Doctor Who has always had a raw deal
Each new Time Lord has faced a measure of hostility from viewers over the years.
Newly published documents, spanning more than 40 years and released online for the first time today, reveal the difficulties of bedding in the new Doctor.
Here's what viewers said when they were consulted by BBC audience researchers to get feedback on how various actors played the Doctor:
Patrick Troughton
"Once a brilliant but eccentric scientist, he now comes over as a half-witted clown."
"The family have really 'gone off' Doctor Who since the change. They do not understand the new one at all and his character is peculiar in an unappealing way."
Troughton "seemed to be struggling manfully with the idiotic new character that Doctor Who has taken on since his change".
"I'm not sure that I really liked his portrayal. I feel the part is over-exaggerated - whimsical even - I keep expecting him to take a great watch out of his pocket and mutter about being late, like Alice's White Rabbit."
Jon Pertwee
Some of the younger members of the audience didn't want to see the Time Lord on earth, operating among "ordinary people".
"I like it best when Doctor Who lands on a planet and meets monsters and things," said a boy, aged nine.
Tom Baker
"Too stupid for words."
"Above all else, my two boys aged four and six were distressed about the change of Doctor Who. They were very excited by the episode, but hope the Doctor will change back again next week."
"My 14-year-old son thought the Doctor played the part too much for laughs."
Peter Davison
The audience research report notes: "There were a number of unfavourable comparisons with certain predecessors (notably Jon Pertwee) and a couple of suggestions that he should stick to being a vet." (Davison had previously been known for his role in All Creatures Great And Small).
Colin Baker
"I find him too aggressive and just not as pleasant as other Doctors."
"The new Doctor is too stern and doesn't have enough humour."
The Doctor's assistant, Mel, played by Bonnie Langford in 1987.
"She can still scream and scream and scream until she's sick." (a reference to the actress's childhood role as Violet Elizabeth Bott in the Just William stories
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