Rating “Physician Who”‘s Docs is an especially subjective affair. Ask any “Who” fan and their listing is sure to be completely different, their decisions formed by after they had been born, after they found the long-running sci-fi present, and, after all, private choice.
As a result of whereas the Time Lords’ skill to regenerate implies that all the “Physician Who” Docs are basically the identical particular person, each actor to play the position has introduced one thing completely different to Gallifrey’s most well-known export. And because of the 62-year-old present’s ability to reinvent itself every week, each single one has had highs and lows throughout their residency within the TARDIS.
This information to each “Physician Who” ranked embarks on a mission each bit as audacious as placing the James Bonds so as. Beneath we rely down all 14 (technically 15) common Docs — from William Hartnell by way of to present incumbent Ncuti Gatwa — earlier than touchdown on our favorite of the “Physician Who” Docs. We have additionally discovered room for just a few honourable mentions.
Physician Who Docs, ranked
14. The Sixth Physician (Colin Baker)
It feels harsh to place anybody on the backside of this listing, seeing as each Physician has had their share of memorable moments. Moreover, any Physician is as a lot a product of choices made by writers and producers as an actor’s efficiency.
Certainly, “Physician Who”‘s second Baker had extra to battle than Daleks, Cybermen, and the Rani, confronted with an eyesore of a dressing up and a BBC One boss (Michael Grade) who had little time for the present — “Physician Who” took an enforced 18-month hiatus throughout Baker’s tenure.
The character’s worst second got here early on, nevertheless, when a post-regeneration Sixth Physician tried to strangle companion Peri (Nicola Bryant). Though a plan was in place to mellow this offended, smug Time Lord as time went on, it was at all times going to be exhausting for the Sixth Physician to get well from such unforgivable, out-of-character behaviour.
13. The Eighth Physician (Paul McGann)
Both the longest or shortest-serving Physician, relying in your standpoint. Paul McGann was technically the TARDIS incumbent from the 1996 TV film till the present’s 2005 revival, although he solely appeared in a single story throughout that point. Whereas that TV film did not win followers over, McGann’s efficiency did, and he is since made up for that lack of display screen time in quite a few audio dramas.
He additionally bought a belated regeneration scene, morphing into John Damage’s Battle Physician within the 2013 brief “The Evening of the Physician”, and appeared as a imaginative and prescient to the Thirteenth Physician in her personal regeneration episode, “The Energy of the Physician”. McGann would arguably have turn into one of many GOATS if he’d starred in additional adventures on TV.
12. The Fifth Physician (Peter Davison)
The Physician who had the near-impossible problem of following on from Tom Baker. Davison (then a rising star due to his position in cosy BBC One drama “All Creatures Nice and Small”) properly made no effort to mimic his iconic predecessor. As a substitute, his Physician came to visit as a really good, very human public college boy, whose most blatant eccentricity was the celery pinned to the lapel of his cricket-inspired outfit.
Maybe not one of many all-time TARDIS greats however a powerful midtable performer — and his closing regeneration story, “The Caves of Androzani”, is up there with “Physician Who”‘s easiest.
11. The Third Physician (Jon Pertwee)
The Time Lord smartened up his look when he regenerated into this extra dandyish Third Physician incarnation, the primary to look on color TV. Jon Pertwee’s Physician spent a lot of his tenure exiled on Earth — a punishment doled out by the Time Lords for his perpetual interference in different cultures — however discovered loads of work as a scientific advisor for UNIT, an organisation that is still integral within the fashionable period of the present.
This Physician was extra action-oriented than some other, not afraid to get himself caught right into a fist struggle and a practitioner of the martial artwork of Venusian aikido — maybe, at instances, a little bit extra James Bond than Physician Who.
10. The Thirteenth Physician (Jodie Whittaker)
After Steven Moffat had laid the groundwork — Time Lords altering gender throughout regenerations, a feminine Grasp often known as “Missy” — it could have felt like a missed alternative if new “Who” showrunner Chris Chibnall hadn’t forged a lady within the lead position for the primary time (apart from Joanna Lumley’s look in 1999 Comedian Reduction particular “The Curse of Deadly Demise”).
Jodie Whittaker (who’d labored with Chibnall on “Broadchurch”) immediately made the position her personal, enjoying the Physician as an interesting mixture of enthusiastic schoolteacher and worlds-weary traveller with hundreds of years on the clock — and she or he might make that swap immediately. She’d be a lot larger on this listing if she’d had just a few extra basic tales to sink her tooth into.
