10 Roles That Showed Doctor Who Actors In A Completely Different Light
9. Jon Pertwee Worzel Gummidge
Jon Pertwee is so many people's Doctor; he turned the character into a stately action hero, defending Earth alongside Sarah Jane and the Brigadier. In the process, he helped shaped the show's next forty years; without Pertwee, the Doctors since might not have been such sharply-dressed authority figures. It's bizarre to consider then, that Jon Pertwee played a scarecrow after leaving Doctor Who. Worzel Gummidge was a kids' show, starring Pertwee in the lead role, and Mrs Hudson herself, Una Stubbs as Aunt Sally, a life-size fairground doll. Worzel was a far cry from the Third Doctor, speaking with a higher register and a typically rural accent, and dressing in raggedy hand-me-downs. He wasn't a particularly bright character, but Pertwee was immersive in the role; Billy Connolly and Barbara Windsor guest-starred the show, and Pertwee even released a single off the back of it, entitled 'Worzel's Song'. Tom Baker's first role after Who was a similar position as Sherlock Holmes, but Pertwee truly reinvented himself when played Worzel. It might sound like a mid-career crisis for a big actor these days, but Gummidge was immensely popular; it was a show that gave Pertwee a lead role totally unlike the Doctor.
