8 Actors Who Regretted Leaving Doctor Who

7. Sylvester McCoy

Rose Tyler Doomsday beach Doctor Who
BBC

On the opposite side of things, Sylvester McCoy's Doctor Who exit was something that he didn't get to decide for himself. Instead, the show was cancelled and he was effectively just left without a job, but even though he had no say in the matter, McCoy still feels deep regret over everything that happened around that time.

Due to several factors - including falling ratings - Doctor Who was taken off the air in 1989, through no fault of the actors. In fact, the show had started to improve in quality since the Colin Baker years, and it really felt like McCoy (along with co-star Sophie Aldred) had hit his stride when the BBC suddenly pulled the plug - and this is precisely why he feels regret over the premature end of his tenure:

"[My] third season was great, and I think if we’d gone to a fourth season it might have been really great. But we didn’t, and life is full of regrets."

McCoy's final season wasn't spectacular or anything, but it worked quite well, and there was definitely the potential for greatness if the show had been given more time. Sadly, as it stands, all we can do is join McCoy in regretting that missed opportunity.

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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.