A poll has been published by Radio Times, wherein readers have voted for their all-time favourite Doctor - and what a bizarre set of results it has produced.
Only the 13 principal TV Doctors are counted, so no War Doctor or Dr Ruth.
The top spot is sort of what you might expect, with David Tennant coming first (with 10518 votes).
Thereafter it goes a bit crazy in my opinion. You have to wonder who actually took part in the vote.
Second place goes to the current incumbent of the TARDIS, Jodie Whittaker, on 10423 votes. We haven't seen her entire tenure yet, so it is hard to comprehend how you judge someone whose performance is incomplete. Younger people tend to vote for the current or more recent holder of a role, but that doesn't match the demographic of RT readership, which - if the letters pages are anything to go by - is resolutely older WASPs.
Third place goes to Peter Capaldi, which I'm glad about (8897 votes).
You'll no doubt already be asking where Tom Baker has got to, and he isn't in fourth place either. That goes to Matt Smith, with 7637 votes.
Only now do we get to Tom Baker, in 5th position and with 3977 votes - a very long way back from Tennant as far as votes go.
William Hartnell, who sadly usually ends up near the bottom of these polls, comes in at number 6, on 1983 votes. Nice to see the original, often overlooked, Doctor do so well.
And then we get Paul McGann in 7th place (1427 votes). That means the person who only appeared in one story, generally disliked, plus one online-only anniversary prequel, has beaten the likes of Davison, Troughton and Pertwee. This really makes no sense at all, unless a lot of Big Finish listeners voted.
Christopher Eccleston comes in 8th, with 1144 votes.
Then we get Jon Pertwee in 9th, with 1038 votes, so only just pipped by Eccleston.
Patrick Troughton is next, in 10th position, with 915 votes.
In 11th position we have Sylvester McCoy, on 462 votes.
Number 12 will please Colin Baker no end as, just for a change, he isn't bringing up the rear. He got 359 votes.
That leaves Peter Davison in last place, which I'm sure a great many people simply won't be happy about, let alone believe. He is only just pipped by Baker, C, with 351 votes.
All in all, a poll which fails to match just about any other one I've seen in recent years once you get beyond first place...
You’ll have to do a “What’s Wrong With.... Radio Times Readers’ Polls.” I wonder if President Trump reads your blog. He could no doubt tell you a thing or two about the problems with this sort of postal voting system. Or perhaps the electronic vote has been hijacked by Russian bots launched on an unsuspecting internet by Jodie and Paul fans. Do we know if President Putin has a favourite Doctor?
ReplyDeleteApparently some people on Twitter owning up to multiple voting for Whittaker. The poll is worthless. Even Putin would have voted for Tom Baker.
ReplyDeleteThe poll is worthless? Don't tell Colin!
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