What are your funniest moments of each Doctor? You can choose more than one. Here are mine:

Hartnell- The hiding in a Dalek in The Space Museum is quite funny but for me it's when he's winding up Nero in The Romans whilst setting fire to a map of Rome. Just pure comedy genius at how he's going to be sent to the lions and just jokes about it.(I'm sure it'll be a roaring success!) There's also numerous comedy moments with him and Peter Butterworth in The Time Meddler as well.

Troughton- There's so many to choose from. I always chuckle at how in Tomb Of The Cybermen The Doctor and Jamie accidentally walk inside the tomb hand in hand before realising Victoria isn't with them. My fave though is the last episode of The Invasion when The Doctor is being shot at by the Cybermen and he does his comedy run and jump to escape being hurt!

Pertwee-Not that many to choose from. Love the scene in Terror Of The Autons where The Doctor tries to tell Jo she's not suitable to be his assistant in front of the Brig and fails miserably. For me, though, The Doctor's turn as a milkman and the cleaning lady in The Green Death is pure Pertwee comedy gold.

Tom Baker- So many to choose from but gonna keep it simple and say City Of Death where The Doctor trips and proclaims the butler to be wonderfully violent. That whole scene is funny imo.

Davison-Tough one this as his humour was so restrained but I'd say the 'Sir' scene in The Caves Of Androzani with Peri as they mock General Chellak's insistence that they address him as such.

Colin Baker- From Season 23 in particular there's plenty to choose from. The Doctor's scenes with the twins from the first story where they think he's a robot. The moments in Mindwarp where he tries to calm a noisy Yrconos. The skid addle technique and The Doctor eating Sil's food and hating it. In The Vervoid story there was the scene where Mel and Professor Lasky are talking and The Doctor can't get a word in edgeways! And The Doctor's scenes with Mr Popplewick in the last story are just superbly written and acted!

McCoy- Probably the sequence in Silver Nemesis where The Doctor initially fails to realise who the Queen is. The less comedic scenes can be quite funny as well. In the same story, The Doctor asking a supposedly innocent Ace if she's ignored his instructions and brought dynamite with her so she can blow up the Cyber Spaceship I like(plus all the scenes where he reprimands her over blowing things up) and in a weird sort of way the teasing of Light in Ghost Light in the last episode just makes me chuckle. It's not a funny scene but it always amuses me!

McGann-Any scene from the TV Movie where a Jelly baby is offered but also like the scene where the guy in the mortuary faints on first seeing him in his Jesus-Like appearance! I also like the witty scene in the ambulance about the kissing and all that.

Eccleston- I like the moment The Doctor asks a hall full of people if anything has fallen from the sky in The Empty Child but Boomtown has a couple of funny sequences I enjoy, such as keep bringing Margaret back with his sonic screwdriver as she tries to teleport away and the scene in the restaurant where she tries everything to kill him and he just snubs it out via different methods.

Tennant-Plenty to choose from here but I'd say probably imo that the 'drunk' scene from The Girl In The Fireplace, the bet scenes with Rose in Tooth And Claw and the scenes through the window with Donna in Partners In Crime

Smith- For me personally my funniest moment was when he walked into a tree in the opening moments of The Eleventh Hour. Simple but effective. That whole bursting out of the cake scene at the beginning of Vampires Of Venice(?) is another classic as well as his 'Dad' dancing at Amy's Wedding in The Big Bang.

So those are my choices. I know there's plenty more out there that I enjoy as well and have forgotten. Over to you guys now to choose your fave comedy moments from each Doctor.

Hartnell - The interraction between Ian, Barbara and a sleepy Doctor at the start of The Rescue is lovely. (Then me mentions the departed Susan and the mood changes....brilliant stuff) The invisible harp business in the Romans and a lot of The Gunfighters scenes are great too.

Troughton - The tangible chemistry between Troughton and Hines induces many a smile, but the scene that sprang to mind was Zoe showing up the Doctor when using the machine in The Krotons.

Pertwee - Conversing with chickens in Carnival of Monsters or the eyebrow gymnastics scene from Spearhead.

Tom Baker - So many. Love the scenes when he goes fishing in Androids of Tara and take your pick from City of Death. Will plump for the scene in The Pirate Planet where he completely fails to engage the locals but Romana succeeds straight away. K9: "She's prettier than you, master." Doctor (rather hurt) "Is she?"

Davison - Always played exasperated and sarcastic very well. His response to Adric's coin trick in Kinda is delightful and he's particularly funny in Frontios as he runs rings around the Gravis. And of course there's "Where the nuts come from." in Black Orchid.

