Kieran Hodgson on mimicking William Hartnell, future impressions videos and a potential appearance in the TV series.

By Morgan Jeffery

Published: Wednesday, 13 December 2023 at 09:00 AM


In August 2020, stand-up comedian and actor Kieran Hodgson took Doctor Who fandom by storm with his viral parody of the BBC sci-fi’s first ever story, An Unearthly Child.

Having “spent most of 2020 watching friends of mine really nail online comedy in the pandemic”, Hodgson decided to try his hand at the game, putting out a two-minute video that saw him nailing impersonations of William Hartnell’s First Doctor and his companions. 

“It was a momentary whim that paid handsome long-term dividends,” he tells RadioTimes.com. “I filmed it in half an hour, edited it in a half an hour and that was that – and then it got 1,000 likes, which was the most anything I’d ever done had ever got on the internet.”

Spurred on by the hugely positive fan reaction online, more videos followed – with Hodgson, known for his role of Gordon in the BBC sitcom Two Doors Down, also branching out into another series, achieving similar viral success with spot-on impressions spoofing the likes of The Crown and Happy Valley.