How do you rate David Tennant's Doctor?

ixoy

Just curious - how do you rate David Tennant's Doctor compared to the other nine incarnations? Both the interpretation of the role and DT's ability to act it out?

This comes from my re-watching of the early seasons - I'm almost up to a point of having watched every episode in some form or another and how DT stacks up against them.

I thought the 10th Doctor was good but, by the end, I had grown a bit weary of him. There was too much enthusiastic "you humans are amazing!" OTT moments. There were too many winsome speeches with the Doctor pontificating. DT hammed it up in these situations - exaggerated and almost clownish movements and facial expressions. Now this could be how he was directed and a problem with the scripts but the earnest enthusiasm of that of a big child was tiresome often.
Of course there were great moments of personal insight in this incarnation - stuff we rarely got to see in the previous roles. DT could, when given the right material, impart pathos to the role and moments of reflection. There wasn't enough of them though and that's why I am, in the end, happy enough to see him on.

Now next to the other Doctor's he does really well. I never much cared for the first Doctor (Hartnell) - a cantankerous old man who doddered around too much and lectured like a stern grandfather.

Troughton's Doctor, on the other hand, is wonderful. He brought the "cosmic hobo" interpretation and made the Doctor into the eccentric, off beat personality we love. I was very glad to see this noted in the special when Matt Smith was revealed as the 11th Doctor and would love to think he'd channel some of this. He also got a great balance with his companions on how personable to me - particularly with Jamie. My second favourite.

Not a fan of Pertwee's avuncular fop. Too much showmanship and not enough humour.

Tom Baker is, for me, the Doctor as with many others. Now it might seem odd that I criticise DT for OTT when Baker would regularly chew massive chunks of scenery in his later years. However, he managed to do it with an ironic wink whereas DT's posturing always struck me as played straight. TB also didn't get into the humans-are-fab vein and managed to keep enough of the alien persona balance that's needed.

Peter Davison was one of the colder, darker Doctors (a product of the show's direction at the time). He was definitely more serious - a desire, I assume, to differentiate him from the behemoth before him. I quite liked time although the outfit was dreadful. He was more distant than the others and always seemed troubled. Memorable and I think Davison's acting ability helped here.

Colin Baker was plagued by many dreadful stories. His Doctor was the most insane of the lot and his outfit was a hideous mish-mash. I wouldn't rank it that highly but I think he could have been something interesting with better penmanship.

Sylvester McCoy's Doctor, from an objective point-of-view, was probably quite weak. However, he's the Doctor I grew up with as a kid so I've a soft spot for his sort of doddering "Professor" moments. I don't think he really imparted the alien depth of the Doctor like others did (including DT) so he's middling in the Doctor rank.

Paul McGann - too hard to tell and too Americanised by FOX. No comment.

Christopher Eccleston - He's a good actor and that showed through. He did some posturing as well (which makes me suspect RTD is responsible). I did feel though that he felt the show was just a job whereas DT had a passion and love for the role. This ultimately showed and CE leaving after one season leaves a bit of a sour taste in my mouth for his role.

So bearing all that in mind, how would I rank them overall? I know DT came up well in the "Doctor Who" magazine recently but I'd hazard a guess most of the voters aren't nearly as familiar with the first seven incarnations.
For me it'd be:

1. Tom Baker
2. Patrick Troughton
3. Peter Davison
4. David Tennant
5. Sylvester McCoy
6. Christopher Eccleston
7. Colin Baker
8. Jon Pertwee
9. William Hartnell

(and, as mentioned, no point in rating McGann).

How do you feel? And how familiar are you anyway with the previous incarnations?

Doctor DooM

I think DT could pull off some serious acting chops when giving the chance and the histronics were more scripting than choice.

I think, in actuality, that in many ways he's the best Doctor we've had, as he's combined the charisma and popularity of Tom Baker with an acceptance and enthusiasm for the role which Baker never had. Other doctors made con appearances, did radio plays.

Even in recent times I would say I preferred Eccleston as a Doctor but DT appeared in all the spin offs, prom shows, cartoons etc which really added to the world I like to immerse myself in.


Much like ixoy McCoy is really my Doctor, but I think it'd be foolish to place him over DT. I would put Davison's above DT. I just liked everything about Who from that period and I liked that incarnation.

I'm not madly in love with Tom Baker's doctor, although only a fool couldn't see him chewing up the scenery (city of death always makes me smile).

