Why every Doctor Who actor has left the BBC series

Yahoo

15-07-2025

Doctor Who is one of the most iconic roles in British television, a coveted part passed from actor to actor with great pomp and ceremony. So when one of them decides to leave, it's always a great shock, and audiences wonder why they're going.
Ncuti Gatwa is the most recent star to portray the Time Lord, leaving after just 18 months in the role and with two series under his belt. He is the actor with the second shortest stint of the Modern Who era, coming after Christopher Eccleston, who departed the BBC show after one series.
The star, who also appeared in the Barbie movie, has now revealed exactly why he left the series so early, and he is not the only person to have done so over the years. Here is what every star who has played The Doctor has said about their reasons for leaving.
During an appearance on BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg on 13 July, Gatwa explained his reason for leaving the series, citing that it "took a lot out" of him and he was "getting old". The actor joined the show in November 2023 in the show's 60th Anniversary specials and starred in two series and Christmas specials before bidding farewell.
When asked why he left, the 32-year-old actor said: "Because I'm getting old. My body was tired. It's the most amazing job in the world. It's a job that any actor would dream of, and because it's so good, it's strenuous.
"It takes a lot out of you, physically, emotionally, mentally. So, it was time."
Despite his departure from the show, the actor teased that he would return to the role when the time was right, telling Kuenssberg, "Never say never" when asked directly about a future cameo.
Whittaker joined the BBC series alongside showrunner Chris Chibnall, and the pair revealed they had made a deal when they first started working together that they would stay together until the end, meaning they would also leave at the same time when they felt it was right.
Whittaker announced her departure from the show in 2021, sharing a statement: "I cannot thank Chris enough for entrusting me with his incredible stories. We knew that we wanted to ride this wave side by side, and pass on the baton together.
"So here we are, weeks away from wrapping on the best job I have ever had. I don't think I'll ever be able to express what this role has given me. I will carry the Doctor and the lessons I've learnt forever. I know change can be scary, and none of us know what's out there. That's why we keep looking. Travel hopefully. The universe will surprise you. Constantly."
Chibnall also reiterated that the deal was the reason behind his and Whittaker's departure: "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, and we're handing back the Tardis keys."
Peter Capaldi portrayed The Doctor for four years, appearing in three series and several specials during this time. The actor is famously a super fan of the show, having even sent fan letters as a child to the BBC, and so getting to portray the character felt like the chance of a lifetime.
But there came a point where he knew it was "the right time to move on" because of the impact it had on him and the time he had dedicated to it. Speaking with the Courier Mail in 2018, he said: "Doctor Who is a great show and experience, but to be at the centre of that brand is a lot of work. There's a lot more than just acting.
"It was hard to maintain that level of commitment with that schedule any longer. I tried my best to make the Doctor come alive."
The actor added that he "stopped being anything" for four years and needed rest after such a huge undertaking. In an interview with Radio Times in 2017, he said: "I love this show, but I've never done anything where you turn up every day for 10 months," he explained. "I want to always be giving it my best, and I don't think if I stayed on, I'd be able to do that."
Matt Smith also played The Doctor for four years, departing after the 50th anniversary special and Christmas specials in 2013. Since leaving the BBC show, the actor has not stopped working, starring in critically-acclaimed projects like House of the Dragon, Last Night in Soho and The Crown.
Ahead of his departure, Smith told The Hollywood Reporter that playing The Doctor is a huge undertaking and it felt like the perfect time to leave: "It's a very intense process to play the Doctor. The line-learning is really hard, and you have to live away from home for nine or 10 months a year. I love the show, and it wasn't an easy choice to come to, but it's the right time for both of us."
However, in an interview with the Los Angeles Times, via Female First, the actor admitted he considered doing another series but ultimately changed his mind: "I'd have very happily done another year. It's a wonderful show. But I think you gotta go when you gotta go, and for me, it just felt like the right time to move on."
When David Tennant took the role of The Doctor in 2005, it was the opportunity of a lifetime, as a longtime fan of the series, the actor was beside himself with delight. He quickly became a firm favourite for viewers, and regularly tops lists as the best Doctor.
Tennant initially left the role in 2010, after more than four years as The Doctor, and he told the BBC that he ultimately chose to do so in order not to "outstay [his] welcome".
He explained: "It would be very easy to cling on to the Tardis console forever and I fear that if I don't take a deep breath and make the decision to move on now, then I simply never will. You would be prising the Tardis key out of my cold, dead hand. This show has been so special to me, I don't want to outstay my welcome."
Tennant has since returned to the role on a handful of occasions, appearing in the 50th anniversary special with Smith and then portraying the Fourteenth Doctor for the 60th anniversary episodes that were released ahead of Gatwa's introduction into the series.
Of the Modern Who era, it is Christopher Eccleston who holds the shortest stint as The Doctor as he left in 2005 after just one series in the role. The actor departed after facing creative difficulties with showrunner Russell T Davies.
At the time the BBC falsely claimed the actor left to avoid being "typecast", a statement they have since rescinded, while Eccleston has become increasingly candid over the years regarding his reason for leaving the role and the backlash he faced.
The actor explained he had issues with how the show was run behind the scenes. In a panel appearance at New York Comic Con in 2019, he explained: "I left because my relationship with the showrunner and producer broke down, I left only because of those three individuals and the way they were running the show. I loved playing the character, and I loved the world... and I felt, 'I'm going to play the Doctor my way and I'm not going to get involved in these politics.' And that wasn't workable, so off I went."
