Ranking Doctor Who Doctors is a dangerous game. Seriously. If you walk into a pub in Cardiff or log onto a forum anywhere in the world and claim that one actor is definitively "better" than another, you’re basically asking for a three-hour lecture on the nuances of 1970s UNIT dating protocols or the specific emotional weight of the "Time Lord Victorious" arc. It’s subjective. It's messy. It’s exactly why the show has lasted sixty-plus years.
Every fan has "their" Doctor. Usually, it's the one you grew up with, the face that first appeared on your screen and made you believe that a blue box could go anywhere in time and space. But when we look at the legacy of the show from 1963 to the Ncuti Gatwa era, some incarnations objectively shifted the cultural needle more than others.
The Heavyweights of the Classic Era
Let’s be real: Tom Baker is the blueprint. For a massive chunk of the general public, he is the Doctor. That scarf. The teeth. The offer of a Jelly Baby. Baker played the Fourth Doctor for seven years, the longest stint in the show’s history, and he brought a level of alien eccentricity that no one has quite matched since. He wasn't quite human, and he didn't try to be. If you’re ranking Doctor Who Doctors based on sheer cultural impact, Tom Baker is the ceiling.
Then you have Patrick Troughton. People forget how much we owe to the Second Doctor. If Troughton hadn't succeeded in 1966, the show would have died with William Hartnell’s failing health. Hartnell was the "grandfather," stern and mysterious, but Troughton introduced the "cosmic hobo" vibe. He was the one who proved the Doctor could change faces, personalities, and styles while remaining the same person. It was a massive gamble. It paid off.
Jon Pertwee, the Third Doctor, changed the game again by being an action hero. He was stuck on Earth, driving a vintage car named Bessie and doing Venusian aikido. It was a bit like James Bond met a physics professor. This era gave us The Master (the legendary Roger Delgado) and UNIT, grounding the show in a way that made the alien threats feel much more immediate.
The Modern Renaissance and Emotional Weight
When Christopher Eccleston kicked open the door in 2005, he had a hell of a job. He had to convince a skeptical modern audience that a guy in a leather jacket could lead a show that had been a bit of a joke for fifteen years. He brought trauma. He brought the Time War. While he only stayed for one series, his "Fantastic!" was the foundation for everything that followed.
And then came David Tennant.
Honestly, the Tenth Doctor's popularity is almost suffocating for other rankings. He brought a rock-star energy and a romantic vulnerability that the show hadn't really explored before. His chemistry with Billie Piper’s Rose Tyler changed the demographic of the fanbase forever. When people talk about ranking Doctor Who Doctors, Tennant is usually the one fighting Tom Baker for the top spot. He made the Doctor a heartthrob, a tragic hero, and a terrifying force of nature all at once.
Matt Smith had the impossible task of following that. How do you replace the most popular Doctor in history? You lean into the "old man in a young man’s body" trope. Smith’s Eleventh Doctor was flailing limbs and bow ties, but there was a deep, ancient sadness in his eyes. He felt like a 900-year-old being who just happened to look like a twenty-something. His era, under Steven Moffat, leaned heavily into "timey-wimey" fairy tale aesthetics, which split the fanbase but undeniably pushed the show's global popularity to its peak.
The Experimental Years and Breaking Ground
Peter Capaldi’s Twelfth Doctor started off abrasive and "attack-minded," a sharp pivot from the boyfriend-vibes of Tennant and Smith. It took audiences a minute to catch up. But by the time he reached "Heaven Sent"—widely regarded by critics and fans as one of the greatest episodes of television ever produced—he had cemented himself as perhaps the finest actor to ever play the role. He was a punk rock philosopher. He was the Doctor stripped back to his essentials.
Jodie Whittaker’s Thirteenth Doctor broke the glass ceiling, but she often struggled with writing that felt a bit too crowded. When you have three companions, it’s hard to find room to breathe. However, her era introduced the "Timeless Child" twist, which fundamentally changed the show's lore. Whether you love it or hate it—and believe me, the internet hates it or loves it with zero middle ground—it forced us to rethink who the Doctor actually is.
