Doctor Who: The Best & Worst Of Every Doctor

11. First Doctor, William Hartnell

Best Episode: The Aztecs The Doctor and crew get entangled in a bloodthirsty power struggle, Barbara finds out about the problems of tampering with history, Ian demonstrates a nerve pinch long before a certain other show that shall remain nameless (although it rhymes with "Far Drek"), and the Doctor finds himself engaged! The episode shows elements of the series at its best, with both drama and humor throughout. Worst Episode: The Gunfighters The Doctor visits Deadwood with a toothache, and it just sort of goes downhill from there. Actors with horrible American accents plus an equally horrible script equals a story worth avoiding. Best Race: Dalek Without the Daleks, this show might have sunk into obscurity. As alien creatures housed inside travel machines, they proved to be an inhuman enough race that scared their way into British history books. Worst Race: The Aridians (from "The Chase") An easily-cowed reptiloid (sort of) race that gets cowed by the Daleks while helping the Doctor and his friends, they repeatedly prove themselves useless, including against some of their planet's native monsters. At least viewers can play the game of "spot the zipper" on their costumes. Best Companion: Barbara Wright With the Doctor and Susan being aliens, it leaves Ian and Barbara to act as the human element to the crew. Barbara edges out Ian, however, thanks to not only her problem-solving skills and providing a rare strong female role but also her way of tempering the Doctor's behavior. Worst Companion: Steven Taylor This is an example of a character given a difficult job to do; coming in at the end of "The Chase," and despite having some potential in terms of his character (apparently a capable spaceship pilot and also suffering mentally from his time alone when he meets the Doctor and crew), neither of these elements get really explored, and he tends to be more capable in battle than in brain, which leaves the character a bit flat.