10 Doctor Who Scenes You Didn't Realise Were Tricking You
7. Doctor Imposters! (Various Episodes)
We’ve seen a variety of Doctor imposters over the years, like the Flesh’s literal doppelgänger in The Almost People. But that’s not to say the Doctor has always been themselves the rest of the time.
On the contrary, there have been countless examples of the show having to make do with stand-ins when the real Doctor actor has proved unavailable, most of which you’ve probably never noticed.
Case in point: The Reign of Terror.
The First Doctor’s trip to Revolution-era Paris required insert shots of him walking through the French countryside. These shots were due to be filmed on location, but William Hartnell was tied up in rehearsals for the previous serial, The Sensorites, and couldn’t be released.
Instead, supporting player Brian Proudfoot was deployed, complete with a wig, a coat, and a stick. And he wasn’t the only thing being substituted, with some fields in Buckinghamshire standing in for the outskirts of Paris.
There's also the time when Tom Baker broke his collarbone while filming The Sontaran Experiment in Dartmoor, forcing stuntman Terry Walsh to double for him in some shots.
Oh, and the Eleventh Doctor fiddling with his new TARDIS console at the end of The Eleventh Hour? Matt Smith wasn't actually present for many of those shots. Very sneaky indeed.