Best Of Who Awards: Top 5 Greatest Doctors

Our Best Of Who Awards reach their first highpoint, as we look back at 50 Years Of Who to discover the best Doctors we've seen so far...
"Splendid chap- all of them!" Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart had as much to say of the most famous Time Lord of them all, the Doctor, when he met three incarnations of the character in The Three Doctors- and it's hard to disagree! Through the fifty years that Doctor Who has been a presence in the world of television, we've met eleven versions of the same man, each with their own strengths and quirky attributes that have made each one of them a joy to watch and helped to compel viewers of multiple generations to keep watching this accomplished science-fiction saga.

The question is, though, which ones are the 'best'? In many ways, to rank the same man played by a variety of different actors is foolish, yet it's something that fans have been doing ever since Bill Hartnell transformed into Patrick Troughton in 1966's The Tenth Planet. Here, then, is my controversial line-up for the Top 5 Greatest Doctors who've graced our screens ever since 1963- read it and weep...or just comment at the usual social media networks, that works too:
5. PATRICK TROUGHTON (1966-1969)- Anyone who had to follow in the wake of the iconic William Hartnell as a new and convincing Doctor was always going to have quite a challenge. Thank goodness, then, that Verity Lambert and company stumbled upon Patrick Troughton for the role, as this esteemed late actor set a staggering precedent for every successive incarnation of the Time Lord who came after him. Troughton's Doctor was a man who could rarely take control of a situation in terms of authority, yet who possessed all of the wit and intelligence of his former self while introducing a quirkiness and sense of spontaneity to a once-elderly and frigid character. Where Hartnell showed us the morals and ferocity of the Doctor, Troughton presented him in a new light, broadening the character to more comedic and gung-ho actions that would come to define the performances of the next nine actors in the role.

4. CHRISTOPHER ECCLESTON (2005)- It's saying something that in the space of just thirteen episodes as a rejuvenated version of the Doctor, brought back to life for a skeptical modern audience, up-and-coming star Christopher Eccleston took the role and moulded it into a dark and iconic legend which his successors couldn't help but develop dramatically. Eccleston's take on the Time Lord embodies the anger and raw power that lies beneath the surface of the 900 year-old alien's psyche, fresh off a horrific Time War that seemingly wiped out his entire race and the Daleks. For evidence of just how keenly this brilliant actor owned the role, we need only refer to the incredibly fearful first encounter with a Dalek in Van Statten's vault, starting a powerful arc of redemption whereby Billie Piper's lovely Rose was the only human capable of stopping the man she loved reverting to the role of a cold-blooded soldier. Chris will always be the man who brought Doctor Who back, and yet to stop crediting him there would be to do his "fantastic" incarnation disjustice.

3. PETER DAVISON (1982-1984)- Peter Davison remains by far my favourite 'classic' interpretation of the Doctor. You can see much of what Christopher, David and Matt have done with the role as being inspired by Peter, who brought a sense of youth along with eternity to the Time Lord and a renewed feeling of focus on the battles ahead after seven years of (often tonally uneven) quirky sci-fi hi jinks with Tom Baker in the TARDIS. Even when Steven Moffat renewed the Fifth Doctor in Time Crash in 2007, Davison still held true to everything it meant to be the Doctor, a charismatic hero who would do anything it took to save the day. Where many of the classic era stories may seem daunting for post-2005 fans, Peter Davison's era is instantly approachable as it boasts a man who was in no uncertainty as to what the show was all about.

2. DAVID TENNANT (2006-2009)- But lo and behold, if ever there was a man who understood what it meant to be the Doctor, it was David Tennant. Spending three full seasons and a host of finale specials in his role as the Time Lord, David flourished in the role, shedding dark new light on what the Doctor could be if he started to rally against the wishes of time itself, only to find out first-hand the dire consequences of his actions in terms of his own lifespan as he did so. David's chemistry with every companion and star he came across as the Doctor was clear to see, and although in my opinion his parting words "I don't want to go" didn't quite echo his character's constant willingness to sacrifice himself in the name of the greater good, it's impossible to shake the sense that audiences were feeling the exact same way too. Should the Tenth Doctor return for a multi-Doctor Anniversary Special, I doubt we'll hear the end of the cheering for a long time...

1. MATT SMITH (2010-)- So, wait a moment, I hear you ask, how can there be someone above David given my multitude of praises? Well, listen on a minute and you'll find out. On New Year's Day 2009, the world asked a collective question as the Eleventh Doctor was unveiled to be the little-known British actor Matt Smith: "Who?" Sure enough, what with the collective praises surrounding the era of the Tenth, scepticism was high in Matt's first season. Yet where David knew everything there was to know about Doctor Who, Matt had glimpsed just a handful of episodes, and it is with Matt that we've seen a true progression of both his own arc as an actor and indeed his Doctor. Free from the grips of the Time War, this Doctor discovered Amelia Pond, and travelled with her for years, never able to truly ever give up seeing her, as he realised that he "missed her" by the time of The Power Of Three. We've never really seen a companion arc play out from childhood to death, yet Matt mastered his wearied Time Lord's reactions to this progression, providing a beautiful sentiment when he asked River to "travel with me, then" after the Ponds' demises in The Angels Take Manhattan. In this isolated moment, where we see a 900 year-old alien realising that he can't bear to be left alone with the TARDIS to internal conflicts like the Dream Lord and the concept of "one madman per ship", as River puts it, to me there is the perfect summary of this eternal legend of television. And sure enough, the adventures continue, as Matt's Doctor transformed from a resigned Scrooge-like figure in The Snowmen to a man now reinvigorated with the purpose of discovering the truth behind his future new companion Clara Oswin Oswald. I could go on forever about how Matt has taken so many sceptics of the post-Tennant era and turned them on their heads, yet to signal just how true to his past Doctors and indeed how unique and brilliant a take on the character Matt had presented, I need only refer to his glorious standout premiere scene below. And the story goes on- forever...

NEXT TIME: TOP 5 GREATEST ALIEN PLANETS