Talk:List of Doctor Who cast members

Table additions
(Cut & Paste from the WP:WHO talk page, in regards to the "New and Classic series table") What about adding people who've appeared in the Classic Series and Torchwood? Or people who have appeared as different characters in the new series and Torchwood? I'm thinking of John Normington (Trevor Sigma - The Happiness Patrol, Tom Flanagan - "Ghost Machine") and Yasmin Bannerman (Jabe - "The End of the World", DI Kathy Swanson "They Keep Killing Suzie"). --GracieLizzie 23:18, 12 March 2007 (UTC)


 * I don't see why not. I'd recommend combining the classic and new series into just one table of actors appearing in both Doctor Who and Torchwood (and possibly Sarah Jane Adventures too, once that gets going). --Brian Olsen 00:27, 13 March 2007 (UTC)

Could you add John Barrowman/Captain Jack Harkness into the table? DoctorWhoEditor2 (talk) 20:08, 17 February 2020 (UTC)

Could you also add Noel Clarke/ Mickey Smith? EpicMeeper (talk) 15:15, 14 March 2020 (UTC)

Added info
I added info to the A's - the serials they appeared in, the year, and the character. I didn't pay any particular attention to formatting - I imagine someone else will come up with a better way to organize this. I just thought it would be helpful to have the info there. --Brian Olsen 18:37, 13 March 2007 (UTC)


 * For what it's worth, has developed a sortable table format for this list which could be adopted if folks like it.  It's at User:J Greb/Pasteup.  He dropped me a note on my user talk page — not sure why he didn't mention it here.  Anyway, I think it looks like a good format (although incorporating it into the table for every actor who's appeared on Doctor Who would be a lot of work). —Josiah Rowe (talk • contribs) 08:07, 14 March 2007 (UTC)
 * Ah...I'll stop, then, as it looks like anything I add in would just have to be redone anyway. --Brian Olsen 16:17, 14 March 2007 (UTC)

Adding information to this list
I will be adding as much information as possible to this list.My reference is Who's Next An Unofficial and Unauthorised Guide to Doctor Who.This is a guidebook to the Classic Series.Please note unauthorised in the sense of not being authorised by the BBC. Kathleen.wright5 18:15, 3 October 2007 (UTC)

conventions for titles
What is the official word here? for new vs old and italics vs quotes?

In an old series show, there would be say 6 episodes in, for example The Armageddon Factor, which were refered to as "parts" numbered 1-6, all of which were a part of the serial called The Keys to Time, so would Armageddon be Italic or quote? Would Keys be italic or quote?

In the new series, each weekly episode has it's own title, is part of a full season story arc and may be part of a multi-episode storyline. For example, Empty Child/Doctor Dances are a two part story line, part of the Bad Wolf story arc, and episodes in themselves. I'm confused about which should be formatted in which way (which is why I kept fixing your fixes...sorry)

Would you spell it out for me, or let me know where I can find it? Sorry I'm not as up on this as I could be, but I am learning.

thanks PP (talk) 15:45, 4 March 2008 (UTC)
 * No problem. Multi-episode serials - like The Armageddon Factor - get italics. Individual episodes - like "The Doctor Dances" - get quotes. Ignore story arcs - like the Key to Time or Bad Wolf - because they don't have any bearing on the actual titles. Even though "The Doctor Dances" is the second part of a two-part story, each episode still has its own individual name. But in The Armageddon Factor, the individual episodes don't have individual names - just "Part One", "Part Two", etc. For early episodes of the original series, then, use italics for the serial title, quotes for the individual episode titles - for example, the second episode of An Unearthly Child is called "The Cave of Skulls". More info can be found on the style guide for the Doctor Who WikiProject. Hope that helps! --Brian Olsen (talk) 20:51, 4 March 2008 (UTC)

Why is this person listed?
I cannot find Esther Freud in any cast list, nor can I find any mention of our favorite physician on her page. Anybody know why she's here??? PP (talk) 18:26, 17 May 2008 (UTC)


 * She played the Cryon Threst in Attack of the Cybermen. In fact, she recently wrote about it in The Times. —Josiah Rowe (talk • contribs) 03:43, 19 April 2009 (UTC)


 * I can't find Matt Smith or Jenna Coleman in the list — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.172.143.100 (talk) 14:26, 22 December 2013 (UTC)
 * They're already listed in Revived series cast table. DonQuixote (talk) 14:37, 22 December 2013 (UTC)

Rose or The Moment
Although in the Day of the Doctor Billie Piper was credited as playing Rose Tyler she wasn't actually playing her but the Moment in her image as Bad Wolf, so should Rose Tyler be listed in the cast table under the 2013 Specials? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.172.143.100 (talk) 18:20, 23 December 2013 (UTC)

K9
Should K9 be listed as one companion or should Mark I and II be separate companions? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.172.143.100 (talk) 03:57, 26 December 2013 (UTC)

Characters?
Should this page be converted to "List of Doctor Who characters"? At the moment it's just a boring page with random incomplete tables of an A-Z of cast members. A bit like the Game of Thrones characters page, we could have a brief section for each of the Doctors, companions etc. since that page doesn't seem to exist on Wikipedia yet. i.e. something to the effect of what I've briefly drafted below (obviously way more info will need adding). TheMysteriousEditor (talk) 14:30, 15 December 2017 (UTC)

The Doctor
The Doctor (season 1-26, series 1-10) portrayed by various actors since the shows inception, is an alias used by a centuries old Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey. The Doctor travels through space and time in a time machine called the TARDIS, frequently with various companions. To date, thirteen actors have portrayed the character as the series lead. The transition to each succeeding actor is explained within the show's narrative through the plot device of "regeneration", a biological function of his race that allows their change of cellular structure and appearance with recovery following a potentially fatal injury.

