List of actors considered for the part of the Doctor


Many actors have been considered for the part of The Doctor in Doctor Who. The following is a list of actors who have been linked to the role.

First Doctor

declined the role of the Doctor because it was scheduled for 52 weeks and required him to play an old man. He told his agent, “Tell them: Too long, too old”. He would later play an alternative version of the Doctor in two plays for the Doctor Who Unbound series of audio plays by Big Finish Productions: Auld Mortality and A Storm of Angels. In addition, he played Organon in the Fourth Doctor serial The Creature from the Pit.
Hugh David was the choice of Rex Tucker, who was the series' "caretaker producer" before the arrival of Verity Lambert. Lambert rejected this idea on the grounds that at 38, Hugh was too young. David later became a director and, in that capacity, worked on the Second Doctor serials The Highlanders and Fury from the Deep.
Alan Webb was then offered the role but declined, as did Cyril Cusack.
Leslie French was considered for the role. He later appeared in the Seventh Doctor serial Silver Nemesis as Lady Peinforte's mathematician.
The role of the First Doctor went to William Hartnell.

Second Doctor

was offered the role, but declined because of scheduling conflicts; he would go on to play King Yrcanos in the Sixth Doctor serial The Trial of a Time Lord. Rupert Davies, Valentine Dyall and Sir Michael Hordern were all approached for the role but none wanted to commit to a long-running series. Dyall would later play the Black Guardian in the television stories The Armageddon Factor, Mawdryn Undead, Terminus and Enlightenment and Slarn in the audio drama Slipback. Peter Cushing was also offered the role, but declined and later regretted his decision. He appeared in the big-screen versions of Doctor Who in Dr. Who and the Daleks and .
The role of the Second Doctor went to Patrick Troughton.

Third Doctor

was said to be the producers' choice after his success in Oliver! but he turned down the role, which he later regretted.
The role of the Third Doctor went to Jon Pertwee.

Fourth Doctor

, who would later play Soldeed in The Horns of Nimon, turned down the role as he did not wish to commit himself to a long-term role, while Michael Bentine turned down the role when the production team felt he wanted too much influence over the series' scripts. Other actors considered included Bernard Cribbins, who played Wilfred Mott in the Modern Series, and Fulton Mackay, who had previously played Dr. Quinn in Doctor Who and the Silurians.
Richard Hearne was offered the role but his insistence that he play the part in the style of his 'Mr Pastry' character was not acceptable to the series' producer, Barry Letts. Also considered was Carry On actor Jim Dale.
The role of the Fourth Doctor went to Tom Baker.

Fifth Doctor

was considered by producers for the role when Tom Baker left.
The role of the Fifth Doctor went to Peter Davison.

Sixth Doctor

The role of the Sixth Doctor was offered to Colin Baker without an audition. No auditions were held for the role, as Baker was the first choice.
Sylvester McCoy did express interest.

Seventh Doctor

The final three actors considered for the role were Sylvester McCoy, Ken Campbell and Chris Jury. While Campbell's portrayal was considered too dark for the series, Jury was remembered by the production team and cast as Kingpin in 1988's The Greatest Show in the Galaxy, though many years later he disclosed that he had never known that he had been on the shortlist for the role.
Dermot Crowley had also auditioned for the role. Andrew Sachs was offered the role of the Seventh Doctor but he turned it down later regretted it saying "it was one of his sad tales of failure in life" and hoped the offer came around again
Dawn French, Joanna Lumley, and Frances de la Tour were suggested by Sydney Newman in 1986 for the role, but were dismissed by the BBC. The role of the Seventh Doctor went to Sylvester McCoy.

Eighth Doctor

Had the show continued past 1989, the producers were again considering Richard Griffiths for the role of the Eighth Doctor.
In the early 1990s, the BBC approached Verity Lambert to revive the show. Lambert wanted Peter Cook to play the new Doctor at the time, but he eventually declined involvement.
Actors who auditioned for the role in the 1996 film included Rowan Atkinson, Liam Cunningham, Mark McGann, Robert Lindsay, Eric Idle, Tim McInnerny, Nathaniel Parker, Peter Woodward, John Sessions, Anthony Head, Rik Mayall and Tony Slattery. Billy Connolly has stated that he was also considered for the part. Peter Capaldi was invited to audition, but declined, as he "didn't think would get it, and... didn't want to just be part of a big cull of actors." Capaldi was eventually cast as the Twelfth Doctor.
The role of the Eighth Doctor went to Paul McGann.

Ninth Doctor

In 2003, Bill Baggs was set to make a 40th-anniversary special for BBC South with Alan Cumming as the Doctor. Baggs had directed numerous unofficial Doctor Who-related productions since the show's cancellation, including The Airzone Solution, which featured Cumming in another role. The special was cancelled when the BBC instead commissioned Russell T Davies to revive the series.
Hugh Grant has stated that he turned down the role and expressed his regret once he saw how the show turned out.
Producer Jane Tranter also considered casting Judi Dench as the Ninth Doctor. The role of the Ninth Doctor went to Christopher Eccleston.

Tenth Doctor

When Christoper Eccleston announced he was leaving Doctor Who, David Tennant got the role without the need of an audition.
It was Tennant's role as Giacomo in Casanova that led to Russell T Davies to cast him as the Tenth Doctor.

Eleventh Doctor

auditioned and screen-tested for the part of the Eleventh Doctor, having been recommended to Steven Moffat's new production team by outgoing showrunner Russell T Davies. Moffat briefly considered casting Peter Capaldi. The role of the Eleventh Doctor went to Matt Smith.

Twelfth Doctor

revealed to Digital Spy that he had been included on a shortlist of actors in the running for the role, but was not the production team's first choice. The role of the Twelfth Doctor went to Peter Capaldi.

Thirteenth Doctor

When referring to if the new Doctor would be a woman, incoming Doctor Who showrunner Chris Chibnall originally was quoted in February 2017, as saying "Nothing is ruled out but I don’t want the casting to be a gimmick and that’s all I can say”.
The role of the Thirteenth Doctor went to Jodie Whittaker, the first woman to play the Doctor in the television series. She had previously worked with Chibnall in Broadchurch. Chibnall said that he always wanted a woman for the part and that Whittaker was their first choice. Whittaker has said that other actresses auditioned for the part.

Radio plays

was approached to play the Doctor for a proposed radio series by Stanmark Productions in the late 1960s. Karloff declined, and Peter Cushing was hired to reprise his film version of "Dr. Who" for a pilot episode titled "Journey Into Time" that was recorded, but the BBC passed on the series. As of 2014, the location of the recording is unknown.

Unspecified

In 2013, Bill Nighy said that the BBC had approached him about the possibility of him playing the Doctor, but that he had declined, feeling that the role came with "too much baggage". Nighy did not specify when this occurred out of respect to the actor who was eventually cast.
In 2017, Alan Cumming said that he had been approached about playing the character on two occasions, once by Russell T Davies and once by Mark Gatiss, but that the deal-breaker both times had been his reluctance to relocate to Cardiff. Cumming would later appear in the 2018 Doctor Who episode "The Witchfinders" portraying King James I.