Doctor Who: Determining Peter Capaldi’s Place in History

With Peter Capaldi entering his third, and possibly final, season on Doctor Who, it may be time to start thinking about his place among those who portray the Time Lord.

In the history of Doctor Who, there are those whose portrayal of the Doctor is considered to be vastly superior to others. Tom Baker is the obvious gold standard, gracing the TARDIS for eight years while his scarf is still among the more recognizable features of any Doctor in the past 52 years. Unless some sort of surprise happens, it is unlikely that Baker will be removed from his place atop the Doctor Who pantheon.

While Baker’s place is secure, it is that next tier that is a bit of a question. Here we would find Doctors like David Tennant, who is generally considered to be the best of NuWho. And it may be here that we can best see where Capaldi would fit into the overall hierarchy.

It may be that Tennant’s era, at least to this point, has been the Golden Age of NuWho. In those three years, Doctor Who began to explode in popularity, finding its way as more than a niche program. The overall stories were amongst the best that the show had to offer, helping seize hold of those who may have been drawn to the show by Tennant’s looks.

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However, looks aside, there is no debating that Tennant is a truly talented actor and one of the better ones to pick up the sonic screwdriver. Capaldi, likewise, is quite the excellent actor, whose storied career has spanned three decades and is the first person to become the Doctor after winning an Oscar. In terms of acting ability alone, Capaldi would rank right at the top.

In attempting to determine Capaldi’s place amongst the Doctors, there is the issue that his first two seasons have been quite different. Series Eight was fairly close to a disaster, with the writers seemingly unable to determine what they had in Capaldi as the Doctor. Meanwhile, this past season may have been one of the best of NuWho, with virtually every episode being stellar.

That inconsistency of the episodes, despite Capaldi’s brilliance, has made it difficult to determine where he should rate in the hierarchy of Doctors at this point. He is clearly in the upper half, and should likely be in that area around Matt Smith and Jon Pertwee in the top five.

Next: The War Doctor meets Leela in 2017

Series Ten will go a long way to cementing Peter Caladi’s legacy on Doctor Who. He has been truly brilliant, and the type of Doctor that was needed to bring more of a classic feel to the show. Yet, it will take this next season to determine whether or not he can equal, or even surpass, David Tennant as the best Doctor of NuWho.