the Third Doctor

And now the 60's become the 70's, black and white becomes color, and the funny little dark-haired Doctor becomes tall and rather dashing, with rapidly greying blond hair. This is the point, as far as I've seen, when the Doctor really comes into his own as a leading man and an action hero. Jon Pertwee is actually a tiny bit older than his predecessor, but you'd never know it from the Doctors they play. The Third Doctor actually physically grapples with his opponent, usually employing the kind of karate chops that define cheesy 1970's entertainment (which this most certainly is). He also has a spectacularly horrible fashion sense, and he excels at balancing arrogance and compassion.

Many fans lament the fact that this Doctor spent his first three seasons confined to Earth, but I don't see that as so much of a disadvantage. First of all, there's the classic Who problem of going to a far-off planet only to find that it looks exactly like the English countryside or the inside of an office building. The trapped-on-Earth years avoid this nicely by actually keeping the Doctor in office buildings and the English countryside, and letting the aliens come to him.

More importantly, staying on Earth allows for a stable supporting cast. Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart brings something special to the series all on his own. Honestly, I've never figured out if he's a bit of a parody of a certain British stock character, or if he just embodies the type perfectly. Serving under the Brigadier are Sargeant Benton and Captain Mike Yates. Yates has a few great character moments along the way, but if Benton has a moment to shine, I've yet to see it.

Then, of course, there are the companions. I've really, really tried to like Liz Shaw. I felt like any female character who was written out of the show for being too intelligent and educated must be worthwhile. Unfortunately I just find her boring. On the other hand, I've had exactly the opposite experience with Jo Grant. I was wary of her as the supposed ditz who replaced the smarter Liz, but the more of her episodes I've watched, the more she's become one of my very favorite companions of all. She is certainly scattered at times, but she's also a fleshed-out character whose relationship with the Doctor follows a real (if subtextual) emotion arc. I would also argue that she's the first companion who the Doctor falls in love with, at least a little bit (but that's a whole entry for another day). And after Jo's departure, of course, comes Sarah Jane Smith, who's a great character when she's written well (and I've yet to see an episode where she's written better than in her first appearance, "The Time Warrior").

a cartoon interlude

From Tom Tomorrow.

the aforementioned fantastic Second Doctor moment

The Doctor and Victoria talk about family, in "Tomb of the Cybermen."

on the Second Doctor

I really like the Second Doctor. Unlike Hartnell, Patrick Troughton actually seems like the central hero of his own show, rather than just somebody's grandfather. He's still old, but he's considerably more spry. He's a bit of a clown without actually seeming like a fool, which eventually became a trait that pretty much all the doctors embody to a greater or lesser degree. He's also genuinely funny at times, as Troughton proves to be a great comic actor.

Another thing the Second Doctor has going for him is the most adorable pair of companions ever created, Jamie McCrimmon and Zoe Heriot. I mean, Victoria was okay, but Zoe really proved to be the missing variable in a formula of concentrated awesome. You have the Doctor, a funny little man who travels time and space, so who should he invite along? A bright young 18th Century Scotsman in a kilt, and a petite science prodigy from the future in a sparkly catsuit. I mean, obviously.

Unfortunately, a lot of Troughton's episodes are lost, and a lot of the ones that survive are pretty creaky and dated. Also, he spent a lot of his time fighting the Cybermen, who I have to admit are my least favorite of the major Who villains. Still, though, the scene in "Tomb of the Cybermen" where he talks to Victoria about his age and remembering his family is one of my favorite Doctor moments ever.

thoughts on the First Doctor

I must admit up front that I haven't watched a huge amount of First Doctor episodes. I've seen "An Unearthly Child," "The Aztecs," and parts of "The Daleks." I've also seen "The Three Doctors," which he's barely in, and "The Five Doctors," in which he's played by a different actor.

Based on what I have seen, I like the original Doctor, but he's such a drastically different figure from the later ones that it's hard to even think of him as the same character. It seems like he was never meant to be the lead character in his own series- it's really more about Ian and Barbara (both of whom I pretty much can't stand), and sometimes Susan (who's cute but not very interesting either). The Doctor's purpose is just to be this enigma who takes them from place to place and time to time, and he pulls that off well. Also, I like what a jerk he is so much of the time. If nothing else, Ian totally deserves it. And in "The Three Doctors," when he calls Three and Two "a dandy and a clown," that's pretty great too.

First Doctor episodes I'm planning to watch soon: the rest of "The Daleks," "The Sensorites," "The Dalek Invasion of Earth," and "The Gunfighters." And yes, I've heard that last one is pretty awful, but I can't resist a western.

The Trouble with Ranking Doctors

I thought it would make sense, in my first entry, to list my favorite incarnations of the Doctor in descending order, to give readers an idea where I'm coming from as a fan. However, that proved to be more complicated than I expected. My initial list looked like this:

1. Third
2. Tenth
3. Fourth
4. Ninth
5. Seventh
6. Second
7. Fifth
8. First
9. Eighth
10. Sixth

But the problem is, I kept reordering the four at the top, and then putting them back and rearranging them again. So I'm definitely sure that my four favorite doctors are Jon Pertwee, David Tennant, Tom Baker, and Chris Eccleston, but I have a hard time picking between the four of them. I suspect there are three reasons for this:

First of all, the differences between the old series and the new are at least partly to blame. There was so little character development in the 1970's that usually the only hints we got into the Doctor's emotions came from the expression in the actors' eyes (something that Pertwee and Baker were both particularly good at). The more recent Doctors, on the other hand, spill their innermost thoughts and feeling all over the screen (which really has more to do with the writers than the actors, obviously, although Tennant and Eccleston both handle it well).

Secondly, as much as I love Tom Baker when he's on his game, he was pretty inconsistent over the course of his long run. In some of his episodes, he just seems like he really doesn't want to be there, whereas I've yet to see a Pertwee episode where he's less than enthusiastic about what papier-mâché creature he'll be running from that week (the fact that he gets to hold Jo's hand while he runs probably doesn't hurt, but that's a topic for another post).

And finally, there the Christoper Eccleston problem. I really liked the Ninth Doctor a lot, but he just wasn't around for long enough to make much of an impression. I feel like if he'd hung on for three seasons, I might like him a lot more than Tennant, but with only 13 episodes to go on, it's hard to say.