Why Ncuti Gatwa and Jo Martin Matter
Ncuti Gatwa’s Fifteenth Doctor is a breath of fresh air because he’s allowed to be joyful. He cries, he dances, and he wears his heart on his sleeve. After decades of the Doctor being a repressed British gentleman (or lady), Gatwa brings an emotional intelligence that feels very "2020s."
And we have to mention Jo Martin’s Fugitive Doctor. Even though she wasn't a "main" lead, her brief appearances showed a commanding, no-nonsense authority that reminded us the Doctor can be anyone. She was a revelation.
The Criteria Nobody Agrees On
How do you actually rank them?
You can’t just go by IMDB scores. If you did, the Tenth and Eleventh Doctors would dominate simply because they aired during the peak of the internet's obsession with TV fandoms. You have to look at:
- Innovation: Did they add something new to the mythos? (Troughton, Pertwee).
- Longevity: Did their era define the show for a generation? (Baker, Tennant).
- Performance: Could they carry a weak script through sheer charisma? (Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy).
- The "Doctor-ness": Do they feel like an ancient alien, or just a human with a gadget?
Peter Davison’s Fifth Doctor is often overlooked because he followed Tom Baker. He was more vulnerable, more human. He actually failed sometimes. That was a radical choice at the time. Similarly, Sylvester McCoy’s Seventh Doctor started as a clown and ended as a dark, chess-playing manipulator who destroyed planets. That's a hell of an arc for a show that was supposedly on its last legs.
🔗 Read more: Characters from A Christmas Story: Why They Feel Like Your Own Weird Family
The Most Underrated Choices
If you want to sound like a real expert, look at Paul McGann. He only had one TV movie in 1996 and a short mini-episode in 2013, but his work in the Big Finish audio dramas is legendary. He’s the "Byronic Hero" of the lot—romantic, adventurous, and tragic. Most people ranking Doctor Who Doctors ignore him because he didn't have a "full" run, but for many hardcore fans, he’s in the top three.
Then there’s Colin Baker. Poor Colin. He was saddled with a garish coat and some of the most chaotic behind-the-scenes drama in BBC history. But if you listen to his later work, his Sixth Doctor is arguably the most complex—a bombastic exterior hiding a deeply moral and sensitive soul.
Moving Beyond the List
Ultimately, any list is a snapshot of what you value in a hero. Do you want a protector who fights monsters with a sword? Go for Pertwee. Do you want a lonely god who needs a hug? Go for Tennant. Do you want a mad professor who might accidentally blow up the lab? Tom Baker is your man.
The beauty of the show is that the Doctor is a "multitude." They are all the same person, yet they reflect the era they were born into. Ranking them isn't about finding a "winner," it's about acknowledging how the character has adapted to survive.
To get a better sense of where your own loyalties lie, stop watching "best of" clips and go back to the regenerations. Watch how each actor handles the transition. Watch Hartnell’s pride turn into Troughton’s mischief. Watch Capaldi’s weariness turn into Gatwa’s vibrancy.
The best way to engage with the show's history is to pick a Doctor you’ve ignored and watch one of their "bottom tier" stories. You'll often find that even in a bad episode, the actor playing the Doctor is doing something fascinating. That's the secret. The character is indestructible, even when the writing isn't.
Practical Steps for Your Next Rewatch:
- Watch the "bridge" episodes: Compare "The Caves of Androzani" (Davison’s end) with "The Twin Dilemma" (Colin Baker’s start) to see the most jarring shift in the show's history.
- Explore the Big Finish Audios: If you think a Doctor was "bad" on TV, listen to their audio adventures. They often get the writing they deserved ten years too late.
- Focus on the eyes: The best Doctors (Capaldi, Smith, Troughton) do more work with their expressions than their dialogue.
- Ignore the rankings: Use them as a guide to find what you haven't seen, but don't let a list tell you that your favorite isn't "the best."