Three Seasons is not enough.

Yep, longer presence please.

I dunno....I think Tennant (though not my favourite Doctor) managed to do an awful lot in his 3 full seasons and truly captured the Zeitgeist - he's certainly the Tom Baker of New Who in terms of wider audience appreciation. Matt, though, was a victim of those awful half seasons and felt like he had his momentum taken away from him after Series 5 so I think it's scheduling as much as anything. Both had 3 years but David's felt better rounded and "finished". 3 years was plenty for David to become THE Doctor for a generation so I don't accept the premise of the thread. 3 seasons is plenty....if there's a solid 3 year story. I'd also argue Eccleston accomplished a hell of a lot in his one outing.

It's also not massively realistic to expect working actors to take on the rather gruelling schedule that being The Doctor involves for too long. Once their profile increases - as it does when they get established - they can all of a sudden make a lot more money doing a lot less work, usually in film or American TV. Matt had to be convinced to stay for the last year, including the specials, as his head was already turned by the US. Capaldi too has spoken of both loving the part but lamenting the fact there's just no time to do anything else, part of the reason he wanted to go was because he's turned down so many projects he would loved to have taken. The Who actors make good money by our standards but by US standards the Who gig is pocket money.

Capaldi per year earned what one cast member of The Big Bang Theory earns per ep. And there's what? Six cast members on that. I think we'd all have our heads turned by that kind of earning potential.  Comparing it to Jon and Tom doesn't hold up as Who didn't make you a global star in the 70s. No-one from US telly was battering on their doors trying to lure them away. They could afford to stay on Who as the potential elsewhere wasn't as lucrative. 

Subjectively, Capaldi is my favourite Doctor. I adore the man and have done for decades and was mooting him as The Doctor since New Who came back. I'd love him to do 4 series, 5 series...10 series. But.....the show needs to keep moving on. The show needs that fresh start every few years and I think a new showrunner earns the right to cast a new Doctor.  We can talk about Tom's tenure, but let's not forget in Tom's last year ratings were WAY down. People were ready for him to go. When Davison came on board, the ratings went up by millions. That's stone cold fact - the change worked in terms of getting people watching. So even Tom Baker -  THE classic Doctor - was a victim of stagnation and public disinterest. That's something that often gets ignored. His era - and I love Series 18 personally - died with a whimper. Stayed too long.  

I don't hold that 3 is the perfect number - the so called Troughon rule - but 3 and some specials looks to be the most we can expect now. We've heard Chibnall has a 5 year plan....let's see if Jodie is in all five years of it!

Its a shame because I think Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy would have had more than three had events not conspired against them

Yeah thats true. I remember reading that. I reckon we could have got one or two more seasons out of Colin in that 18 months and his final Trail season would have been completely different

Some interesting responses And I do agree with much of what is said that counters my opening proposition curiously enough. But four seasons. How hard would that be? Only four, tightly plotted and hitting the screens on time. It is doable. And while it hasn't been actually planned that way (and I'd have loved for 9 to have done one Xmas episode) it'd be nice to get away from the "holiday regeneration". It's Christmas/New Year, time for a special and a new Doctor.

Cash is the big thing all told. I wouldn't blame any actor for vanishing off to earn more for an episode of something than an entire season of Who.

That said, I still want one of them to do four actual seasons, even with the proposed 10 one hour episodes that is still a lot of material. As 8 said once, he was going through incarnations like something on a particularly dangerous bicycle.

The half seasons just don't work. And having a gap while people do something else doesn't work either.

I'm reminded of Roger Ebert's great quote that no great movie is long enough and no truly bad movie short enough. Wouldn't we all be happier if "our" Doctor stayed longer but, likewise, be happier to see ones we're not so keen leave sooner? I mean, when Tennant was giving it the Long Goodbye I was SO ready for him to go. Uber-excited for Matt. Yet I'm not so ready for Peter to leave even though both have done their 3 full series.

Capaldi is the only Doctor I have followed from beginning to end, having hoped on board between seasons 6 & 7 so my opinion probably comes from that but that being said:

I hate that 2016 had no season with him and it was not at all worth putting Doctor Who back on in spring as it's just going to return to autumn next year.

I feel like we could have gotten four years out of Tennant, Smith and Capaldi if their gap years had been filled with full seasons. I doubt they would have overstayed their welcome.

Any more might be pushing it; five seasons sounds like a bit much. Jon Pertwee pulled off his run quite well, but the exile era is a whole different kettle of fish compared to regular Doctor Who. And Tom is a special case as well - he was iconic - and even he probably stayed at least a season too many.

All in all, I expect Chris's five year plan involves at least one more Doctor than Jodie - but we'll see, won't we?!

I feel like if we'd had a normal season with a new companion (or another year of Catherine Tate if we were very very lucky), no-one would have thought Tennant overstayed. The specials just feel a bit meandering - a story with just the Doctor is alright occassionally but he should have regular companions for a sense of continuity and ongoing narrative.

I'd like to see Jodie Whittaker as the Doctor for eight series. Let's see Tom Baker's record be broken.