The Doctors down the years

When William Hartnell left the show, rather than cancel a successful programme the writers came up with the Doctor's ability to regenerate his body when he is near death, thus allowing for the smooth transition from one actor to another playing the role.

In all, eight different actors have played the Time Lord on TV:

1. William Hartnell (1963-1966) Old-aged, old-fashioned, cranky... even a bit sinister.

2. Patrick Troughton (1966-1970) A little more high-spirited and not quite so uptight.

3. Jon Pertwee (1970-1974) Groovy guy who liked his gadgets; had a car called Bessie.

4. Tom Baker (1974-1982) Erratic, eccentric, spooky, yet stimulating; had a very, very long scarf.

5. Peter Davison (1982-1984) Cool, calm and collected, but kitted out in some kooky cricket clothing.

6. Colin Baker (1984-1986) Passionate and principled, but not very believable - the slippery slope starts here.

7. Sylvester McCoy (1987-1989) Pitiful attempts at projecting a mysterious persona included a question mark umbrella.

8. Paul McGann (1996) Never really had time to develop a unique character, showed great potential, though.