7 Actors Who Hated Being On Doctor Who
2. Carole Ann Ford
As one of the original companions to William Hartnell's First Doctor, Carole Ann Ford has an important place in the history of the show.
The actress played Susan Foreman for two years, starting with the first ever episode of Doctor Who in 1963, and leaving in 1964's The Dalek Invasion of Earth. She was there on day one, and helped set the show on the path to becoming the global hit it is today.
But from the moment she entered the Whoniverse, Ford found that this job wasn't going to be easy, and some of the creative decisions made about her character - along with the lasting impression that Doctor Who left on her public image - led her to believe that the show "destroyed" her career.
For starters, she was hugely disappointed with the way that Susan was portrayed on-screen. When she signed on, Ford was promised that the character would have telepathic powers, kick-ass combat moves, and the ability to fly the TARDIS as well as the Doctor - all things that never happened. She also hated Susan's "horrible" wardrobe, lamenting the fact that she was told to play her like an ordinary teenager.
In an extremely candid interview with The Telegraph, Ford discussed these early struggles as well as her later ones, fully opening up about her time on the show.
The actress found that making Doctor Who was repetitive and uninteresting - which influenced her decision to leave - but even when the show was in her rear-view mirror, she struggled to escape its shadow, because people just saw her as Susan.
Even when she did move on to other characters, Doctor Who came back to haunt her.
In the interview, Ford describes an incident where she received a letter from an angry parent. This parent had allowed their child to watch Ford's new show, in which she played a prostitute. Why? As it turns out - due to her Doctor Who days - the parent had just expected that Ford would be starring in something a bit more family-friendly.
While Ford is now appreciative of everything Doctor Who allowed her to do - and she greatly enjoyed the 2005 revival - she really wasn't too happy with the show (or her character) back in those early days of production.