9. The Fifteenth Physician (Ncuti Gatwa)
- Years energetic: 2023-present
Whereas many older “Who” followers had been asking “Ncuti who?” when Gatwa bought the keys to the TARDIS, this was a really impressed piece of casting from returning showrunner Russell T Davies. In addition to being a superb actor and the present’s first Black lead, Gatwa’s profitable stint on “Intercourse Training” had given him the form of Gen Z following which may simply turn out to be useful for attracting a brand new era of followers.
The Fifteenth Physician is much more snug round people than the Tenth, a bona fide drive of nature with killer trend sense and empathy to burn. He is additionally fairly extra liable to romantic entanglements than most of his predecessors, as proved when he fell for time-travelling bounty hunter Rogue (Jonathan Groff). This incarnation incessantly hints at greatness — he simply wants extra adventures to show it.
8. The Ninth Physician (Christopher Eccleston)
With the potential exception of Patrick Troughton, no new Physician has confronted a extra daunting process than Christopher Eccleston. Sixteen lengthy years had handed because the present’s unique cancellation in 1989, and no person actually knew how this sci-fi establishment would go down within the Twenty first century.
Eccleston (who’d beforehand labored with showrunner Russell T Davies on “The Second Coming”) rapidly eradicated any doubts, and over the course of a single season this Mancunian Time Lord identified that “plenty of planets have a north”, reminded us why Daleks are unhealthy information, and fashioned an exquisite double act with Billie Piper’s Rose Tyler. When he bids Rose a heartfelt farewell in “The Parting of the Methods”, you may’t assist wishing he’d caught round a bit longer than a yr.
7. The Seventh Physician (Sylvester McCoy)
With an outfit significantly toned down from the Sixth Physician’s assault on trend, this incarnation progressively morphed from a considerably clownish determine (Sylvester McCoy had a background in bodily comedy) right into a darker, extra irritable Time Lord powered by righteous anger — this regeneration definitely made the a lot of the character’s penchant for a strong monologue.
Having featured in basic tales like “The Happiness Patrol” and “Remembrance of the Daleks”, McCoy was unfortunate to be the incumbent Physician when the present was unceremoniously axed in 1989. He returned for the compulsory regeneration scene within the 1996 TV film.
6. The First Physician (William Hartnell)
In case your introduction to “Physician Who” got here within the Twenty first century, no incarnation of the Physician will really feel extra alien than the unique mannequin. Hartnell’s Physician began out as a crotchety OAP dwelling in a London junkyard, although his travels by way of time and area with granddaughter Susan and different companions progressively softened these edges till he merely turned a twinkly previous man with a magical blue (or, on black-and-white TV, gray) field.
Whereas it is typically exhausting to get your head round the truth that this is similar character who’ll finally be performed by Matt Smith, Jodie Whittaker, and Ncuti Gatwa, Hartnell’s efficiency was as necessary to the present’s early years because the Daleks. The First Physician has since been performed by Richard Hurndall and David Bradley.
5. The Twelfth Physician (Peter Capaldi)
The present was so common again in 2013 that the announcement of Peter Capaldi’s casting was given its personal primetime present on BBC One. For teenagers raised on a weight loss plan of David Tennant and Matt Smith, the revealing of a 50-something actor — then greatest recognized for turning swearing into poetry in political sitcom “The Thick of It” — will need to have been an actual shock to the system.
However the time was arguably proper to take the Physician in a special path, and lifelong “Who” fan Capaldi efficiently explored the vary of the character. The gradual mellowing of his unique irascible self — “She cares so I haven’t got to,” he stated of companion Clara Oswald (Jenna Coleman) — labored significantly better than the Sixth Physician’s related arc, whereas his one-hander in “Heaven Despatched” is one for the ages. The Twelfth Physician additionally had few rivals when it got here to delivering a rousing speech.
4. The Eleventh Physician (Matt Smith)
The success of David Tennant’s tenure had modified perceptions of who the Physician might and must be. Arguably for the primary time in his historical past, the Time Lord was thought to be cool, of his time, and, dare we are saying it, a intercourse image — that means that incoming showrunner Steven Moffat had one of many hardest casting selections conceivable.
