Sci-Fi Bulletin: Exploring the Universes of SF, Fantasy, Horror and Spy-fi!

The Time Lord has been triumphant again, winning a poll carried out by the British Film Institute to find the Best Sci-Fi Character of All Time.

Thousands of votes were cast in the online poll, with the Doctor narrowly beating Ellen Ripley, from the Alien films, to the title – although Sigourney Weaver’s character was overwhelmingly the most popular character from sci-fi cinema. According to the BFI, 61% of the votes were cast for TV-based characters, with both Kerr Avon from Blake’s 7 and Mal Reynolds from Firefly in the top 5 – third place went to Darth Vader.

The Top 20 were:

1. The Doctor, Doctor Who
2. Ellen Ripley, Alien saga
3. Darth Vader, Star Wars saga
4. Kerr Avon, Blake’s 7
5. Captain Malcolm Reynolds, Firefly / Serenity
6. G’Kar, Babylon 5
7. HAL-9000, 2001: A Space Odyssey
8. Rick Deckard, Blade Runner
9. Han Solo, Star Wars saga
10. Spock, Star Trek saga
11. John Crichton, Farscape
12. Roy Batty, Blade Runner
13. Captain Jack Harkness, Torchwood
14. Captain James T Kirk, Star Trek saga
15. Captain Jean-Luc Picard, Star Trek: The Next Generation
16. Londo Mollari, Babylon 5
17. The Alien, Alien
18. Dana Scully, The X Files
19. Ianto Jones, Torchwood
20. Yoda, Star Wars saga

To read the full Top 100 and a breakdown of the voting pattern, click here. The poll was carried out as part of the BFI’s Days of Fear and Wonder season.