Why Every Lead Actor Left Doctor Who

Playing the Doctor is the role of a lifetime, but it's hardly the most glamorous of gigs

Spending most of the year in rainy old Cardiff, running around quarries and steel mills after

dark. It's a physical demanding part, with 60 years of pressure on top. It's also a strange

job in that you know you'll one day have to pass the torch. There have been a variety of reasons

why the stars of the show have come down with a severe case of the glowy face, so let's take a

look at them. I'm Ellie for Who Culture and this is why every lead actor left Doctor Who

Number 13. William Hartnell. When William Hartnell agreed to play the Doctor in the early 60s

the concept of regeneration didn't even exist. This was a family programme about a madman with

a box. Nobody involved thought that Doctor Who would spawn an unprecedented 60-year run. But

sadly, several problems necessitated a plot device that would allow the show to switch leads. Hartnell

was no spring chicken, and as his health deteriorated, it became difficult for him to

keep up with Doctor Who's gruelling production schedule. He suffered from a condition which

hardens the artery walls and restricts blood flow, which would often cause him to forget or mix up

his lines. Combined with the fact that Hartnell didn't get along with producer John Wiles, who

replaced original producer Verity Lambert in 1965, the idea was floated to recast him during

the Celestial Toymaker. The Doctor would be invisible for most of the narrative, only to

return with a brand new face. Though this idea wasn't used here, a similar concept of renewal

because actually the term regeneration wasn't invented until later on, was devised for the

10th planet, by which point Hartnell's health had declined so much that it was difficult for him to

just keep going. The first Doctor changed his face on the 29th of October 1966, and Doctor Who

continued under a new lead actor. Number 12, Patrick Troughton. Patrick Troughton reportedly

thought that regeneration was a naff concept. He said, I don't think it was a particularly good idea

of the BBC to replace Billy. I thought it was pretty silly, really

However, he was eventually persuaded to take the leap. I would imagine that the consistent paycheck

probably played a role in that decision. Like Hartnell, Troughton found Doctor Who's production schedule

highly demanding. With dozens of episodes being produced per year, it's easy to see why

This is largely what influenced his decision to exit the role in 1969

with three seasons under his belt. After he left, Troughton advised Fifth Doctor Peter Davison to also follow the three-year model

in effort to avoid being typecast. And over the years, this has become something of an unwritten rule

that many Doctors abide by, intentionally or not. Number 11, John Pertwee

The Third Doctor's era brought big change to Doctor Who. The show was now in colour, the Doctor was stranded on Earth working with his unit family

and iconic characters like the Master, Sarah Jane Smith and Joe Grant were introduced

They say that nobody likes change, but in this case, it was a big hit

with Doctor Who enjoying something of a renaissance after ratings had dipped towards the latter end of Troughton's run

This success might be why Pertwee remained in the role for longer than either of his predecessors

completing five full seasons instead of the usual three. An incredibly positive tenure over all them, but one that was tinged with sadness by the time it concluded

After the tragic death of his good friend and master actor Roger Delgado in 1973

Pertwee was motivated to head for the exit. Various cast and crew members were also leaving the show

and Pertwee decided it was time for him to do the same His request for a significant pay rise had also been declined which further reinforced his decision 1974 Planet of the Spiders was the first story to use the term regeneration

to describe the Doctor's face-changing process, and it was here where Pertwee bowed out of the role

Number 10, Tom Baker. Tom Baker is the longest-serving Doctor to date

but in hindsight, the man himself thinks that he might have stayed a bit too long

The actor has cited the early part of his tenure under producer Philip Hinchcliffe

as his favourite period of the show, but confessed that he grew more and more frustrated

when John Nathan Turner took the reins in 1980. Nathan Turner added a lot more characters to each story

and Baker felt that the short 25-minute episode format meant that most of these characters ended up being useless

John Nathan Turner and I did not see eye-to-eye about very much, he said in 2014, and he continued to say

I think I should have gone when John was taking over to liberate him to recast

Maybe I did one series too many. In a separate interview, Baker stated that Nathan Turner

quote, diminished him in the role, and that he was annoyed by the addition of question marks to

the Doctor's collar. The tension ultimately proved too much, and by the time 1981 rolled around

