by Scott, Cavan
JON PERTWEE – THE THIRD DOCTOR
Full Name: John Devon Roland Pertwee
Born: 7 July 1919, Chelsea, London
Died: 20 May 1996, Timber Lake, Connecticut, USA
First Screen Appearance: A Yank at Oxford (1938)
First regular Doctor Who appearance: Spearhead from Space Episode 1 (1970)
Final regular Doctor Who appearance: Planet of the Spiders, Part 6 (1974)
Final guest Doctor Who appearance: Dimensions in Time, Part 2 (1993) Jon Pertwee was expelled from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (RADA), but that didn’t stop him becoming a huge star of stage, screen and radio before Doctor Who. Following time in the Royal Navy during the Second World War, Pertwee made a name for himself as a comedy actor in the radio series Waterlogged Spa and as Chief Petty Officer Pertwee in The Navy Lark, also on radio between 1959 and 1977.
In 1963, Pertwee appeared on stage with Frankie Howerd in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, and would appear in the big screen version of the musical, as well as four appearances in the Carry On series.
It was Pertwee himself who asked his agent to go after the role of the Doctor when it became known that Patrick Troughton was leaving in 1969. To his surprise, he was already high on the shortlist and was ultimately successful. Doctor Who relaunched – in colour – in 1970, with Pertwee at the helm as a debonair man of action.
Throughout Pertwee’s five years in the TARDIS, Doctor Who would see its popularity soar and, despite a tough schedule, the actor found time for other work, and would continue in The Navy Lark at the same time as Doctor Who. In 1974, he took over as host of the ITV quiz programme Whodunnit?
Leaving Doctor Who in 1974, Pertwee gave life to another popular children’s character, Worzel Gummidge, between 1979 and 1981, with a brief revival in 1987.
The actor never cut his ties to Doctor Who, returning for the series’ 20th-anniversary special, The Five Doctors, in 1983 and the Children in Need charity special, Dimensions in Time in 1993. He also reprised the role on stage for The Ultimate Adventure in 1996 and in two BBC radio series broadcast in 1993 and 1996.
If the UNIT stories are set in the near future (which seems to have been the intention of the production team at the time) then, other than the Eighth, the Third is the only Doctor never to have had a televised story set in the present day.
TOM BAKER – THE FOURTH DOCTOR
Full Name: Thomas Stewart Baker
Born: 20 January 1934, Liverpool
First Screen Appearance: The Winter’s Tale (1967)
First regular Doctor Who appearance: Planet of the Spiders Part 6 (1974)
Final regular Doctor Who appearance: Logopolis Part 4 (1981)
Final guest Doctor Who appearance: Dimensions in Time Part 2 (1993) Tom Baker followed a spiritual road in his early life, leaving school to become a novice monk in the Catholic faith at the age of 15. After six years, Baker turned his back on his training and served his National Service with the Royal Army Medical Corps, where he first developed a love for performing. After a brief stint in the Merchant Navy, the future Time Lord attended Rose Bruford College of Speech and Drama, and eventually found himself in Laurence Olivier’s National Theatre company in the late 1960s.
Olivier was instrumental in Baker landing his first major film role, as the monk Rasputin in Nicholas and Alexandra in 1971. His performance earned him a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actor.
Baker hit hard times in 1973, and worked as a labourer on a London building site. In desperation, he wrote to BBC Head of Serials Bill Slater, enquiring about work opportunities. It happened that Slater was due to meet with Doctor Who producer Barry Letts about casting Jon Pertwee’s successor. After Letts viewed the actor’s performance in 1973’s The Golden Voyage of Sinbad, and several meetings, Tom Baker was unveiled as the new Doctor in early 1974.
Tom Baker holds the record as the longest-serving Doctor, appearing in seven seasons and 172 episodes, his unpredictable performance scoring a hit with audiences around the world. He left the role in 1981, claiming there was nothing left to achieve in the part. He would return to the Doctor in 2009 to record brand new audio adventures for the BBC and Big Finish Productions.
Tom Baker remains much loved by audiences to this day, his subsequent roles in The Chronicles of Narnia, The Life and Loves of a She Devil, Monarch of the Glen, Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased) and as the distinctive voice of Little Britain maintaining his status as a national treasure.
