About our Doctor Who news
Doctor Who latest news, including any updates on series 15, starring Ncuti Gatwa as the 15th Doctor, as well as episode guides and Doctor Who features.
Doctor Who – sometimes misspelled as Dr Who – an iconic British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the universe in a time-travelling space ship called the TARDIS. The TARDIS exterior appears as a blue British police box, which was a common sight in Britain in 1963 when the series first aired. With various companions, the Doctor combats foes, works to save civilisations, and helps people in need.
Beginning with William Hartnell, thirteen actors have headlined the series as the Doctor; in 2017, Jodie Whittaker became the first woman to officially play the role on television. The transition from one actor to another is written into the plot of the series with the concept of regeneration into a new incarnation, a plot device in which a Time Lord "transforms" into a new body when the current one is too badly harmed to heal normally. Each actor's portrayal is unique, but all represent stages in the life of the same character, and together, they form a single lifetime with a single narrative. The time-travelling feature of the plot means that different incarnations of the Doctor occasionally meet.
Doctor Who actors in production order:
William Hartnell as The First Doctor
Patrick Troughton as The Second Doctor
Jon Pertwee as The Third Doctor
Tom Baker as The Fourth Doctor
Peter Davison as The Fifth Doctor
Colin Baker as The Sixth Doctor
Sylvester McCoy as The Seventh Doctor
Paul McGann as The Eighth Doctor
Christopher Eccleston as The Ninth Doctor
David Tennant as The Tenth Doctor
Matt Smith as The Eleventh Doctor
John Hurt as The War Doctor
Peter Capaldi as The Twelfth Doctor
Jodie Whittaker as The Thirteenth Doctor
David Tennant as The Fourteenth Doctor
Ncuti Gatwa as The Fifteenth Doctor