Father's Day (Doctor Who) Father's Day (Doctor Who) "Father's Day" is the eighth episode of the first series of the British science fiction television programme "Doctor Who", first broadcast on 14 May 2005 on BBC One. It was written by Paul Cornell and directed by Joe Ahearne. In the episode, alien time traveller the Doctor (Christopher Eccleston) agrees to take his companion Rose Tyler (Billie Piper) back to the day her father Pete (Shaun Dingwall) died in 1987. When Rose intervenes and pulls her father out of the path of a car, time is wounded and dangerous Reapers attack, threatening to erase history. Pete
The Doctor (Doctor Who) was to cast an actor in his mid-30s to 40s for the role of the Eleventh Doctor, despite casting Matt Smith, who is the youngest actor to ever have played the role. The actors who have played the lead role of the Doctor in the programme and the dates of their first and last regular television appearances in the role, are: Jodie Whittaker took over the role as the Thirteenth Doctor in the 2017 Christmas special. In addition to the above-listed actors, others have played versions of the Doctor for the duration of particular storylines. Notably, John Hurt guest starred