Moving Pictures: There Are No Bad Doctor Whos (Except For That One)

Having recently watched every episode of Doctor Who, I’ve been asked which version is my favourite. That’s a difficult question to answer, as every single iteration has their pros and cons.

I liked the Second Doctor for his bumbling, the Fifth for his hyperactivity, the Seventh for his competence, the Ninth for his confidence, the Tenth for his courage, the Thirteenth for her amiability, and the Fifteenth for his heart. Each had their downsides, too, but I don’t feel like those detract enough from what I liked about them to categorically state that I liked one more than the other.

I could even find reasons to add the Doctors not on that list to it! I think that people who dislike any of the Doctors just don’t like certain episodes, and are focusing all of that negativity into hating an actor. Much as in life, judge a person by their actions, not their writers.

Which brings me to the Sixth Doctor, fuck that guy.

The guy in the loud coat, with a blonde perm who, upon regenerating, attempted to strangle his companion Perpugilliam “Peri” Brown. He was the Doctor during a bit of Season 21, then 22 and 23. Also, a quite honestly shocking amount of expanded universe media.

This one

As I said, I’ve watched every episode of Doctor Who. I haven’t, however, read the comics or books, and there are hundreds, perhaps thousands of hours of audio productions. So, all I have to go on for my opinion of the Doctors is the episodes they appeared in.

What makes the Doctor “the Doctor”? Intelligence, humour, smugness, compassion, determination, and love for their companions. These traits are in every Doctor to varying degrees.

Trigger warning. The Sixth Doctor abused Peri every chance he got. Watching those episodes gave me a knot in my stomach because he was belittling and mean from the instant he regenerated. The Fifth Doctor had literally sacrificed himself for her not five minutes prior! The Master had more respect for all of the companions that he kidnapped and tormented to that point than the Sixth Doctor had for Peri.

Almost every Doctor has snapped at a companion or two; the First Doctor was renowned for it. But he didn’t seem to actively hate the people travelling with him. The Tenth Doctor got angry and shouted all the time, but that was during emergencies, and he was apologetic afterwards. Only the Sixth Doctor has menaced the people in his care.

There is a scene in Season 22 where the TARDIS throws up a warning and Peri asks if it’s bad, as she’s a normal human from the 1980s and doesn’t know space science. Doctor then screams “Bad? Bad?!” and walks around her. Peri cringes and covers her ears as he shouts, but when he stops, she uncovers them and starts to lift her head. Doctor then screams a third “BAD?!” right next to her, making her cower once more.

A screenshot captured by myself from BBC iPlayer

This isn’t an isolated incident, and it’s definitely not “just how he is” because when he meets Jamie in The Two Doctors, Sixth is more than cordial. In fact, if there is anyone else in the room, he’s no ruder to Peri than he is to others.

Melanie Bush was the Sixth Doctor’s second companion, but they shared hardly any screen time. What we did see of their interactions show Mel to be more self-confident than Peri, and thus less likely to put up with the Doctor’s temper.

The TARDIS Wiki — the Doctor Who Wiki — says this about the Sixth Doctor: “as he acquired a larger entourage of companions, he mellowed out of his faults and became a man of genuine zest and charm.” Well, in the show, he had two companions, so even by the wiki’s own words he was a jerk on-screen.

The Doctor, Jamie, and Peri

Every Doctor is someone’s favourite — usually the one who was on TV when you were growing up — so I’m not telling you to not like the Sixth Doctor. You’re entitled to your opinion, and perhaps the expanded universe does actually redeem him. But I can’t enjoy the Sixth Doctor, and was so glad when he regenerated, and actually cheered for the Rani killing him.

Like I said earlier, I have my issues with various Doctors. How wet their P’s sound, how badly they pilot the TARDIS, how everything has to be “Venusian”... But the only one who I actively dislike is the Sixth Doctor, the only bad Doctor Who.