Doctor Who is a great gig. But when ya gotta go, ya gotta go. So why did each Doctor decide to call it quits?
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00:00Playing the Doctor is the role of a lifetime, but it's hardly the most glamorous of gigs,
00:04spending most of the year in rainy old Cardiff, running around quarries and steel mills after
00:09dark. It's a physical, demanding part, with 60 years of pressure on top. It's also a strange
00:15job in that you know you'll one day have to pass the torch. There have been a variety of reasons
00:20why the stars of the show have come down with a severe case of the glowy face, so let's take a
00:25look at them. I'm Ellie for WhoCulture, and this is why every lead actor left Doctor Who.
00:30Number 13. William Hartnell
00:32When William Hartnell agreed to play the Doctor in the early 60s, the concept of regeneration
00:36didn't even exist. This was a family program about a madman with a box. Nobody involved
00:41thought that Doctor Who would spawn an unprecedented 60-year run. But sadly,
00:46several problems necessitated a plot device that would allow the show to switch leads.
00:50Hartnell was no spring chicken, and as his health deteriorated, it became difficult for him to keep
00:55up with Doctor Who's gruelling production schedule. He suffered from a condition which
00:59hardens the artery walls and restricts blood flow, which would often cause him to forget or mix up
01:04his lines. Combined with the fact that Hartnell didn't get along with producer John Wiles,
01:08who replaced original producer Verity Lambert in 1965, the idea was floated to recast him during
01:15The Celestial Toymaker. The Doctor would be invisible for most of the narrative,
01:18only to return with a brand new face. Though this idea wasn't used here, a similar concept
01:23of renewal, because actually the term regeneration wasn't invented until later on, was devised for
01:28the 10th planet, by which point Hartnell's health had declined so much that it was difficult for him
01:33to just keep going. The first Doctor changed his face on the 29th October 1966, and Doctor Who
01:39continued under a new lead actor. 12. Patrick Troughton
01:43Patrick Troughton reportedly thought that regeneration was a naff concept. He said,
01:47I don't think it was a particularly good idea of the BBC to replace Billy. I thought it was
01:52pretty silly, really. However, he was eventually persuaded to take the leap. I would imagine that
01:57the consistent paycheck probably played a role in that decision. Like Hartnell, Troughton found
02:01Doctor Who's production schedule highly demanding. With dozens of episodes being produced per year,
02:06it's easy to see why. This is largely what influenced his decision to exit the role in
02:101969, with three seasons under his belt. After he left, Troughton advised fifth Doctor,
02:16Peter Davison, to also follow the three-year model, in effort to avoid being typecast,
02:21and over the years, this has become something of an unwritten rule that many Doctors abide by,
02:25intentionally or not. 11. John Pertwee
02:29The third Doctor's era brought big change to Doctor Who. The show was now in colour,
02:33the Doctor was stranded on Earth working with his unit family, and iconic characters like The Master,
02:38Sarah Jane Smith, and Joe Grant were introduced. They say that nobody likes change, but in this
02:44case, it was a big hit, with Doctor Who enjoying something of a renaissance after ratings had
02:48dipped towards the latter end of Troughton's run. This success might be why Pertwee remained
02:52in the role for longer than either of his predecessors, completing five full seasons
02:57instead of the usual three. An incredibly positive tenure overall then, but one that
03:01was tinged with sadness by the time it concluded. After the tragic death of his good friend and
03:06master actor Roger Delgado in 1973, Pertwee was motivated to head for the exit. Various
03:12cast and crew members were also leaving the show, and Pertwee decided it was time for him to do the
03:17same. His request for a significant pay rise had also been declined, which further reinforced his
03:22decision. 1974's Planet of the Spiders was the first story to use the term regeneration to
03:27describe the Doctor's face-changing process, and it was here where Pertwee bowed out of the role.
03:3210. Tom Baker Tom Baker is the longest-serving
03:35Doctor to date, but in hindsight, the man himself thinks that he might have stayed a bit too long.
03:40The actor has cited the early part of his tenure under producer Philip Hinchcliffe as his favourite
03:45period of the show, but confessed that he grew more and more frustrated when John Nathan Turner
03:49took the reins in 1980. Nathan Turner added a lot more characters to each story, and Baker felt that
03:54the short 25-minute episode format meant that most of these characters ended up being useless.
03:59"'John Nathan Turner and I did not see eye to eye about very much,' he said in 2014, and he
04:03continued to say, "'I think I should have gone when John was taking over to liberate him to
04:08recast. Maybe I did one series too many.'" In a separate interview, Baker stated that Nathan
04:12Turner quote, "'diminished' him in the role, and that he was annoyed by the addition of question
04:17marks to the Doctor's collar. The tension ultimately proved too much, and by the time
04:211981 rolled around, Baker had decided that his time as the Doctor was over."
