"Doctor Who"

Oh, the curious, cornucopic conglomeration that is DOCTOR WHO. The most enduring TV sci fi franchise (edging out TREK by three years), yet almost entirely unknown to many on this side of the pond. And for good reason - across the incarnations, there is a singular absence of intelligence or vision. It's mainly just the high-spirited skewerings of scary monsters. But if your expectations are low it can be good fun, especially after the 2005 rebirth - still not smart, but they found creative writers who could do dialogue with a vengeance.
The best thing about the franchise is the doctor's presence on the list of action icons who do not (and will not!) use a gun - just a wealth of wit and pluck (plus a good sonic screwdriver), even against alien armadas. Pip pip! Eventually, they found a way to embrace the silliness of the product, yet layer it in a cocoon of sharp dialogue and resonant characterizations. The show takes itself entirely seriously...and yet not at all (no mean feat). The most iconic WHO villains are the daleks, little green aliens encased in clumsy-looking battle turrets who shout "Exterminate! Exterminate!!" Ah, the lighter side of genocide...
There have been thirteen doctors (give or take), all the same character, a trick pulled off by having the doctor be a last-of-his-kind (give or take) alien who lives for centuries and can "reincarnate" into a new version of themself (a self-serving boon for producers faced with an actor ready to "move on", or desirous of a salary bump?). There have also been a parade of "companions", usually humyn (and often, ahem, female and dewy), who travel with the doctor through time and space in a quaint little ship shaped like a police call box, which is larger inside than out. The companions are a lens with which the audience can identify, patriarchal eye candy, and plot device requiring the doctor's exposition...they often however, rose above that (though it must also be mentioned, the very occasional episodes with no companion at all were usually fantastic). The franchise can be divided into three eras: the 60s-70s in which the doctors were faintly sinister, the writing quaint and plodding, and the sexism rampant, the 80s which showed more heart and glimmers of feminist enlightenment, and the 00s-present which are tight and bright and perhaps finally over the sexist hump. If you want to see the show at its occasionally-breathtaking best, view the modern-era christmas episodes.
This review is based on incomplete knowledge...indeed, how could it be otherwise when the BBC in the 60s often threw away episodes once they'd aired? Of the classic doctors, i've seen only a handful of episodes...but enough to offer this guide.
DOCTORS
#1 (1963-66)
William hartnell (THE MOUSE THAT ROARED, HEAVEN'S ABOVE!) is a cranky old oh-so-british fusspot, with fine presence.
#2 (1966-69)
Patrick troughton (TREASURE ISLAND, SINBAD AND THE EYE OF THE TIGER) is twee and droll, but oh that deadly-slow writing the brits could crank out...
#3 (1970-74)
John pertwee (A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM, WORZEL GUMMIDGE) - rock-solid.
#4 (1974-81)
Tom baker (THE GOLDEN VOYAGE OF SINBAD, THE ZANY ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD) is thoroughly earnest and smarter-than-you. Why has history chosen him as the most iconic doctor? The vagaries of chemistry. He's also he longest-tenured doctor, at seven seasons.
#5 (1982-84)
Peter davison (ALL CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL, THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY) is likable, but a bit wooden and vanilla.
#6 (1984-1986)
Colin baker (THE BROTHERS, DOCTORS) - serviceable, yet dull.
#7 (1987-1989)
Sylvester mccoy (DRACULA, THE HOBBIT 1-3) is the first doctor with a puckish glint...yet the writing still feels faintly forced.
#8 (1996)
Paul mcgann (EMPIRE OF THE SUN, ALIEN 3) is brilliant...and wasted on an abortive reboot (with eric roberts and will sasso!). If we're going to acknowledge one-offs, john hurt turned in a gem in 2013, and a couple of peter cushing telefilms supposedly exist too.