He discovered the right mix of Twenty first-century zeitgeist and Gallifreyan eccentricity in a then-unknown actor who stays the youngest ever to play the Physician. On the time, Moffat described Matt Smith as “strikingly good-looking however like a cartoon of good-looking,” and the Eleventh Physician at all times felt like an previous man trapped in a younger man’s physique. He even did his bit to make bow ties cool.
3. The Second Physician (Patrick Troughton)
Viewers had solely recognized one Physician when William Hartnell stunned viewers by regenerating into Patrick Troughton in 1966. That ingenious storytelling gadget (or, relying in your standpoint, quirk of Gallifreyan biology) is arguably the rationale we’re nonetheless speaking about “Physician Who” almost six a long time later.
It would not have labored, nevertheless, had Patrick Troughton not completely nailed the position. Somewhat than delivering a facsimile of Hartnell he made it clear that his Physician was a really completely different man, a “cosmic hobo” with a jollier disposition than his predecessor and a penchant for enjoying the recorder. How unhappy that just about half of his episodes have been misplaced
2. The Tenth/Fourteenth Physician (David Tennant)
- Years energetic: 2005-2010, 2023
If ever there was a case of proper time, proper actor, this was it. David Tennant had already performed the lead in Russell T Davies’ “Casanova” by the point he landed within the TARDIS, and the mix of a star and present on the rise proved totally irresistible. In contrast to most of the Time Lord’s earlier incarnations, the Tenth Physician was totally snug round people, and had appreciable chemistry with Rose Tyler — to the extent that the duplicate “Meta-Disaster Physician” created in sequence 4’s “Journey’s Finish” settled down with Rose in a parallel universe.
Tennant’s skinny go well with and Converse trainers ensemble captured a trend second and, with the likes of “Blink”, “Human Nature”/”The Household of Blood” and “Midnight“, he was fortunate to coincide with most of the greatest tales of the fashionable “Who” period.
So common that the Thirteenth Physician regenerated again right into a barely older model of the Tenth Physician for 3 sixtieth anniversary specials.
1. The Fourth Physician (Tom Baker)
It is exceptional that, greater than 4 a long time after he left the TARDIS, Tom Baker stays synonymous with the Physician. For a lot of informal viewers, the fedora, the excessively lengthy scarf and unmistakable voice are nonetheless the quintessential picture of the present. It is easy to see why.
There was one thing unmistakably alien about Baker’s efficiency, incessantly coupled together with his Physician’s unbridled pleasure on the wonders of the universe. However the eccentricity by no means bought in the way in which of the character’s gravitas, most notably when he opted not to forestall his best foes’ existence in basic serial “Genesis of the Daleks”. Nonetheless the best, most watchable Physician of all of them.
Honorable mentions
None of those actors has ever headlined the present however they’ve most positively performed the Physician…
The film Physician (Peter Cushing)
His Physician just isn’t described as an alien and his two film adventures (“Dr Who and the Daleks” and “Daleks — Invasion Earth: 2150 AD”) are each diversifications of present BBC serials. However the future Grand Moff Tarkin did take the TARDIS to the large display screen in what now seems like another universe tackle “Physician Who”.
The Battle Physician (John Damage)
After Christopher Eccleston turned down the chance to return for fiftieth anniversary particular “The Day of the Physician”, showrunner Steven Moffat was left with a gap in his multi-Physician journey. He stuffed it with this beforehand unseen incarnation of the Physician, thought-about an outcast by his extra jovial successors however really a surprisingly heat and empathetic model of the Time Lord.
The Fugitive Physician (Jo Martin)
No Physician in historical past has opened an even bigger can of worms than the Fugitive Doctor. After followers had spent six a long time believing that the First Physician (William Hartnell) was, effectively, the primary, sequence 12’s controversial “Timeless Youngsters” arc revealed that there’d been many regenerations earlier than him.
Jo Martin’s Fugitive Physician is on the run from her former employers on the Division, is way happier round weapons than her successors, and does not endure fools gladly. She’s additionally turned up reverse Ncuti Gatwa’s Physician — in addition to fronting some audio dramas — and can hopefully flip up within the present once more.
New episodes of “Physician Who” can be found on BBC iPlayer within the UK and Disney+ within the US. If you wish to return additional in time, most present episodes from the present’s 60+-year historical past can be found on BBC iPlayer within the UK.
Outdated model
Who was one of the best Physician Who Physician? With greater than 13 actors adopting the long-lasting position over almost sixty years, everybody has a favourite Timelord. Who’s yours?
