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
Eternal (Doctor Who) Eternal (Doctor Who) The Eternals are a race of cosmic beings first introduced in the "Doctor Who" TV adventure "Enlightenment" with the 5th Doctor (Peter Davison) in 1983. An Eternal who called himself Striker explains to the Doctor that he and his people live outside of time, in the realm of eternity. They consider the mortal inhabitants of the universe to be "Ephemerals", including even the Time Lords of the planet Gallifrey. Striker seems completely unaware of the existence of the Time Lords before meeting the Doctor. In the "Enlightenment" serial, the Doctor eventually realizes that the Eternals are powerful