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.
Ninth Doctor
Christopher Eccleston's casting as the Ninth Doctor was announced on 22 March 2004. He was the production team's first choice for the character. Other actors linked to the role included Bill Nighy, Richard E Grant, Anthony Head, Eddie Izzard, Hugh Grant and Alan Davies. Jane Tranter, BBC Controller of Drama Commissioning, stated in the announcement of his casting that casting an actor of Eccleston's reputation signalled "our intention to take "Doctor Who" into the 21st century, as well as retaining its core traditional values – to be surprising, edgy and eccentric". Executive Producer Russell T Davies remarked that casting Eccleston "raises the bar for all of us". Eccleston cited the quality of the scripts as a reason for joining the cast, stating in an interview on BBC's Breakfast programme that he was "excited" about working with Davies. In the press-pack for the series he states that he had emailed the writer to declare his interest in the role. Eccleston enjoyed having the chance to work on a series aimed at a different demographic than his previous work, noting that "it's aimed at families, so I'm kind of acting for children and I feel very lucky to be able to do that". He felt that being cast by Davies in the series was a "risk" because as an actor he is not known for "charm or comedy" and anticipated a potential backlash due to being built up as "an actor of stature" and the difference between his own interpretation of the character and past doctors.