#9 (2005)
Christopher eccleston (EXISTENZ, AMELIA), my first doctor...a bias which makes him shine undeservedly bright? Or is he the actor the franchise had been looking for for four decades? Objectively, i know it was the writing which made a quantum leap...yet my golly did they get the right guy. After one stellar season (the shortest-tenured doctor), he moved on, alas.
#10 (2005-10)
David tennant (NATIVITY! 2: DANGER IN THE MANGER, THE SARAH JANE ADVENTURES) slipped in seamlessly and owned the character for three superlative seasons.
#11 (2010-13)
Matt smith (CHRISTOPHER AND HIS KIND, MAPPELTHORPE) toppled the seemingly-insurmountable baker and eccleston. The bar had become ridiculously high, yet he pirouettes over with a twinkle in his eye. Combining frankensteinian facial features with sad puppy eyes, even when he's serious he's so very, very fun. The greatest doctor ever.
#12 (2014-17)
Peter capaldi (LOCAL HERO, DANGEROUS LIAISONS) - um...an old white guy? Not that there's anything wrong with old, but paired with one of the aforementioned dewy females?? A resounding clomp in the wrong direction. In all fairness, he's perfectly lovely, but why didn't he have the integrity to stand up to the producers and say, "I am entirely wrong for this part. Science fiction is supposed to spur social progress, not follow it, and you've been sitting on your asses for decades now"?
#13 (2017-present)
Jodie whitaker (VENUS, GET SANTA) - review pending...but about bloody time.
COMPANIONS
There were often (and sometimes only) subsidiary, part-time companions, which makes it hard to compile a best-of list. Here's my attempt (though my unfamiliarity with the full history may short-change deserving entries):
SARAH JANE SMITH (86 episodes, pertwee/baker, 1973-2010)
Elisabeth sladen (TAKE MY WIFE, THE SARAH JANE ADVENTURES) eventually did fifty-five spin-off episodes as well. Smart and no-nonsense.
LEELA (40 episodes, baker, 1977-78)
Okay, i confess, i've never seen a single louise jameson (EASTENDERS, FACE VALUE) episode. But they might fall into that transcendent "so-bad-it's-brilliant" category. She's a primitive female who wears animal skins and kills with abandon, while the doctor tries to "civilize" her. Patriarchally noxious? Absolutely. But if you're going to be awful, let's be awful all the way, i say.
PERI BROWN (34 episodes, davison/c. baker, 1984-1993)
Ah, nicola bryant (BLACKADDER'S CHRISTMAS CAROL, PARTING SHOTS)...is it possible to rail against sexist eye candyism, yet also enjoy it? Apparently, yes.
ACE (31 episodes, mccoy, 1987-1989)
The final companion of the classic era, sophie aldred (TREE FU TOM, BOB THE BUILDER) puts the spark in spark plug.
ROSE TYLER (35 episodes, eccleston/tennant, 2005-13)
With saucy pluck, billie piper (SECRET DIARY OF A CALL GIRL, PENNY DREADFUL) was the perfect reboot companion...without her, it might have been 1996 all over again.
MARTHA JONES (20 episodes, tennant, 2006-10)
Freema agyeman (SENSE8, TORCHWOOD) is so unself-consciously rock-solid that future generations will entirely miss the significance of her pigmentation.
AMY POND (36 episodes, smith, 2008-13)
Karen gillan (GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY 1-2, JUMANJI: WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE) has delightful chemistry with the doctor...but with her fiance/husband rory, not so much.
CLARA OSWALD (40 episodes, smith/capaldi, 2012-17)
Jenna coleman (VICTORIA, ME BEFORE YOU), probably the only companion perfect for any doctor of any era.
AND DON'T FORGET...
Who else took a spin on the WHO wheel? Why, bill kerr, john cleese, burt kwouk, simon pegg, anthony head, kylie minogue, alex kingston, james corden, michael gambon, meredith vieira, richard e. grant, david warner, diana rigg, warwick davis, and ian mckellan!