The real tragedy is Colin Baker in last place, what a joke the poll is. He comes across as a genuinely nice guy, with all the time in the world for fans, who will forever be unfairly maligned.
Poor Colin. The right man at entirely the wrong time.
The real tragedy is Colin Baker in last place, what a joke the poll is. He comes across as a genuinely nice guy, with all the time in the world for fans, who will forever be unfairly maligned.
And William Hartnell with barely 1% of the vote, who contributed more to the character than almost anyone else.
I think the fact that all three New Series Doctors share 3 out of the top 4 spots tells it's own story. There's no doubt in my mind the poll was taken by a majority of people who've never watched classic who, though I accept Tennant still would have won, but maybe by not such a big margin.
The only way you'd get a fairer result is to poll people exclusively who have seen all eleven Doctors and watched the series right through and that's nigh on impossible. Also think even then that people would like more than one Doctor so no poll is ever truly accurate.
Shame about Colin Baker and Hartnell being last, the latter more so as he started it all.
So you're saying the voters are part of the recently quoted 77 million world-wide viewership?
And this is bad, how?
Most of the planet hasn't seen doctors 1-8, outside of YouTube.
What I'm saying is just that to me it seems that most people who voted probably haven't seen most of what the vote was about, otherwise surely the Classic Doctors wouldn't have only gotten such a small share of the vote. I'm just saying that it would be more representative if there were only people who have seen all 11 Doctors voting (I know that David would still have won anyway, just the margins between the Doctors would most likely be rather different). Also unlike that yougov poll there's no way of knowing how representative that poll actually was.
I'm not too big of a fan of these polls anyway (no matter who wins), because it ends up in the "my dick is bigger than yours" sort of competitions about favorites and what irks me about it that the polls always seem to miss an option, which is "all of them". Because when someone asks me who my favourite Doctor is, my first thought is Eleven who is my Doctor and who made me fall in love with the show. But then I remember that when I was almost thinking that Classic Who wasn't my thing, the Fifth Doctor made me fall in love with that too. Then I recall that I have a soft spot for Chris Eccleston's intense peformance as the Doctor as well as another soft spot for Colin Baker. Then I remember that despite not getting the hype for Tom Baker at first I slowly became enthralled with his version of the Doctor with each story of him that saw and no matter how many time I might have wanted to slap the Tenth Doctor, him and Donna are one of my favorite Doctor-companion combos. Then I recall that despite being a bit broken hearted about losing my Doctor this Christmas, I am extremely excited about Peter Capaldi's take on the character. And so on and so on. And the conclusion that I inevitably come to is that it's the Doctor whom I love above anything, not his faces.
Tennant keeps winning these polls/votes with about 50% with Matt or Tom second. He won the vote in America in Entertainment Magazine. He came top in a Yougov Poll in the UK. And now Digital Spy too (which attracted 53,080 votes).
I'm not surprised, though. If nothing else he was just a very likable character. Sexy too!
His Doctor was very cleverly written and portrayed, simple as. He was aloof but also so very down to earth with the characters with whom he interacted, possessing enough gravitas to convey a burdened soul. The key ingredient I think was - in DS's terms - his 'laddishness', and his human side. A great anchor for audiences, if quite untraditional.
And looks. Good looks are always handy, if you have them.
I'm usually against populism but Tennant's character was populist in nature. I'm not going to despise him for this reason -this isn't high school and he's not the sporty, guitar-playing charmer who attracts all the girls.
(Disclaimer: I like Matt Smith, Eccleston and the classic Doctors, etc)
My favourites are Peter Davison, David Tennant and Christopher Eccleston. But I wouldn't rate David being the best of ALL TIME. I could never vote for the BEST as they all played the roles in their own fantastic ways.
In our 50s now, my flatmate (male) and I (female) have seen the Doctor in all his guises - although admittedly, my clear memory only goes back as far as Patrick. My FM being older remembers the very first airing.
For those saying you have to see all to judge fairly: While I don't disagree, obviously, I am still not sure it could ever be fair. Is a later Doctor likely to have the impact of one I met and grew to love as a child? Personally no - Tom Baker is still the best actor to have played the role, in my opinion (and possibly in the opinion of the producers of the recent Dr Who Proms special - the classic section was dominated by Tom's Doctor ). Matt Smith comes a decent, but never close, second by virtue of the fact he made me love the show again. He had hair that was 'right' for the part. Shallow I know, but until Matt came along, I felt I had grown too old to appreciate this utterly brilliant show.
My flatmate still laments David's departure though and may even place him as his favourite all-time Doctor. I will ask him when he gets home.
I suppose people start watching things for different reasons. If you started to support a football team that's been going for say 50 years some think 'I love this, I wonder what happened before me? who were the great players years ago, did we win anything and when, were we promoted or relegated, I want to know everything i can, after all everyone's always talking about it and I'm left out.'
Or would it be 'I love this, but the other supporters keep banging about what happened years ago, how we won this or someone who was great 30 years ago, but all that's just boring and as far as I'm concerned it started now, with me.'
Fine if that's want they want but it must be strange not only missing out on the backstory - like when the Doctor casually mentions having a granddaughter or refers to the macra or Metebelis 3 - but not wanting to know. Oh well,
'Cos it is a question that is always going to divide opinion because the fans will remember their favorite parts of the character from their era. I suspect David Tennant wins on the basis of immediacy to our present time and not a little nostalgia for the lost Tenth Doctor! But that's okay :cool: ...