I'd probably put DT in the top three for his portrayal as the Doctor, but probably number 1 for his contribution to the Whoniverse, if you get me.

pixelburp

Peter Davison for me is the best actor to have played the role; although many of his stories were pure rubbish (Time Flight is possibly the worst Who story in modern times), Davison perfectly played the part, particularly when having to show the frustration of an old man in a young man's body. So I don't accept he was more serious as such, just someone who felt annoyed he couldn't get anywhere with people - couldn't march into scenarios and take them over.
He was also the last person to watch The Master die, and when you compare his quiet dejection against Tennant's wailing & screaming, it's a big difference in acting (though again, the story was largely rubbish).

As for Tennant? Well he showed lots of promise & when the script was right, he really mixed up the goofiness with the angst precisely. But too many times near the end we got a totally over the top performance, coupled with a plain-annoying script of "wow, humans! Brilliant!" or else "I'm a Time Lord, I can do what I like, mope mope". Even his running was OTT (flap those limbs, bare those teeth & go for it Dave!). Although he immersed himself in the role, he became too like Tom Baker & evolved into a caricature that had zero subtly.

His enthusiasm could be infectious, but by the end he had become a completely obnoxious character.

Also Starring LeVar Burton

I don't think I've seen enough of Colin Baker or Sylvester McCoy yet to give a fair ranking of all the Doctors, but I'm sure I will do this when I've watched some more of the adventures of the first 7 incarnations.
Having said that, I really loved Tennant as a Doctor, although I don't see myself ranking him as number 1...

ixoy

pixelburp wrote: »

Peter Davison for me is the best actor to have played the role; although many of his stories were pure rubbish (Time Flight is possibly the worst Who story in modern times), Davison perfectly played the part, particularly when having to show the frustration of an old man in a young man's body. So I don't accept he was more serious as such, just someone who felt annoyed he couldn't get anywhere with people - couldn't march into scenarios and take them over.

Fair point - I guess I'm saying he wasn't as care free as others and didn't seem as happy. Davison was good in the role - just check out "The Caves of Androzani" (I know you have, but others may not have yet).

As for Tennant? Well he showed lots of promise & when the script was right, he really mixed up the goofiness with the angst precisely. But too many times near the end we got a totally over the top performance, coupled with a plain-annoying script of "wow, humans! Brilliant!" or else "I'm a Time Lord, I can do what I like, mope mope". Even his running was OTT (flap those limbs, bare those teeth & go for it Dave!)

Sonic screwdriver on nail there! I think you see the same OTT performance that I do and the same manic energy all the time. Is it just the script's fault? I dunno.

His enthusiasm could be infectious, but by the end he had become a completely obnoxious character.

Interesting that. They started to investigate it in "Waters of Mars" but then seemingly completely forgot about it (resolving it off screen) for the crap finale. Could have been an interesting way to explore the character.
Are you then glad of a change from DT?

DoctorDoom wrote:

I think, in actuality, that in many ways he's the best Doctor we've had, as he's combined the charisma and popularity of Tom Baker with an acceptance and enthusiasm for the role which Baker never had. Other doctors made con appearances, did radio plays.

Well I do acknowledge that DT had a passion for the role which other actors lacked. Baker believed too much in his own hype and had a bit of arrogance which, in later year, stained the show a bit. Nonetheless I don't think the passion is quite enough.

Nobody here seems to rate him as their favourite Doctor (in terms of pure portrayal) - so who is it for you out of those you've seen?

Doctor DooM

ixoy wrote: »

Well I do acknowledge that DT had a passion for the role which other actors lacked. Baker believed too much in his own hype and had a bit of arrogance which, in later year, stained the show a bit. Nonetheless I don't think the passion is quite enough.

Nobody here seems to rate him as their favourite Doctor (in terms of pure portrayal) - so who is it for you out of those you've seen?

Interestingly enough, I would also say Davision, and while I have not seen every episode I have seen every Doctor.

Davison embodies what the Doctor should be for me.


EDIT: I also agree that the Caves of Adrozani is an awesome piece of work.

pixelburp

ixoy wrote: »

Sonic screwdriver on nail there! I think you see the same OTT performance that I do and the same manic energy all the time. Is it just the script's fault? I dunno.

