Who is the best Doctor Who? Our writers on their favourite incarnations of the Time Lord as series turns 60

With a show that has lasted as long as Doctor Who (the show originally ran from 1963-1989, was cancelled, came back for a TV movie in 1996 and was then rebooted in 2005), it has amassed fans from across the generations.

Baby boomers, Gen X, millennials, and Gen Z, all know Doctor Who in one form or another, and every fan has their own favourite Doctor. The purists believe that William Hartnell’s First Doctor is the original and still the best, younger fans have a lot of love for David Tennant’s 10th Doctor, and contrarians argue for the supremacy of Paul McGann’s 8th Doc. These are the best Doctors according to our TV writers:

The 13th Doctor (Peter Capaldi) 

As an actor, Peter Capaldi stands alone as the pinnacle of what Doctor Who can be. While the writing of his episodes sometimes let him down, he commands screen presence like no other actor has in the role. In a recent survey, his solo episode "Heaven Sent" was rated as the best episode of all time - a unique story where Capaldi's Doctor is the only character.

His monologues are undeniably the best in the show, from his hard-hitting rant about the consequences of war (The Zygon Inversion) to an emotional plea for the Master(s) to stand beside him (The Doctor Falls). He might not be the popular choice, but when I want to rewatch Doctor Who, I constantly find myself revisiting Capaldi's sensational run as the 12th incarnation. Also, the ending of The Husbands of River Song leaves me in floods of tears. Every. Single. Time.

David George - Health Specialist

The 5th Doctor (Peter Davison)

I really didn't get a choice when it came to Dr Who. I don't know why I let my older brother dictate what we watched, but of course now I remember, there wasn't much else on to choose from!! I was most certainly not a fan of Blue Peter, so spent a lot of my childhood having to feign interest in the Daleks. 

When it comes to my favourite Dr Who, I have to confess that this is not a question that keeps me up at night. However, if I had to choose, for some reason I would opt for Peter Davison. Having always loved fashion, and because I used to attempt to play cricket with my brother, I kind of weirdly liked his Edwardian style cricket jumper, hat and jacket. I recently discovered that an outfit that he wore sold for £5040 at Bonhams, so it would seem that there is another Peter Davison/Dr Who fan out there! I can't say I would pay £50 for the outfit let alone over £5000!

Marina Licht - Associate Editor

The 4th Doctor (Tom Baker)

It has to be Tom Baker, right? Ask any international fan to give a description of one of the Time Lords throughout the history of the show, and I bet you on a number of occasions you'll get the answer "colourful scarf, affinity to jelly babies, wild curly hair." That pretty much sums up the aesthetic of Tom Baker's iteration of Doctor Who.

I fathom it helps that the Fourth Doctor era of the franchise was one of the first to earn its cult appeal in the United States when it started to air on PBS and pick up its following alongside another British export PBS played at the time, like Monty Pythong's Flying Circus. But the wild nature of Baker's take on the Doctor, showing at times his frustration and human nature despite not being human, is a pretty iconic take. Plus he also had K9, the robotic dog, as a companion. Winner.

Benji Jackson - Digital Journalist

The 5th Doctor (Peter Davison) 

Having never watched Doctor Who, some may say I should keep my nose out of matters that don't concern me, but perhaps this actually puts me in a better position to confirm who is indeed 'most iconic'. This is because my decision won't be influenced by how many episodes of that particular doctor I've seen, just on who I think is the most recognisable Doctor purely on fame. That being said, my choice has probably been swayed by the fact I'm a child of the 80s, as it's been a toss up between Tom Baker, Peter Davison and Sylvester McCoy. 

I feel like the stripey scarf is synonymous with the Doctor and so surely the title should be handed to Baker - however - I'm actually going for Davison. Hear me out. I've just learned that Davison is in fact the father-in-law of David Tennant - the 10th and 14th Doctor and many fan's favourite incarnation. I can't help but feel he must have had some hand in Tennant being the only Doctor to make a comeback, and for that reason, Davison wins as he can potentially take credit not only for his own depiction, but perhaps someone else’s too.

Jamie Jones - Late Editor

None of them (I know, but hear him out)

My favourite doctor? Absolutely none of them. Doctor Who has always left me cold, with its silly and smug Saturday teatime world. When I was younger I was unimpressed by the Cybermen and Daleks; for allegedly terrifying villains, they were surprisingly unscary. Now, in the 20 years or so since it was rebooted, on the odd occasion I've seen a few minutes of footage it's all long-winded speeches making blunted points supposedly relevant to our society, but declaiming them in a way that sounds less like a drama and more an audition for a particularly mediocre village hall version of Hamlet. 

Save us the whiffle about sonic screwdrivers, save us the laboured points, and save us from the furrowed brows, the shouting and panic about different dimensions or whatever. It's bad camp, it's undramatic, it's predictably plotted and it's ever so dull. The world is wrong. Doctor Who is rubbish.

Tom Morton - Early Editor

The 10th Doctor - (David Tennant)

It speaks volumes that the BBC trots out David Tennant every time they make a special episode of Doctor Who - he was there for Day of the Doctor in 2013 just three years after hanging up his sonic, and he’s back now for the 60th anniversary. He is the fan favourite for good reason. Great storylines, great hair, and enough charisma to fill a TARDIS, Tennant became the face of Doctor Who far fans new to the series after the reboot.

He was funny, energetic, charming. Men wanted to be him, and men and women wanted to be with him. But when Tennant really soared, when he raised Doctor Who from a children’s sci-fi show to a true prestige TV drama, was during the grittier moments. It was when Tennant cried ‘I am the Time Lord victorious’ in a moment of true hubris, when he tried to tell Rose Tyler that he loved her before being cruelly cut off, and of course, when he choked back tears and said ‘I don’t wanna go’, before regenerating into Matt Smith’s far inferior 11th Doctor.

Steven Ross - Digital Trends Writer

None of them reprise

Sorry, Doctor Who? As I child I remember my dad making me watch an episode of Doctor Who and even in the nineties I thought the robots - I believe they are called Daleks - looked rubbish and like they’d been made for robot wars. As a very girly-girl who loves pink it was definitely not the show for me. When asked who is my favourite Doctor Who? I genuinely had to Google the cast to find out who has played the role over the years. 

I do recall watching ‘The Empty Child’ episode in 2005. I was babysitting my younger cousins who were huge fans of the show so was forced to sit and watch it before they went to bed. Chrstopher Eccleston was the Doctor at the time and I can remember thinking it was one of the creepiest things I’ve ever watched. These kids are walking around in gas masks asking “Are you my mummy?’ still haunts me to this day.  How my younger cousins weren’t scared at this tea-time show I have no idea but I definitely did not sleep for a week after that. 

Natalie Dixon - Lifestyle Reporter