Doctor Who Doctor's nature, somewhere between the twelfth and final incarnation. On rare occasions, other actors have stood in for the lead. In "The Five Doctors", Richard Hurndall played the First Doctor due to William Hartnell's death in 1975; 34 years later David Bradley similarly replaced Hartnell in "Twice Upon a Time". In "Time and the Rani", Sylvester McCoy briefly played the Sixth Doctor during the regeneration sequence, carrying on as the Seventh. For more information, see the list of actors who have played the Doctor. In other media, the Doctor has been played by various other actors, including Peter Cushing in
The War Doctor (audio drama series) The War Doctor (audio drama series) The War Doctor, announced in October 2015, is a Big Finish Productions audio play series based on the TV show "Doctor Who". It sees the return of Sir John Hurt as the War Doctor, a role he previously portrayed in the TV story "The Name of the Doctor" as well as more prominently in the 50th Anniversary special "The Day of the Doctor". The series consists of four box sets, each made up of three hour-long episodes, the first released in December 2015, the remaining three volumes followed across 2016 and into 2017. The