Baker had decided that his time as the Doctor was over. Number 9. Peter Davison. As previously mentioned, Peter Davison wanted to stick to a three-year

stint after listening to Patrick Troughton's advice about not being typecast. So that's

exactly what he did. However, there may be a little bit more to the story than that

Though Davison was happy with his final season in 1984, he found the middle part of his run rather frustrating

clashing with Nathan Turner over various creative decisions. Davison wished to bring more levity to his Doctor, which his superior consistently shot down

Davison had also noted how long Tom Baker stayed in the role and was concerned that staying any longer than three years might affect his future job opportunities

And so the fifth Doctor regenerated on the 16th of March 1984

almost three years to the day since his first appearance at the end of Logopolis

Number 8, Colin Baker. Colin Baker was at the helm for one of the most turbulent periods in Doctor Who history

In 1985, the show was put on hiatus due to concerns about its quality and its levels of violence

BBC executive Michael Grade believed Doctor Who felt cheap compared to the likes of Star Wars and E.T. saying

What we were serving up as science fiction was garbage. Bit harsh. I wouldn't exactly say that's a fair comparison, but we get the point

Though Doctor Who did return after its hiatus with the season-long story Trial of a Time Lord

it wasn't long before Baker himself had a target on his back. With higher-ups still not convinced by the show's quality or ratings, they removed him from the role

Though he was offered a final adventure that would conclude with the Sith Doctor's departure

Baker refused to return for anything less than a full season. And as a result, he wasn't even present for his own regeneration scene

with Sylvester McCoy instead adorning a blonde curly wig. Number seven, Sylvester McCoy

Unlike most of his fellow Time Lords, Sylvester McCoy never technically left Doctor Who

nor was he fired. He was simply unlucky enough to be the Doctor in 1989

the year in which production of the show was suspended. It's a shame too because McCoy had settled into a solid groove

towards the end of his era, with he and Sophie Aldred proving a winning combination

Unfortunately, public perception of Doctor Who was at an all-time low and with viewership declining

the plug was pulled. Regardless, McCoy was still the incumbent doctor for the 1993 charity special

Dimensions in Time and the start of the 1996 TV movie Writer Matthew Jacobs wished to link the movie directly to the classic series and so it was decided to depict the seventh Doctor regeneration Number 6 Paul McGann

Based on their original runs, Paul McGann is the shortest-serving Doctor of all time

less than 90 minutes in total. But at first, it was hoped that he'd get to play the character

for a lot longer than that. The TV movie was intended to kickstart a new series of Doctor

Who, a co-production between the BBC and Fox. But despite strong UK ratings, it underperformed

in North America, and Fox chose not to go any further. Like McCoy then, McCann never technically left Doctor Who

He was simply the star of the show at a time when it ran out of steam. No more on-screen appearances were green-lit

though he did reprise the role in the 2001 Big Finish audio drama Storm Warning

marking the beginning of an incredibly successful run in Doctor Who's expanded universe

In 2003, it was announced that one Russell T. Davis had been hired

to showrun a new series of Doctor Who. Though Davis decided that the new series would continue where the TV movie left off

he intended to be careful with his acknowledgement of the show's past so as to make it as newcomer-friendly as possible

And to that end, a new Doctor was brought in to lead the charge. And McGann was left without a regeneration scene until 2013, Minnesota, The Night of the Doctor

Number 5. Christopher Eccleston Though precise details are scarce, Christopher Eccleston did not have the best of times shooting his first and only series of Doctor Who

Production on Block 1, comprising Rose, Aliens of London and World War 3

was reportedly chaotic, not least because it fell behind schedule. This tallies with comments that Eccleston has made in the years since

where he's explained that poor management on the part of the showrunners was the main catalyst for his decision to exit after just 13 episodes

He said, I left because my relationship with the showrunner and the producer broke down

I left because of the politics of the show. I left only because of those three individuals and the way they were running the show

It's unclear how bad things got at the time, but Eccleston's recent statement that the only way he'd consider returning to Doctor Who was if current producers Russell T. Davis, Jane Tranter, Phil Collinson and Julie Gardner were sacked is damning, considering those four were in charge back in 2005

On a more positive note, Eccleston loves playing the Doctor and has shown a great willingness to engage with fans on the convention circuit

He also returned to voice the Night's Doctor on audio from 2021 onwards

Number 4, David Tennant. Eccleston may have lit the torch, but it was David Tennant who ran with it

