10 Doctor Who Cameos You Definitely Missed

If the surprise appearances of past Doctors (and companions) in The Power of the Doctor proved anything, it’s that Doctor Who fans love a cameo.

Indeed, many would argue that the best cameos involve actors we’re already familiar with, in roles where we can instantly recognise them. But some cameos work more stealthily, disguising people we do know as people we don’t, to the point where we might not notice them until a repeat viewing, if at all.

These are the most satisfying cameos: when a familiar face is hidden in plain sight. They require the viewer to play detective – a challenge which Doctor Who’s famously dedicated fanbase is more than happy to rise to. Even so, there are some cameos which will have passed even the most attentive viewer by.

From the voice of an iconic cartoon character, to relatives of the show’s most famous actors – with writers, producers, and composers thrown in for good measure – we'd wager you missed these incredibly sneaky Doctor Who cameos...

Appropriately enough, our first cameo comes from an episode all about looking for clues – though hopefully you won’t need a magnifying glass to spot him!

Look closely when the Tenth Doctor and Donna are enjoying cocktails on the lawn in The Unicorn and the Wasp, and you might just spot a footman bearing a passing resemblance to the Tenth (and now Fourteenth!) incarnation of everyone’s favourite Time Lord. That’s because he was played by David Tennant’s late father, Sandy McDonald.

"I was coming down to visit David", McDonald explained to Doctor Who Confidential. "I think they must have been short of someone, because they very kindly invited me to play the part of a footman!"

Having your dad feature in Doctor Who is a claim to fame no other Doctor can make. Consider too that Tennant’s future wife (Georgia Moffett) and father-in-law (Peter Davison) had previously appeared alongside the Tenth Doctor by this point, and the Tennant clan pretty much owns Doctor Who by this point.