The Fourth Doctor holds the record for the most televised stories set on or visiting alien worlds – 28. The other Doctors have a long way to go to beat him: the Tenth Doctor can rustle up 12 stories, while the First comes third with 11.
PETER DAVISON – THE FIFTH DOCTOR
Full Name: Peter Moffett
Born: 13 April 1951, Streatham, London
First Screen Appearance: Warship (TV series, 1974)
First regular Doctor Who appearance: Logopolis Part 4 (1981)
Final regular Doctor Who appearance: The Caves of Androzani Part 4 (1984)
Final guest Doctor Who appearance: Time Crash (2007)
In 1981, at the age of 29, Peter Davison was the youngest actor to be cast as the Doctor – a record he held until the casting of Matt Smith in 2009.
Born Peter Moffett and later adopting the stage name Davison, he attended the Central School of Speech and Drama, and on graduating worked as a stage manager at Nottingham Playhouse. His first major television work was on the ITV children’s drama The Tomorrow People – where he met his future wife Sandra Dickinson. A role in the drama Love for Lydia followed, but it was the rebellious Tristan Farnon in All Creatures Great and Small that made Davison a household name. He played Tristan on and off for 12 years.
In the early 1980s, sitcoms Holding the Fort and Sink or Swim strengthened Davison’s reputation as one of Britain’s leading television actors, making him Doctor Who producer John Nathan-Turner’s top choice to take over from Tom Baker.
Initially reluctant, believing he was too young, Davison eventually agreed to take on the part, affording him his first true leading man role. His Doctor was a youthful, vulnerable figure that, like his predecessors, scored a hit with audiences, and took Doctor Who to its 20th-anniversary season. Davison decided to leave after three seasons – at the time of his casting, a chance meeting with Patrick Troughton had seen the former Doctor advising him to do no more than three years.
Following Doctor Who, Davison has remained a popular face on British TV, adding lead roles in A Very Peculiar Practice, Campion, At Home with the Braithwaites and The Last Detective. In 2009 he became the only past Doctor to appear in Doctor Who since its 2005 return, joining David Tennant in the TARDIS for the Children in Need special Time Crash. Since 1999, Davison has continued to play the Doctor in Big Finish Production’s range of original audio dramas.
RICHARD HURNDALL – THE OTHER FIRST DOCTOR
Full Name: Richard Gibbon Hurndall
Born: 3 November 1910, Darlington
Died: 13 April 1984, London
First Screen Appearance: Androcles and the Lion (TV, 1946)
Doctor Who appearance: The Five Doctors (1983)
After training at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (RADA) Richard Hurndall started treading the boards first in repertory and later with the Royal Shakespeare Company where his roles included Bassanio in The Merchant of Venice and Orlando in As You Like It. Later he shifted to radio, becoming a member of the BBC Radio Drama repertory company in 1952, going on to play Sherlock Holmes seven years later in a five-part adaptation of The Sign of Four.
Even though Hurndall had made his television debut in 1946, it wasn’t until the 1960s that he regularly started appearing on the small screen. The next two decades saw him guesting on a number of cult TV shows including Steptoe and Son, Ripping Yarns, The Avengers, Callan, The Persuaders and Jason King.
It was a 1981 appearance in Blake’s 7 that gave Hurndall a unique place in the Doctor Who hall of f
ame. At the time, series producer John Nathan-Turner was planning The Five Doctors, the 90-minute 20th-anniversary special. There was only one snag. William Hartnell had passed away in 1975. Who could play the First Doctor? Watching Hurndall’s performance as Nebrox in Assassin, an episode from Blake’s 7’s fourth season, the producer saw in him someone who could mimic Hartnell’s idiosyncratic performance. And so Hurndall became the first actor to be cast in a previous Doctor’s role. At 73, he was 18 years older than William Hartnell had been when he originally played the First Doctor.
Sadly, Hurndall died of a heart attack just five months after his interpretation of the First Doctor was broadcast.
