Doctor Who has been a fixture of the BBC since 1963, and, having delivered just shy of 900 episodes since its premiere, it’s become part of the fabric of British culture. It stalled for a period between 1989 and 2005, but it’s been on a roll since its noughties regeneration, with pen-lords including Russell T. Davies, Steven Moffat, and Mark Gatiss among those writing its family-friendly sci-fi stories.
If you want to step inside the show, here’s what to know about the casting process.
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Over its 41 series, the premise of Doctor Who has remained pretty much thus: The Doctor, a Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey who adopts the physical appearance of a human, travels through time and space, protecting humanity from imminent danger – often at the hands of other alien species, but sometimes from other humans. He (or she!) travels by TARDIS (which takes the shape of an old-school blue police box), armed only with a multipurpose “sonic screwdriver,” which opens locks and disables weapons. Rather than going it alone, the Doctor is usually accompanied on the missions by a human companion, who remains by their side throughout the series and sometimes longer.
In early iterations of the show, plotlines were typically carried over multiple episodes. Since the 2005 reboot, stories have usually lasted only a single episode – making it easy to follow even if you dip in only for the annual Christmas Day special – but there have been some notable exceptions along the way.
The showrunners certainly are not short of inspiration when it comes to conjuring up villains for the Doctor and his companion to fight, but there are several recurring favourites: the lovably low-budget-looking Daleks, for instance, have been fighting Time Lords like the Doctor since the beginning, while appearances from the Weeping Angels and the Cybermen never fail to chill.
Fifteen actors have played the Doctor since the show’s inception, beginning with William Hartnell. The Doctor’s shapeshifting is conveniently explained within the plot: He or she regenerates each time they’re fatally wounded, while retaining all their memories. The current Doctor, Ncuti Gatwa, became the first Black actor to step into the Doctor’s shoes in 2023, while Jodie Whittaker before him was the first woman. Other actors to have played the Time Lord include Christopher Eccleston, David Tennant, Matt Smith, and Peter Capaldi.
The Doctor’s companions have been just as memorable. Among them are Billie Piper, Catherine Tate, Freema Agyeman, Karen Gillan, Alex Kingston, and Jenna Coleman. They’re more often female, but the companions have included several men, with Tosin Cole and Arthur Darvill among those to play them.
A number of incredibly famous actors have appeared briefly in the show over the years, including a young Carey Mulligan, Daniel Kaluuya, Olivia Colman, and Stephen Fry.
Episodes often involve large ensemble casts – the vast majority of whom are not famous faces – which means there are plenty of opportunities to get cast, regardless of what stage your career is at.
The show, which is filmed primarily in Wales – production moved from its long-standing home at BBC’s Roath Lock Studios in Cardiff to nearby Wolf Studios Wales in 2022 – has already released a new series for 2025, and it is not currently filming. Returning showrunner Russell T. Davies, however, has hinted he’d very much like to keep writing episodes if Disney+ (which now finances and co-produces the show with the BBC, streams it outside of the UK, and counts its first season on board as Season 1) gives the greenlight.
“We’ll always look ahead to the future if we get the chance to keep running,” Davies told Parade. “I’ve got ideas. ‘I think I’ll do that near [Season] 4 or 5.’ And that’s always the way I've worked on things.… So, yes, I could promise you amazing stuff at the end of Season 4. There are things we’ve already mentioned that are going to bear fruit a long time into the future.”
“With Russell T. Davies as showrunner, one of the top tips for any aspiring Doctor Who actor is hope you’ve worked with the main man before,” writer Bex Palmer observed for Backstage.
“If Davies likes you, there’s a very good chance he’ll cast you again and again and again,” she says, referring to the fact that Eccleston worked with Davies on The Second Coming in 2003 and Tennant starred in Davies’ 2005 miniseries Casanova – both before being cast as versions of the Doctor.
Equally important to impress, of course, is casting director Andy Pryor, who has been in charge of finding talent for the show since its 2005 revival.
Pryor is committed to diverse casting. “It’s our job as casting directors to encourage the people we work with to reflect the world that we live in,” he told Backstage. “We live in a very diverse society and each element of society deserves to have their stories told, and be reflected on the screen. And we have to be conscious of making sure that we have an open mind about each role, and not just specific roles that are written, for example, people of color.”
Pryor’s main advice is to research thoroughly before entering the audition room. “It’s not hard to find out about the project that you’re going in for,” he told Backstage. “If your audition has been organized by an agent, then get as much information from the agent as possible. If you get the name of the director, perhaps look them up on IMDb and see what work they’ve done.”
“It doesn’t mean you have to sit and talk about their career, but it’s just having an awareness of who you’re meeting,” Pryor says. “If you’re coming in for a series that has already been in production or already been broadcast, always seek out some material from that series so that you know the tone of the piece that you’re going in for. I also begin the [audition] within reason, not being afraid to ask questions. Make a decision about how you think the part should be delivered, but be prepared to deflect.”
Of course, you’ll also want to ensure that your acting materials are up to date and ready to fire off over email or hand out on the day. That includes your headshots, acting CV, and showreel.
If you’ve got an agent (and if you haven’t, it’s worth signing one to get a foot in the door for major productions like this one), be sure to let them know you’re interested in working on Doctor Who. You can also keep an eye out for auditions yourself by checking for open casting calls and keeping tabs on any announcements made by Pryor via his Instagram, Bluesky, or website. Pryor accepts unsolicited submissions via email, a form on his website, or through the post. He requests actors send information about themselves in a Word document or PDF, keep photos to a minimal file size, and link rather than attach their showreel.
So, in the words of Tennant’s Doctor, "Allons-y!"