My favourite Doctor

40th anniversary special
22 November 2003

• The Whos' Who's Who
• All New Who
• Tom Baker on ...
• My favourite Doctor
• Can't wait for the TV series?
• Sounds out of this world
• Lost tapes turn up
• Who do you do?
• Captured in time
• Docs on the box
• Taking the plunger
• The RT Files

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Radio Times anniversary specials
10th (1973) | 20th (1983) | 30th (1993) | 40th (2003) | 50th (2013) | 60th (2023)

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• Publication: Radio Times
• Date: 2003-11-22
• Author:
• Page: 4
• Language: English

My favourite Doctor

We asked for your Doctor Who favourites in our online poll, and you voted in your thousands. Our survey said ...

THE DOCTORS

1 Tom Baker

2 Jon Pertwee

3 Patrick Troughton

4 Peter Davison

5 Sylvester McCoy

TOM BAKER "The readers' vote is very pleasing and reassuring. I was lucky because all my stuff was in colour, the scripts were coming along, the effects were getting more refined, the sets didn't fall over so often. I loved it so much. Some were more successful Doctors than others but no one ever failed at Doctor Who.

Even 20 years on, the Doctor's image has stayed with me. People remember me fondly and are kind to me in the street, sometimes even physically affectionate. It's better than being royalty. I don't find it any more irritating to be asked about Doctor Who than Geoff Hurst does to be asked about scoring a hat-trick in the World Cup final. It was my moment of glory and because of the potency of television, it's never gone away."

WHO SHOULD PLAY THE NEXT DOCTOR?

1 Anthony Head

2 Alan Rickman

3 Stephen Fry

4 Alan Davies

5 Ian Richardson

ANTHONY HEAD "I'm hugely flattered by the readers' response. I'm in very good company—good God, I beat Alan Rickman! I suppose I would be a logical choice to play the Doctor just because Giles, my character in Buffy, has the same light and dark sides and quirkiness as Doctor Who. My own favourite was Patrick Troughton because you never knew what was going on inside his Doctor. I tried for the part when Paul McGann got the role and I'd be interested again, but my gut reaction is I've played one cult hero in Giles for seven years. I don't know about the wisdom of jumping into another cult hero's shoes.

The Companions

1 Sarah Jane Smith

2 K-9

3 Ace

4 Leela

5 Brigadier

ELISABETH SLADEN "I'm thrilled that Sarah Jane Smith is still so popular. I had a ball working on Doctor Who for three years [1974-77] — it was only after I left that I realised just what an incredible impact it had.

"It's a very simple format but you tinker with it at your peril. The companion's job was to ask the Doctor the viewers' questions, starting with, 'What the hell are you doing here?' The characters were cardboard cutouts to begin with, but I realised the producers really wanted me to use myself as the basis of Sarah Jane. How scary!

"In the new series, I'd love to see an ingenuous young Doctor who can learn from his mistakes — like Edward Scissorhands, who didn't seem to know where he was."

THE MONSTERS*

['NOT INCLUDING DALEKS]

1 Cybermen (not available for comment)

2 Zygons

3 Autons

4 Ice Warriors

5 Sea Devils

With the Daleks discounted for being too damn obvious, the Cybermen were the baddies who had most of you hiding behind the sofa

Caption: Sarah Jane Smith (right) is your best friend

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• APA 6th ed.: (2003-11-22). My favourite Doctor. Radio Times p. 4.
• MLA 7th ed.: "My favourite Doctor." Radio Times [add city] 2003-11-22, 4. Print.
• Chicago 15th ed.: "My favourite Doctor." Radio Times, edition, sec., 2003-11-22
• Turabian: "My favourite Doctor." Radio Times, 2003-11-22, section, 4 edition.
• Wikipedia (this article): <ref>{{cite news| title=My favourite Doctor | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/My_favourite_Doctor | work=Radio Times | pages=4 | date=2003-11-22 | via=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=2 April 2025 }}</ref>
• Wikipedia (this page): <ref>{{cite web | title=My favourite Doctor | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/My_favourite_Doctor | work=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=2 April 2025}}</ref>