Here it is guys...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-24955294

I think I can hear frothing at the mouths of the Matt Smith fans...

* monotone *

I'm shocked at this very surprising result.

At least Baker and Troughton crept on to the list.

Thought they probably would be. They did make a good couple.

Has anyone seen DariaM around here recently? It's been a while since she told us that the post-2005 Doctors are "non-canon" and there should be a direct continuation of the Sylvester McCoy era.

David Tennant was a bit too manic and 'wide eyes look' for my taste. Much prefer Matt Smith's more nuanced interpretation of the character. I'm sure Peter Cupatea will bring something new or different to the role when he takes over this winter.

Obviously. They were and are the best so far (of New who anyway). Martha? Lmfao. And don't even get me started on Amy Pond.

Confirmation that the "nation" hasn't got a clue when it comes to our beloved show.

Don't you just love these sort of polls. The Tennant fans, of which I'm one, will gloat and say "told you so" and the Tennant haters will respond with "what do they know - he was rubbish) so no suprises to the outcome of this poll at all.

Yes, I am frothing.

Tennant fangirls love him as much as the 10th Doctor loved himself. The poll was hijacked by silly girls who aint got a clue about real Doctor Who!

Someone had to say it.

As the man said, "Splendid fellows..."

Liked Tennant but thought him a bit gurny and OTT at times.

Not my favourite but , in terms of the poll;

He had better story arcs than Matt Smith -- in that Moffs arcs tended to over promise and under deliver.

He had the twilight style love story...not for me I am afraid but obvious that a lot liked it.

Matt's one of my favourites but , if it was just between him and David then , for the above reasons I'd have no quibble with the poll.

What annoys me most is this "of all time rubbish"...none of them to my mind hold a candle to Troughton or Baker..but of course we have people voting who provably know very little about those guys.

Yeah whatever, Tom's still the best and always will be

Did you vote?

Did you vote?

Rose a better companion than Sarah Jane Smith????

I don't think so!!!

Yes for Tom Baker and Lalla Ward.

As others have said most of the voters will only ever have seen Eccleston-Tennant and Smith so that is no surprise really.

To sum up the pointlessness of this "official" poll, the "nation's favourite" has been decided from the votes of 0.03% of the population - most of whom have probably only ever seen the show since 2005.

Completely meaningless poll. I might as well ask should the rich pay more tax and only ask people living in Kensington, Knightsbridge and Mayfair. Surprised BBC News even made an article on this poll.

The big problem with self-sampling polls is that they're too easily skewed by active fandom. David probably is the most popular Doctor, but not by the margin in the Radio Times poll.

The YouGov poll had a far more scientific method of sampling adults with some interest in Doctor Who (not necessarily fans) of different ages and social grades.
http://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net...lts-040613.pdf

This still showed David way out in front with 43%. That fact that David achieved 46% with respondents aged 40-59 and 45% with the over-60s shows that he is just as popular with the Classic Who generation.

Representative sampling is the basis of all credible opinion polls. Even if the poorly-sampled Radio Times poll was commandeered by 'fangirls', the YouGov poll demonstrably was not.

Are you insinuating that I am a girl?



Quoted for reality check.

But the same problem occurs in that poll. People who have never seen the classic series would be voting. You cannot say who the best doctor or favourite doctor (as it implies they are better than the other doctors) is from that poll when the people voting haven't seen them all. And some of the voters would be basing their vote for reasons other than acting ability. These types of polls are meaningless.

Right. I think though, that even if a poll is more scientifically sound than another, the basic idea of who is the most popular is somewhat insane. I like music, but have little doubt if a well constructed scientific survey were to take place now, the most popular band would not be the one I would choose as the best.

I like Tennant, wanted him to go as his storyline became too egotistical, but enjoy watching repeats of some of the better episodes. Matt I think has been great, but I think his popularity has been damaged somewhat by a different type of arc that some haven't appreciated.

Fundamentally though the basic idea of which doctor is better cannot be tested. Because to do so, both doctors would need to play the same part in the same show at the same time with the same companion. Until that can happen, other factors such as writer, companion popularity, story line and script impact on an actors popularity and skew any results beyond salvation.

It was sampled to represent the UK population, including over-40s and over-60s.

The idea that such a poll can only include those who have seen everything is preposterous. By your standard, only over-60s who sat through every single televised episode (bearing in mind that many have been unrepeated due to junking) should have a say on who was the best Doctor.

When you get people who say "I can't stand Colin Baker as the Doctor" and ask them why and the answer is "Dunno, I've never really watched him" then how seriously can you take these polls?