04:259. Peter Davison As previously mentioned, Peter Davison wanted
04:29to stick to a three-year stint after listening to Patrick Troughton's advice about not being typecast,
04:34so that's exactly what he did. However, there may be a little bit more to the story than that.
04:39Though Davison was happy with his final season in 1984, he found the middle part of his run
04:44rather frustrating, clashing with Nathan Turner over various creative decisions.
04:48Davison wished to bring more levity to his Doctor, which his superior consistently shot down.
04:53Davison had also noted how long Tom Baker stayed in the role and was concerned that
04:57staying any longer than three years might affect his future job opportunities.
05:01And so, the fifth Doctor regenerated on the 16th March 1984, almost three years to the day
05:07since his first appearance at the end of Logopolis.
05:108. Colin Baker Colin Baker was at the helm for one of the
05:13most turbulent periods in Doctor Who history. In 1985, the show was put on hiatus due to concerns
05:19about its quality and its levels of violence. BBC executive Michael Grade believed Doctor Who
05:24felt cheap compared to the likes of Star Wars and E.T., saying,
05:28"...what we were serving up as science fiction was garbage. Bit harsh."
05:31I wouldn't exactly say that's a fair comparison, but we get the point.
05:34Though Doctor Who did return after its hiatus with the season-long story Trial of a Time Lord,
05:39it wasn't long before Baker himself had a target on his back. With higher-ups still
05:43not convinced by the show's quality or ratings, they removed him from the role.
05:47Though he was offered a final adventure that would conclude with the sixth Doctor's departure,
05:51Baker refused to return for anything less than a full season. And as a result, he wasn't even
05:56present for his own regeneration scene, with Sylvester McCoy instead adorning a blonde,
06:01curly wig. 7. Sylvester McCoy
06:04Unlike most of his fellow Time Lords, Sylvester McCoy never technically left Doctor Who,
06:09nor was he fired. He was simply unlucky enough to be the Doctor in 1989, the year in which
06:14production of the show was suspended. It's a shame, too, because McCoy had settled into
06:18a solid groove towards the end of his era, with he and Sophie Aldred proving a winning combination.
06:23Unfortunately, public perception of Doctor Who was at an all-time low,
06:27and with viewership declining, the plug was pulled.
06:29Regardless, McCoy was still the incumbent Doctor for the 1993 charity special Dimensions in Time
06:35and the start of the 1996 TV movie. Writer Matthew Jacobs wished to link the movie directly to the
06:40classic series, and so it was decided to depict the seventh Doctor's regeneration.
06:456. Paul McGann Based on their original runs,
06:48Paul McGann is the shortest-serving Doctor of all time, less than 90 minutes in total. But at first,
06:54it was hoped that he'd get to play the character for a lot longer than that.
06:57The TV movie was intended to kickstart a new series of Doctor Who,
07:01a co-production between the BBC and Fox. But despite strong UK ratings,
07:05it underperformed in North America, and Fox chose not to go any further.
07:09Like McCoy then, McGann never technically left Doctor Who. He was simply the star of the show
07:14at a time when it ran out of steam. No more on-screen appearances were greenlit,
07:18though he did reprise the role in the 2001 Big Finish audio drama Storm Warning,
07:23marking the beginning of an incredibly successful run in Doctor Who's expanded universe.
07:28In 2003, it was announced that one Russell T. Davis had been hired to showrun a new series
07:33of Doctor Who. Though Davis decided that the new series would continue where the TV movie left off,
07:38he intended to be careful with his acknowledgement of the show's past so as to make it as newcomer
07:43friendly as possible. And to that end, a new Doctor was brought in to lead the charge,
07:46and McGann was left without a regeneration scene until 2013's Minnesota The Night of the Doctor.
07:525. Christopher Eccleston
07:54Though precise details are scarce, Christopher Eccleston did not have the best of times
07:58shooting his first and only series of Doctor Who. Production on Block One,
08:02comprising Rose, Aliens of London, and World War 3, was reportedly chaotic,
08:07not least because it fell behind schedule. This tallies with comments that Eccleston
08:11has made in the years since, where he's explained that poor management on the
08:15part of the showrunners was the main catalyst for his decision to exit after just 13 episodes.
08:20He said,
08:30It's unclear how bad things got at the time, but Eccleston's recent statement that the only way
08:35he'd consider returning to Doctor Who was if current producers Russell T. Davis, Jane Tranter,
08:40Phil Collinson, and Julie Gardner were sacked is damning, considering those four were in charge
08:45back in 2005. On a more positive note, Eccleston loves playing the Doctor,
08:49and has shown a great willingness to engage with fans on the convention circuit. He also
08:54returned to voice the Ninth Doctor on audio from 2021 onwards.
