There isn't a single "20th Doctor Who," as the number depends on how you count regenerations and incarnations, but if counting main actors in the classic series, Peter Davison (Fifth Doctor) was active during the 20th Anniversary season (1983), while Ncuti Gatwa is the latest, current Doctor as of late 2024/2025. The counting gets complex with "War Doctor" and "Fugitive Doctor," but Davison's era marked the show's 20th year.
Adrian Pang played a Consultant in the Doctor Who television story The Story and the Engine.
Ncuti Gatwa's run as the first openly gay actor to play the Doctor has been nothing short of iconic🪐 From his bold style to his emotional depth, he brought a fresh, powerful energy to the TARDIS — and to our screens🌈
Don Gilet (born 17 January 1967) played Lance Bennett in the Doctor Who television story The Runaway Bride.
Ncuti Gatwa has admitted that he got frustrated with Russell T Davies while filming series one of Doctor Who, due to the lack of Daleks. He had hoped the Fifteenth Doctor would face the iconic foe, and was ``gutted'' they were absent this year.
It made those two episodes hard to watch. The writing is all over the place, frantic, shallow and preachy at times, and most jokes fell flat. The acting performance wasn't great either. Ncuti Gatwa's felts too whimsical and trying too much to act cool to be convincing as the new doctor.
Worst to Best: Ranking the Doctor Who Doctors
The saddest Doctor Who episodes often involve heartbreaking goodbyes, permanent losses, and existential loneliness, with fan-favorites including "The End of Time" (Ten's regeneration), "The Angels Take Manhattan" (Amy & Rory's farewell), "Vincent and the Doctor" (Van Gogh's struggle with depression), and "Journey's End" (Donna's mind wipe). Other profoundly sad moments feature Clara Oswald's death in "Face the Raven," Rose Tyler's separation, and the loneliness of the Doctor in "Heaven Sent," making these episodes iconic for their emotional impact.
After many adventures with the the Doctor, Bill becomes trapped in another time zone aboard a Mondasian colony ship and is converted into a Cyberman!
Working as a temporary secretary at H.C. Clements, Donna Noble gradually fell in love with Lance Bennett, whom she pressured into marriage.
In a recent Instagram video interview with costar Millie Gibson, actor Ncuti Gatwa revealed the proper pronunciation of his name. My name is pronounced N-shoo-tee. It's like a n (pause) shoo-tee.
While appearing on The One Show, via ScreenRant, he was asked about Doctor Who. Gatwa said he regretted never getting to face off against the Doctor's most iconic enemies. "I never got to fight a Dalek. A Dalek or a Cyberman," he said.
Barbie (2023) - Ncuti Gatwa as Ken - IMDb.
The episode features the only performance in Doctor Who by the Australian singer and actress Kylie Minogue, who plays the waitress Astrid Peth. Davies described her casting as a "very exceptional case", having written the part of Astrid specifically for Minogue.
Her life was extended through a series of seven hundred and eight plastic surgery operations until she was nothing but a piece of skin stretched onto a frame with eyes and a mouth, connected to a brain in a jar below. The skin had to be constantly moisturised to keep it from drying out.
Adrian's voice credits include Wuchang: Fallen Feathers and Panda Bear in Africa. Seen in the hit series Little Women, and the acclaimed film Before Life after Death, ADRIAN PANG is a protean actor fluent in English and Mandarin.
Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart—brought back as a Cyberman—vaporises Missy instead. He gestures towards his unconscious daughter Kate whom he had saved.
Daleks don't have gender, although there's some mention of the Kaleds (the humanoids who ended up in the Dalek shells) having men/women in some of the Big Finish audio stuff.
Fifth Doctor - "Brave Heart." Sixth Doctor - Tough to say. If you had to choose an iconic phrase, it would be "You were expecting someone else?" He also got lumbered with "Carrot Juice!" Seventh Doctor - Again, difficult.
The Valeyard was portrayed by actor Michael Jayston in the serials, and Jayston would go on to reprise the role in audio dramas produced by Big Finish Productions.
'Doctor Who' Episodes Ranked
A mysterious woman appears 73 yards (67 m) away from Ruby, and remains at exactly that distance no matter where she goes. Every person who talks to the woman flees in terror and becomes hostile to Ruby. Ruby returns home and asks her mother, Carla, for help. Carla talks to the woman, but also flees, and disowns Ruby.
Though The Doctor never tells River aloud that he loves her, the emotions on his face are clear whenever the two are together. Their relationship left a permanent mark on The Doctor's hearts, and that makes them Doctor Who's greatest love story.
Meanwhile, the Entertainment Strategy Guy blog branded Doctor Who's debut on Disney as one of the “flops” of 2024. There was also a serious lack of awards buzz around the series, which only managed one Primetime Emmy nomination (for Outstanding Choreography for Scripted Programming in 2025) during its time on Disney+.
The Thirteenth Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the BBC's science fiction television series Doctor Who. She is played by Jodie Whittaker, the first woman to portray the character, in three series, five specials and a cameo in the fifteenth series.