For 55 years (this week!), TV pundits have been passing judgement on the arrival of each new Doctor, with some opinions having aged better than others...

We all know what the pundits have said about Jodie Whittaker, but here's how the commentators of the time reacted to each Time Lord's entrance, from William Hartnell to Peter Capaldi.

1. William Hartnell

BBC

The first ever episode of Doctor Who is now widely regarded as a television classic, but contemporary reaction to November 1963's 'An Unearthly Child' was actually pretty frosty, at least in Britain's newspaper columns.

"William Hartnell gazing from under locks of flowing white, and the appealing Carole Ann Ford represent the Unknown Them [while] William Russell and Jaqueline Hill [are] the ignorant, skeptical Us and their craft is cunningly disguised as a police call box," Michael Gowers enthused in the Daily Mail.

But he went on to compare the episode's final shot – in which said police box lands "in a neolithic landscape" – to a scene from The Telegoons, a comedy puppet series adapted from The Goon Show which followed Doctor Who on Saturday nights. Clearly, at this early stage, Gowers was a little uneasy with Who's wonderfully absurd stylings.

BBC

Mary Crozier in The Guardian was more damning. Passing judgement on the following week's 'The Cave of Skulls', she wrote that Doctor Who had "fallen off badly soon after getting under way".

Though she begrudgingly admitted that it was "possible to get mildly worked up" by the TARDIS's first trip back in time at the close of 'An Unearthly Child', Crozier insisted that the following instalment, which saw our heroes encounter a tribe of cavemen, was "a depressing sequel".

"Wigs and furry pelts and clubs and laborious dialogue were all ludicrous," she wrote. "Were these serious Stone Agers or not? The space ship, for some unexplained reason, remained looking like a police box in the dusty desert. I hope this will be explained later."

We doubt Mary stayed tuned in long enough to have the full intricacies of the Chameleon Circuit explained to her.

2. Patrick Troughton

BBC

Surprisingly, relatively few column inches were dedicated to the changeover between Hartnell and Patrick Troughton.

The Daily Sketch did remark on the "explosive event" and the transition from Hartnell to "spooky character actor" Troughton, and the "mental somersaults" apparently being performed by the writers to explain away the change in leading man. (In fact, Troughton's debut 'The Power of the Daleks' provides no solid explanation. The concept of "regeneration" wouldn't be introduced into the series until much later.)

Troughton's initially more comic take on the Doctor did notably divide viewers at the time. In a letter to the Radio Times, G Howard from Leeds argued that Troughton "and the superb character he has created have dragged the programme out of the unfortunate mess it had degenerated into."

BBC

But Mrs Estelle Hawken of Wadebridge, Cornwall was less impressed. In a rant now notorious within Doctor Who fandom, she fumed: "What have you done to BBC1's Doctor Who? Of all the stupid nonsense! Why turn a wonderful series into what looked like Coco the Clown?

"I think you will find thousands of children will not now be watching Doctor Who, which up to now has been the tops."

Oh my giddy aunt! (In fact, ratings went up under Troughton.)

3. Jon Pertwee

BBC

These critics are a grumpy lot, huh?

The good news is that the tide began to turn with the arrival of Jon Pertwee and Doctor Who in full colour in 1970, with his debut adventure 'Spearhead from Space' – the one with the shop window dummies springing to life – earning a positive reception.

"This Doctor Who adventure wins my vote as the best in the lifetime of the series so far," gushed Matthew Coady in the Daily Mirror. "What it did was to suggest an authentic sense of the uncanny."

In the Daily Sketch, Gerard Garrett also sang the story's praises, colourfully commenting that 'Spearhead' featured "production so slick that it made many adult series look like lumbering oxen".

Yes, well, quite.

4. Tom Baker

BBC

Much like Troughton before him, Tom Baker followed a more straight-laced predecessor by bringing a little extra eccentricity to the part of the Doctor – and, as in 1966, the response to his debut was mixed.

The BBC's Audience Research Report on part one of 1974's 'Robot' noted that "at this early stage, many did not know whether they were going to like [Baker] or not" and felt he'd "take some getting used to".

Reactions ranged from outrage ("Too stupid for words!") to elation, with some suggesting that the new Doctor had "more life and humour" and would "buck the series up" – that he did, with Doctor Who reaching a new peak of popularity during Baker's 7-year tenure.

5. Peter Davison

BBC

The long-standing Baker might have been beloved, but Peter Davison's arrival as the fifth Doctor in 1982's M.C. Escher-influenced 'Castrovalva' actually went down rather well.

"Thankfully Doctor Who is a [series] that is always discovering and experimenting, but never more so than when the reign of a new Doctor begins," read a review in the fanzine TARDIS. "Tom Baker's debut story was quite a disappointment, but 'Castrovalva' was definitely not that. It was brim-full of original ideas and pleasant surprises."

Fellow fanzine Aggedor did lament "the overdone Master and his rather too obvious disguises" – but overall reaction was mostly positive, cementing the reputation of 'Castrovalva' as a bit of a gem.

6. Colin Baker

BBC

Ah, 'The Twin Dilemma' – Colin Baker's 1984 debut is not held in high esteem by Doctor Who fans, often landing bottom of episode rankings. Russell T Davies even once described it as "the beginning of the end" for the classic series.

Contemporary reaction wasn't much kinder. Writing in the fanzine Zygon, Gary Russell dismissed the four-parter as "a silly waste of 90 minutes", while Ian Clarke in TARDIS complained that the dialogue was "so full of clichés".