COLIN BAKER – THE SIXTH DOCTOR
Full Name: Colin Baker
Born: 8 June 1943, London
First Screen Appearance: The Adventures of Don Quick (TV, 1970)
First regular Doctor Who appearance: The Caves of Androzani Part 4 (1984)
Final regular Doctor Who appearance: The Trial of a Time Lord Part 14 (1986)
Final guest Doctor Who appearance: Dimensions in Time Part 2 (1993) Following training at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts, Colin Baker made his television debut at the beginning of the 1970s, winning early roles in The Adventures of Don Quick, Happy Ever After and a noted supporting appearance in a BBC adaptation of The Road to Freedom. During this period, Baker shared a flat with David Troughton, the son of Second Doctor Patrick Troughton, and was best man at his wedding.
Two years later, Baker starred opposite Anthony Hopkins in the acclaimed War and Peace, playing Anatole Kuragin. It was his casting in 1974 as Paul Merroney in the popular BBC drama The Brothers that gave Baker long-lasting TV notoriety. His villainous turn as the ruthless businessman made him a star, with the character voted the most hated man in Britain.
Baker’s reputation for playing villains led to the space pirate Bayban the Butcher in a 1980 episode of Blake’s 7. In 1983 he became the only actor to appear as a different character in Doctor Who on television prior to being cast as the Doctor. The arch Commander Maxil in Arc of Infinity led in turn to his casting as the Sixth Doctor when Peter Davison left the role. Baker’s sharp wit kept guests entertained at a wedding attended by members of the Doctor Who production team, including producer John Nathan-Turner, who knew he’d found his Doctor.
The colourful sixth incarnation of the Time Lord made his debut in 1984. Baker played the Doctor for three years, and has remained connected to the series through regular convention appearances and as a mainstay of Big Finish’s Doctor Who audio adventures. He is a regular face on British television, with credits in Jonathan Creek, Casualty and Hustle adding to his lengthy CV and, following on from his success in Come Dine With Me in 2011, he took part in the ITV reality show I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! in 2012. He works extensively in the theatre, and writes a regular column for his local newspaper, the Bucks Free Press.
SYLVESTER McCOY – THE SEVENTH DOCTOR
Full Name: Percy James Patrick Kent-Smith
Born: 20 August 1943
First Screen Appearance: Vision On
First regular Doctor Who appearance: Time and the Rani Part 1 (1987)
Final regular Doctor Who appearance: Doctor Who (1996)
Like Tom Baker before him, Sylvester McCoy toyed with following a religious life by training as a priest, but swapped this for an insurance job, before working in the box office of the Roundhouse in London. Here he was spotted by the visionary theatre director and actor Ken Campbell, who invited him to join his performing troupe, the Ken Campbell Roadshow.
McCoy created the character of stuntman Sylveste McCoy during his time with Campbell, famous for slapstick routines that involved ferrets and hammering nails up his nose. An ‘r’ was later added to the name, providing Percy Kent-Smith with his more familiar stage name.
McCoy’s mastery of physical comedy led to his working relationship with producer Clive Doig, who employed him on shows ranging from Vision On to Jigsaw. Doig was instrumental in McCoy’s casting as the Seventh Doctor after phoning producer John Nathan-Turner to recommend his friend as the ideal successor to Colin Baker. Following several screen tests, McCoy was offered the role.
McCoy remained with Doctor Who until it ceased production in 1989, returning happily in 1996 to hand over the TARDIS keys to Paul McGann, filming several sequences, including a regeneration scene, in the Doctor Who TV movie filmed in Canada. He now appears regularly in the Doctor Who audio dramas produced by Big Finish.
Work following Doctor Who has seen McCoy appear regularly on stage, screen and radio. In 2007 he appeared as the Fool opposite Ian McKellen in an RSC production of King Lear. Four years later he would join McKellen in New Zealand to play Radagast in a three-part film adaptation of The Hobbit.
PAUL McGANN – THE EIGHTH DOCTOR
Full Name: Paul McGann
Born: 14 November 1959, Liverpool
First Screen Appearance: Play for Today: Whistling Wally (TV, 1982)
Doctor Who appearance: Doctor Who (1996)
As one-quarter of the McGann acting brotherhood (along with Joe, Mark and Stephen), Paul McGann was considered one of Britain’s most exciting young actors following his graduation from RADA in the early 1980s. His breakthrough role was opposite Robert Lindsay in the comedy drama Give Us a Break in 1983, but two subsequent roles would seal his reputation as a star to watch.
