David Tennant, but this is only my opinion. I would say the next best actor to play the doctor was Tom Baker.
I totally agree with that statement.
In my opinion the best Doctor is David Tennant and my second best Doctor is Matt Smith.
William Hartnell was the first Doctor Who.
In my opinion Patrick Troughton is .... would disagree! David Tennant is the most popular actor to play Dr Who. Others may come and go but he IS the Doctor - then, now and always!
Matt Smith, at 26 he is the youngest actor to play the role of The Doctor.
Patrick Troughton
William Hartnell was the first actor to play Dr Who in 1963.
Actor Joel McCrea was the first one to play Doctor Kildare in the 1937 film titled Interns Can't Take Money.
Doctor Who is a popular British science-fiction show. The next actor to play the Doctor has been determined to be Peter Capaldi.
Peter Capaldi (the Twelfth Doctor) has been playing the Doctor since 2013, when he took over from Matt Smith.
Rafi Gavron is indeed a British actor. However, he did not play in Doctor Who (which is also a British TV show)
The only actor to play two forms of the Doctor in the 12 count regeneration cycle was David Tennant. Matt Smith who played the Doctor after Tennant even made a joke about how much vanity the previous doctor version had and had to repeat himself in his next regeneration. HOWEVER, no actor who has quit playing the Doctor has returned to play the role again. But with that being said, Tom Baker, who played the role of the 4th Doctor, did make an appearance on "The Day of the Doctor" and told Matt Smith's version of the Doctor that he might or might not be a future version of the Doctor "trying on familiar faces".
They have not chosen anyone to play the next Doctor. Auditions only start when the current actor gives notice of leaving.
David Mcdonld But also known as David Tenant The latest actor to play DR Who is Matt Smith