Five London Doctors
On May 11th, in the slot immediately before BBC's live broadcast of the 68th Eurovision Song Contest, Ncuti Gatwa made his long anticipated debut as the new Doctor Who. Having first been seen alongside David Tennent in the Christmas special Gatwa assumed the mantle of the Doctor's latest regeneration. Unlike James Bond, who carries on as the same character whenever a new actor takes over the role, the Doctor's 'regenerations' are part of the fabric and mythology woven into the show’s vast and ever expanding world building. Whenever the Doctor is close to death he is able, due to his Time-Lord DNA, to regenerate into an entirely different persona. The concept of regeneration was dreamed up when the original Doctor Who, William Hartnell, was forced to quit due to ill health. It's a concept which means the casting of a new Doctor isn't restricted by the age, gender, or race of the new actor chosen for the role. The notion of regeneration has provided a vehicle for many fine London actors to step into the Doctor's well-worn intergalactic shoes, two of them born in Lambeth.
Who's Who in the London pantheon?
William Hartnell born St Pancras 8th January 1908.
William Hartnell was born to an unmarried mother in a poor district of St Pancras in London's Kings Cross area. He spent a lot of his chilhood on a farm owned by relatives in Devon. At one point he actually claimed to have been born in Devon as the son of a dairy farmer. His love of Charlie Chaplin movies was what inspired him to become an actor. He wanted to become a comedy actor like his his hero, but his appearance made him more likely to be cast as villians and tough guys, notably as a gangster in the 1947 version of Graham Greene's Brigton Rock. Just proir to him becoming the first Doctor Who he was however, a regular cast member of the television sitcom, The Army Game. Hartnell described his portayal of the Doctor as part Wizard of Oz, part Father Christmas, and played him as a loveable but ofter pompous and grumpy grandfather. He played the Doctor in 133 episodes between 1963 and 1966 and returned to reprise the role in the tenth anniversary episode The Three Doctors, alongside the second and third Doctors, Patrick Troughton and Jon Pertwee in 1973.
Patrick Troughton born Mill Hill 25th March 1920.
When Patrick Troughton assumed the role of the second Doctor in 1966 he wanted to differentiate himself from William Hartnell's somewhat pompous, grumpy grandad, portrayal of the character. He too turned to Lambeth's most famous son, Charlie Chaplin, he chose a shabby looking outfit a couple of sizes too big for him and adopted a slightly bumbling slapstick persona. The name he gave to the character he created was the Cosmic Hobo, in tribute to Chaplin's Little Tramp. He played the role for three years and 119 episodes. His decision to leave was spurred by the departure of his friend Frazer Hines who had played his companion Jamie McCrimmon for almost all of those episodes.
Jon Pertwee born in Chelsea 7th July 1919.
In contrast when Jon Pertwee took over as the third Doctor Who in 1970 he was the epitome of 70s chic, more like an all action hero from a trendy television detective series than a time travelling alien. The storyline in his first series had him Earthbound and banned by the Time Lords from using his blue Tardis. Instead he got about in a bright yellow vintage 1954 Ford Popular named Bessie. Soon though his access to the Tardis was restored and his new adventures in time and space continued until 1974, when Liverpool born Tom Baker took over. Pertwee went on to play another iconic TV character in the series Wurzel Gummage which ran for 31 episodes from Febuary 1979 to December 1981.
Peter Davison born in Streatham 13th April 1951.
Peter Davison became the fifth Doctor Who, taking over from Tom Baker in 1981. His first television role was in another cult sci-fi series, The Tomorrow People, where his future wife, Sandra Dickinson, played his sister. She too went on to another iconic sci-fi role, playing Trillion, the mathematical genius in Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. Their daughter, Georgia, married tenth Doctor, David Tennant, after playing his daughter in a 2007 episode aptly called The Doctor’s Daughter. Davison appeared in the 20th anniversary feature length episope The Five Doctors in 1983, alongside Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee and William Hurdnall, who assumed the role of the first Doctor. The episode also featured the fourth Doctor, Tom Baker, who had played the Doctor for seven years, the longest run of any actor. However, a conversation with Patrick Troughton convinced Peter Davison that three years in the role was enough if he didn't want to end up being typecast.
Colin Baker born in Waterloo 8th June 1943.