Under his watch, Doctor Who became the most dominant show on British television

with the 10th Doctor achieving some phenomenally high viewing figures throughout his run

including what is still the most-watched New Who episode of all time

2007 Christmas special, Voyage of the Damned. Unlike the last few Doctors, Tennant's departure wasn't surrounded by any sort of drama

In October 2008, he made the announcement himself, stating that he didn't want to outstay his welcome, and that

quote, if I don't take a deep breath and move on now, I never will. It was a very tough choice to

arrive at, and Tennant did consider staying on for one more series under new showrunner Stephen

Moffat. The BBC would have gladly kept him too, considering his popularity. In fact, Moffat has

since claimed that there might have been plans to consider ending Doctor Who, and that it was a

quote, huge question whether it could continue without Tennant. There's no doubt he's iconic in

the role and since regenerating in 2010 he barely kept away He been highly active in expanded media and returned to play the Doctor on screen in both the 50th and 60th anniversaries Tennant always knew that the deal for the 60th anniversary was for three specials

and no more, but based on how things ended, we'll no doubt be seeing him again in the future. Let's

be honest. Number three, Matt Smith. Matt Smith was able to build on the success of the Tennant

era, giving the show an international appeal to complement its dominance of British screens. And

as was the case with his predecessor, there was no trouble surrounding his departure. He just

decided to move on. From the beginning, Smith had hinted to Stephen Moffat that he wanted to stay

for no more than three series. The news was announced in June 2013, half a year before his

regeneration in the upcoming Christmas special. Smith stated that it had been an honour to play

the Doctor and that quote, when you gotta go, you gotta go. Like other incarnations, the show's

tough production schedule also played a part in his decision. It wasn't an easy choice to make

though and Smith has confessed that he would have gladly done another year and that he regrets not

getting a full series with Jenna Coleman. Recently, he's also hinted that he wasn't entirely happy with

his final episode. Unsurprisingly then, he's more than game for a return to the show. Though many

were hoping he'd appear in the 60th anniversary, Smith is young enough that there's no doubt that

we'll see him play the Doctor on screen at least one more time. Number two, Peter Capaldi. Peter

Capaldi actually played two other characters in the Hooniverse before he was cast as the main

attraction. Kykilius in 2008's The Fires of Pompeii and John Frobisher in Tortured Children

of Earth. Rather than these past lives being ignored during the 12th Doctor's reign, this

identity crisis formed a core part of his arc. Despite ratings dipping from the Tennant and

Smith eras, Capaldi enjoyed three strong series in the role before regenerating in the 2017

Christmas special. This was actually a last minute adjustment, with the original plan being for him

to bow out at the end of series 10 in July. As for why he left? Again, this was another case of

the actor deciding to call it quits. Though incoming showrunner Chris Chibnall did try and

persuade him to stay, and Campaldi did consider it, he opted out, saying that he wanted to leave

while he was still enjoying it. He's also indicated that the workload was a factor. In 2018, he

candidly stated, to be at the centre of that brand is a lot of work. It was hard to maintain that

level of commitment with that schedule any longer. I tried my best to make the Doctor come alive

This also might explain why he's not so keen on a return. His response when asked about the

possibility was a simple no. But fingers crossed he changes his mind in the future

Number 1, Jodie Whittaker. Chris Chibnall and Jodie Whittaker were the first showrunner Doctor duo

to make the three series rule into a joint agreement. Upon announcing their exits in 2021, Chibnall explained

Jodie and I made a three series and out pact with each other at the start of this once in a lifetime blast

So now our shift is done. We're handing back the TARDIS keys. Whittaker echoed this sentiment

stating that they always knew they wanted to, quote, pass on the baton together

Because her regeneration is still so fresh at this point, it's too early for any other potential reasons to come to light, as has been the case with other

Doctors. That said, Whittaker thoroughly enjoyed her time at the helm and has already confessed

she'd be, quote, very happy to put on my Doctor's coat again. And with New Who's 20th anniversary

approaching in 2025, who knows what might happen? Who knows? And that's everything for this list

but for more behind-the-scenes gossip, why not check out 10 Doctor Who mistakes confirmed by

creators. In the meantime, I've been Ellie for WhoCulture and in the words of Riversong herself

goodbye, sweeties