Personally, I am very happy he's at the top of the list and think its a very just placement.

The quality of the writing and acting during his tenure as the Doctor has (for me) yet to be surpassed and he holds his own against the others on that list.

I think its important to remember that David Tennant is an award winning actor - and not just with popular "viewer-vote" awards, although there is nothing wrong with those.

He's won/been nominated for industry, critics and peer awards for his work across UK and US television as well as theatre and radio.

I think sometimes it gets lost on here what an amazing, talented and diverse actor he is and what a coup it was for the show to get someone of his ability and professional stature - especially as he was following in the footsteps of Christopher Eccleston who had already set the bar incredibly high for modern Doctors.

I've never felt that popularity and quality are mutually exclusive and, for me, David's portrayal of the 10th Doctor is evidence of that.

I definitely agree Tennant is an amazing actor, but for me his time on the show he was limited in what he did most episodes barring occasionally when RTD or whoever showcased his abilities, like Midnight or Waters of Mars. And the quality of the writing, incredibly inconsistent for me.

But getting back to the popularity topic, much like ratings i don't see it as a measure of success, but more great advertising or in this case the person/s are more in the spotlight than others which creates a mob like mentality and a louder voice. Which is what i think the others are alluding too. What i am basically saying is that a lot of people get under the radar because of this.

That is my thoughts on it anyway.

I'm not cross. Certainly, I would place the characters very differently if it was my choice, but that's not how a poll works. If there's anything to be cross about, it would be that DS only put the Tenth Doctor as an option rather than, say, the Doctor as a general character.

Look at this way: I think it's a shame there are people out there more interested in his good looks than his brilliant acting, and I'm sure there are some who might agree with me. I know a few people who have gone off Tennant lately because he's not as young as he once was, and that to me is a sad reminder of how important looks and sex appeal are when it comes to TV and film.

The poll standings do look more inclined towards the teenage girl demographic than any other, as far as I can tell. I don't know why some people are taking so much offense at the suggestion if they claim to be happy with the popularity of Ten. Teens do make up a lot of the television audience.

Yay! The 10th Doctor won!!

David Tennant's 10th Doctor is voted the best TV character of the 21st century after a tense battle

Pretty amazing result - 241,000 votes were cast and the 10th Doctor got 15% of the overall vote (35,000 votes). I am pleased because it does cement, for me, just how memorable and iconic the 10th Doctor has become.


I really can't see any evidence of that. Just looking at the top 10 alone, there's very little to suggest the poll was distorted by votes from teenage girls.

Completely agree.


The only evidence of such a thing, as in most of these cases, lies only in the minds of those who don't agree with the results.

Besides, 10 was popular at the time and still popular now. Those who were teenage girls at the time couldn't still be teenage girls now.

At any rate, there aren't enough fangirls to account for just how popular he is. Sooner or later, some of the people who didn't take to him might have to just accept that he is popular amongst the who audience in general.


Like you say, a just result, based on the immense quality of the 10th Doctor, as brought to us by the brilliant combined efforts of David Tennant and RTD.



I agree. With those who don't like the 10th Doctor, there always has to be some excuse rather than admitting he is popular.

It's strange because to me, it's just like if I were to take Tom Bakers popularity and say it was all just sentimental oldies voting for him any time he was voted as popular, or grannies with a crush giving Capaldi whatever popularity he has, which I wouldn't because it just sounds silly to try and pretend an actor in a role isn't popular, when the evidence suggests they are, just because you may not feel the same personally.

In any case, it doesn't gain them anything or change just how popular he genuinely is.

Absolutely. Besides, is Digital Spy an online haven for teenage girls? I always felt the demographics of DS users would be somewhat different. Mostly male for one thing.

Anyway, thank you for your post doctor blue box. I'm glad there are a few other people on here happy the 10th Doctor won.

I'm irritated that the character i wanted to vote for wasn't on here haha. But i feel Smexy did bring up a good point about how The Doctor should be all incarnations not just one.

I think it's interesting that the Digital Spy people plumped for one incarnation - it does make me wonder if other people (i.e. not Doctor Who fans) see each individual incarnation as separate characters, where as Whovians are more likely to see them all as the same person.

That is a good question, i'd be inclined to think different characters as they probably don't understand how regeneration works. But then again, they may just think of the character as The Doctor as they don't really watch the show, which would mean the same person.

We're watching Dynasty at the moment where actors are replaced fairly frequently. The expectation on the audience is to accept it is the same character - even when the actor has no resemblance to their predecessor and might even have a different accent.

Amanda Carrington is a great example - a young British woman one episode, an older (obviously) American woman the next.

At least Doctor Who has come up with a clever reason for the lead actor changing every few years!

To me, the main reason seems to be that, at the top, they specified that it was only 21st century characters, and even specified that they couldn't include things like red dwarf because they started in the 20th century. That being the case, I think they decided the only way they could get around their own rules in this instance was to specify a particular incarnation who was a 21st century one. Then, when they were in that position, doing a poll of popular characters, they naturally chose the incarnation out of the 4 it was possible to choose from who they saw as most popular - and boy did that result show just how much.

P.s I'd like to think they understand the one man, different faces concept, but i've even heard people on here say things that suggest they don't quite understand it.

Well i saw Buffy on the list and she started in 96. But the best thing for me about this poll is it shows Doctor Who is still quite popular, and not dying like i hear people suggest.