The response to Baker himself, though, was more positive – not a huge surprise, given how his Doctor's reputation has been repaired in recent years, in no small part thanks to his performances in Big Finish's audio plays.

'The sixth Doctor looks like turning out very well indeed – he has traces of his predecessors, yet he's sufficiently different to be an interesting and enjoyable character in his own right," wrote Simon Cheshire, again in TARDIS, while Tim Munro of the same magazine took to Sixie's "arrogance and total self-obsession", though he was put off by the concept of a "totally alien Doctor... who does not comprehend compassion".

7. Sylvester McCoy

BBC

Another inauspicious beginning – even then-script editor Andrew Cartmel doesn't have many kind words to say about 1987's 'Time and the Rani': "This was a story which wasn't about anything," he bemoaned. "And, frustratingly, it was Sylvester McCoy's debut."

Like his predecessor, though, while McCoy's introductory story failed to impress, the actor himself launched to mostly positive buzz. The October '87 edition of fanzine DWB suggested that McCoy was "a far more interesting Doctor to watch than the previous two", while Muck and Devastation called him an "inspired choice" for the part of the seventh Doctor.

"Sylvester [McCoy] can be summed up best with one word – magic," raved writer Nigel Griffiths.

Blimey.

8. Paul McGann

FOX / BBC

McGann's 1996 one-shot has proven divisive ever since it first aired on FOX in the US and BBC One in the UK, more than two decades ago.

"At last we have a grown-up hi-tech Doctor Who in Paul McGann," wrote Maureen Paton in the Daily Express, celebrating how the TV movie had ditched "the endearing amateurism of the old teatime serial format".

"The makers would be mad not to pursue the option of a series," she concluded. Awkward.

In contrast, Matthew Bond of The Times argued that "if the series is to return it will need stronger scripts than this simplistic offering, which struggled to fill 85 minutes and laboured somewhat in its search for wit".

As it happened, a poor ratings performance Stateside sunk hopes of a McGann-fronted series. Doctor Who would not return to television full-time for another nine years...

9. Christopher Eccleston

BBC

Most critics back in 2005 thought Eccleston's debut in the series' major relaunch 'Rose' was pretty... well... fantastic. We here at Digital Spy wrote how he took "to the role with a light touch with the serious side bubbling under the surface... along the lines of the late great Patrick Troughton's approach".

In a positive piece titled 'Eccleston and Billie, Just What the Doctor Ordered', The Daily Mail's Michael Hanlon described the first episode of the revival as "fast, edgy and modern", and the Sydney Morning Herald called Eccleston "easily the best Time Lord since Tom Baker".

The Seattle Times joined the chorus of praise: "Eccleston and Piper do fine work projecting their characters' resistant elements — her ties to Earth, his solitary habits — against the pull of spiritual camaraderie and physical magnetism. The sparring and sparking are nicely underplayed."

If only they'd known that he'd only be sticking around for 13 episodes – news revealed five days after 'Rose' aired, on March 31, 2005.

10. David Tennant

BBC

Tenth Doctor actor Tennant was a hit from the off – though he faced a difficult task stepping in for Eccleston following his predecessor's short but successful stint, the critics were immediately swayed.

IGN said that "Tennant's performance was spot-on" in his debut, 2005's festive special 'The Christmas Invasion'. "Eccleston did an admirable job in reincarnating the series and his presence will be missed, but his replacement isn't bad at all," the site suggested. "Tennant's performance is slightly more eccentric, a little funnier, a bit wittier..."

"Tennant shines, stepping into 'his' Doctor with wit, style and confidence," agreed Slant Magazine, while over on his blog What's Alan Watching?, critic Alan Sepinwall was also charmed by the new boy's "looser, goofier" Doctor.

"Compare David Tennant to Eccleston, and I think both come out very well," he wrote. Molto bene!

11. Matt Smith

BBC

With Tennant arguably the most popular Doctor since Tom Baker, the next man to take up the TARDIS controls faced an even more intimidating task than usual. But again, the response to Matt Smith and 2011's 'The Eleventh Hour' was almost universally positive.

One of the few less effusive reviews came from the New York Times, with writer Mike Hale accusing Smith of "doing his best Tennant impersonation", insisting that he needed to start shaping his own take on the role.

Otherwise, though, it was all raves for the Raggedy Man. "Matt Smith has taken up the mantle as the alien Time Lord perfectly," said The Telegraph. "Smith's first performance was inventively physical and immediately charming," enthused the Daily Mail. "Smith carries off the youthful vigour of a new body and the ancient professorial wisdom with easy panache," gushed The Guardian.

Who da man?!

12. Peter Capaldi

BBC

The most recent Doctor debut, Digital Spy suggested that while 2014's 'Deep Breath' didn't "quite hit all the marks", the show's new leading man Capaldi was "a striking screen presence... his stark, scarecrow silhouette couldn't be further removed from his forerunner's endearingly awkward gait".

The Mirror likewise felt that Capaldi had "all the hallmarks of a great Doctor", The Telegraph said he "crackles with fierce intelligence" and his performance was labelled "intimidating, bold and unsettling" by The Guardian.

"What Capaldi lacks in youthful energy, he more than makes up for in gravitas and wry eccentricity," echoed Variety.

One notable outlier was Forbes, with writer Neil Midgley branding this new Doctor "insipid" and "feeble" – ouch.

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