I'm sure they'll have been a similar thread but I can't be bothered to look for it It's a list with a twist! List your top 5 Doctors for the actual personality and another one for acting.

I'll start

Character based

1 Smith
2 Davison
3 T.Baker
4 Tennant
5 Mcgann

Actor based

1 Tennant
2 Pertwee
3 C.Baker
4 Smith
5 Mcgann

Character based

1 Pertwee
2 T Baker
3 Troughton
4 Smith
5 Eccleston

Actor / Acting based

1 Eccleston
2 Davison
3 Tennant
4 Troughton
5 McGann

I can't place them in each of those two categories, I just have my favourites, as follows:-

1. Tom
2. Matt
3. Peter
4. Sylvester
5. William
6. Paul
7. Pat
8. Chris
9. Colin
10. Jon
11. David

Interesting idea or twist on these lists that appear, here goes:

Character:
T.Baker
Smith
Davison
Tennant
McGann

Actor:
Eccleston
Smith
Davison
McGann
Tennant

Mine pretty similar, somehow my favourite character wise gets sqeezed out in the actor list!

What is the point of this one?

Given that the 2005+ series remains non canon to the original,plus other actors have offered their vocal talents to audio adventures (I haven't followed the audio stories, but have a passing interest), shouldn't these options be addressed within any survey?

For example, within the "Doctor Who Unbound" series, actors playing the Doctor were Geoffrey Bayldon, David Warner, David Collins, Michael Jayston, Derek Jacobi, Aranella Weir.

It is about the mystery of the universe . It is a thread on a forum what great point is it supposed to have?

All of the them / 2 and a bit

I'm not really sure about a distinction between 'favourite' and 'best' actor; both are surely equally as subjective? Everyone values different things in acting just as they value different things in a painting or a piece of music. To some people only classical music is virtuoso; others will only appreciate rock music and so forth. There's no valid rules for what constitutes 'good' or 'bad' acting, and so we just come right back to what appeals to the individual, ie. 'favourites'.

A lot of people are talking about 'character' versus 'virtuosity'. It's a false distinction. The job of an actor is to portray a character convincingly. If they do that the skill set they employ is totally irrelevant. If I believe in the character of the 4th Doctor 100% it doesn't matter whether I would also believe in Tom Baker as King Lear. These kinds of distinctions are just a way to bolster one's personal preferences and try to instill a false sense of objectivity in them.

So I'm going to ignore the invalid distinction and just say my 5 favourites are Hartnell through T. Baker and Matt Smith. I think the first 4 were all inspired choices and kept the show really strong. Each of them also had a strong idea for how they wanted to play the character, and put their own personality into the role, something which didn't happen so much with later Doctors, who were either uncertain how they should play it or were taking a lot of direction (Davison has often said he could do the role more justice now, C. Baker was never really allowed to do it his way, and McCoy has admitted to looking desperately for direction initially as he had no idea how to play the role. McGann never really had a chance to get going and the modern series Doctors are tied much more closely to scripts and direction than the classic Doctors were).

Matt Smith was the Doctor who got me interested in the show again, and is the first one since the reboot I genuinely feel shares a characteristic continuity with that first golden 4 (especially Troughton, and recently Bill Hartnell too). I like Ecclestone and Tennant's portrayals well enough, but to me it doesn't quite feel like they are playing the same character. I can really believe in Matt Smith as the eleventh iteration of this man.

1) Tom Baker
2) Jon Pertwee
3) Patrick Troughton
4) William Hartnell
5) Matt Smith

These are my favourites. Don't really understand the different categories so use them for both if you wish.
(Other than this what Tom Tit says)

1. Jon Pertwee
2. Bill Hartnell
3. Sylvester McCoy *yes, I'm serious*
4. Patrick Troughton
5. Tom Baker

1. McGann (Big Finish - spot on best Doctor ever)
2. Troughton
3. Smith
4. McCoy (he shines in the latter day stories)
5. Pertwee

1) 4 & 10 & 11 (tied)
4) 1 & 2 (tied)

Shoot, I've gone and run out of places. But for the rest of them:

6) 5 & 9 (tied)
7) 7 & 8 (tied)
8) 3 & 6 ( tied)

I should disclose, 10 is "my" doctor the way 5 is DT's. But all the same, I think his portrayal of the Last Time Lord was brilliant (often in spite of RTD's excesses). 11 grows into further reaches of the character by the year, invoking the age and history of the character brilliantly. & Tom Baker was a genius practically born to play the Doctor.

1 & 2 are the foundation of it all.

5 & 9 were interesting, but duller than my first 5 choices. I think 9 as someone scarred by the Tine War worked quite well.

7 & 8 were quite good, but R-r-r-ragnor-r-r-rok, half-human, and Eric Roberts.

3 & 6 I can't attach to. Venusian jujitsu and the who-mobile and that damned costume and 6's temper. (Not to mention everything I've seen of the writing in C. Baker's era. He could have been great.

If I had to choose a best, though--and remember I came in with Tenant--I'd go with Tom Baker, cliche be damned. The first time I saw a 4 episode (City of Death), I knew with totality what all the rest of were trying for. So far I've seen Pyramids of Mars, Deadly Assassin, the entire Key of Time season, and Invasion of Time. He was as effortlessly the Doctor as anyone could ever be. And I'm sorry, C. Baker, occasionally in spite of bad writing.

Character:
Smith
Eccleston
McCoy
Hartnell
T.Baker

Acting Based:
C.Baker
McCoy
Smith
Eccleston
Tennant