'Doctor Who' star Ncuti Gatwa is making history as the Fifteenth Doctor! Stepping into the role of the Doctor is an enormous responsibility, as the many actors who have played the time-traveling extraterrestrial can attest. On this episode of ‘Previously On,’ Gatwa breaks down the show’s 60-year history and recaps the 14 previous men and women to have the role.
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00:00My first memory of Doctor Who was a bunch of robot Santa Clauses causing mayhem.
00:06And I said, okay, this is a show that's going to change my life. And it did.
00:13Hello, I am Shuti Gatsua and I am the 15th Doctor in Doctor Who.
00:17If you don't know Doctor Who, get ready because I'm going to take you through more than 60 years
00:22of television as I break down every core Doctor in Doctor Who ever.
00:27Spoiler alert, I'm going to spoil a couple things. Okay, so just be aware.
00:32First Doctor, William Hartnell. 1963 to 1966.
00:37You're in no position to threaten us. I don't make threats, but I do keep promises.
00:42William Hartnell launched the show and introduced the world to an alien called the Time Lord,
00:47who had travelled with his granddaughter Susan in a time machine called the TARDIS,
00:51which is disguised as a blue British police box.
00:54The TARDIS stands for Time and Relative Dimension in Space and it's the Doctor's spaceship,
00:59allowing him to travel through time and space in a box that is bigger on the inside.
01:04It's bigger on the inside than it is on the outside.
01:06As the first Doctor, Hartnell faced off against some of the show's most iconic villains,
01:10including the Daleks and the Toymaker.
01:12Make your last move, Doctor. Make your last move.
01:17And now we move on to our second Doctor, Patrick Troughton, from 1966 to 1969.
01:23Ha ha! Success! It's going on.
01:26Oh, that's marvellous.
01:28The Doctor has the ability to regenerate into a new body when fatally wounded,
01:32remaining the same person, but changing their appearance, personality and even gender.
01:37That's how Patrick Troughton took over the role from Hartnell in 1966,
01:41delivering a more eccentric incarnation of the Doctor.
01:46Come on in! The water's lovely!
01:48He was known for his love of the recorder.
01:53Third Doctor! Ah, my baby!
01:56My baby John Pertwee, from 1970 to 1974.
02:03I always find that violent exercise makes me hungry. Don't you agree?
02:08John Pertwee played the first Doctor to be broadcast on Colour TV.
02:12Pertwee's Doctor spent most of his time exiled on Earth,
02:15where he worked with Unit and drove a vintage yellow roadster named Bessie.
02:22Bessie, how dare you go gallivanting around like that?
02:26Are you sorry?
02:28Very well. I forgive you.
02:29Fourth Doctor! Tom Baker, from 1974 to 1981.
02:34Unit is supposed to be a security organisation.
02:36Do you think I might attract attention?
02:38It's just possible.
02:40Now, Tom Baker's iconic Doctor was known for his hat,
02:43his signature striked scarf,
02:45and his passion for handing out Jelly Baby candies.
02:49Would you like a Jelly Baby?
02:50Shut up!
02:53Simple enough, thank you would have been sufficient.
02:56Fifth Doctor, Peter Davidson, 1982 to 1984.
03:00That's the trouble with regeneration. You never quite know what you're going to get.
03:07In 1982, Peter Davidson became the youngest Doctor to play the Doctor.
03:11Matt Smith would later steal that title. Thief.
03:13It's not my fault.
03:14His version of the Doctor was known for his sporting cricket gear and a stick of celery on his lapel.
03:21Five a day, it's very important.
03:22I'm definitely not the man I was.
03:24Thank goodness.
03:26Sixth Doctor, Colin Baker, from 1984 to 1986.
03:30I see you've been busy.
03:32Whereas you have been stupid Doctor.
03:36Prerogative of a Time Lord.
03:37Now, when Colin Baker took over the role,
03:40he became famous for wearing one of the Doctor's most eccentric outfits until...
03:45Did you call him...
03:48The Doctor?
03:52Seventh Doctor, Sylvester McCoy, bonnie Scottish lad.
03:56From 1987 to 1989 and then again in 1996.
04:00Mine, I believe.
04:05Sylvester McCoy might have been the first Scottish actor to play the Doctor,
04:09but he certainly wasn't the last.
04:11He was also the final Doctor of the show's original run.
04:15Some of there's danger, some of there's injustice, somewhere else the tea's getting cold.
04:19Come on Ace, we've got work to do.
04:22Eighth Doctor, Paul McGann, 1996.