Colin Baker - Agree he's often funny and endearing in Season 23. Like the conjuror's flowers bit in Vervoids, and the way he carries on counting but stops for a rest whist Mel isn't looking when on the exercise bike in the same story.

McCoy - Little 'bits' like listening to an apple for no reason in Delta and well-timed hat-doffing at various moments. And I like the scene with the guard in Dragonfire. "Ah, an existentialist!"

McGann - Silly scene, but his straight reaction to the motorcyle cop in the Tardis is nice, and like the "Bring me knitting" moment.

Eccleston - "She's climbing out the window, isn't she." - Boomtown. Pretending he doesn't know what Nancy means when alluding to the size of his ears in Empty Child/Dances

Tennant - The 'detoxifying' scene in Unicorn and the Wasp. The scene with Athur the horse following him in TGITF. The mime scene in Partners in Crrime.

Smith - How long have you got? Most of The Lodger for starters, clocking himself on the invisible Tardis in '...Astronaut', "I like the strong stuff. Leave the tea bag in." - Town Called Mercy. The Fez action in The Big Bang. "Only when we're alone!" - embarrassed that 'Idris' knows he calls her 'Sexy' etc etc

John Hurt - exasperating why the other docs are pointing a screwdriver at him, its not a weapon! (then later he points his at a dalek with the other doctors ... )

I knew I'd forget something!

I love Davison's Doctor in Frontios and The Caves Of Androzani. So not his normal performances in both.

I agree the way he constantly tricks and misguides the Gravis are excellent. I particularly like the scene where Tegan is trapped by him and he pretends she is an android and mocks her about her accent etc. The look on her face is classic!

Agree also about the existentialist scene in Dragonfire. Plus one of the few things in Paradise Towers I like is The Doctor's manipulation of the rule book to help him escape from the Deputy Caretaker.

My favourite moments for the Hartnell and Troughton doctors by far match the opening post.

Pertwee - Probably Spearhead from Space when he sees his face in the mirror for the first time and says: "Oh no, that'll never do".

Tom Baker - "Harry Sullivan is an imbecile" from Revenge of the Cybermen.
Also, There's a bit in The Robots of Death where he offers Borg some Jelly Babies and knocks them out of his hands up into the air, so in return he mocks him by grumbling something like "a simple no would have sufficed"

Davison - The banter in the opening passages of The Caves of Androzani is enjoyable: "I'm not a pain", "Sarcasm isn't your strong point, Peri" and "I eat the celery, if nothing else it's good for my teeth". I do love the playful winding up of Chellak by the two of them by adding a 'Sir' onto each others sentences. I equally love the dialogue the Doctor has with Sharaz Jek, when Jek outlines his intention to keep them there as his companions: "What do you say Peri, we can go for nature walks, have picnics and jolly evenings around the campfire" and then puts his hand on Peri's shoulder making her jump, love it .

Colin Baker - Can vaguely recall him calling the Valeyard a string of names based on his name: "scrapyard" etc... Can't have been that memorable because I can't remember exactly what was said but you know which bit I mean.

McCoy - "Unlimited rice pudding" line from his rant in Remembrance of the Daleks.

McGann - "Bring me knitting"

Ecclestone - Mainly like him in the Rose episode, such as when he is looking round at the London Eye and not seeing it. In general I always liked any time Jackie was on screen with him, get slapped and his reaction being a highlight.

Tennant - I adore the whole drunk scene in The Girl in the Fireplace, starting with the Doctor coming into the room singing and dancing. Particularly like the "Have you met the French, my god do they know how to party" and when he starts talking to the Clockwork Droids: "Oh brilliant it's you, your my favourite you are, you are the best". Superb. It was also this scene that confirmed to me that David Tennant was going to be a fantastic Doctor.
There are some lovely comic touches in that episode like the "Goodness, how you've grown" line when he sees the grown up Reinette.
I do like the scene from The Rise of the Cybermen when he and Rose are talking about Pete and Jackie not having a daughter in the parallel world, and he wistfully says: "All these different worlds not one of them gets it right", then he bursts out laughing when Jackie calls for the dog and has to check himself and say sorry when Rose looks at him.

Smith - Like the moment in Nightmare in Silver, when Clara asks him to prove it's him and not the Cyber Planner she's talking too, and he runs through all her faults ending with "and your nose is too big" to which Clara gives a look and says "fair enough"

1st Doctor-Hated most of the Web Planet, but the first episode was actually really good. Not only did it get quite spooky and mysterious, but the Doctor got pretty funny, just running around hooting at it all. Also, there's the first "funny" moment I can think of happening in like, the history of the show, in the Sensorites, when him and Ian are underground, their turned away from each, they see a murderous savage facing, they both talk to each like there's just the one they can see not realising there's 2, and bump into each other. Simple, but I liked it. Only seen the first half of Hartnells stuff though, so hard to judge.