08:584. David Tennant Eccleston may have lit the torch,
09:01but it was David Tennant who ran with it. Under his watch, Doctor Who became the most dominant
09:06show on British television, with the Tenth Doctor achieving some phenomenally high viewing figures
09:11throughout his run, including what is still the most-watched New Who episode of all time,
09:152007 Christmas special, Voyage of the Damned. Unlike the last few Doctors, Tennant's departure
09:20wasn't surrounded by any sort of drama. In October 2008, he made the announcement himself,
09:26stating that he didn't want to outstay his welcome, and that quote,
09:29If I don't take a deep breath and move on now, I never will.
09:32It was a very tough choice to arrive at, and Tennant did consider staying on for one more
09:36series under new showrunner Stephen Moffat. The BBC would have gladly kept him too,
09:41considering his popularity. In fact, Moffat has since claimed that there might have been
09:45plans to consider ending Doctor Who, and that it was a quote,
09:48huge question whether it could continue without Tennant.
09:51There's no doubt he's iconic in the role, and since regenerating in 2010,
09:55he's barely kept away. He's been highly active in expanded media,
09:59and returned to play the Doctor on screen in both the 50th and 60th anniversaries.
10:03Tennant always knew that the deal for the 60th anniversary was for three specials and no more,
10:08but based on how things ended, we'll no doubt be seeing him again in the future. Let's be honest.
10:133. Matt Smith
10:14Matt Smith was able to build on the success of the Tennant era,
10:17giving the show an international appeal to complement its dominance of British screens.
10:22And as was the case with his predecessor, there was no trouble surrounding his departure. He
10:26just decided to move on. From the beginning, Smith had hinted to Stephen Moffat that he wanted to
10:30stay for no more than three series. The news was announced in June 2013,
10:34half a year before his regeneration in the upcoming Christmas special.
10:38Smith stated that it had been an honour to play the Doctor, and that quote,
10:42when you gotta go, you gotta go. Like other incarnations,
10:45the show's tough production schedule also played a part in his decision.
10:48It wasn't an easy choice to make though, and Smith has confessed that he would have gladly
10:52done another year, and that he regrets not getting a full series with Jenna Coleman.
10:56Recently, he's also hinted that he wasn't entirely happy with his final episode.
11:00Unsurprisingly then, he's more than game for a return to the show.
11:04Though many were hoping he'd appear in the 60th anniversary, Smith is young enough that there's
11:08no doubt that we'll see him play the Doctor on screen at least one more time.
11:122. Peter Capaldi
11:14Peter Capaldi actually played two other characters in the Hooniverse before he
11:18was cast as the main attraction, Kykilius in 2008's The Fires of Pompeii, and John
11:22Frobisher in Torchwood Children of Earth. Rather than these past lives being ignored
11:27during the Twelfth Doctor's reign, this identity crisis formed a core part of his arc.
11:31Despite ratings dipping from The Tenant and Smith eras, Capaldi enjoyed three strong
11:35series in the role before regenerating in the 2017 Christmas special. This was actually a
11:40last minute adjustment, with the original plan being for him to bow out at the end of series 10
11:45in July. As for why he left? Again, this was another case of the actor deciding to call it quits.
11:50Though incoming showrunner Chris Chibnall did try and persuade him to stay, and Capaldi did
11:54consider it, he opted out, saying that he wanted to leave while he was still enjoying it.
11:58He's also indicated that the workload was a factor. In 2018, he candidly stated,
12:03To be at the centre of that brand is a lot of work. It was hard to maintain that level
12:07of commitment with that schedule any longer. I tried my best to make the Doctor come alive."
12:12This also might explain why he's not so keen on a return. His response when asked about the
12:16possibility was a simple, no. But fingers crossed he changes his mind in the future.
12:211. Jodie Whittaker Chris Chibnall and Jodie Whittaker were the
12:24first showrunner-Doctor duo to make the three-series rule into a joint agreement.
12:29Upon announcing their exit in 2021, Chibnall explained,
12:33Jodie and I made a three-series-and-out pact with each other at the start of this
12:36once-in-a-lifetime blast. So now our shift is done. We're handing back the TARDIS keys."
12:41Whittaker echoed this sentiment, stating that they always knew they wanted to,
12:45quote, pass on the baton together. Because her regeneration is still so fresh at this point,
12:49it's too early for any other potential reasons to come to light, as has been the case with other
12:54Doctors. That said, Whittaker thoroughly enjoyed her time at the helm, and has already confessed
12:58she'd be, quote, very happy to put on my Doctor's coat again. And with New Who's 20th
13:03anniversary approaching in 2025, who knows what might happen. Who knows.
13:09And that's everything for this list, but for more behind-the-scenes gossip,
13:12why not check out 10 Doctor Who Mistakes Confirmed by the Creators?
13:16In the meantime, I've been Ellie for WhoCulture,
13:18and in the words of River Song herself, goodbye, sweeties.