What? What?! WHAT?! David Tennant is widely cited as one of the most popular Time Lords of all time for his critically acclaimed portrayal of the Tenth Doctor but, before he stepped aboard the TARDIS as the universe's chief defender, he was initially in talks to make a guest appearance in the Series 1 episode The Unquiet Dead back in 2005. The Scottish actor originally auditioned to play Gabriel Sneed in the Dickensian classic which means that he would've shared the screen with his future predecessor, Christopher Eccleston. That is, if he'd still be cast as the Doctor himself, which he totally would have. After all, David was born to play the Doctor and he was already on Russell T Davies' radar after playing the title role in Casanova. Besides, he certainly wouldn't have been alone in the coveted band of Doctor Who alumni who were reinstated in a bigger role after an initial bit part appearance. Freema Agyeman, Karen Gillan and Peter Capaldi all went from guest to leading Whoniversal stars so something tells us they would've been able to come up with some sort of reasonable explanation as to why the new Doctor looked like an undertaker from 17th century Cardiff. Stranger things have happened. Just ask Gwyneth... Alas, the timey-wimey problem was averted when Mark Gatiss decided that the role of Gabriel should be played by an older actor, and the part was awarded to Alan David instead. David Tennant got to leave his mark on the series shortly afterwards, of course, and he did it in a pretty big way, as it turns out. Allons-y! What did you think of this list? Are there any other Doctor Who actors that almost appeared in the series as different characters? Join the conversation in the comments section below.
Dan Butler is the Doctor Who Editor at WhatCulture.com. When he isn't writing his own articles or editing other people's, he can be found trawling the internet for gifs of Steven Moffat laughing. Contact him via dan.butler@whatculture.co.uk.