2nd-again, not seen that much of 2's, but I'd say a lot of his stuff with Jamie e.g. the tomb of the cybermen scene etc. Or does 3 Doctors/ the 5 Doctors count? Cos he's just great in those, especially in his scenes with Pertwee.

3-I dunno about him, maybe some of his cuter scenes with Jo, or his sparring with the Master. I always liked the Sea Devils, that's got some great stuff e.g. where the Masters watching the Clangers. Or Fronteir in Space where he blows up the Lie Detection machine.

Actually, can I have the 3 Doctor's again. That's a funny story, not just with the interaction between the Doctors but also how they are all trying to explain it to Jo and the Brig etc. Another great scenes the one at the end of Inferno, where the Doctor runs off btu then ends up in a rubbish heap and tries to make it up with the Brig. Also a great character moment that, you see they are, or can eb quite good friends.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3h7Ro1Mlhs

4th Doctor-how do I choose, so much good stuff. Maybe his scenes in Robot, or in Genesis of the Daleks where he's arguing with various Nazis etc. Another great scenes the ones where he's just taking the piss in Seeds of Doom, doing a 360 when told to turn around, talking about Mozart etc

5-not seen that much of his stuff, and what I have seen is quite serious. Agree the scene at the beginning of Caves of Androzani was quite good

6-not sure, again I've not seen much 80's Who and what I have seen is of anm overly serious or dubious quality

7-similar situation to 6

8-the shoes scene maybe, or bring me knitting?

9-not sure actually, maybe just scenes where he's insulting people, or a lot of Rose. Actually, not seen series 1 in ages, should rewatch


10-maybe a lot of his first scenes in Christmas Invasion/new Earth etc? or the scene with the the Major flashbacking in Unicorn and the Wasp, that was brilliant. Though I'm not particularly a fan of Donna, a lot of her stuff with 10 was funny as well, especially in Runaway Bride/Partners in Crime

11-One of the funniest and most entertaining Doctors. Love all his stuff in Eleventh Hour, Vampires of Venice, Amy's Choice, the Lodger, the series 5 finale, most of series 6 and 7

War-Oh for Gods Sake

12-the scenes where he swears a lot and tells Clara to **** off. Oh wait, that was just on Youtube

Just adding a few that haven't been mentioned yet.

Hartnell:
The Time Meddler - 'That is the dematerialising control and that over yonder is the horizontal hold. Up there is the scanner, those are the doors, that is a chair with a panda on it. Sheer poetry, dear boy. Now, please stop bothering me.' And of course the 'space helmet for a cow'.
The Gunfighters: Continually addressing Wyatt Earp as 'Mister Werp'.

Colin Baker:
Vengeance on Varos - 'Do you always get the priest parts?'

This is a good thread. Very much enjoy these memories! Nice one OP

I would suggest you read my opening post and see some of the examples I've given of the humour displayed by the Sixth Doctor and then watch some of his stuff. The perception has always been that this Doctor was permanently grumpy and unlikeable but it simply isn't so.


Thanks! I enjoyed starting it.

Just to add another bit of humour I like is in Snakedance when The Doctor is stood in the market and he asks about the Snakedancers or something and everyone just stops and looks at him. It isn't an overly funny scene but in context of the Davison Era it actually is as it was rare for even that amount of humour to slip through at this point.

The 2nd doctor on the beach in enemy.....

Yeah, I think (the Hugo nominated) Peter D was always looking to inject some humour but Season 20 in particular was pretty earnest. Other moments he got in in the brilliant Enlightenment spring to mind; raising a spoon of trifle instead of wine as a toast at Stiker's meal, then saying he'll follow the group, looking down the corridor in their direction, then casually sauntering off the other way.

Also like "an apple a day keeps the....ah, never mind" to Hindle in Kinda.

The Fiveish Doctors Reboot and general interviews plus his brilliant self mocking videos for the Outpost Gallifrey conventions show how funny he can be. Give the man a Hugo.