Within the final 60-plus years, loads of celebs have modified their faces right here and there. Some skilled a slight thinning of the nostril, others their forehead, butt, lips, and hairline. However no person does a brand new face fairly just like the Physician.
Fifteen faces to this point, with a pair additional thrown in for good measure, have graced our screens and right here you may discover the listing that solutions the query – Physician Who’s greatest? That is our listing of the Physician Who Docs, ranked worst to greatest.
Physician Who Docs, ranked worst to greatest
13. Patrick Troughton – Second Physician
The second incarnation of the Physician was performed by Patrick Troughton, from 1966-1969. Troughton trails on our listing for the easy motive that it is exhausting to judge his tenure with so many lacking episodes.
The BBC took it upon themselves to lose a number of basic Physician Who episodes, together with 53 of Troughton’s 119, so it is exhausting to completely recognize his run today. The cosmic hobo bumbled his method throughout the universe going through Daleks, and Cybermen, in addition to the Nice Intelligence, and Ice Warriors.
12. Paul McGann – Eighth Physician
The Physician with the shortest time on our display screen, McGann took half in a 1996 TV movie which was meant to relaunch the franchise. Sadly, US audiences did not take, although it was common within the UK. The concept for a brand new sequence was scrapped, however it didn’t cease McGann.
Although his display screen time was minimal, the eighth Physician has been part of audio dramas, comics, and novels through the years. We additionally noticed him return for the Day of the Physician particular, placing in a splendid efficiency as he made his transformation into the Battle Physician.
11. Colin Baker – Sixth Physician
The primary of two Bakers on our listing, Colin performed the titular determine from 1984-1986. Throughout Baker’s time on the present, the BBC took an 18-month hiatus from Physician Who, and Baker was left with simply two companions and a handful of episodes.
His sharp tongue, and sometimes unkind character set this new type of Physician in opposition to the enjoyable and flamboyant incarnations that got here beforehand. By no means to be forgotten although, his query mark collars, and brilliant patchwork jacket stored viewer’s eyes occupied.
10. Peter Capaldi – Twelfth Physician
From 2014-2017, a gruff and action-ready Peter Capaldi shredded an electrical guitar by way of the TARDIS. This model of the Physician sported sonic sun shades as a substitute of the standard screwdriver, and beloved a distressed chunky knit jumper. This rock ‘n’ roll model of the dual-hearted hero was a far departure from his predecessor (Matt Smith), and stored in verify by the witty, and probably immortal, Clara Oswald.
Capaldi himself was an exceptional Physician, bringing that trademark mix of grizzled warrior and cosmic buffoon, however his episodes had been a bit hit-and-miss. “Heaven Despatched” is amongst Who’s greatest although.
9. Christopher Eccleston – Ninth Physician
With only one sequence beneath his belt, Eccleston was the face of the 2005 Physician Who revival. Followers loved his ears, accent, and brooding leather-based jacket, however sadly it wasn’t to final. Followers rank Physician 9 as a favourite incarnation, and it is not exhausting to see why. For a lot of new Whovians, Eccleston was the primary face we bought to know on the TARDIS’ helm.
Eccleston introduced frantic and wild power to the Physician, however when issues bought critical, oh boy did Eccleston get critical. Sadly, his run lasted just one season, and it actually felt like he had a lot extra to provide as The Physician.
8. Sylvester McCoy – Seventh Physician
Sylvester McCoy noticed the tip of basic Physician Who, because it’s cancellation straight adopted on from his time within the blue field. Referred to as a darker model of the Physician, McCoy’s efficiency has been praised for its layered and nuanced manipulation of each supporting characters and the viewers.
Regardless of his closing look in the primary sequence ending in 1987, Physician 7 appeared within the 1996 TV movie, handing over the reigns to Paul McGann.
7. Peter Davidson – Fifth Physician
Sandwiched between Colin Baker and Tom Baker sits Peter Davidson. The fifth incarnation of the Physician, and one of the vital well-known actors to tackle the mantle, Davidson piloted the time machine from 1982-1984. Davidson’s tenure was neither wonderful, nor significantly unhealthy – he had some nice episodes and battled with iconic villains although, together with the Cybermen and The Grasp.
Davidson’s actual life daughter, Georgia Moffat, joined the Physician Who household in additional methods than one: Enjoying the Physician’s daughter, Jenny, and in addition marrying the Physician himself, David Tennant.
