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Karen Gillan as the Soothsayer in The Fires of Pompeii
Have no fear, we do not come here to mock, but to praise. When you think about the rate at which Doctor Who chews up actors – a fresh batch for each new adventure, most of which will be buried under latex or metal – it should be no surprise to discover that a lot of them come back more than once.
Many’s the Cyberman who has occasionally doubled up in a Silurian costume, or popped inside a Dalek. To list each and every one of these fine people by name would take an age although credit is undoubtedly due, but there have been a few key actors withing the show’s history that have managed to make the transition from third alien on the left to someone with an actual name. And here are the top 10:
Colin Baker
Let’s start at the top, with an actual Doctor. Colin’s first appearance on the show was as part of the Fifth Doctor adventure The Arc of Infinity, in which he plays a grumpy Time Lord, Commander Maxil. The story goes that during a break in filming, he entertained the rest of the cast so thoroughly that Producer John Nathan Turner marked his card as a potential future Doctor, claiming that his performance had been “quite arch.” So much so, in fact, that he took to calling him Archie.
Karen Gillan
Here’s a thing. Karen’s first appearance in Doctor Who was as a soothsayer in The Fires of Pompeii. I wonder if anyone thought to ask if she could predict how it would affect her career?
Freema Agyeman
Before there was Martha Jones, there was Adeola, an employee of Torchwood, who appears in Army of Ghosts. When Freema got the job as Martha, there was a little twist inserted in one of her early scripts which suggested that Adeola was actually her cousin, just in case pedants were getting in a froth. You wouldn’t do that, would you?
Nicholas Courtney
Nicholas’s first appearance on Doctor Who was as a soldier called Bret Vyon in The Daleks’ Master Plan, helping out the First Doctor. His next was as Alasdair Lethbridge-Stewart, the show’s longest running companion. Not a bad run, all things considered.
Mark Gatiss
We all know Mark from The Lazarus Experiment (and as scriptwriter for Doctor Who and Sherlock) , but did you spot him among the rank and file in The Wedding of River Song? Well if not, that’s because he looked like this.
John Levene
Another UNIT regular, John climed the Whovian career ladder, starting out as a rank and file cyberman, then getting this plum role as the Yeti in The Web of Fear. This set him up nicely for playing Sergeant Benton, opposite the Third Doctor and the Brigadier.
Chipo Chung
Not everyone makes the journey from uncredited extra to named character; Chipo actually went the other way. Having already appeared in full facial latex as the alien Chantho, assistant to the man who turned out to be the Master in Utopia, Chipo then reappeared as the nameless fortune teller in Turn Left. Two iconic roles from the Tenth Doctor’s time, both completely different.
Ellen Thomas
Ellen played Carmen in Planet of the Dead, and delivered this chilling prophecy to the Tenth Doctor. But did you know she also played a clockwork woman in The Girl In The Fireplace?
Eve Myles
“We must all join hands” indeed. There’s been some suggestion that the Victorian Gwyneth is a forebear of Gwen Cooper, the character Eve plays in Torchwood (and the Who adventures The Stolen Earth and Journey’s End), or even that she’s Gwen herself, having come through the rift into modern Cardiff. It doesn’t spoil things either way, really.
Alexander Armstrong
Poor Mr Smith (voiced by Alexander) sounds rather tired in this clip. Must be Dalek interference. Anyway, Alexander was sure that his central role in this spin-off part of the Whoniverse would rule him out of making a personal appearance in another. Anyone who has seen this year’s Christmas Special, in which he plays Reg Arwell, knows this is not the case.
OH AND THE DVD EXTRA!
Bernard Cribbins proving that it’s perfectly possible to bookend your career with appearances in Doctor Who (ish). Here he is in the not-massively-loved movie Daleks – Invasion Earth, some 45 years before his sterling work as Donna’s grandad Wilf.
Who did we miss? Tell us here:
52 Comments
Not sure if this ought to count, but Peter Capaldi was in The Fires of Pompeii (Caecilius, the father) and also had a leading role in Torchwood: Children of Earth (John Frobisher, the civil servant).
Don’t forget Michael Wisher, he played a variety of small roles including a television reporter in the Ambassadors of Death, before culminating in playing Davros in Genesis of the Daleks.
Paul Darrow! (Avon from Blake’s 7)
- Doctor Who and the Silurians, as Captain Hawkins
- Timelash, as Tekker
Also, Colin Baker was in Blake’s 7 City at the Edge of the World, as Bayban
Not a reuse but a coincidence. The Hammer film, The Gorgon features both Peter Cushing in a role where he is constantly referred to as “the Doctor” and Patrick Troughton who plays the police commissioner. The movie was made in 1964 so Cushing was just about to play “Doctor Who”, and Troughton was still a couple of years away from taking over the part on TV.
Here’s a link to a clip on Youtube that shows them both. Skip ahead to the 1:20 mark.
http://youtu.be/e7jtg3EIK54
Martha’s mother was a cat-nun. Adjoa Andoh.
Let’s not forget Geoffrey Palmer, who played a “baddie” opposite John Pertwee and also played the Captain of the ill-fated Titanic many years later on Dr. Who. Geoffrey also plays Lionel Hardcastle in the venerable series “As time Goes By,” and appears as a Naval Officer opposited Judy Dench (also from ATGB) in the later Bond movies!
Geoffrey Palmer
Dr. Who and the Silurians
Voyage of the Damned
Ian Marter in the Carnival of Monster (The third doctor) Played the captian in that before Harry Sullivan
Thanks for putting my Daleks invasion earth trailer on your site its much appreciated.
I luv Doctor Who!!!! Iv’e been watching since Christopher Eccleston!!!
(and long before that, but that’s when things got interesting.)
This site is really a walk-by for all the data you needed about this and didn’t know who to ask. Glimpse right here, and also you’ll definitely uncover it.
David Troughton,
The Enemy of the World
The War Games
Curse of Peladon
Midnight