04:26I'm with my father, we're lying back in the grass, it's a warm Gallifreyan night.
04:29Gallifreyan?
04:30Gallifrey!
04:31Yes, this must be where I live, now where is that?
04:33In 1996, Paul McGann played the Doctor in a television movie.
04:38A meteor storm that the sky above us was dancing with lights!
04:42Purple, green, brilliant, yellow, yes!
04:44What?
04:45These shoes, they fit perfectly, yes!
04:50Now, the revival era, ninth Doctor, Christopher Eccleston, 2005.
04:56I'm a Doctor by the way, what's your name?
04:58Rose.
04:59Nice to meet you, Rose.
05:00Run for your life!
05:01When the show was rebooted in 2005 by Russell T. Davis, the legend, the myth,
05:05Christopher Eccleston took on the role.
05:07His Doctor travelled with a companion called Rose Tyler.
05:10Get that many people dressed up and being silly, they've got to be students.
05:13That makes sense, well done.
05:14Thanks.
05:15They're not students.
05:16Whoever they are, when Wilson finds him, he's going to call the police.
05:18Who's Wilson?
05:18Chief Electrician.
05:20Wilson's dead.
05:21Oh!
05:21And we've got another Scotsman on our hands here.
05:24The legend, that is, David Tennant.
05:27He was the 10th Doctor from 2005 to 2010 and then he came back as a 14th Doctor in 2023.
05:34From the day they arrive on the planet and blinking step into the sun, there is more to see than
05:40can ever be seen. More to do than- no, hold on. Sorry, that's the Lion King.
05:48David was known for his sky-high hair, his striped suits and his Allons-y catchphrase.
05:54Allons-y.
05:55I'm sorry.
05:56It's French, but let's go.
05:58David was a bit of a man about town and he travelled with three companions.
06:03Rose Tyler, Martha Jones and Donna Noble.
06:0911th Doctor, Matt Smith, 2010 to 2013.
06:14Bad news, everyone!
06:18Because guess who?
06:18Who?
06:19Now, Matt Smith's quirky Doctor had a passion for bow ties, a love of fish fingers and custard.
06:25I need fish fingers and custard.
06:32And he travelled with companions Amy Pond, Rory Williams and Clara Oswald. Gosh,
06:38these guys get about.
06:39Tough Doctor, Peter Capaldi, from 2014 to 2017.
06:44When you've killed all the bad guys, and when it's all perfect and just and fair,
06:50when you have finally got it exactly the way you want it, what are you going to do with the people
06:55like you?
06:56Another Scot, Peter Capaldi, took on the role, travelling with companions Clara Oswald,
07:01Bill Potts and Nardole.
07:04Hate is always foolish, and love is always wise.
07:10Ladies and gentlemen, we have a ground breaker, a breaker of glass ceilings on our hands here.
07:15The 13th Doctor, Jodie Whittaker, 2018 to 2022.
07:25Oh, Berlin.
07:27Jodie Whittaker was the first female Doctor in the show's history, and by her side were companions
07:33Ryan Sinclair, Graham O'Brien, Yasmin Khan and Dan Lewis.
07:40That's what you're going with?
07:42Yep.
07:43Got any cash?
07:45Empty pockets.
07:46In 2023, David Tennant returned as the 14th Doctor for the show's 60th anniversary,
07:52reuniting with long-time companion Donna Noble and facing off against the villainous Toymaker.
07:57We can play Kram O's footsteps.
08:00In a first for the series, the 14th Doctor's run didn't end with a regeneration, but a bi-generation,
08:07splitting into two separate Doctors.
08:16Last but not least, we have the 15th Doctor, Shiti Gatswell, 2010 Fita Current.
08:23Miff, Miff, Miff, Mel. What do you think?
08:27I think you're beautiful.
08:28What do I feel like makes my Doctor different?
08:32For one, he has a much, much larger wardrobe.
08:36He's got a lot of energy.
08:39You get a prize, honey.
08:42Here is mine!
08:45He's a little cheeky.
08:47He's a little flirty.
08:48What's your name?
08:48Ruby.
08:49Ruby Sunday.
08:50Hello, Ruby Sunday.
08:52And it's a Sunday right now.
08:54Certainly no stranger to using his charm to get what he wants.
09:00Very much a Doctor of the modern age.
09:02Excuse me.
09:04Time travelers are great.
09:06Like, the best.
09:07Like, wow.
09:08And there you have it, ladies and gentlemen.
09:10That is every Doctor in Doctor Who.