6. Matt Smith – Eleventh Physician
Smith’s three-year time period began in 2010 and his quirky, bow-tie loving model of the eponymous hero rapidly rose to monumental reputation. Smith was the Physician in residence in the course of the fiftieth anniversary of the present, teaming up with David Tennant, and The ‘Battle Physician’, John Damage.
Smith’s Physician was extra light-hearted than most the entries on both aspect of him, expressing the identical child-like glee that any ten yr previous in case you instructed them they may fly about in an area ship. He has some actually epic storylines, even when just a few of them did get a bit messy and self-aggrandizing. Nonetheless, Smith takes our mid-position, for his fez, bow-tie, and a formidable three-year tenure.
5. Jodie Whittaker – Thirteenth Physician
The earlier Physician on our screens, Whittaker made historical past as the primary lady to play the character, and tackles exhausting hitting points with every episode. Her tenure within the TARDIS resulted in 2022, with a trio of particular episodes, and we do know that Russell T Davies, the previous showrunner (2005-2010), is returning to take the helm behind the scenes.
It is powerful to position Jodie on this listing, as a result of her efficiency has been stellar – it is simply the script and episodes round her which were one thing of a let down.
4. Jon Pertwee – Third Physician
Jon Pertwee launched audiences to the Physician in shade TV, going through off in opposition to the Autons in his first serial. Pertwee’s Physician is thought for being grounded on Earth, and is employed by UNIT as an advisor. Pertwee himself confessed that his scripts had been heavy with scientific exposition, and he usually changed the long-winded explanations with a easy “reverse the polarity”.
Pertwee additionally launched the world to Sarah-Jane Smith, Jo Grant, and Liz Shaw, three of probably the most beloved companions within the present’s run. One of the crucial well-known faces in Physician Who historical past, he misses out on the highest three by a slim margin.
3. William Hartnell – First Physician
The primary Physician Who, and the blueprint for the following 58 years, William Hartnell is the person that started all of it. Beginning out cussed and sometimes mistrustful of people, Hartnell grew his Physician right into a sensible and grandfatherly determine, travelling with ten companions, from 1963-1966. His tackle the character was colder than most of those who got here after, however he is nonetheless the face that launched the sequence.
As his time period ended, Hartnell hand-picked his successor: “There’s just one man in England who can take over, and that is Patrick Troughton.” Hartnell takes the bronze medal for this High Docs listing, with out him the present wouldn’t be the identical.
2. Tom Baker – Fourth Physician
One of many longest reigning actors to take the blue field’s helm, Tom Baker held the mantle from 1974-1981. His iconic scarf, hat, and straightforward wit made audiences love him, and naturally, all of us would love a jellybaby. When you consider basic Physician Who, Tom Baker is nearly definitely the primary face to pop into your thoughts.
He was additionally the primary of the Physician’s to actually nail that mix of caprice, motion, and horror that makes Physician Who so nice. He had his fair proportion of scary episodes, critical episodes, and down proper foolish episodes, and he nailed each it each time.
1. David Tennant – Tenth Physician
Named the most well-liked Physician within the present’s historical past, David Tennant introduced a complete new fanbase to the Who-niverse. An evergreen fan of Physician Who himself, his enthusiasm and love for the character shone by way of. From a one-handed Sycorax duel on Christmas Day, to saving the very material of actuality, Tennant left his mark on Physician Who without end.
Whereas each Physician has their standout episodes, Tenant’s run is simply brimmed with absolute classics. From the genuinely terrifying Blink to the cosmic horror of The Not possible Planet, Tenant’s Physician was a golden age for the present.
Honorable mentions
John Damage – The Battle Physician
John Damage joined the Who household for the fiftieth anniversary episode, enjoying a model of the Physician between sequence 8 & 9. Damage’s Battle Physician confirmed the character at his most susceptible, attempting to save lots of Gallifrey, the homeworld of the Timelords.
Jo Martin – The Fugitive Physician
Jo Martin was the second lady, and first particular person of shade, to play the Physician. As a part of the Timeless Little one story, Martin’s model is from an unknown second within the seemingly infinite lifetime of the mysterious hero
So, there they’re, every Physician and the elements they performed in making this iconic present what it’s. A universe recognized and beloved the world over, and at all times an fascinating icon of TV historical past. Will it ever finish..? Solely Physician Who is aware of.