The 13 Doctors: Rated

Its no secret i'm a major doctor who fan. Off work sick, and in the company of Jon Pertwees Season 10, it got me thinking. How do I rate the doctors?

1. Tom Baker
He's MY doctor. Funny, eccentric, alien, insane, he embodied everything about the Doctor, and totally made him his own. Without a doubt, he is the quintessential Doctor Who.
Added bonus in that he was ably assisted by Sarah Jane, then Leela, then Romana (1 & 2) - feisty strong women that could stand their own against him. Sarah will always be my all time favourite companion, but to have her followed by Leela (a "savage") and Romana (a time lady, intellectually equal) was an amazing continuation of incredibly well-written characters.
He had a ridiculous 7 year run, including a couple of hammer horror styled Mary Whitehouse bothering series.
This is why he's number one.
Best Stories: Genesis Of The Daleks, Brain of Morbius, Pyramids Of Mars, Talons Of Weng Chiang

2. Peter Capaldi
I loved Peter in the role, especially coupled with Jenna Colemans Clara. I loved his grumpy, cantankerous, miserable first season - it was a shame that the powers that be chickened out and softened him up for his latter stories, but regardless - i still thought he was brilliant. Him and Clara are probably one of my favourite pairings of Doctor/Companion - they way they rubbed each other the wrong way and egged each other on, driving them to outdo themselves, leading to them coming undone by the end of the 9th series. He was like a "Pertwee +" doctor with bags of charisma, and while bringing a lot of himself to the role, he would call upon bits of Troughton and Baker.
Best Stories: Flatline, Last Christmas, the Cyberman 2-parter, Listen

3. Jon Pertwee
Although TB was MY doctor, Jon was the first doctor I watched on TV. I remember seeing repeats from the 9th and 10th season, starting to watch him from The Green Death onwards. I was only 3 at the time!
Jon stands out as being unlike ANY other doctor - as everyone says, hes more like a James Bond character, and very influenced by a lot of other shows at the time - Avengers, UFO etc. He liked gadgets and cars, was violent, and was a bit of a snob. Another doc that seems defined by his companions, he was at his best with Jo and the UNIT crew. Jo is up there as another fave companion, and her growth from ditz to independence in "The Green Death" leads to one of the saddest doctor/companion splits.
Best Stories: Terror Of The Autons, Day Of The Daleks, all of Season 10, Time Warrior

4. Matt Smith
Matt was a shock. The youngest Doctor so far, he played him as an ancient soul inside a geeky ungainly young body, utterly influenced by Troughtons doc.
His first few seasons were easily the best that new Who offered, with him and Moffat really bringing everything to table. Plus another great pairing with Amy Pond, who yet again was another companion that could stand her own against him.
By the end he was becoming a bit of a parody of himself, but the calibre of stories he had means he's a lot higher in my list than I epxpected.
Best Stories: Asylum Of The Daleks, Power Of Three, Vincent And The Doctor, The Girl Who Waited

5. Sylvester McCoy
I credit good ole Sylvester with rescuing my love of the series. His last two seasons had been the best DW had been in years, and was such a shame that he was shut down as things started to get interesting again.
Admittedly, he didn't start well, but by the 25th Season (and the 26th),  he had stamped his place in DW history.
Outwardly mischievous and genial, inwardly the 7th Doctor was manipulative and mysterious, using his companion Ace in a kind of experiment to help her come to terms with her past. Those last two seasons got me back into DW in a big way, and loved all those episodes - and the crazy little scotsman that lead them.
Best Stories: Ghost Light, Survival, Remembrance Of The Daleks

6. Jodie Whitaker
So i think Jodie is BRILLIANT. I'm also sure that her first series (which is pretty patchy in places) has been done as a re-boot - the mythos will remain, but for her first series, all the back story has been ignored for a bit while we get to know the new Doc.
Weirdly, Jodie had never seen Doctor Who, and doesn't really know of any history - leading her to play the new lady Doc as completely different to everyone else. Shes upbeat, goofy and friendly - but up till now has only showed a few inklings of what lies beneath her good natured exterior. I can't wait to see what happens next, and assuming Chibnall doesn't fuck it up, i think she'll be ace! (ha, wrong doc!)
Best Stories: Resolution, It Takes You Away, The Witchfinders, Rosa

7. Christopher Ecclestone
I always though Chris was a bit of stunt casting to be fair, to enable the renewed series to come in with a bang. He was great though, and had a solid one season run. Playing the Doc as slightly alien, slightly hipster, and slightly arrogant, he pulled off the renewal, and was helped ably by Billie Piper as Rose.
Not much to say as he disappeared far too quickly. Would have been nice to have seen him settle into the role over a second season.
Best Stories: Rose, Dalek, Empty Child
8. Patrick Troughton
Without Pat, there'd be no Doctor Who as we know it. I've only seen a handful of his stories, as most are missing.
Best Stories: Seeds of Death, War Games, Tomb Of The Cybermen, The Moonbase

9. Peter Davison
Another Doc that bought his own take on the character - Peter was the youngest doc so far when he took over the role. I loved his characterisation of the Doc, and his relationships with his multitude of companions. However for me, this is where DW started to get left behind by the makers, so Peter suffers with having a fair few dodgy stories in his arsenal. However, when his stories were firing on all cylinders, he was fab. He was the first doc i lost interest in, so was excited to see how great some of his later output was when I finally caught up with him.
Best Stories: Five Doctors, Resurrection of The Daleks

10. David TennantI'm ashamed to have David so low down the list - like Pat, without him, Nu-Who wouldn't have been able to carry on and be so popular, so huge respect to him for that. But - i never liked the love interest side of things, and he hung around too long - like Matt Smith, he got a bit over the top towards the end, and was pretty unbearable to watch at times. Season 4 however, with Donna Noble, is a masterclass in how to do a superb DW season.
Best Stories: Planet Of The Ood, Turn Left, Girl In The Fireplace, Silence In The Library

11. Paul McCann
Not much to go on with Paul for me. Liked his only episode just fine, but didn't really warm to him. However he was incredible in the Night Of The Doctor mini-episode, giving us an idea of what he could have become (and not being unlike Ecclestones Doc). Yet again, not a fan of the snogging.
Best Stories: Night Of The Doctor

12. William HartnellAgain, missing episodes mean i haven't seen many of his stories, and I've never really been a big fan to be fair. Some of the shoddier early episodes are hard to stomach, so don't work well with repeat viewings for me.
That said - his final season picked up the pace, and loved when Ben and Polly joined the TARDIS crew.
Best Stories: The Tenth Planet

13. Colin BakerI'm sorry Colin. Someone had to come last. Colin is a thoroughly decent fella, and he was shafted by the BBC, which for me, means the most lacklustre set of stories in DW history. I could never warm to his persona, and I honestly can't remember any of the stories. Such a shame.