The Doctor (Doctor Who)
The Doctor is the title character in the long-running BBC science fiction television programme "Doctor Who". Since the show's inception in 1963, the character has been portrayed by thirteen lead actors. In the programme, "the Doctor" is the alias assumed by a centuries-old alien—a Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey—who travels through space and time in the TARDIS, frequently with companions. The transition to each succeeding actor is explained within the show's narrative through the plot device of "regeneration", a biological function of the Time Lord race that allows a change of cellular structure and appearance with recovery following a potentially fatal injury.
Big Finish Productions
The "Doctor Who" audio plays have, to date, featured six of the nine living actors to play the character of the Doctor in the series (Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy, Paul McGann, and David Tennant), as well as many of the regular supporting actors over the many years of the programme. The late Jon Pertwee's voice is featured in the 40th-anniversary story "Zagreus". His part in the story was pieced together from snippets of Pertwee's dialogue from the fan-produced "Doctor Who" video "Devious". The actor John Hurt also recorded appearances as the War Doctor for Big Finish prior to his death in 2017.