15 Doctor Who Actors Who Died In 2021

5. Jackie Lane

Doctor Who Dodo Chaplet
BBC Studios

Not that this is a popularity contest by any means, but Jackie Lane is certainly one of the most recognisable Whoniverse figures we lost in 2021.

From the 1966 serial The Massacre, through to another 1966 serial, The War Machines, she played First Doctor companion Dodo Chaplet, starring in one of the most famous missing Doctor Who stories - The Celestial Toymaker - along the way.

Prior to her role as Dodo, Lane was in the running to play Susan Foreman, the first ever Doctor Who companion, but ultimately withdrew due to contract concerns.

After departing the show with The War Machines, her connection to Doctor Who continued on, but not in the way you'd expect. She stopped acting and ended up becoming an agent, representing people like Tom Baker - yes, that Tom Baker - and Janet Fielding, who played Fifth Doctor companion Tegan.

She passed away on 23 June, at 79 years of age.

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Danny has been with WhatCulture for almost nine years, and is currently Doctor Who Editor and WhoCulture Channel Manager, overseeing all of WhatCulture's Whoniverse coverage. He has been writing and video editing for 10+ years, and first got a taste for content creation after making his own Doctor Who trailers and uploading them to YouTube (they're admittedly a bit rusty by today's standards). If you need someone to recite every Doctor Who episode in order or to tell you about the making of 1988's Remembrance of the Daleks, Danny is the person to ask.