Not many shows would work when the lead character constantly changes actor. Yet Doctor Who became a huge hit. It’s now 60 years old, and it is still going strong.
The latest actor to take on the role is Ncuti Gatwa, the first Black man to take on the role. We got to meet him at the end of the 60th anniversary specials as the entire mythology changed with bi-generation. He then took on the lead on his own in the 2023 Christmas Day special. It’s almost time to see his first season of the story.
There have been 15 other iterations (well, technically 17, and I’ll get into that soon) of The Doctor throughout the years. The appearances of them have not been in chronological order, either. It makes for a tricky timeline to follow. We’ll take a look at the order of introduction and the order in the timeline.
The Doctors in order of introduction in Doctor Who
William Hartnell was the first ever Doctor, bringing Doctor Who to life back in 1963. He held the role for three years, and then it was a test to see if a change of face would work. Patrick Troughton was the first new actor to take on the lead, also doing three years in the role. It certainly worked since Jon Pertwee took on the role of the Third Doctor in 1970 until 1974.
Here’s a run down of the actors playing The Doctor in order:
William Hartnell as First Doctor
Patrick Troughton as Second Doctor
Jon Pertwee as Third Doctor
Tom Baker as Fourth Doctor
Peter Davidson as Fifth Doctor
Colin Baker as Sixth Doctor
Sylvester McCoy as Seventh Doctor
Paul McGann as Eighth Doctor
Christopher Eccleston as Ninth Doctor
David Tennant as 10th Doctor
Matt Smith as 11th Doctor
Jon Hurt as War Doctor
Peter Capaldi as 12th Doctor
Jodie Whittaker as 13th Doctor
Jo Martin as Fugitive Doctor
David Tennant (again!) as 14th Doctor
Ncuti Gatwa as 15th Doctor
Yes, David Tennant returned in the 60th anniversary special as the 14th Doctor. He was not the same man as his previous version, which makes him a separate iteration.
A technical iteration in terms of looks is David Bradley. After Hartnell’s death, the show recast the First Doctor to ensure that it would be possible to bring back that iteration. Bradley is not a different Doctor in his own right.
Michael Jayston could be considered a version of The Doctor. He played Valeyard in The Trial of the Time Lord in 1986, and during that, we never got mention of him being a version of the lead character. However, during the 2013 episode The Name of the Doctor, we did learn that Valeyard would be one of the name of The Doctor before his last iteration.
What about Peter Cushing? He played The Doctor in two movies. These are not considered cannon to the main series.
The Doctors in chronological order
So, where do all the Doctors fit into the Doctor Who timeline? This isn’t in order of their appearances.
Jo Martin as Fugitive Doctor
William Hartnell (and later David Bradley) as First Doctor
Patrick Troughton as Second Doctor
Jon Pertwee as Third Doctor
Tom Baker as Fourth Doctor
Peter Davidson as Fifth Doctor
Colin Baker as Sixth Doctor
Sylvester McCoy as Seventh Doctor
Paul McGann as Eighth Doctor
Jon Hurt as War Doctor
Christopher Eccleston as Ninth Doctor
David Tennant as 10th Doctor
Matt Smith as 11th Doctor
Peter Capaldi as 12th Doctor
Jodie Whittaker as 13th Doctor
David Tennant (again!) as 14th Doctor
Ncuti Gatwa as 15th Doctor
The introduction of bi-generation does mean that the mythology of the series has changed. It will be exciting to see what that means. Right now, the 14th Doctor is living a normal life with Donna and her family while the 15th Doctor goes on to protect the universe and time.
Doctor Who returns on Friday, May 10 on Disney+.