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.
Christopher Eccleston
Eccleston garnered widespread attention and acclaim for portraying the ninth incarnation of the Doctor in the 2005 revival of the BBC science fiction series "Doctor Who", becoming the first actor to play the role since 1996. He departed the role after a single series, winning a National Television Award and receiving Broadcasting Press Guild Award and BAFTA Cymru Award nominations for his performance. Eccleston has since appeared in the television series "Heroes", "The Shadow Line", "Blackout", "Lucan", "The Leftovers", "Safe House", "Fortitude" and "The A Word" and films including "", "" and "Legend". He won an International Emmy Award for his performance in an episode of the anthology series "Accused". Onstage, Eccleston has played the title roles in productions of "Hamlet" and "Macbeth" as well as starring in productions of "Miss Julie", "A Doll's House" and "Antigone". Since 2017, Eccleston has narrated the documentary series "Ambulance".