealing kisses. He was always the one being kissed! And when his companions would end up falling for him, I thought it was conceivable. I was just watching him on TV and I was falling for him myself! 😀
Rose Tyler, Martha, Captain Jack Harkness, Queen Elizabeth, Madame de Pompadour, the Zygon, and the list goes on …
Fun facts:
- 10 was the first Doctor to admit to falling in love with his companion
- Even after 10 regenerated into 11, we all know there is still a version of him out there, with Rose Tyler in the other dimension. This means that at some point we can hope to see him appear, however briefly, in the show again.
- Captain Jack Harkness (played by John Barrowman) was lucky enough to get his own spin-off called Torchwood.
- David Tennant married the daughter of Peter Davison, Emily, which makes Davison his father-in-law.
- Peter Davison appears in a special quick episode of Doctor Who (Time Crash) with David Tennant as the Doctor but as his older self. They both explain the paradox as “wobbly-wobbly-timey-wimey”. This was a fun episode. I enjoyed it immensely! 🙂
Time Crash was broadcast in November 2007. It is a mini-episode of Doctor Who starring David Tennant and Peter Davison both playing Doctor Who at the same time
Matt Smith (the 11th Doctor) is the Raggedy Man.
Matt Smith plays the 11th regeneration of Doctor Who
When Tennant became Matt Smith I was like, “What the frack? The Doctor got older and more kulit?” Imagine my surprise to discover that Matt Smith is actually the youngest person to ever play The Doctor. I guess he just has that kind of face. It’s the lines.
At the same time, there was just something so lovable above him. He was like a kid in so many ways. His sense of wonder and joy, how he just seems to always want to play. Perhaps he was a lost boy and just got out of Neverland?
What made Smith appealing to some fans is what made him annoying to me, and why he is probably called the Raggedy Man, he just flops around a lot. He’s like a kid with ADHD – he can’t seem to stop moving. And when he does stop, you know there is trouble coming. Because when he stops that means he is in serious mode.
The best part of Smith’s stint, in my opinion, was The Ponds, Amelia and Rory.
Amy (Amelia) Pond and Rory with The Doctor
Peter Capaldi (the 12th Doctor) is a rockstar!
Peter Capaldi as the latest (12th) regeneration of the Doctor with his companion, Clara Oswald (played by Jenna Coleman)
And now we come to the latest person to play Doctor Who – Peter Capaldi. He holds the record of being the oldest person to ever play the Doctor. Even older than Hartnell who was only in his 40s at the time that he played a grandfatherly Doctor.
In contrast to Tennant and Smith, Capaldi does not like to be touched or hugged (or kissed!). He is quite stern yet still a kook! Unlike his predecessors Capaldi came out in several episodes playing on an electric guitar, wearing Wayfarers (which we later found out were his sonic glasses) and a long coat. Talk about Mr. Cool!
Is it mean of me to say I am glad that Clara Oswald (aka Oswin aka The Impossible Girl) is out of the picture now?
So who IS my favorite Doctor Who?
Of them all, I would still say I am a Tennant girl but … I’ve only met Capaldi for two seasons to date and he is a close second. Who knows? He may just make it up there and take the first place. How about you? Who is your favorite Doctor Who? I wouldn’t be surprised if you say, John Hurt, the War Doctor. 🙂
All the regenerations of Doctor Who
Strained hands and several patients later a doctor invented a device akin to a small rolling pin about 2 inches wide with a handle. From the photo it looked like the roller had little nubs all over it. The doctor would then use this contraption to stimulate the patient. Years later, the first vibrator was invented. It looked like a cork screw with a funky bend and on one end was a spinning disk. Scary .. but apparently effective. They discovered that vibration speeded up the “healing process” so that patients would be in and out of their office 10 minutes tops!
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