Doctor Who: 24 Doctors Ranked From Worst To Best

4. The Third Doctor

In the late 1960s, Doctor Who was a blink away from cancellation. Made Earthbound and reduced in length, the series entered the colour age on probation. However, with Barry Letts and Terrence Dicks behind the scenes and with Jon Pertwee in the lead, the show became a huge success and an institution to boot. The Third Doctor is one designed for a specific format: to be heroic and commanding when the aliens arrive in your town. This is a Doctor who will work with humanity but will not necessarily agree with them. He needs to be principled and noble. With his gadgets, flash clothes and access to the military, there's obviously a whiff of James Bond to this Doctor and he's very much the action man at a time when the show needed to be bigger, bolder and brighter. He's also the perfect Doctor for children - not irresponsible like the Eleventh, but calm, safe and avuncular. Pertwee's decision to play his version straight was his best one, his Doctor not the clown that others were. The Third Doctor was also very moral and philosophical, largely thanks to Letts' strong Buddhist beliefs. The Third Doctor's era contains so many classics, including The Dæmons, Spearhead From Space, The Green Death and Inferno. It gave us Autons, the Master and Axons. It's a great era with a great Doctor.