10 Worst Guest Stars In Doctor Who History

4. Beryl Reid

Producer John Nathan-Turner loved bringing unexpected names into the show, especially those best known for light entertainment roles. The rumour that this was so he could set up the cast of his beloved yearly pantomines is, of course, entirely false. Sometimes this type of casting worked, such as bringing Stan from On The Buses in as a highwayman in The Visitation. However, other times you ended up with performances like the one from Beryl Reid in the Fifth Doctor killfest Earthshock. When you're casting a tough as nails captain of a space freighter, one who could stand toe to toe with the Cybermen, obviously Beryl's name is the first that comes to mind. Like an grumpy grandmother who had her hair dyed in the Eastern Bloc, Reid delivers every line as if she would rather be anywhere else than in this odd sci-fi show with blokes in tinfoil while wondering why the chap playing Doctor Who gave up being that lovely vet for this nonsense. Some people can read complex, jargon filled dialogue they don't actually understand with total conviction. Reid isn't one of them. Of course, maybe Beryl's performance can be explained by her taking some poor advice from Adric actor Matthew Waterhouse. Waterhouse, who couldn't even walk across a room convincingly, was famous for offering acting legends such as Richard Todd advice on how to improve their acting (Tom Baker famously told him to p*ss off). Maybe Reid believed Waterhouse was at the vanguard of a new technique set to grip the world, anti-naturalism.