{"id":39714,"date":"2023-11-15T18:25:59","date_gmt":"2023-11-15T17:25:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/?p=1926791"},"modified":"2023-11-15T18:47:56","modified_gmt":"2023-11-15T17:47:56","slug":"doctor-who-stars-answer-whos-your-doctor-ahead-of-60th-anniversary","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/rss_feed\/doctor-who-stars-answer-whos-your-doctor-ahead-of-60th-anniversary\/","title":{"rendered":"Doctor Who stars answer \u201cWho\u2019s your Doctor?\u201d ahead of 60th anniversary"},"content":{"rendered":"

Celebrating the actors who have brought the Time Lord to life. <\/p>

By Louise Griffin\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Wednesday, 15 November 2023 at 17:25 PM<\/p>

\n\n

Every Doctor Who<\/a> fan has\u00a0their\u00a0<\/em>Doctor<\/a> \u2013 whether it\u2019s the one that meant the most to them growing up, or a more recent iteration that\u2019s captured their heart.<\/p>\n

As it turns out, the stars and writers at the heart of the show are no different. Ahead of Doctor Who turning 60, we caught up with various Doctor Who legends, including Sylvester McCoy<\/a>, Sophie Aldred<\/a>, Arthur Darvill<\/a>, Steven Moffat<\/a> and Alex Kingston<\/a> to ask the age-old question: \u201cWho\u2019s your Doctor?\u201d<\/p>\n

Of course, some of them couldn\u2019t resist breaking the rules and giving us more than one, but we\u2019ll let it slide\u2026<\/p>\n

Check out their answers below!<\/p>\n

Sophie Aldred \u2013 Ace<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>
Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred in Tales of the TARDIS.<\/span><\/figcaption> BBC<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

\u201cOf course it\u2019s Sylvester McCoy but then of course I\u2019ve got Jodie [Whittaker] as well. I love them all, I seriously do.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that everybody who\u2019s played the Doctor has been an extraordinary person in real life in some way. If you meet them all, and I have been so fortunate, my only alive Doctor that I\u2019m missing is Peter Capaldi \u2013 I\u2019d love to meet him.<\/p>\n

\u201cSadly I was too late for Patrick Troughton and of course I didn\u2019t meet William Hartnell but all the rest of them I\u2019ve met and I just think they\u2019re all extraordinary. There\u2019s something special about all of them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Arthur Darvill \u2013 Rory Williams<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"Matt\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>
Matt Smith, Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill in Doctor Who.<\/span><\/figcaption> BBC<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

\u201cMatt [Smith]! It has to be. I just think he was brilliant and the balance between the stoic and the silly and the balance between the really heartfelt and the flippant was just such a brilliant take on it.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously it was all in Steven [Moffat]\u2019s writing but Matt really is such a skilful brilliant actor and watching his work ethic\u2026 we\u2019re the same age but it was really amazing being on set and seeing how hard he had to work on that. And he was so committed to it.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe makes it look so easy and it was really inspiring. I just think he\u2019s a brilliant actor and I love working with him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alex Kingston \u2013 River Song<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"River\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>
River Song (Alex Kingston) in Doctor Who.<\/span><\/figcaption> BBC<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

\u201cI think my Doctor was Jon Pertwee. I loved Patrick Troughton\u2019s trews. I was a very small child but I found Patrick Troughton \u2013 I think I had a crush on Patrick Troughton actually, and I loved his tartan trews\u2026 but really, Jon Pertwee was my Doctor.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sylvester McCoy \u2013 The Seventh Doctor<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"Sylvester\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>
Sylvester McCoy as the Seventh Doctor (BBC, HF)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

\u201cIt was way back in the \u201960s, I lived in a bedsit in Belsize Park and downstairs was a friend \u2013 he had a television and I didn\u2019t have a television. We were doing the pools together, the football pools. We\u2019d go down together and watch the television for the results and this funny little programme came on afterwards and we watched it and became hooked, we became fans of Doctor Who, and it was Patrick Troughton.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d seen Patrick Troughton growing up as a child on many things on television and he always had a comic thing about him and he could also be serious, so he was all round a wonderful character actor.\u201d<\/p>\n