I suppose in Tennant's defence, he is an unapologetic fan of Dr. Who to begin with, so I presume it wasn't just Tennant acting the maggot for the sake of it, David Tennant the fan was acting out what he possibly saw as the Doctor's energetic personality. It just got a bit much. We did kinda giggle at his acting-running during the End of Time

ixoy wrote: »

Interesting that. They started to investigate it in "Waters of Mars" but then seemingly completely forgot about it (resolving it off screen) for the crap finale. Could have been an interesting way to explore the character.
Are you then glad of a change from DT?

It wasn't just Waters of Mars though; even as far back as the first episode of Series 2, he was making speeches about being where the buck stops. I seem to recall him ranting at the nurse-cats about being the highest authority there is. So to me, there always was this obnoxiousness bubbling under the surface of some of #10's actions. By Water of Mars though it came to a head, the entire denouement just turned me completely off him as a character. Even the finale betraying some of that attitude in places (his railing against saving Wilf for one)

I'm not glad he's gone insofar as I'm glad RTD is gone. If push came to shove I would probably lay the blame of the Doc's portrayal at the feet of RTD, whose writing went on a downward slide into stodgy melodrama as time went on.

ixoy wrote: »

Nobody here seems to rate him as their favourite Doctor (in terms of pure portrayal) - so who is it for you out of those you've seen?

As mentioned earlier, I enjoyed Davison as the best portrayal of the Doctor as a character. He was a more fragile Doctor in a very harsh universe (at the time), so perhaps his more caring, sensitive nature was missed. Plus anyone would be a bit less chirpy when surrounded by numpties like Adric or Tegan

Tom Baker, despite eventually disappearing up his own backside, was fantastic in his early seasons - a perfect mix of alien, cold attitude & almost childish curiousity & enthusiasm. I think though once Sarah Jane Smith left his side the show lost some of its magic & became more about Tom & his bufoonery / ego.

Also, I actually like Colin Baker - but with a huge caveat. I like Colin Baker in the audio dramas Big Finish have done. His Doctor is excellent & a real refinement of the TV personality (if I recall, they even jettisoned his awful costume for the CD covers and gave him a nice royal-blue coat). His actual tenure on TV is beyond awful.

ixoy

Doctor DooM wrote: »

Davison embodies what the Doctor should be for me.

Interesting. I think it's what DT could have been again, if they had toned down the ham and the mugging expressions. Davison struck me, in many ways, as the most intelligent of the Doctors, the most wise at times, belying his youthful appearance. I'm hoping that thinking may feed into Matt Smith (with maybe a bit of the youthful exuberance).

pixelburp wrote: »

By Water of Mars though it came to a head, the entire denouement just turned me completely off him as a character. Even the finale betraying some of that attitude in places (his railing against saving Wilf for one)

Well in some ways I liked the struggle to give up. Having said that, we didn't see #5 do the same. He unhesitatingly went to save Peri - and she was far less deserving than Wilfred

Also, I actually like Colin Baker - but with a huge caveat. I like Colin Baker in the audio dramas Big Finish have done. His Doctor is excellent & a real refinement of the TV personality (if I recall, they even jettisoned his awful costume for the CD covers and gave him a nice royal-blue coat). His actual tenure on TV is beyond awful.

I've not heard the Big Finish audios but I have heard that Colin Baker's Doctor has been transformed. I mean he had to start out with "The Twin Dilemna" - a piece of crap. Do they tone down the crazy knife-edge personality? Colin Baker seemed very shoddily treated during his time, what with the BBC strike and being forcefully replaced.

Doctor DooM

ixoy wrote: »

Interesting. I think it's what DT could have been again, if they had toned down the ham and the mugging expressions. Davison struck me, in many ways, as the most intelligent of the Doctors, the most wise at times, belying his youthful appearance. I'm hoping that thinking may feed into Matt Smith (with maybe a bit of the youthful exuberance).

On the strength of his quiet, introspective and melacholy moments as the Doctor alone, I believe much of the ham and mugging from Tennant point to either director or script.

When he was good he was awesome. Even in awful episodes there was the odd shining moment (I quite like the quiet bits in gridlock, for example).

I completely agree with your opinion of Davison- there was no better old man in young body, and he did feel less god like and more vulnerable.

doctorwhogirl

I'm only 23 so only got into Who with the Eccleston Doctor and am working my way back.

When Tennant started I was already a fan of his from the series Blackpool so I was on his side already.

