The 15th series of Doctor Who is under way on the BBC and there is a new episode every Saturday until the end of May.
So far in the new season, the Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) and and Belinda (Varada Sethu) have been on multiple perilous missions.
The Time Lord's second season aboard the Tardis features a slew of guest stars in addition to his new companion, including Alan Cumming, Freddie Fox, Kadiff Kirwan, Charlie Condou, Christopher Chung, Rose Ayling-Ellis, and Graham Norton.
As well as the episodes, Doctor Who fans have one more thing to look forward to in May and that is the Eurovision 2025 Grand Final as Gatwa will be delivering the results of the UK jury.
Gatwa's debut on Eurovision is part of a massive night for the BBC, and the broadcaster is calling it a "Super Saturday".
On the evening of May 17, BBC One will broadcast a special Doctor Who episode with a Eurovision theme in addition to the live final, in which 25 countries will be competing.
Gatwa's Doctor and his friend Belinda go to the 803rd galaxy-wide singing competition in the episode, The Interstellar Song Contest.
Later that night, Gatwa will read out the UK jury’s votes live on the stage of the actual Eurovision Song Contest.
In the hopes of winning this year, Remember Monday, a country-pop band will represent the UK with their song What The Hell Just Happened? during this year's competition.
Before Gatwa made his debut on Doctor Who, David Tennant returned to the lead role for three stand-alone 60th anniversary episodes which aired in November 2023. This reappearance made him both the 10th Doctor, and the 14th – no, we don’t fully understand Doctor Who maths, either.
Gatwa, best-known for playing Eric Effiong in Sex Education – then made his first appearance in the 2023 Christmas special.
Here we break down the list of actors who have come before him. And, for more on the Doctors, find our ranking of who played the time traveller best.
So who has played Doctor Who before?
The first season of Doctor Who was broadcast on the BBC on November 23, 1963 and starred William Hartnell.
A total of 14 people have played Doctor Who – including Gatwa.
In order of appearance, here are all the actors who have played the Time Lord over the decades:
- William Hartnell, 1963 – 1966
- Patrick Troughton, 1966 – 1969
- Jon Pertwee, 1970 – 1974
- Tom Baker, 1974 – 1981
- Peter Davidson, 1981 – 1984
- Colin Baker, 1984 – 1986
- Sylvester McCoy, 1987 – 1989
- Paul McGann, 1996
- Christopher Eccleston, 2005
- David Tennant, 2005 – 2010
- Matt Smith, 2010 – 2013
- Peter Capaldi, 2013 – 2017
- Jodie Whittaker, 2017 – 2022
- David Tennant, three episodes, 2023
- Ncuti Gatwa, 2024 –
There have also been a few extra unofficial Doctors throughout the years.
John Hurt played a version known as The War Doctor in a series of 2013 specials while Jo Martin played a previously unknown version of The Doctor in series 12, who was known as the Fugitive Doctor.
Peter Cushing also played the part in two films released in the 1960s: Dr Who and the Daleks and Daleks’ Invasion Earth 2150 AD.
