I think that the Doctors tend to go through phases of popularity. And maybe that is something that will become more pronounced in future too.

Pertwee was considered one of the most popular Doctors at one time, a golden era even. Recently he does seem to have gone out of vogue amongst fandom ( I spcifically say fandom for reasons I'll get into later) somewhat. On the other hand Troughton's stock seems to have risen, maybe becuase of high-profile endorsement from people like Matt Smith and buzz from recovered episodes, which people have become increasingly aware of the last few years. Certainly, the issue of missing episodes was something only fairly hardcore fans were aware of until quite recently.

Similarly, Peter Davison's Doctor seemed to get a real shot in the arm from Moffat's endorsement and appearance in 'Time Crash'. Big Finish productions have done a lot to 'rehabilitate' Colin Baker's Doctor.

I think there's also the strong possibility of over and under-estimating the popularity of certain Doctors by taking Internet chatter as the only indicator. In fact, there's a particular demographic that will use the internet a lot more than others (16 - 30ish) and so 'their' era will appear to receive much more favour. Whereas not too long ago that would have been the 70s (Pertwee and Tom) it is now 80s, hence the apparent decline in popularity of Pertwee and the increase for Davison. In fact, Pertwee will still have his old fans, they're just not talking so much on the Internet.

I got a big lesson about this kind of thing when I was stunned to discover that my brother-in law was a big fan of Doctor Who, in particular Tom Baker's era. I had absolutely no idea he had any interest at all but he had a lot of Baker-era DVDS and a very good knowledge, even of the stories i consider more obscure. He likes other eras too but it was the 4th Doctors that he really loved. But he is by no means a 'fan' in the normal sense; he doesn't particularly talk about doctor Who ( although I discovered it's a frequent point of reminisce for him and his brother) and certainly he's not following the show online, but his love for that era is true and valid and unchanging. But it wouldn't register on any sort of fan-opinion Richter scale. I'm sure there are many similar cases. This is why it irked me when you would hear certain people say the public wouldn't be interested in seeing old Doctors for the anniversary or would have forgotten who they were. The exact opposite is true in my opinion. There were probably a lot of people who would have liked to see more Pertwee but they're not Blogging or Tweeting about it or writing in to Doctor Who magazine.

I know.. I said from the start he was going to make things really awkward

Not to mention that we now have to count Tennant twice apparently!

I also agree with everyone else who said that Pertwee had the least exposure during the 50th, which made me a little sad. Davison was 'my Doctor' and I had vague recollections of Tom Baker but I felt that Petwee was one who stole the show of the Five Doctors and first got me interested in finding out more about past Doctors. At least they payed homage to reversing the polarity of the neutron flow in the Day of the Doctor

Five Hundred and Seven

You're right about Pertwee. When I was a kid the 70's were the defining Era of the show, it's 'Heyday' if you like, especially during the McCoy years when it was often used as a comparison to how far downhill it had gone. Pertwee and Baker were regarded as the two quality Doctors at the height of the show's success.

Though the 70's is still fondly remembered for great stories, the quality of the New Series and the new fans that have come with it means that comparison is no longer used as much. Tom Baker continues to be held in high esteem, mainly thanks to both the popularity of his Doctor and off course the fact he is still alive. With the popularity of the New Series Doctors I think this is another reason Pertwee's Doctor doesn't really do that well in the popularity stakes anymore these days. For me, it's more to do with the overly moralistic serious interpretation that sort of puts his Doctor way down my list of fave Doctors but I acknowledge his contribution to the show. I also know there are others like myself who don't like the Earth Bound nature of his Era and by association that may count against him as well.

As for Colin Baker, I've just been thinking he will be remembered for all the wrong reasons. Since I joined this forum nobody has provoked more discussion than him, for all the usual reasons regarding initial portrayal, costume, the hiatus, the sacking and everything else that goes with his Era. People will probably think of him as the Unpopular Unlikeable Doctor(Though this isn't 100% accurate) and I don't think his stock will ever rise.

As for Peri, for some I don't think she will ever be forgotten....

Hurt could be a sort of transition element Doctor. Not sure if he'd be lanthanide series or actinide.

Then there the other actors who've played other Doctors, such as William Hurndall. Not to mention non canon Peter Cushing and non Who Doctors, like David Bradley.

Tricky to regularise it into one table. Perhaps another dimension is needed.

I wonder when the technology is there if they will go down the route of casting previous Doctors in the role?


Could the 20th Doctor be played by a computer generated Patrick Troughton and the 26th by a CG Tom Baker?

I think, if you're a follower of the audios, his stock has already risen. He's redeemed his character considerably with the audio stories and, as a person, he's also impressed with his enthusiasm for the show and generally genial personality.

The audios are keeping a lot of the old Doctors alive, of course, as they are still playing the roles. Even Hartnell and Troughton are well represented with William Russell and Fraser Hines doing brilliant impersonations of their respective Doctors.

That's great to hear but like some others I suspect, I don't follow the audio's and therefore all people will know is from what they've seen or learnt about his time on the show.