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.
The Doctor (Doctor Who)
In "The Brain of Morbius" (produced shortly before "The Deadly Assassin"), a sequence of faces displayed during a mental battle between the Fourth Doctor and Morbius imply that the Doctor had at least eight incarnations prior to the First Doctor. This is contradicted by multiple dialogue references throughout the programme (particularly in "The Three Doctors", "Mawdryn Undead" and "The Five Doctors") as well as the fact that the Doctor has regenerated nine times since then (as confirmed in "The Time of the Doctor"). Producer Philip Hinchcliffe has said, "We tried to get famous actors for the faces of the Doctor. But because no one would volunteer, we had to use backroom boys. And it is true to say that I attempted to imply that William Hartnell was not the first Doctor." The Doctor's previous incarnations are represented by images of production unit manager George Gallaccio, script editor Robert Holmes, production assistant Graeme Harper, director Douglas Camfield, producer Philip Hinchcliffe, production assistant Christopher Baker, writer Robert Banks Stewart and director Christopher Barry.