In 1986 he was BAFTA-nominated for his acclaimed performance as Percy Toplis in the BBC’s controversial First World War drama The Monocled Mutineer, and he earned a cult following for his turn as ‘I’ in the comedy film Withnail and I in 1987 with Richard E. Grant.
Roles in Hollywood movies Alien 3 and The Three Musketeers followed in the early 1990s, then in 1993 he was cast as Richard Sharpe in a TV adaptation of Bernard Cornwall’s Sharpe novels – a role he was forced to abandon after injuring his knee playing football just weeks into the shoot. His next major casting would see him travel to Canada in 1996 to become the eighth incarnation of the Doctor in a TV movie that was intended to relaunch Doctor Who for an international audience. McGann sought the advice of his friend Sylvester McCoy, who encouraged him to take the role, and the two soon found themselves filming a regeneration scene in an abandoned hospital in Vancouver.
While McGann’s screentime is the briefest of all eleven Doctors – the TV movie failed to secure a commission for a full series – McGann has recorded numerous audio dramas as the Eighth Doctor. He continues to record new stories, and appears regularly at conventions.
McGann is never away from TV screens for long. He starred in the BBC drama Fish in 2000 and played Lieutenant Bush in the second series of Hornblower shortly after. Recent television work has included New Tricks, Luther and Ripper Street.
CHRISTOPHER ECCLESTON – THE NINTH DOCTOR
Full Name: Christopher Eccleston
Born: 16 February 1964, Salford
First Screen Appearance: Blood Rights (TV, 1990)
First regular Doctor Who appearance: Rose (2005)
Final regular Doctor Who appearance: The Parting of the Ways (2005) Christopher Eccleston grew up in Salford, Lancashire, and harboured dreams of playing football for Manchester United until it was clear his talent lay with acting. He trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama and made his stage debut in a production of A Streetcar Named Desire at the Bristol Old Vic in 1988. More stage work followed, but film and TV proved elusive.
Eccleston’s breakthrough screen role was as Derek Bentley in the film Let Him Have It (1991), but it was his performance as DCI Billborough in Cracker (1993) that really brought him to the attention of TV audiences. Eccleston has combined film, TV and stage work throughout his career. He played Trevor Hicks in Jimmy McGovern’s Hillsborough, and was BAFTA-nominated in 1997 for his work in the critically acclaimed drama Our Friends in the North. Film work, on both sides of the Atlantic, includes Elizabeth (1998), Gone in 60 Seconds (2000) and 28 Days Later (2002).
In 2003, Ec
cleston played Stephen Baxter in The Second Coming and, shortly after, the actor emailed the drama’s writer, Russell T Davies. Davies was working on a new series of Doctor Who for the BBC, and Eccleston was keen to be considered for the part of the Doctor. A few months later it was confirmed that Christopher Eccleston would be the ninth actor to play the Doctor.
Eccleston left Doctor Who after one series, saying he had done what he wanted to do with the part. Like William Hartnell over 40 years previously, he had redefined his career away from weighty roles to become a hero for a new generation of children.
Christopher Eccleston has maintained his exhausting work schedule since leaving Doctor Who, guest-starring in the US drama series Heroes, BBC crime thriller The Shadow Line and films The Dark is Rising (2007) and G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009) and as villain Malekith in superhero sequel Thor: The Dark World (2013).
Like the Eighth Doctor before him, the Earth-loving Ninth never had a televised story set on an alien world.
DAVID TENNANT – THE TENTH DOCTOR
Full Name: David John McDonald
Born: 18 April 1971
First Screen Appearance: Dramarama: The Secret of Croft more (TV, 1988)
First regular Doctor Who appearance: The Parting of the Ways (2005)
Final regular Doctor Who appearance: The End of Time, Part Two (2010)
When he grew up, young David McDonald told his parents, he wanted to be an actor because he was a big fan of Doctor Who. Over 30 years later, not only would he have achieved his dream and become an actor – he would also be the Doctor!
At the age of 16, Tennant would be one of the youngest students to be accepted by the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. Following graduation, he appeared in several productions for the 7:84 Theatre Company, and appeared in TV sitcom Rab C Nesbitt in 1993. Tennant’s first major TV role was as manic depressive Campbell in Takin’ Over the Asylum (1994) with Ken Stott, and he would continue to work steadily throughout the 1990s, combining TV and theatre work.