The long-running BBC sci-fi show Doctor Who is practically a genre all on its own, starring the titular Doctor as they travel through space and time aboard the police box-shaped TARDIS. The Doctor has seen and done just about everything, and many companions come along for the ride as they save the day and battle many villains.

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The current revival series showcases the 9th through 13th Doctors, and in the 2010s, the 11th and 12th Doctors were a dominant force, played by Matt Smith and Peter Capaldi respectively. Both of them are true Doctor Who heroes, but when you compare them, you can't help but ask: which is the best incarnation of this ever-changing character? Let's see how they stack up.

11th Doctor: Him and Amy Pond

From 1963 to now, the Doctor has always traveled with a (usually human) companion, and when the 11th Doctor crash-landed on Earth, he needed a friend. He found one in Amelia Pond.

He was Amy's best friend as a girl and as a young woman, nicknaming him the Raggedy Man. She said a fond farewell so she could join Rory (when the Weeping Angels got him), and Eleven imagined Amy wishing him another fond good-bye right before he regenerated into Twelve. It was truly touching.

12th Doctor: Escaped The Confession Dial

The 12th Doctor in Doctor Who

In one of the most intriguing episodes of the entire franchise, the 12th Doctor awakens to find himself in a huge, empty castle that keeps shifting its rooms and walls, and he cannot find a way out. And a monster is stalking him.

Then Twelve finds a hardened wall blocking the exit, and he spends the next four and a half billion years on an endless loop to find that wall and damage it, confessing his innermost secrets to the monster all the while. Who else could pull that off but the Doctor?

11th Doctor: Youthful Charm

Aside from Peter Davison, who played the 5th Doctor, Matt Smith is one of the youngest actors to play this character at the time of being cast for the role. He gives the character some wonderful boyish charm, a contrast from the funny but dark 10th Doctor and the more bitter 12th.

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This is our fun Doctor, and he makes the most of it, from his goofy dancing to awkwardly moving into someone's apartment (he accidentally grabbed a toothbrush instead of the sonic screwdriver), and even played a fine soccer game. What a pal!

12th Doctor: Fought Missy And The Cybermen

During the two-part finale of season 8, the Doctor and Clara must confront not just one classic villain, but two! Missy is, in fact, the Master in a new body, and she is working with the Cybermen.

Together, they are a grave threat to the Earth, and Clara grieves as Danny gives his life to help put a stop to them. And the 12th Doctor, meanwhile, is magnificent as he confronts these old but deadly foes.

11th Doctor: Christmas Siege

Old-Man-Matt-Smith-Doctor-Who-11th-Doctor-Time-Of-The-Doctor

In a farming town on the planet Trenzalore, the Doctor fights what he believes will be his final battle. He holes up in the town and for millennia, fights off countless waves of his many assembled enemies.

It's a siege for the ages, and the 11th Doctor uses all his wits to survive. He is prepared to die there, but when the Time Lords give him more regeneration energy, he wipes out his foes and even looks young again just in time to say goodbye to Clara. "The Time of the Doctor" was quite the spectacle.

12th Doctor: Tough Guy

Twelfth Doctor

It was great fun having the boyish 11th Doctor take the helm for awhile, but eventually, many viewers were ready for a Doctor who truly acted like a bitter, time-worn alien who has seen far too much horror in the universe.

The 12th Doctor harkens back to the earlier incarnations and their more devious ways, and his tough and unflappable attitude made him a true force to be reckoned with against any foe. He wasn't just unstoppable... he looked the part!

11th Doctor: Reset The Universe

Eleventh Doctor in Doctor Who and his Pandorica speech.

Doctor Who has some of the highest stakes in all of television, and the 11th Doctor was cornered when his assembled enemies found him at Stonehenge and forced him into the mysterious Pandorica.

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This seemed like the end, but no so fast: the Doctor had a way out of this. With Amy and Rory's help, he got free and met up with River Song, and the gang used the TARDIS' energy to reset the entire universe and save the day!

12th Doctor: Met His Oldest Self

It is rare for the Doctor to meet his younger selves, but both the 11th and 12th do so. In Twelve's case, he meets someone truly extraordinary: the 1st Doctor. Both of them are alone and desperate to avoid regeneration.

But they are joined by the avatar of Bill, and once everything is set right, the 1st Doctor departs in higher spirits, and the 12th is ready to face his regeneration at last. And the interactions between the old-fashioned 1st and the eccentric 12th are truly priceless. Browser history? What is that?

11th Doctor: Gallifrey Falls No More

Matt Smith, John Hurt, and David Tennant in "The Day of the Doctor"

If two Doctors at once isn't enough for you, how about three? In the special episode "The Day of the Doctor," the 11th Doctor and Clara find a strange Gallifreyan painting with an odd name... and a time portal in the room.

The 11th Doctor meets the 10th in late 16th century England, and the War Doctor joins them, too. Together, they save their entire race and the home planet from destruction at the hands of the Daleks, and the three Doctors part in triumph. Not bad, Eleven!

12th Doctor: Defeated The Boneless

Overall, Doctor Who is known for its incredible gallery of monsters and villains old and new, from the Daleks and the Ice Warriors to a pre-universe demon and the Weeping Angels. But the Boneless take it to the next level, and only the 12th Doctor could handle them.

These creatures are truly alien: they are 2D! They are curious about the 3D bodies of human beings, and they lethally convert people into 2D images to study them. They seem absolutely unstoppable; just how do you drive off or kill a flat image? But the Doctor used the TARDIS' dimension energy and a handy gadget to turn the Boneless creatures' power against them and save the day.

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