Poll Result: who's your favourite TV doctor?

Last week I asked you to vote for your favourite TV doctor – a question that caused confusion, strangely. Movie doctors and people who happen to call themselves "Doctor" don't count, as the post made clear. And yes, it's Professor Farnsworth, but "professor" is a job title, so he's still a doctor of science.

Anyway, 103 people voted in this poll ("other votes" denoted by asterisk), with the results below:

ONE VOTES – 1.89% each

Lost In Space's Dr Smith, Torchwood's Tosh, Bones' Dr Brennan, Firefly's Dr Tam, Doc Martin, Big Bang Theory's Leonard, Futurama's Professor Farnsworth, Green Wing's Dr Secretan, Frasier Crane, Dr Finlay, Chuck's Ellie Bartowski, The West Wing's Dr Bartlet, Doctor Who's River Song*, Stargate Atlantis's Dr McKay*, M*A*S*H's Hawkeye* & Futurama's Dr Zoidberg*.

5. Perry Cox, Jack Shepherd, Gaius Baltar, Devon Woodcomb – 3.77%

An odd mix! I'm not a fan of Scrubs, but crazy Dr Cox wouldn't be a doctor I'd like to have treating me. The villainous Gaius Baltar from Battlestar Galactica also seems like a strange choice to me! More acceptable would be laid-back Devon Woodcome (aka Captain Awesome) from Chuck, but I'm more taken with the ineffable goodness of Lost's Jack Shepherd. A man who's a born leader, handy when it comes to detonating hydrogen bombs, capable of performing spinal surgery on an island, helps women give birth, and stitches wounds on a beach. What a guy!

4. Dr Walter Bishop & Dr Dana Scully – 5.66%

How appropriate that Dr Walter Bishop shares fourth place with Dr Dana Scully from The X-Files, a show that clearly inspired Fringe. I'd rather have Scully giving me a checkup over Walter, though – who would probably be distracted by a tasty strawberry milkshake, or have me tripping in an isolation chamber to cure 'flu.

3. The Doctor & Dr McCoy – 7.55%

Another very apt joint-place, with two doctors from opposite ends of the Star Trek canon. Original USS Enterprise physician Dr Leonard "Bones" McCoy, and tetchy holographic medicine man The Doctor from Star Trek Voyager. Both would be good company if you're complaining of a phaser burn, right?

2. Sheldon Cooper – 9.43%

Wha--? A very surprising second-place to Sheldon Cooper from geekcom The Big Bang Theory! You could be forgiven for not knowing he's a scientist, really. I'm guessing people were voting more for him as a funny character than a commendable doctor, though. Right?

1. Dr Gregory House – 16.98%

I thought he'd be a popular choice, and he ended up winning the whole poll. Hugh Laurie's limping, quick-tempered Dr House may not be the smiling face of sympathy you want to see when you're sick, but you can't deny you're 95% certain to be cured under his care. Even if your illness is incredibly rare and sounds fictional, it'll only take him an average of three incorrect diagnoses until he cracks it!

So what have we learned this week? (1) TV doctors who aren't seen practicing their craft on-screen can still be very popular, (2) female doctors aren't very popular, and (3) the most popular doctors come from sci-fi shows like Star Trek, not realistic hospital dramas like ER.