Doctor Who

The Doctor is the title character in the long-running BBC science fiction television programme Doctor Who. Since the show's inception in 1963, the character has been portrayed by thirteen lead actors. In the programme, "the Doctor" is the alias assumed by a millennia-old humanoid alien called a Time Lord who travels through space and time in the TARDIS, frequently with companions. The transition to each succeeding actor is explained within the show's narrative through the plot device of "regeneration", a biological function of the Time Lord race that allows a change of cellular structure and appearance with recovery following a potentially fatal injury.

A number of other actors have played the character in stage and audio plays, as well as in various film and television productions. The Doctor has been well received by the public, with an enduring popularity leading The Daily Telegraph to dub the character "Britain's favorite alien".[1] The Doctor has also been featured in films and a vast range of spin-off novels, audio dramas and comic strips.

On 25 December 2017, Jodie Whittaker made her first appearance as the Thirteenth Doctor at the end of the 2017 Christmas special "Twice Upon a Time".


 * Anim 12doctorwho.gifam Hartnell (1963–66)
 * Patrick Troughton (1966–69)
 * Jon Pertwee (1970–74)
 * Tom Baker (1974–81)
 * Peter Davison (1982–84)
 * Colin Baker (1984–86)
 * Sylvester McCoy (1987–89)
 * Paul McGann (1996)
 * Christopher Eccleston (2005)
 * David Tennant (2005–10)
 * Matt Smith (2010–13)
 * Peter Capaldi (2014–17)
 * Jodie Whittaker (2018–present)
 * Richard Hurndall (1983)
 * John Hurt (2013)
 * David Bradley (2017)
 * Jo Martin (2020)