However, personally, I often think John Pertwee captured the essence of the role very well; Patrick Troughton's madcap genius was fun; Tom Baker's curly hair and long scarf with his mischievous grin; Peter Davison's blond action hero; even the growth of William Hartnell's prickly & frosty First Doctor to be more accommodating of his friends and trusting of them. Matt Smith grabbed me at fish fingers and custard casting off doubts about such a young actor being able to hold down this role. Though, I am slightly disappointed by Christopher Eccleston's negativity about his time on the show
But so long as we can agree that Colin Baker was clearly best forgotten! :eek: Garish coat and a little too haughtily arrogant to be able to warm to him much. Musical satirist Mitch Benn would also agree with me!
His Doctor was very cleverly written and portrayed, simple as. He was aloof but also so very down to earth with the characters with whom he interacted, possessing enough gravitas to convey a burdened soul. The key ingredient I think was - in DS's terms - his 'laddishness', and his human side. A great anchor for audiences, if quite untraditional.
And looks. Good looks are always handy, if you have them.
I'm usually against populism but Tennant's character was populist in nature. I'm not going to despise him for this reason -this isn't high school and he's not the sporty, guitar-playing charmer who attracts all the girls.
(Disclaimer: I like Matt Smith, Eccleston and the classic Doctors, etc)
What good looks? he's a plain Jane? I think you mean that you loved his characterisation?
I voted for Tom Baker, who by far is possibly the most perfect casting for the Doctor.
Having said that I am glad that DT won, despite the fact it's been over 3 and a half years since he played the part. Are some people complaining on this board because Matt Smith didn't win? If so - tough. It was an open poll.
Comments
Poor Colin. The right man at entirely the wrong time.
And William Hartnell with barely 1% of the vote, who contributed more to the character than almost anyone else.
The only way you'd get a fairer result is to poll people exclusively who have seen all eleven Doctors and watched the series right through and that's nigh on impossible. Also think even then that people would like more than one Doctor so no poll is ever truly accurate.
Shame about Colin Baker and Hartnell being last, the latter more so as he started it all.
What I'm saying is just that to me it seems that most people who voted probably haven't seen most of what the vote was about, otherwise surely the Classic Doctors wouldn't have only gotten such a small share of the vote. I'm just saying that it would be more representative if there were only people who have seen all 11 Doctors voting (I know that David would still have won anyway, just the margins between the Doctors would most likely be rather different). Also unlike that yougov poll there's no way of knowing how representative that poll actually was.
I'm not too big of a fan of these polls anyway (no matter who wins), because it ends up in the "my dick is bigger than yours" sort of competitions about favorites and what irks me about it that the polls always seem to miss an option, which is "all of them". Because when someone asks me who my favourite Doctor is, my first thought is Eleven who is my Doctor and who made me fall in love with the show. But then I remember that when I was almost thinking that Classic Who wasn't my thing, the Fifth Doctor made me fall in love with that too. Then I recall that I have a soft spot for Chris Eccleston's intense peformance as the Doctor as well as another soft spot for Colin Baker. Then I remember that despite not getting the hype for Tom Baker at first I slowly became enthralled with his version of the Doctor with each story of him that saw and no matter how many time I might have wanted to slap the Tenth Doctor, him and Donna are one of my favorite Doctor-companion combos. Then I recall that despite being a bit broken hearted about losing my Doctor this Christmas, I am extremely excited about Peter Capaldi's take on the character. And so on and so on. And the conclusion that I inevitably come to is that it's the Doctor whom I love above anything, not his faces.
I'm not surprised, though. If nothing else he was just a very likable character. Sexy too!
And looks. Good looks are always handy, if you have them.
I'm usually against populism but Tennant's character was populist in nature. I'm not going to despise him for this reason -this isn't high school and he's not the sporty, guitar-playing charmer who attracts all the girls.
(Disclaimer: I like Matt Smith, Eccleston and the classic Doctors, etc)
No, hang on, that didn't sound right
"I extend to you an invitation to my pants party"
Is it at Barrowman's house?
For those saying you have to see all to judge fairly: While I don't disagree, obviously, I am still not sure it could ever be fair. Is a later Doctor likely to have the impact of one I met and grew to love as a child? Personally no - Tom Baker is still the best actor to have played the role, in my opinion (and possibly in the opinion of the producers of the recent Dr Who Proms special - the classic section was dominated by Tom's Doctor
My flatmate still laments David's departure though and may even place him as his favourite all-time Doctor. I will ask him when he gets home.
Or would it be 'I love this, but the other supporters keep banging about what happened years ago, how we won this or someone who was great 30 years ago, but all that's just boring and as far as I'm concerned it started now, with me.'
Fine if that's want they want but it must be strange not only missing out on the backstory - like when the Doctor casually mentions having a granddaughter or refers to the macra or Metebelis 3 - but not wanting to know. Oh well,
However, personally, I often think John Pertwee captured the essence of the role very well; Patrick Troughton's madcap genius was fun; Tom Baker's curly hair and long scarf with his mischievous grin; Peter Davison's blond action hero; even the growth of William Hartnell's prickly & frosty First Doctor to be more accommodating of his friends and trusting of them. Matt Smith grabbed me at fish fingers and custard casting off doubts about such a young actor being able to hold down this role. Though, I am slightly disappointed by Christopher Eccleston's negativity about his time on the show
But so long as we can agree that Colin Baker was clearly best forgotten! :eek:
No we can't agree. After 14 years of Big Finish he's far and away my favourite original series Doctor now.
What good looks? he's a plain Jane? I think you mean that you loved his characterisation?
Having said that I am glad that DT won, despite the fact it's been over 3 and a half years since he played the part. Are some people complaining on this board because Matt Smith didn't win? If so - tough. It was an open poll.