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
John Bradley (English actor) John Bradley (English actor) John Bradley West (born 15 September 1988), credited professionally as John Bradley, is an English actor, best known for his role as Samwell Tarly in the HBO fantasy TV series "Game of Thrones". Bradley was born and grew up as a Catholic in the Wythenshawe district of south Manchester and attended St Paul's Roman Catholic High School. He has a sister who is 13 years older than him. In 2005, he began attending Loreto College in the Hulme area of Manchester, where he studied Drama and Theatre Studies. He graduated from Loreto in 2007. He received