He also told Radio Times in 2018 that he couldn't in good conscience stay on the series because of the struggles he had behind the scenes: 'My relationship with my three immediate superiors – the showrunner, the producer and co-producer – broke down irreparably during the first block of filming and it never recovered. They lost trust in me, and I lost faith and trust and belief in them."
In an interview with The Guardian in 2018 Eccleston revealed that he was blacklisted by the BBC as a result of leaving Doctor Who: "What happened around Doctor Who almost destroyed my career. I gave them a hit show, and I left with dignity, and then they put me on a blacklist.
"I was carrying my own insecurities as it was something I had never done before and then I was abandoned, vilified in the tabloid press and blacklisted. I was told by my agent at the time: 'The BBC regime is against you. You're going to have to get out of the country and wait for regime change.'"
Eccleston has been asked to return to the show, such as for the 50th anniversary special, but has declined. His animosity toward Davies and the show's producers continues, because as recently as 2023 he said at For The Love of Sci Fi convention that he would only return to the show on one condition: "Sack Russell T Davies. Sack Jane Tranter. Sack Phil Collinson. Sack Julie Gardner. And I'll come back. So can you arrange that?"
He added: "I love being associated, just don't like being associated with those people and the politics that went on in the first series. The first series was a mess, and it wasn't to do with me or Billie [Piper], it was to do with the people who were supposed to make it, and it was a mess."
Between the Classic and Modern Who eras on TV was a TV movie starring Paul McGann as the Eighth Doctor, which aired in 1996.
Doctor Who had been cancelled by the BBC due to dwindling ratings, and the TV movie was a bid to try and breathe new life into the franchise. Ultimately, it didn't work, and so McGann's appearance as the Doctor was a one-and-done occurrence. In 2013, McGann reprised the role for the show's 50th anniversary, appearing in an online-only min-episode called The Night of the Doctor. He also appeared briefly in 2022's The Power of the Doctor as one of the 'Guardians of the Edge'.
The Classic Who era ended in 1989 with Sylvester McCoy as the Doctor, after he portrayed the character across three series. McCoy's departure from the show was not his own making; the BBC decided to cancel Doctor Who after audience numbers reduced to the point where it was no longer feasible to keep going.
Ironically, the cancellation came after McCoy had agreed to make a fourth season of the show. "The plans were afoot [for a fourth season]," McCoy told RadioTimes. "We were going to carry on with the mystery, drop hints that the Doctor was more than just the Doctor, a more powerful kind of being - not a being, really, an alien, whatever he is! That was the kind of idea. We never achieved that because of what happened."
Colin Baker took over the role of The Doctor in 1984, and he portrayed the character for almost three years as the sixth iteration of the character. The actor is an exception to his cohort because he didn't leave the role of The Doctor, he was fired. Baker was dropped from the series due to dwindling ratings.
Baker refused to return to film a regeneration scene for incoming actor Sylvester McCoy, and in 2019 he said at a BFI screening that he regretted the decision because he forgot about the fans. Per Radio Times, he said: "I was being brutally selfish at the time and I just felt annoyed. Because I loved that part... and I thought I had more to offer."
In a chat with the BBC in 2013, Fifth Doctor actor Peter Davison revealed that he was advised to only stay on the BBC show for three seasons by Patrick Troughton, who portrayed the Second Doctor.
"I had to make the decision absurdly early," Davison explained. "It was at the end of my second season. The producer asked about staying beyond a third year, and I said I would call it a day because that had been my plan, as suggested by Patrick Troughton. 'Do three and get out,' he said.
"I stuck with that. I had a chance to change my mind, but I thought that would be chickening out, and there were other things I wanted to do."
The actor to have the longest stint as the Time Lord is Tom Baker, who portrayed the character for seven years and left the role in 1981.
In an interview with Digital Spy, the actor revealed that his reason for leaving the show was ultimately because of the difficult relationship he had with John Nathan-Turner, the producer of his third and final era in the role.
"I didn't like his approach to anything very much," Baker said. "His approach as a producer, to the scripts and to my performance...he managed somehow — how terrible — to diminish me. He made assumptions about how I should do things, or what lines meant, or how it should be shot, which diminished me, and I found that unbearable."
Ultimately, Baker has since come to the conclusion that it was a good thing because the producer "nudged me toward the realisation [that Doctor Who] had run its course and I should go somewhere else. I think, in a way, when I said when I wanted to go, he was relieved, that he wouldn't have to have that fight".
The third iteration of The Doctor was portrayed by Jon Pertwee, who played the character between 1970 and 1974. He ultimately left the role after his costar Roger Delgado, who played The Master, died in a car accident, and Pertwee didn't want to act with anyone else in that role.
The departures of show producer Barry Letts and his onscreen companion Katy Manning also led him to that decision because it felt like the "end of an era".
As mentioned, Troughton previously advised Davison that he should only stay in the role of The Doctor for three series, and this was something the actor did himself.
He ultimately left because of the gruelling filming schedule for the show, and because he didn't want to be typecast after staying in the part for too long.
The very first Doctor was portrayed by William Hartnell from November 1963 to October 1966, putting the character on the map and creating an icon for the BBC.
Hartnell left the role after almost three years because of his deteriorating health, which made learning lines more difficult for him. It was decided during his tenure that, because the Doctor is an alien, he would be able to regenerate, thus allowing the lead role to be recast and the series to continue. Hartnell is the one who suggested his successor, Troughton.
Doctor Who is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.