Before becoming the sixth Doctor Colin Baker had appeared in an episode of Dalek creator Terry Nation's Blakes 7 and was also infamously known as the man who shot Doctor Who. In an episode during Peter Davison's tenure he appeared as an officious guard on the Doctor's home world of Gallifrey who shot him while attempting to arrest him. Viewers were left on a cliff hanger for a week, waiting to find out if the Doctor survived, only to find that the gun wielded by Baker's character had been conveniently set to stun. Baker had worried that having appeared as a Doctor Who villain might scupper his chances of taking over the role from Davison. Luckily this didn't have a detrimental effect. He was less lucky when Michael Grade assumed the role of the Director General of the BBC. Grade was famously less than keen on Doctor Who and had an irrational dislike of Baker’s portrayal, issuing an ultimatum that if he wasn’t replaced the entire show would be cancelled. While show’s executives duly complied, replacing Baker with Sylvester McCoy, Grade went on to cancel the show anyway a couple of years later. Baker, Davison and McCoy appeared together in spoof 50th Anniversary episode The Five Doctorsish, produced by Davison's daughter, by then Mrs David Tennant, Georgia.
And Two More For Good Measure...
Peter Cushing born in Kenley (Croydon) on May 26th 1913.
Horror legend Peter Cushing wasn't actually a regeneration of the Doctor. He was Dr. Who, rather than Doctor Who. A different character altogether. Rather than a time travelling alien from another world, he was an eccentric human inventor living in rural England who builds a time machine inside an old blue police telephone box and sets off on an adventure with his granddaughters. Cushing appeared twice in this role in big screen adaptations of the show. Dr. Who and the Daleks (1965) and Daleks' Invasion of Earth 2150AD (1966). Plans for a third Dr. Who movie were shelved by Milton Subotski's Amicus Productions who had made the first two films but decided they hadn’t done well enough at the box office to warrant a trilogy.
Jo Martin born on the 29th April 1980 in Newham.
Jodie Whittaker is cited as the first female actor to play Doctor Who and Ncuti Gatwa the first black actor to take on the role. Neither citation is one hundred percent correct. Jo Martin was in fact the first black woman to play Doctor Who. Jo Martin had previously been better know for her comedy role as the mother in South London sitcom, The Crouches. Her character, known as the 'Fugitive Doctor', first appeared in 2020, having assumed the identity of a tour guide based in Gloucester. Between 2020 and 2023 she appeared in five separate episodes / storylines, revealing herself to be an earlier version of the Timelord that would eventually regenerate into William Hartnell. Based on this premise she must therefore actually be the first Doctor.
Location Location in London
Of course it’s only fitting that London actors have London locations to perform in.
Here are some classic examples.
William Harnell's first episode 'An Unearthly Child' is set partly in the fictional London Coal Hill School and partly in Foreman's junk yard at 76 Totter's Lane. Hartnell also appeared in the classic 1964 serial Daleks Invasion of Earth, with its iconic scenes of a Dalek emerging from the Thames and a Dalek patrol crossing Westminster Bridge. In the big screen version Peter Cushing joins the human resistance to the Dalek occupation, which is based in the ruins of Embankment Station.
Patrick Troughton fought the Yeti on the London Underground in ‘Web of Fear’ (1968), featuring Covent Garden, Goodge Street, and Charing Cross Station.
Jon Pertwee was imprisoned on the South Bank in ‘Frontier in Space (1973), awaiting transportation to a penal colony somewhere in deep space.
Peter Davison’s Tardis materialised on Pudding Lane in the 17th Century, just ahead of the Great Fire of London in ‘The Visitation’ 1982.
Colin Baker went deep down into London’s sewer system to take on the Cybermen who had made it their base there in ‘Attack of the Cybermen’ (1985).
The new Doctor Who series has just visited a truly iconic London location in 'The Devils' Chord' where Ncuti Gatwa takes the Tardis to the famous Abbey Road Studios at the start of The Beatles' recording career. The episode also features post apocaltic scenes near Westminster Bridge and the London Eye, both of which have provided the backdrop for numerous episodes.
My Doctor Who Guided Walk visits lots of locations in Waterloo and the South Bank including the birthplace of the Daleks, the ‘Frontier in Space’ location on the South Bank, the Roupell Street conservation area where the 1988 serial ‘Remembrance of the Daleks' was filmed, and the London Eye, central to the storyline of 'Rose', the first episode of the 2005 Russell T Davies relaunch of the series.
You can book a scheduled Doctor Who guided walk in Waterloo in the link below. The walk is also available as a private tour via London Guided Walks.
I'm also doing a series of summer evening walks 'Lambeth Fantastical - (Into the Twilight Zone)'. Which can be found on the link below. Any of these 4 walks can be booked as a private tour by contacting me directly at davidm_turnbull@hotmail.com
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