10 Doctor Who Facts Most Fans Don't Know
2. Boris Karloff Was Offered The Role Of Doctor Who
Horror icon Peter Cushing famously played Doctor Who in the two 1960s Dalek movies, and a year after the release of Dalek Invasion Earth 2150 AD, another horror icon was being considered for the role of the Doctor.
Boris Karloff - best known for playing Frankenstein in the Universal monster movies - was considered for a proposed radio spinoff for audiences in Australia, and other overseas territories.
Given his legendary status (and the fact that he won a Grammy for narrating the 1966 animation How the Grinch Stole Christmas), Karloff would've been a voice actor of note for an international audience. He turned the role down however, as he was too busy to take on the proposed 52-episode radio serial.
The project was ultimately rejected by the BBC, but a pilot is believed to have been recorded, based on a script by Malcolm Hulke, entitled Journey Into Time. It would have seen the Doctor and his granddaughter arrive during the American revolution, and accompanying promotional materials suggested that, if successful, the radio show would've adapted existing Doctor Who stories - while also telling new ones.