As Ncuti Gatwa says farewell to the TARDIS with hisDoctor Whodeparture, a familiar face has returned to the Whoniverse to play the Sixteenth Doctor, joining a club of actors who have had at least three distinct roles across the franchise.Billie Piper made her surpriseDoctor Whoreturnas Gatwa regenerated in the cliffhanger ending of season 15’s “The Reality War”. After playing the first companion audiences were introduced to in the modern series, Rose Tyler, Piper is now expected to take on the role of the Time Lord herself.
However, Billie Piper had already returned to the Whoniverse in 2013 in a twist role forDoctor Who’s 50th anniversary, which saw her play a key role in one of the series' most notable storylines. Despite bearing Rose’s appearance, the character in itself was a different entity, separate from her past role. As such, Piper is one ofa select number ofDoctor Whostars to return to the Whoniverse as three distinct characters.
10Billie Piper
Rose Tyler/The Moment/The Sixteenth Doctor
In 2005’s “Rose”, audiences were introduced to London teen Rose Tyler, who adventured with both the Ninth Doctor (Christopher Eccleston) and Tenth Doctor (David Tennant) throughoutDoctor Whoseasons 1 and 2, and would travel across dying realities to reunite with the Doctor for season 4’s finale.
Following this and a cameo in Tennant’s final adventure “The End of Time”,Piper would return for the 50th-anniversary special “The Day of the Doctor” as The Moment, a powerful Time Lord weapon who takes on Rose’s appearance to avert Gallifrey’s destruction. Piper is now set to play the Sixteenth Doctor.
9David Tennant
The Tenth Doctor/The Metacrisis Doctor/The Fourteenth Doctor
Billie Piper’s co-star, David Tennant, would also find himself playing not only three distinct characters, but incarnations of the Doctor himself. During his tenure as the Tenth Doctor, Tennant’s incarnation was shot by a Dalek, buta freak Metacrisis event that involved Regeneration energy being poured into his severed hand resulted in a part-human second Tenth Doctor forming.Dubbed the Metacrisis Doctor, he joined Rose on Pete’s World inDoctor Whoseason 4. Tennant’s time in the TARDIS wouldn’t be over following his departure, as the actor wascast as the Fourteenth Doctorfor the show’s 60th-anniversary celebrations.
8Peter Capaldi
Lobus Caecilius/John Frobisher/Tenth Doctor
Another actor who played a role in David Tennant’s tenure was Peter Capaldi, who guest-starred inDoctor Whoseason 4’s “The Fires of Pompeii” as the marble merchant Caecilius, whom the Doctor rescues from the eruption. When the Time Lord reached his Twelfth incarnation,Capaldi returned to play the Doctor,having been given Caecilius' face to remind him to stay true to his values. Capaldi’s thirdDoctor Whorole was that of John Frobisher, the tragic Secretary to the Home Office during the 456 crisis ofTorchwood: Children of Earth.
7Richard E. Grant
The Great Intelligence/The Curse of Fatal Death Tenth Doctor/The Shalka Doctor
While his canonicity has been debated for some time, Richard E. Grant is also another actor who has played multiple characters as well as the Time Lord. AcrossDoctor Whoseason 7, Grant portrayed Doctor Simeon/The Great Intelligence during his plot to erase the Doctor’s timeline, reuniting with then-showrunner Steven Moffat after having played a version of the Tenth Doctor for the Children in Need parodyThe Curse of Fatal Death.Grant also played an alternate Ninth Doctorfor the animated 40th-anniversary adventure “Scream of the Shalka”, which would later be canonized inDoctor Whoseason 14’s “Rogue”.
6Katy Manning
Jo Grant/Iris Wildthyme/Zelanda
A fellow companion who adventured in the TARDIS to take on three Whoniverse roles is Katy Manning, best known for her portrayal ofthe Third Doctor’s (Jon Pertwee)companion Jo Grant. Following herDoctor Whotenure,Manning would take on the role of her own eccentric Time Traveler, Iris Wildthyme, a fellow Renegade from Gallifrey, in Big Finish’s various spin-offs. Finally, having faced the Ice Warriors in 1972 “The Curse of Pelladon”, Manning took on the role of the Ice Warrior Zelanda in the 2022 audio drama “Wrath of the Ice Warriors”.
5Anjli Mohindra
Rani Chandra/Skithra Queen/Theodora Markway
When Katy Manning returned to the Whoniverse as Jo inThe Sarah Jane Adventures"The Death of the Doctor", she joined forces with Anjli Mohindra’s Rani Chandra, the young friend of Elizabeth Sladen’s former companion Sarah Jane Smith. While the actor has reprised her role forDoctor Who: Redactedand her own Big Finish range,Mohindra returned to the Whoniverse on-screen as the Skithra Queenin season 12’s “Nikola Tesla’s Night of Terror.” Mohindra also portrayed reporter Theodora Markway across Big Finish’sThe Fourth Doctor Adventuresline.
4Derek Jacobi
The War Master/The Shalka Master/Martin Bannister
Another character Jo met in her further adventures was that of Derek Jacobi’s The War Master, who made his debut disguised as Professor Yana inDoctor Whoseason 3’s “Utopia”, before Big Finish would flesh out his tale in their audio dramas. However,Jacobi played an alternate incarnation of the Master alongside Grant’s Ninth Doctor in “Scream of the Shalka”, now in a robot body and reluctant companion of the Doctor. Jacobi would also play the writer Martin Bannister inDoctor Who: Unbound’s “Deadline”, who is trapped in delusions of having met the Time Lord.
3Julian Bleach
Davros/The Ghostmaker/The Nightmare Man
A fellowDoctor Whovillain performer to hold three roles in the Whoniverse is Julian Bleach, best known for hisportrayals of the Dalek’s creator Davros, both before and after the incident that left him bound to his own travel machine, inDoctor Whoseasons 4, 8, and 60th-anniversary celebrations. InTorchwood, Bleach portrayed the terrifying entity known as the Ghostmaker in “From Out of the Rain”. The actor would then play the dream-haunting Vishklar The Nightmare Man inThe Sarah Jane Adventures.
2Silas Carson
The Ood/Ood Sigma/Kudlak
While he may be best known for his role ofKi Adi-Mundi in theStar Warsprequels, Silas Carson has also held several notable roles throughout the Whoniverse. As he provided the translated voice of the Ood inDoctor Whoseason 2, Carson would also provide the voice to the rebellious Ood Sigma in “Planet of the Ood”, who would help free his kind from human enslavement. On the less heroic side of things,Carson would also provide the voice of Uvodni General Kudlak inThe Sarah Jane Adventures'“Warriors of Kudlak”, who attempted to use human children as frontline soldiers.
1Neve McIntosh
Alaya/Restac/Madame Vastra
Finally, Neve McIntosh holds the unique honor of holding three separate characters in quick succession across a single era ofDoctor Who. McIntosh made her debut as the Silurian sisters Alaya and Restac in “The Hungry Earth/Cold Blood”, as the species reawoke and facedMatt Smith’s Eleventh Doctorin season 5. While both siblings perished, McIntosh returned to play Silurian-turned-Victorian Sleuth Madame Vastrain “A Good Man Goes To War” a single season later in season 6, becoming a recurring ally to the Time Lord.
