List of actors who have played the Doctor

The ten faces of the Doctor on television Clockwise from top-left: William Hartnell, Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee, Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy, Paul McGann, Christopher Eccleston and David Tennant.

Since the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who began in 1963, many actors have played the title character of the Doctor on television, and in various spin-offs on television, stage, radio, film, audio plays and webcasts.

This list does not include stand-ins, stunt men, actors in sketch comedies and send-ups or fan-produced stage shows, videos and audios.

Actors who have played a regular television Doctor

Name	Tenure	First appearance	Last appearance	Other appearances
William Hartnell (The First Doctor)	November 23 1963 to October 29 1966	An Unearthly Child episode 1	The Tenth Planet episode 4 *Television: The Three Doctors - December 30 1972 to January 20, 1973 *Television: The Five Doctors (archive footage) - November 23, 1983
Patrick Troughton (The Second Doctor)	October 29 1966 to June 21 1969	The Tenth Planet episode 4	The War Games episode 10 *Television: The Three Doctors - December 30 1972 to January 20 1973 *Television: The Five Doctors - November 23 1983 *Television: The Two Doctors - February 16 to March 2, 1985
Jon Pertwee (The Third Doctor)>January 3 1970 to June 8 1974	Spearhead from Space episode 1	Planet of the Spiders episode 6 *Television: The Five Doctors - November 23 1983 *Stage: Doctor Who - The Ultimate Adventure - March 23 to June 3 1989 *Radio: The Paradise of Death - August 27 to September 24 1993 *Television: Dimensions in Time - November 27 to November 28 1993 *Radio: The Ghosts of N-Space - January 20 to February 24 1996 *Computer Game: Destiny of the Doctors (archive recordings of voice) - December 5 1997 *Audio: Zagreus (archive recording) - November 2003
Tom Baker (The Fourth Doctor)> June 8 1974 to March 21 1981	Planet of the Spiders episode 6	Logopolis episode 4 *LP: The Pescatons - July 1976 *Radio: Exploration Earth, Episode 3: The Time Machine - October 4, 1976 *LP: Genesis of the Daleks - October 1979 (audio version of serial with new narration performed in-character) *Television commercials: Keep Australia Beautiful - 1979 *Television commercials: Prime Computers - 1979 to 1980 *Television: The Five Doctors (archive footage) - November 23 1983 *Television: Dimensions in Time - November 27 to November 28 1993 *Computer Game: Destiny of the Doctors - December 5 1997
Peter Davison (The Fifth Doctor)> March 21 1981 to March 16 1984	Logopolis episode 4	The Caves of Androzani episode 4 *Television: Dimensions in Time - November 27 to November 28 1993 *Computer Game: Destiny of the Doctors - December 5 1997 *Audio: Big Finish Productions - July 19 1999 onwards (first story The Sirens of Time)
Colin Baker (The Sixth Doctor)>March 16 1984 to December 6 1986	The Caves of Androzani episode 4	The Trial of a Time Lord episode 14 (The Ultimate Foe episode 2) (not played by Colin Baker for regeneration in Time and the Rani; Sylvester McCoy played the part for this scene) *Television: Jim'll Fix It - A Fix with Sontarans - February 23 1985 *Radio: Slipback - July 25 to August 22 1985 *Stage: Doctor Who - The Ultimate Adventure - June 5 to August 19 1989 *Television: Dimensions in Time - November 27 to November 28 1993 *Computer Game: Destiny of the Doctors - December 5 1997 *Audio: Big Finish Productions - July 19 1999 onwards (first story The Sirens of Time) *Webcast: Real Time - August 2 to September 6 2002
Sylvester McCoy (The Seventh Doctor)>September 7 1987 to December 6 1989 in the series and May 12 1996 in the Doctor Who television movie	Time and the Rani episode 1	Doctor Who (1996) *Television: Search Out Science - Search Out Space - November 21 1990 *Television: Dimensions in Time - November 27 to November 28 1993 *Computer Game: Destiny of the Doctors - December 5 1997 *Audio: Big Finish Productions - July 19 1999 onwards (first story The Sirens of Time) *Webcast: Death Comes to Time - July 12 2001 to May 30 2002
Paul McGann (The Eighth Doctor)>May 12 1996 in the Doctor Who television movie	Doctor Who (1996)	Doctor Who (1996) *Audio: Big Finish Productions - January 22 2001 onwards (first story Storm Warning) *Webcast: Shada - May 2 to June 6 2003
Christopher Eccleston (The Ninth Doctor)>March 26 to June 18 2005	Rose	The Parting of the Ways
David Tennant (The Tenth Doctor)>June 18 2005 onwards	The Parting of the Ways	*Television: Children in Need special - November 18 2005. *Television: Attack of the Graske - December 25 2005