I agree with what's being said about hamming it up though. At times the exuberance was too extreme, even for fans of Tennant as an actor. I have to say that having watched Tennant in many other roles I do think it was from the writing or direction.

As you said Doctor Doom, those quiet, introspective and angry moments from the Doctor were amazing. And I think Tennant deserves credit for exploring that aspect of the doctor in such a brilliant fashion. David Tennant is a fantastic dramatic actor. I'd recommend checking out "Recovery", a film about recovering from brain injury, to see this in action. There is a subtlety in how he plays other roles that I only wish I'd seen in the Doctor.

I really think any weaknesses in his doctor came from the writing. I have great respect for RTD but when you compare some of his episodes with the likes of Human Nature by Paul Cornell, you see what could have been achieved.

It's always could with RTD isn't it?

As a Doctor, I think he was definitely the most charismatic Doctor. There was great charm in his character and a darkness that we haven't seen since Davison really. Remember, he had to carry the Doctor through his first real "romantic" encounters and I think he did so without people losing respect.

For me Tennant and Davison are on a par. When I watch Classic Who I would tend to go for Davison episodes first.

I completely agree, I think Davison perfectly embodies the old man in a youthful body angle. In fact I think he needs a bit more youth at times!
There are a lot of comparisons to be drawn between Davison and Tennant actually, particularly in the charm and the darkness. Davison has wonderfully charming moments, and some really funny moments! I love in Castrovalva when he's channeling all his previous incarnations!

I think where Davison succeeds over Tennant is in subtlety. For me he't the most intelligent of the doctors but also the most modest. He's not blpwing his own trumpet so to speak, yet maintains that air of authority.

I think Tennant is voted the best Doctor because of the whole fangirl thing. But at the same time, if you take that away from the equation, you're still left with an amazing Doctor. As we've all said, you can't help what wonder what could have been from his doctor, there were a lot of roads not taken...

Stark

I only got into the show with the new series. Out of Ecclestone and Tennant, I prefer Ecclestone. Mostly because he played the Doctor with an intensity and cynicism that was interesting to watch. Tennant was occasionally excellent when portraying moments of introspection but mostly just played the annoying guy who won't sit down. And he drove me mad with his "Humans are BRILLIANT, they are so so AMAZING, why just this moment I scored these purple pills from a human and the colours... Why the colours are so vibrant in a way that only a human could create. I love humans. Brilliant" scenes.

If we could have seen more of the Doctor that Tennant portrayed in "Human Nature" and "End of time", then that would be outstanding. I won't miss the bad running and the sonic screwdrivers though.

pixelburp

ixoy wrote: »

I've not heard the Big Finish audios but I have heard that Colin Baker's Doctor has been transformed. I mean he had to start out with "The Twin Dilemna" - a piece of crap. Do they tone down the crazy knife-edge personality? Colin Baker seemed very shoddily treated during his time, what with the BBC strike and being forcefully replaced.

Oh yes, very much; Colin Baker's doctor is infinitely more enjoyable in the audio adventures than he ever was in the TV show. Now, it has been a long time since I last listened to a Big Finish story, but when I was, they basically took the template of the TV's doctor and smoothed out the rough edges. He's still a bit wild sometimes, and certainly loves to talk himself up with bluster and pomp, but the scripts pitch it just right so that he's not nauseating or unlikeable. He's more of a rogue, but will always do the right thing in the end, usually after talking himself up something rotten.

What really works - again when I was listening as I'm sure this is no longer the case - is that they teamed Colin Baker up with an older companion, a 60-year old female college professor. She doesn't take his guff & is more than capable at giving as much as she gets (verbally). The match up works well and again it serves to sooth the edges of the Doctor's irascibility.

The two I would recommend the most to listen to would be "Davros" (guess what that's about) and "Jubilee" (a dalek story written by the same guy who wrote "Dalek" in series 1 / 27. In fact it borrows a few elements from the audio story). They're some of the older stories, but are genuinely excellent to listen to. The Big Finish audios generally have good production values - they're not cheap bedroom fanboy stuff or anything - and the above are good 6th Doctor stories.

popebenny16

I tend not to look at it from individual actors but they way the producers have informed them of how they want the doctor to be like.

Both Eccelstone and Tennant gave us the "oh I love you Humans you're so wonderfull" stuff in such an abundance as for it to be overkill, along with "im sorry, I'm so so sorry" which makes me think that it was an RTD affectation.

