Culturess’ Official Ranking of Doctors in Doctor Who
By Ani Bundel
Image via BBC
14. Sixth Doctor: Colin Baker
If the TARDIS materialized in my backyard and Colin Baker stepped out, I would tell him to go away and come back when he had regenerated. The Sixth Doctor was brash and overbearing. There were times when he bordered on the abusive side towards his hapless companion Peri. The idea behind this was to try to differentiate the character in personality from Davison’s rather gentle soul. The result was my least favorite Doctor of all time. To be fair, Baker had a rough time of it. He had one idea of the character, and the writers a very different one. This led to Baker’s other distinction: being the only actor ever fired from the role, after only two short seasons from 1984 to 1986.
Baker does have one redeeming factor—he starred in the first season of Doctor Who that was a single story arc, with no “Monster of the week” style episodes. “The Trial of a Time Lord” was groundbreaking when it aired as what we today would recognize as a full season (fourteen episodes) each running about 25 minutes. It was a huge step forward in the progression of the show from the four part serials to the more modern storytelling we see today. But that still doesn’t make him likable.