Other Doctors

| Edmund Warwick| Peter Cushing|| Trevor Martin| Adrian Gibbs| Richard Hurndall| Michael Jayston|| David Banks| Rowan Atkinson| Richard E. Grant|| Jim Broadbent| Hugh Grant| Joanna Lumley| Geoffrey Bayldon|| David Warner|| David Collings| Derek Jacobi| Nicholas Briggs| Arabella Weir| Jon Culshaw

Actor		Medium	Title	Dates	Role
	Television	The Chase episodes 4 and 5	June 12 1965 and June 19 1965	Robot First Doctor
	Film	Dr. Who and the Daleks	June 25 1965	Dr. Who
	Film	Daleks - Invasion Earth 2150 AD	July 22 1966	Dr. Who
	Stage	Doctor Who and the Daleks in the Seven Keys to Doomsday	December 16 1974 to January 1975	The Fourth Doctor (shown on stage to be regenerated from the Jon Pertwee Third Doctor)
	Television	Logopolis	February 28 1981 to March 21 1981	The Watcher (said to be a manifestation of the Doctor bridging his fourth and fifth incarnations; he merges with the Fourth Doctor as he regenerates into the Fifth Doctor)
	Television	The Five Doctors	November 23 1983	The First Doctor
	Television	The Trial of a Time Lord	September 6 to December 6 1986	The Valeyard (said to be a future incarnation of the Doctor)
	Audio	He Jests at Scars...	September 2003	The Valeyard
	Stage	Doctor Who - The Ultimate Adventure	April 29 1989	The Doctor (understudy for Jon Pertwee; performed as the Doctor for two performances when Pertwee fell ill)
	Television	Doctor Who and the Curse of Fatal Death	March 12 1999	The Ninth Doctor
	Television	Doctor Who and the Curse of Fatal Death	March 12 1999	The Tenth Doctor
	Webcast	Scream of the Shalka	November 13 to December 18 2003	The unofficial Ninth Doctor
	Television	Doctor Who and the Curse of Fatal Death	March 12 1999	The Eleventh Doctor
	Television	Doctor Who and the Curse of Fatal Death	March 12 1999	The Twelfth Doctor
	Television	Doctor Who and the Curse of Fatal Death	March 12 1999	The Thirteenth Doctor
	Audio	Auld Mortality	May 2003	Alternative Doctor (possibly first)
	Audio	A Storm of Angels	January 2005	Alternative Doctor (possibly first)
	Audio	Sympathy for the Devil	June 2003	Alternative Doctor (possibly third)
	Audio	The Dark Palace	2006	Alternative Doctor (possibly third)
	Audio	Full Fathom Five	August 2003	Alternative Doctor
	Audio	Deadline	September 2003	A possibly delusional writer who believes he is the Doctor
	Audio	Exile	September 2003	The previous incarnation of the Weir Doctor probably his second incarnation.
	Audio	Exile	September 2003	Alternative Doctor (possibly third)
	Audio	The Kingmaker	April 2006	The Fourth Doctor.

Footnotes

* Warwick was also William Hartnell's stand-in and stunt man.
* Broadbent previously played the Doctor in a French and Saunders sketch.
* Briggs had previously played the Doctor in a series of fan-made audio stories for Audio Visuals.
* Culshaw also does his Tom Baker impression in the radio and television series Dead Ringers.

External links

* Forty-four other actors who have played the Doctor in fan productions