Also, the idea was that with 9ths regeneration into 10 he would lose some if not most of the surviours angiuish from the Time War (nothwithstanding my own pet theory that he actually started the dammned thing when he blew up Skaro with the Hand of Omega - something he should feel a lot more guilty about) and thereafter turn into a happy chap which is what informed most of DT's performances. Manic, running away, keeping young and trying not to look back. Of course, in the end it caught up with him - not by Waters of Mars, but in Midnight - where "because I'm clever" for once didnt work out. By Waters of Mars RTD knew he could do whatever he lieked with the character as the big reset buttons of Matt Smith and Stephen Moffitt were only months away.

Not that there are not previous scenes from previous Doctors along the same lines (Pertwee in Inferno and Tom Baker in The Ark in Space also show signs of "I'm clever so listen to me" and "isnt mankind wonderful").

The same also can be said of the broad brushstrokes that previous producers used - John Nahtan Turner had rebooted the entire show after Trail of a Timelord and along with Andrew Cartmel tried to totally rebuld the Docotr's distant past and his powers - and that was not forgotten by RTD. A lot of the 9th and 10th Doctor's motives, methods and indeed the mood and tenor of the serial is more in line with JNT post Colin Baker than anything before (including lots of location shooting and in Survival a visit to what could have been Rose's Powell estate 20 years earlier). the difference between 1985 and 1989 is more than 1989 and 2009.

Tom Baker I think should be looked at pre 1979 and post. From 74 to 79 he played the Doctor in accordance and also in direction with what he was allowed to do. After 79, and also in tandem with Douglas Adams as Script Editor he just (in my opinion anyway) played it either for laughs or was bored with it. His Doctor therefore seems to have the same attitiude to the people he meets and the situations he finds himself in. The difference with the Hinchcliffe Doctor of earlier years (all his classic Doctor stories are up to 79 for me) and the end was remarkable.

Colin Baker was told to play an arrogant, brash, colourfull Doctor by JNT. In fact, his legendary garish and horrid coat was specifically designed by JNT to be just that!! As said above, go listen to him in the Big Finish Audios - a totally different take on the doctor, at ease, not impatiant and arrogant and angry. To be fair they were elements that were starting to show in Trial of a Time Lord and in that respect the forthcoming "Lost Stories" this year show the original Sixth Doctor in all his garish and egocentric glory in the stories that were to be shown instead of Trial.

The Pertwee Doctor was very much a figure of his time - karate, Buddism, UNIT, Man from Uncle, with a bit of the occasional Hammer Horror for kids at teatime thrown in. What was most remarkable was the casting of a well known Comedy actor as the Doctor and the way he turned out a serious, thoughtfull actioner type of caracter.

Troughton was a man for his age too, being a mixture of the sixities and James Bond base-under-siege persona. Dont forget that the Timelords and the mythology all started here, but also dont forget that the show was dying on its ass, and needed Barry Letts, Terrence Dicks and Jon Pertwee to give it a kick start again. The Doctor was frequently horrified by things his ememies would do, he was also very very crafty and resourcefull and prone to do things even today we wuod not agree wtih (Jamie getting experimented on to get The Human Factor for example).

Hartnell is a tough one. Dont fogget we are now going back an awful long way, and that here again we are presented with the problem of the producers setting up the character and setting him off. If this Doctor came across as cross, inflexible, as a stern teacher but with a hidden softness and sentimentality under the skin (see how he bids farewell to susan in the scene reshown for the 5 doctors) then that was how it was meant to be from the off.

And this brings me to Peter Davison, and he is last for a few reasons. Mostly because I think he gives us an insight as to how the Matt Smith Doctor will develop. Dont forget it was Moffatt who wrote the words "you were MY Doctor" for David Tennant to say to him in Time Crash, and the fact that they are mates who are in contact with each other a lot. Thinkn also that Davison was only two years older when he got the gig than Smith is now, and that he had to play an old man in a young mans body. Also, SM has said the new Who will be Grittier than the RTD version, which Davison's was also. Ok, he had to compete in the Post Aliens, Rambo and Arnold 1980's and featured in some of the bloodiest and nastiest Who's ever, but I think we wont get many Cyber Massacres not Daleks spouting shaving foam through their grills as a heroic moral Doctor tries and sometimes fails to get the antagonists to see the peacefull way.

My fav? Pertwee, because he reversed the polarity and you said "now listen to me" a lot.