13 Most Memorable Doctor Who Guest Stars

By David Andrew McCabe /

13. Richard Wilson in €˜The Empty Child€™ and €˜The Doctor Dances€™

Richard Wilson is really just a good actor in general, and despite his flourishing career in BBC€™s Merlin, whenever I see him in it or anything else I immediately think, €˜Hmm. Doctor Constantine€™s doing well.€™ It should be a crime to typecast such an amazingly talented human being but I just can€™t help myself €“ he sticks in your mind so well. Growing up, I always thought the €˜Empty Child€™ arc was the most frightening pair of episodes in the show€™s history and looking back I€™m not entirely sure why. Maybe it€™s because I came in late watching the show that night so I had little to no context; maybe it€™s because I was still at the age were saying €˜Mummy€™ was still relatively socially acceptable and thus I had something to remind me of those gas masks every time I saw mother; maybe it€™s because of the faceless freaking zombies everywhere creeping around at the dead of freaking night! Damn you, Moffat! But for whatever reason, the Richard Wilson scene still scares the living daylights out of me even now. If you haven€™t seen it (and shame on you if you haven€™t) the scene depicts Wilson€™s undeniably chilling voice echoing around a dark, abandoned ward full of gas-mask wearing corpses and flickering lights, describing in full detail the plague that has struck London. €œThey€™re not dead,€ Wilson reveals in that haunting tone of his, shortly before a gas mask slowly and agonisingly forces its way out of his face, Wilson€™s stunning performance pulling us in all the way. Horrifying stuff.