Doctor Who returns to our screens next week – so, WHO is the worst Time Lord of them all?

Re: Having met two of them...

McCoy wasn't the worst, he was just saddled with the worst assistant, Bonnie Langford. He actually got some very good (and very dark) storylines, but with lousy scripts.

It was a shame The Happiness Patrol was spoiled by the ridiculous Bertie Bassett-alike when there were nice references to the Paranoia RPG in it :-(

Re: Having met two of them...

Tom Baker I vote the best but can't decide the worst, being a toss-up between Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy and Peter Davidson. Thinks.........Probably Sylvester McCoy, methinks, again.

Re: Having met two of them...

I grew up with Tom Baker then PBS here stopped carrying the program. For years I thought the show ended and that he WAS the only Doctor.

Re: Having met two of them...

>Tom Baker is the best though.

Yep especially to us Yanks as mentioned above many don't even know any other doctor. And to the 30+ twits who voted for him as I write this, the question who was the worst not best, door knobs.

Re: Having met two of them...

Well you can't judge the actor by the portrayal, and you can't take the portrayal on its own without the surrounding show. Sylvester McCoy was the worst Doctor. Totally not his fault, as the BBC were in the middle of flushing the programme down the toilet as cheaply as possible. But definitely the worst.

Colin Baker was a close run next worst. Again, not his fault. For some bizarre reason they decided to make his persona as obnoxious as possible. So everyone hated him from the start. Poor guy didn't have a chance.

Re: Having met two of them...

To me, McCoy was always the clown from Vision On...

Re: Having met two of them...

For a long time there seemed to be a media consensus that Peter Davison's portrayal was a disappointing, lightweight followup to Tom Baker that started the show's slow decline in the 80s. It's interesting that this seems to have changed in the past few years, with far more people taking a positive view.

It's probably fair to say that whatever one thinks of Baker, the length of his reign and the strong character of his portrayal defined the Doctor for large swathes of people- *anyone* following him was going to have a hard time. I think the change is down to those of us not old enough to remember Baker well- if at all (and thus not having judged Davison in his shadow to the same extent) now being established adults, as well as many of those who watched the shows later being in a similar position.

I started watching Doctor Who at the tail end of Tom Baker's reign. (#) But- sacriligeous as it is to say this (##)- I preferred Peter Davison and he's probably "my" Doctor. In some respects I can understand why those who grew up with Baker felt that way- but Davison was an intentionally different Doctor.

Colin Baker I didn't like at all in the beginning. IIRC that improved slightly, to the point I was slightly sorry to see him go. I've seen bits of his stories since, and I'm still not sure to be honest, but it's hard to judge him given the ultimately misjudged character development he was given, along with the then-state of the show in general. In hindsight, it's clear some of the problems I associated with the McCoy era (pantomime tackiness) started here.

Sylvester McCoy- maybe lacked a bit of gravitas for my taste, but again, hard to judge fairly- the majority of the dislike aimed at him probably had more to do with the scripts and the state of the show itself. I remember being unhappy about the increasingly pantomime-like direction it was taking during his era, but in hindsight it had actually started to improve in its final season. (###)

(#) I have vague memories of the "new" starry title sequence replacing the "classic" tunnel one just before I turned five, which implies I- barely- remember the former too, but Baker's final "starry" season is the only one I really remember. IIRC I think I first watched it for the Daleks.

(###) I remember thinking Survival was the best story in a long time, though I didn't realise it was the final one until years later, as the show hadn't been publicly cancelled at that point.

Imagine the anniversary ep with Eccleston instead of Hurt. Everything would have been perfect. Even as Hurt was saying the lines I could hear Eccleston in my head. The grump should have put aside his concerns and tied it all up.

Re: Team effort

You forgot the owner of the Quarry that serves at the Dr Who backlot especially when UNIT (and the Brigadeer) was involved.

Re: Another vote for Smith

I couldn't agree more with your second point; Capaldi has all the ingredients to be truly brilliant except for the script. It's a crying shame because exactly the same could have been said for Matt Smith (in my opinion).

I found the last series was very hit and miss (there were some spectacular eps mixed in with some that were utterly dire - the series finale was terrible!). I can't stand Clara (too smug, too pretty), and her own love interest side story was just crap.

I hope they've got some different writers in this year!!

Re: Another vote for Smith

For me it wasn't the age or the smugness (though this didn't help). And at times it did seem like he was the assistant to Clara being the Time Lord.

What really made him the worst for me, through no fault of his own, was that his Doctor gave up on what it meant to be the Doctor too easily. I know that they were trying to make him dark, going through a tough time, and having him be in some sort of inner struggle. But I felt that his first response to a situation was to blow up the bad guys. This really turned me off the show. I'd watch it but I stopped buying the box sets. One of the core items of being the Doctor for me is that he always gives the bad guys at least one chance at redemption. That seemed to disappear during the Matt Smith era.

Re: Another vote for Smith

And yet, when I mentioned the fact that I had stopped watching Doctor Who due to Smith's flat Doctor, I was flamed right here on this website's very forum.

At least I am no longer alone...??

Re: Difficult poll wording...

For those who need their 6th and 7th Doctors redeemed from what the Beeb did for them, I can suggest the Big Finish audio productions where both Colin and Sylvester have had a chance to improve on what the 80s dealt them. Much as Paul McGann was able to move beyond his single on-screen appearance during the interregnum.

Not just new original material but also with what scripts/scriptwriters available for the stories never made. http://www.bigfinish.com/ranges/released/doctor-who---the-lost-stories

Re: and maniacal eyes!

Have you seen him as Rasputin in the 1971 Nicholas and Alexandra?

He was wonderful.

Re: Sylvester McCoy

I'd agree, except I'm not utterly convinced he'd have been better had the scripts etc. been better. But we'll never know. He certainly did suffer from the concerted effort of the BBC to rid itself of Dr Who by making it so crap no-one would watch. I'd always assumed he was part of the plan...

Ironic that its become such a big thing for the BBC all over again, despite still having more than its fair share of dodgy stories, scripts and effects.

For me, the one thing that would improve Dr Who out of all recognition would be to have the sonic screwdriver banned or at least not allowed anywhere near the last 20 minutes of any episode. At least then stories would have to rely on something else for that 'with one bound he was free' moment.

Keep going back to it, watching a bit, not liking it, and still hoping that one day I will fall in love all over again.

Re: Sylvester McCoy

He was the one who finally had me switching off. It probably wasn't solely his fault, just that it had become a pile of shite and he was mired in it.