First Doctor
The First Doctor (season 1–4) portrayed by William Hartnell in season 1-4, Richard Hurndall in 1983's "The Five Doctors" and David Bradley in series 10. This is the Doctor's "original form".

Second Doctor
The Second Doctor (season 4–6) portrayed by Patrick Troughton.

Third Doctor
The Third Doctor (season 7–11) portrayed by Jon Pertwee.

Fourth Doctor
The Fourth Doctor (season 11–18) portrayed by Tom Baker.

Fifth Doctor
The Fifth Doctor (season 18–21) portrayed by Peter Davison.

Sixth Doctor
The Sixth Doctor (season 21–23) portrayed by Colin Baker.

Seventh Doctor
The Seventh Doctor (season 24–26) portrayed by Sylvester McCoy.

Eighth Doctor
The Eighth Doctor portrayed by Paul McGann.

War Doctor
The War Doctor portrayed by John Hurt.

Ninth Doctor
The Ninth Doctor (series 1) portrayed by Christopher Eccleston.

Tenth Doctor
The Tenth Doctor (series 1–4) portrayed by David Tennant.

Eleventh Doctor
The Eleventh Doctor (series 5–7) portrayed by Matt Smith.

Twelfth Doctor
The Twelfth Doctor (series 8–10) portrayed by Peter Capaldi.

Thirteenth Doctor
The Thirteenth Doctor (series 11–present) portrayed by Jodie Whittaker. This is the Doctor's first female form.


 * I agree this page needs to be majorly updated. Other than the characharacter charts listing "starring", "recurring" and "guest" everything is outdated. I'll put it on my to do list and see what I can do with it this weekend or when I have more time next week. Maybe it needs to be split into two separate pages? One for classic who and for new who or something similar? TheDoctorWho (talk) 16:15, 15 December 2017 (UTC)


 * No worries. And it's best in my opinion to not split up page. Have everything as one. If we could get more editors on board it'd be great. Also, should there be somewhere to draft it? Like a draft page. I imagine it's gonna take a lot of work and time. TheMysteriousEditor (talk) 16:20, 15 December 2017 (UTC)


 * I'll just tag it with the construction template? TheDoctorWho (talk) 16:23, 15 December 2017 (UTC)
 * I went ahead and tawitlthee page. I think what you have there is a really good idea. Do we want to split the article into different sections based on like "doctor" and "companion" or "new who" and "old who". If we're making it a character page I'd say doctor and companion but if we're leaving it a cast page I'd say new and old. TheDoctorWho (talk) 16:50, 15 December 2017 (UTC)
 * Good idea. And personally I'd say it should be all one article/section (as in not splitting between classic and new), the Doctor's section (like I've started), and all the companions from the above, existing table should be listed chronologically (as in from Susan to Bill in the "Companions" section. Then after those two are complete we can think about adding the side characters and recurring characters. Hopefully this will be good. :) TheMysteriousEditor (talk) 17:02, 15 December 2017 (UTC)
 * You know what I think you're right I don't know what I was thinking a draft page is better with the amout of reformation we're doing. I'll go ahead and create a draft page and remove the construction template. TheDoctorWho (talk) 19:01, 15 December 2017 (UTC)
 * Alright draft article created the current location is at Draft:List of Doctor Who characters. I went ahead and copied what you've created at this point over there. Feel free to edit! TheDoctorWho (talk) 19:08, 15 December 2017 (UTC)
 * That's excellent and can allow us to do it properly over time. Should we transfer the existing cast table from this page over to there? Because all the characters in that table will eventually have sections dedicated to them. It's also the only decent info piece on this page. Your thoughts? TheMysteriousEditor (talk) 19:45, 15 December 2017 (UTC)
 * I agree that is the only useful information. I'll copy that over there remove the information listed above it which is basically another character listing. TheDoctorWho (talk) 20:09, 15 December 2017 (UTC)

Guest and recurring actors
I believe that the guest cast sections should be deleted from this article, the sections prepended by "Actors with one-off appearances and roles that have never been reprised". Wikipedia is not an indiscriminate collection of information; for example, excessive listings of unexplained statistics. The recurring information has value, but one-off appearances are barely notable. Deleting these specific tables would also make this article a lot more manageable. --  Alex TW 00:13, 22 December 2018 (UTC)
 * ✅ -- / Alex /21  11:32, 4 January 2020 (UTC)
 * It did take me about 4 months to update and fill all of it in, but I get what you've done. TheMysteriousEditor (talk) 11:53, 4 January 2020 (UTC)
 * I understand that, and I thank you for your hard work, but such information doesn't belong on Wikipedia, for the reasons given above. Perhaps the TARDIS Wikia would take such information, they support a lot more of the detailed statistical content. I have, however, re-added a smaller guest section by merging into this article, which lists famous actors that have appeared in Who. -- / Alex /21  12:05, 4 January 2020 (UTC)

Removal of Francis de Wolff
I have Francis de Wolff as he played two unrelated characters in different stories. Dunarc (talk) 21:58, 7 December 2023 (UTC)