10 More What Ifs About Doctor Who

7. What If Fulton MacKay Had Been Cast Instead Of Tom Baker?

For many of we American viewers of a certain age, Tom Baker was our first Doctor, and he remains to this day the actor we think of when we think of the Time Lord. This is because he's the first Doctor whose adventures were available in wide syndication in the States. But Barry Letts had originally considered casting an older actor in the part - and one of the people he had given consideration to was Porridge's Fulton MacKay, who had appeared in Doctor Who and the Silurians. To this end, he cast Ian Marter as Harry Sullivan specifically to have a younger man to go around knocking people on the nose if the older Doctor wasn't up to it. Luckily for Baker - though not so much for Marter - Letts changed his mind, casting Baker as what many consider to be the quintessential Doctor and relegating Harry Sullivan to third wheel (albeit an entertaining one). But what would have happened if, say, MacKay had been cast? Anyone who's seen MacKay in Porridge might wonder just how low-key his physical performance would actually be, despite his age. MacKay was only three years younger than Pertwee and shared a background of military service - MacKay was in the Army while Pertwee was in the Navy - so he wasn't quite the doddering old man that Letts might have been looking for. Harry Sullivan might very well have remained a third wheel after all. But we can imagine that his performance would not have been quite so idiosyncratic as Baker's. And while MacKay was obviously capable of doing humour, the show would have lacked Baker's manic touches - MacKay would likely have saved those for Porridge, if he continued working on that series. Would he have gone on as long as Baker, though? Let's imagine that he would not, seeing as Porridge was his longest-running series and might have continued production alongside Doctor Who. MacKay might only have stayed for three to five years, which would still be as long as any of the other Doctors but not long enough to so completely own the part, as Baker eventually did. Would the era have had the same appeal? Longevity doesn't always equal popularity, as some of the shorter-running Doctors are every bit as popular as Baker and Pertwee. It's hard to say. He would have been around and probably up for The Five Doctors, though. What we can say, sadly, is that we would have lost two Doctors in the course of one decade if MacKay had been cast, since he died at the age of 64 in 1987. As of this writing, Baker is still with us, and still performing as the Doctor - what more could we ask for?