For me the Tenth Doctor is without a doubt my least favourite of the four newer Doctors. Not to say I don't like him but I just happened to like the other three more. At the same time I'll concede that he is just popular in general, and that people liked Tennant's interpretation of the character. One of my sisters rates Tennant as her favourite because she thinks he's the most attractive, my other sister thinks he's attractive but much prefers Eccleston, Smith and Capaldi as the Doctor, whilst my boyfriend ranks Tennant as his favourite Doctor but doesn't think he's remotely attractive whatsoever whilst he'll see Matt Smith as attractive but less of an appealing Doctor. Then there's my mother who thinks McGann and Capaldi are the only competent ones out of all of them, but hates the show overall and thinks Capaldi could do better

I can see why he's so popular though. Personally I see him as rather mainstream, unquirky and frankly a little dull at times - but from another perspective that makes him accessible, presumably a bit more human therefore relateable and in terms of appearance he's just quite conventional. I do think generally his looks have helped him to gain popularity more than other Doctors, but at the same time he is just popular. There's no harm in admitting that, even if he's not your personal preference.


I personally understand it, and fully grasp that the Doctor is one man with many faces. But even as someone who gets it, regeneration is a relatively unique aspect of the show but it's also ultimately just a fancy recasting method. There are a few expected defaults with the Doctor - he's a protagonist figure, he'll be sociable enough to have a travelling companion and so on - but beyond that each incarnation is vividly different to the last and could have absolutely nothing in common with any or all of the previous Doctors. New face and new persona. It's ultimately what makes him the most alien... whilst Matt Smith's Doctor can stand there on his way out and profess that we're all different people all through our lives it is only he who will change his physical appearance as well as his persona. So whilst he is the same man with each incarnation, he also simultaneously isn't. For the sake of a poll like this I would consider him as one whole character, but I think more broadly speaking it's okay that it's a blurred line... that you can see each incarnation almost as a different man.

I disagree that they are vividly different. Of course there is a personality change, but ultimately their beliefs are from the same place, but just as they get older they see the world differently.

Every Doctor is sociable as you said, is very confident and arrogant in their abilities, they always want to help even though some regenerations are more sympathetic than others. The Doctor still wants to see the universe and explore which has never changed. Ultimately every incarnation of The Doctor has the same history and principles he works off, the methods may change and his personality. But when you strip it away its the same man.

Thats probably the most fair and mature assessment i've heard from someone who doesn't personally like him.



I disagree there. I've always thought of it as just an alteration in the surface personality e.g the obvious yet unimportant stuff on the surface like if he is more prone to being grumpier in general, more or less eccentric etc, but in every incarnation, it seems clear that we are still watching that same old ancient alien who is against weapons, killing, has his own unique set of morals, cannot help but get involved in fighting injustice, gets annoyed angry or happy about the same type of things etc.

If someone were to write an incarnation who didn't have those ingrained traits, and was, as you say, completely different to the Doctor we know, then it wouldn't be the Doctor we know and I would just conclude that the particular writer had no understanding of the character.

I don't think anyone's been denying Ten's popularity at all or pretending it doesn't exist, so I've no idea where that's coming from. I think more offense is being taken at the suggestion that he's very popular among teenage girls than should be. Ten had a lot of mainstream appeal and they do make up a fair bit of the TV viewing audience, after all.

What, are we all supposed to be worshipping Ten or something? He won the poll, there's no need to get irritated and make up stuff about other forum members' intentions because not everyone agrees with the results. There'd be no forum otherwise.

In the 21st Century might have been an overstatement on their part, plus some of the characters on the list come from totally different shows in totally different genres, targeted to different people, so they are all good in their respective areas, maybe the poll should've been more precise.

However I do think Ten is one of my most favourite characters from the 2000s, I say one of the and not the best, because as soon as you say hes the best you're kinda screwing over other characters that were also fantastic.

More that certain people are trying to imply that 'teenage girls' account for most of the popularity as if to discredit the popularity he has (who apparently could magically be teenage girls back in 2009 and still be now 7 years later).

No one expects everyone to like the every incarnation of the Doctor or other character that they do, but trying to make excuses for the popularity of a character you don't like rather than just accept that they are generally very popular despite your views just seems silly, and is ultimately pointless.

Like i've already said, if I were to diminish what popularity the 12 Doctor has by saying outright, or even implying that it was just down to middle aged or elderly housewife's watching purely because they fancy Capaldi and nothing to do with his acting, you'd be the first to strongly disagree with me. I wouldn't say that though unless trying to make a point of how silly these kind of excuses are are, because, whilst I'm sure that there are probably those who do find Capaldi attractive, to pretend that is all or even mostly what his popularity is based on would not only be false, and would be an insult to not only his acting work but, for all the fans who like him because of his ability in the role.



Well I certainly don't think or hope that it's 'dying',(and certainly not when it's going to soon have new life breathed into it, so to speak) but at the same time all the poll really proves is that the show was popular in the Tennant/RTD era, and that the Tennant era and the 10th Doctor are still fondly remembered by many today, after over half a decade since that era was over.

Like I said, I don't think anyone is saying or implying that Tennant is unpopular. This is either being made up or completely clueless. But don't be surprised that a character being popular doesn't mean absolutely everyone agrees that he's the best. Polls show differing opinions and these opinions will be discussed. I think some are genuinely surprised at some of the results, such as Walter White being so low down, Castiel being so high, etc. so of course this will come into the discussion. Can this not be discussed without someone being miserable that not everybody agrees with the poll results and accusing them of making "excuses"?

What people have been saying, is that when characters like Castiel and Sheldon Cooper beat out ones like Walter White, it's likely a reflection of a certain demographic. TV works on targeting different demographics, so why is that such a bad thing? Maybe Capaldi does have a large demographic consisting of housewives? And why are you so affronted by the idea that Tennant is more appealing to teenage girls than, say, Capaldi is?

Oh, and generally speaking, though most people tend to grow out of being a teenager by force of nature, more do tend to pop up. Take it as a good thing, it's well known that many people do go back and watch the Tennant years even today.