Not grumpy, not unlikeable, but a bit pompous. I don't actually think he's the worst of the Doctors or anything, and much prefer his stories to Sylvester McCoys who for me is the worst (apart from Survival much of his stuff just completely fails to keep me interested, even the ones fans laud as being superior e.g. fenric, ghost light etc), but the trouble with classic Who is that it went on a downwards spiral and seemed to become more and more camp as time went on. While he may have the odd witty line, there is neither much humour or adventure on what I've seen of late 80's and it often feels like flogging a dead horse. I've been watching William Hartnell's stuff since the anniversary and while obviously that's quite clunky, with even worse special effects, most of the stories there have largely kept me interested, it feels original whereas the 80's stuff doesent. Part of it could be that while the first Who I saw was actually Classic Who I've got more accustomed to the great quality of 21st Century Who since it began. And much of Classic Who does feel a bit to cheap etc. One reason I actually really like the U.N.I.T. stuff from Pertwee's era when he's stuck on Earth is that it does feel a lot more realistic when you don't have everyone wearing silver jumpsuits and stuff and it's set on the real world. I think that's also why I quite like Hartnell's historicals.

But it's not just that it looks worse etc. Other era's of classic Who had similar budgetary constraints and dodgy acting problems. But then you have early T Baker era etc, which is just so wonderful. I think the problem is, by the time C Baker a S McCoy came around it had got to tired. The same showrunner had been in for ages, and obviously he had no idea how to spark up interest in the show again. Like I say, there's occasional good moments in the 80's, especially under P Davidson who did have a lot of great stories, but for me there's just a huge dip in quality at this point, which is reflected in the lack of humour. T Bakers stuff showed you could be funny and be quite dark. A lot of the 80's stuff was either just violent and dark, or panto humour

Yet it wasn't the actors fault as if you listen to the Big Finish audios with any of the 3 actors in question they are simply brilliant in most of the productions that they have made. They story does make quite a bit a difference as you noted for the quality of the show.

McCoy is my least favourite though on audio, even on BF he's a bit... much a lot of the time. Somehow he suits it though - its almost as if his acting has become part of the character now.

I don't want to digress too much away from the purpose of this thread but surely in a Sci-Fi show things aren't supposed to be real? Surely it's the escapism from reality that the show provides is one of it's main strengths that appeals to people who watch it? If you want to watch realism, you go watch a soap!

You have to see the program in the context it was made. In the 60's there was no CGI or other means to make the show look better so a man in a silver suit looked exactly that.

I also disagree with the fact the 80's had no humour as I've explained previously. For me the downhill slide really began after the show was put in hiatus in '85.

I've absolutely no problem with escapism, the whole experience of discovering a different world with so many different rules and features is why I love fantasy and Sci-Fi so much. My favourite piece of fiction after Who is the Lord of the Rings films, which is obviously almost totally alien to any kind of reality. But the thing about escapism is that I do want to be able to go to another world, to feel like it's real, and with a lot of 80's Who etc you just don't get that. I just have a tricky time believing it. There's a big difference between the kind of escapism you'd get in say, the 60's Batman TV series, and then the kind you get in more modern superhero stuff. I want to see the future, but I don't think we'll ever be people walking down catwalks in tin foil.

It needs to be believeable. If the effects aren't great then the writing and characterisation needs to be good enough for you to forget that. Like I say I do actually think most 60's Who is really good. Not only is the writing quite good there, but you can tell the special effects are really good for that time. I was actually blown away by some of them when watching Hartnell's stuff. The problem is that by the 80's, the special effects and stuff are still the same, the only thing that's really changed is the quality of the stories which has dipped.

I'm am actually in total agreement with you about the 80's, P Davidson's and a fair bit of C Baker's stuff is good. It's just that mid 80's onwards it begins to get worse, and, for me, it just isnt as funny. There is good stuff, like the "sir" scene in Caves of Androzani, but nothing like what came before. Youtube's Dr Who page today uploaded a clip to a story I've not seen before so know only a few details about (Leela's first appearance) but Tom Baker's reactions to the guy waving the machine around really made me laugh, which I've never really am as much about later stuff.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geMx6y8ctFk

Also, as I've seen a few people commenting on this, wanting to clarify that I've no problem with C Baker and S McCoy as actors, as one of their stories that I really do like, Trial of a Time Lord, really shows off how good they could have been if they had stuff of a similar quality to today. Also, talking of humour, t hey do both seem quite good their, the 5 Doctors reboot thing for the 50th was wonderful.

Every time I watch episode 1 of 'Day of the Daleks' I crack up at the scene with the Doctor critiquing the wine (unfortunately it is the last entertaining thing that happens in that serial ). I find the 3rd Doctor's pomposity hilarious. Most scenes with him and the Brig amuse me.

As you may infer from my forum name, I also find the Time Monster's scripts relentless insistence on having the cast say the word 'Tomtit' repeatedly with a straight face quite amusing.

There is a scene in 'The Ribos Operation' where the 4th Doctor is slapped with a glove. His (slightly delayed) facial reaction and subsequent counter slap had me and my girlfriend cracking up for ages afterwards.

I love when the 1st Doctor's hair gets very buoyant and fly-away.