8. A Difficult Doctor
To put it simply, the Ninth Doctor wasn't always the nicest of the Doctors. In fact, he was a sarcastic cynic who did not suffer fools gladly. On more than one occasion he bluntly told the people around him just how little he thought of them. New fans and fans who switched off in the Fifth Doctor's run had no real precedent for this. The people who knew about the Sixth Doctor were more prepared, however, but this Doctor was still a hard sell. The addition of Rose Tyler truly made this work, and through her eyes we saw the man underneath - a man who, despite his misgivings, was trying desperately hard to believe in the universe again. Most recently, we've had a series with Peter Capaldi's anti-social, introspective Doctor, and the Ninth Doctor seems positively cuddly in comparison with the Twelfth Doctor's darker moments, so has the spiky nature of the Ninth Doctor now been diminished? The answer is probably yes and no. The Ninth Doctor is clearly defined now, plus it's much easier for us to forgive him for his outbursts. That's more than can be sad for the Sixth Doctor, who was rude and egotistical simply in his nature. Saying that, the Ninth Doctor's unnecessarily mean-spirited attitude toward Mickey is still somewhat grating, so that, at least, remains intact.