David Tennant named 'best Dr Who'

Tennant made his debut as the Doctor in 2005

Fans have named David Tennant the best ever Doctor Who in a poll, beating Tom Baker into second place.

The Scottish actor, who made his debut last Christmas, received 28% of votes cast in a survey of 4,000 readers of Doctor Who Magazine.

"This is a real honour, and I am totally gobsmacked," he said.

Baker, who played the character from 1974 to 1981, has topped every previous poll conducted by the magazine, except in 1990 - when Sylvester McCoy won.

TOP FIVE DOCTORS 1. David Tennant - 28.2% 2. Tom Baker - 26.5% 3. Christopher Eccleston - 11.4% 4. Jon Pertwee - 9.6% 5. Patrick Troughton - 8.8% Source: Doctor Who Magazine Who's been the best Dr Who?

"This is an incredible result for David, and shows how quickly viewers have taken to him," said editor Clayton Hickman.

"The iconic image of Doctor Who has always been of Tom Baker in his floppy hat and long, multi-coloured scarf, but it looks like that's been replaced."

Fans voted Tennant's predecessor Christopher Eccleston into third place, while Paul McGann received the fewest votes of the 10 actors to play the Doctor on TV.

Favourite assistant named

Readers also voted Billie Piper as their favourite Doctor Who assistant, in the role of Rose Tyler.

In second place was 1970s companion Sarah Jane Smith, played by Elisabeth Sladen.

Sladen is due to return to the screen in the spin-off series, The Sarah Jane Adventures, over Christmas.

A new episode of Doctor Who will be shown on BBC One this Christmas, with a guest appearance from comedy performer Catherine Tate.

Actress Freema Agyeman, 27, will be introduced as the Doctor's new companion Martha Jones in 2007, following Billie Piper's departure this year.