The Doctor (Doctor Who)
Jodie Whittaker took over the role as the Thirteenth Doctor in the 2017 Christmas special. In addition to the above-listed actors, others have played versions of the Doctor for the duration of particular storylines.
Notably, John Hurt guest starred as the War Doctor in the closing moments of the 2013 episode "The Name of the Doctor", the webcast "The Night of the Doctor" and the 50th Anniversary episode "The Day of the Doctor". The War Doctor is an incarnation existing between those of McGann and Eccleston. Hurt was never the programme's lead actor; his Doctor was retroactively inserted into continuity for the programme's 50th anniversary, and was written so as not to disturb the ordinal naming of the established Ninth, Tenth and Eleventh Doctors. In the 1986 serial "The Trial of a Time Lord", Michael Jayston played the Valeyard, an amalgamation of the Doctor's darker sides from between his twelfth and final incarnations.
David Tennant
Tennant featured as the Doctor in an animated version of "Doctor Who" for "Totally Doctor Who", "The Infinite Quest", which aired on CBBC. He also starred as the Doctor in another animated six-part "Doctor Who" series, "Dreamland". Tennant guest starred as the Doctor in a two-part story in "Doctor Who" spin-off "The Sarah Jane Adventures", broadcast in October 2009. He continued to play the Tenth Doctor into the revived programme's fourth series in 2008. However, on 29 October 2008, he announced that he would be stepping down from the role after three full series. He played the Doctor in four special episodes in 2009, before his final episode aired on 1 January 2010, where he was replaced by the eleventh doctor, portrayed by Matt Smith. The "Daily Mirror" reported that Tennant was forbidden from attending "Doctor Who" fan conventions while playing the role, to avoid the chance that he could accidentally let slip any plot points during filming of the series. However, Tennant claimed this was false and that he had never been banned or discouraged from attending conventions.