Steven Moffat \u2013 former showrunner<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"Doctor\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>
Doctor Who writer Steven Moffat (BBC, BD)<\/span><\/figcaption> BBC<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

\u201cDoctor Who! That\u2019s my favourite Doctor. Why have one hero when you can have 15? Why limit yourself? The one I\u2019m watching, as with James Bond. I like the James Bond I\u2019m watching right now. That\u2019s my favourite. If you mean which Doctors I grew up with, I sort of grew up with Jon Pertwee, and I saw him turn into Tom Baker and then I saw him turn into Peter Davison, so that was quite a special period of my life.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I carried on watching\u2026 I suppose one person I\u2019d like to mention in this context \u2013 I have no favourites, genuinely \u2013 but one person I\u2019d like to mention is Sylvester McCoy because when he came on as the Doctor for the first time, I\u2019d just got to the pompous Doctor Who fan stage where I was aware that maybe I\u2019d got a bit hung up on a children\u2019s show and it was maybe a bit silly and I should be watching something else so I didn\u2019t enjoy it the way I should have. But in later years, I came to realise what a wonderful Doctor he is.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fact that he took the Doctor away from being a posh bloke to a very distinctly not posh bloke is incredibly important for the future of the series. I\u2019ve also got to know Sylvester a bit of late and he\u2019s such a wonderful man. He\u2019s very much like the Doctor himself.\u201d<\/p>\n

Katy Manning\u00a0 \u2013 Jo Grant<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"Katy\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>
Katy Manning as Jo in Tales of the TARDIS.<\/span><\/figcaption> BBC\/BBC Studios 2023\/Alistair Heap<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

\u201cI always find this a bit hard to answer because, from a close friendship, it\u2019s got to be Jon [Pertwee] because we had this huge bond, this wonderful friendship.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I have enjoyed every single thing that all of the actors have brought to their version of the Doctor. I can\u2019t pick a favourite, I really can\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sacha Dhawan \u2013 The Master<\/h2>\n
\"Jodie\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>
Jodie Whittaker and Sacha Dhawan in Doctor Who. BBC<\/em><\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

\u201cI\u2019m gonna say Jodie. Of course it\u2019s gonna be Jodie! But I say that because audiences see what\u2019s going on and they see the performance but for me, why I say Jodie, is because I get to work with her behind the scenes, I get to know Jodie.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve never worked with an actress like it \u2013 she\u2019s amazing at what she does but she\u2019s the only actress I\u2019ve worked with that really understands what it means to be number one on a call sheet.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you\u2019re number one, you have a responsibility to look after your fellow team and it\u2019s a lot of pressure, especially when you\u2019re playing the Doctor, you\u2019ve got lots of dialogue, you\u2019re away from home for months on end, but she still manages to look after everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mark Gatiss \u2013 writer and actor<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"Mark\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>
Mark Gatiss<\/span><\/figcaption> Eamonn M. McCormack\/Getty Images<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

\u201cJon Pertwee! It\u2019s indivisible from your first experience and your first love. There are so many brilliant Doctor Whos, of course there are, but I find it rather lovely in my advanced age when you talk to someone who has every bit as much affection for a Doctor that you were scarcely aware of because you were a grown-up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Toby Whithouse \u2013 writer<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"Toby\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>
Toby Whithouse<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

\u201cI was asked this question when I was writing for Matt [Smith] and I think my answer was, \u2018Oh, Matt!\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cBut given that he was the last one I wrote for, probably Peter [Capaldi]. And I got to know Peter quite well and Peter\u2019s just the most incredible man. I\u2019d probably say either Peter or Tom Baker.\u201d<\/p>\n

Doctor Who is available to stream on BBC iPlayer. Classic episodes are also available on BritBox \u2013 you can sign up for a 7-day free trial here<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Check out more of our\u00a0Sci-Fi<\/a>\u00a0coverage or visit our\u00a0TV Guide<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Streaming Guide<\/a>\u00a0to find out what\u2019s on.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Try Radio Times magazine today and get 10 issues for only \u00a310 \u2013\u00a0<\/strong>subscribe now<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0and celebrate the 60th anniversary of Doctor Who with a special issue of Radio Times. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to\u00a0<\/strong>The Radio Times Podcast<\/strong><\/a>.<\/strong><\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n

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