Doctor Who: 5 Traits That Made The Fifth Doctor Awesome

By Audrey Fox / November 23, 2013

The Fifth Doctor, played by the fabulous Peter Davison, tends to be one of the more underrated Doctors. He lacks the swagger of Three, the eccentricity of Four, the romanticism of Ten. But what he brings to the table is a totally unique version of the Doctor; one who is far more emotionally subtle than some of the others that we've seen. Five is, above anything else, an exercise on contrasts. He is young, yet old (really, credit goes to him for paving the way for Tennant and Smith, in terms of proving that a younger Doctor could work). Sometimes prickly, but at the same time one of the most compassionate and human Doctors that we see. Bursting with boyish energy yet often preferring to solve issues through diplomacy (in comparison with Pertwee, for example, who picked up a rapier every time he got the chance). Five doesn't often get the credit he deserves. He's got a crowded TARDIS full of clashing personalities, and spends just as much of his time playing referee as he does saving the world. He's punished by the fact that he was coming off one of the most popular Doctors in history, with some people determined to dislike him simply because he wasn't Four. Add this to questionable decisions made by the production team, and it's easy to see why his contributions to the show might be undervalued. But for what it's worth, Five is one of my favorite Doctors, and here's why.

5. Forget The Lord of Time, Five Was The Lord of Snark

The companions are supposed to be the placeholders for the audience, which is probably why a lot of them tend to ask some pretty stupid questions. After all, we have to make sure that all the kiddies (and grown-ups) out there watching are able to follow the storyline. But what I love about Five is that he almost can't hold back rolling his eyes or making a sarcastic comment. Take for example the episode The Visitation. They're chasing the Terileptil and Adric excitedly asks, "You know where he is?" To which Five replies with a withering, "Yes, that's why I'm searching for him," complete with an eye roll and a shake of the head. There's no need to get angry when getting sarcastic will prove your point just as well. While one of the other Doctors might have responded to arrogant villains by giving them a good shout and getting angry with them, Five shows his disdain for them with mocking sarcasm. Like when Chellak in The Caves of Androzani insists on being addressed as 'sir'. You can see how that one's going to go down with Five before he even finishes the line. He tries to be kind and supportive to all of his companions, but when one of them (usually Adric or Tegan, let's be fair) says something appallingly dumb, you can see it in his eyes that he's resisting the urge to mock. I can identify with that.