Doctor Who: 10 Actors Who Almost Played Different Characters

7. Brian Blessed

Doctor Who Silhouette
BBC

Who He Almost Played: The Second Doctor

Who He Actually Played: Yrcanos

Brian Blessed is one of the most iconic personalities in entertainment, with his crazy eyes, his amazing beard, and his booming, instantly-recognisable voice giving him a larger-than-life presence across his countless movie and TV credits.

Blessed had a short stint on Doctor Who in 1986, playing the mighty Yrcanos opposite Colin Baker's Sixth Doctor. But things could've been so much different, because 20 years earlier, he came close to landing a role of far greater significance.

According to the man himself, he was approached to play the Second Doctor when the BBC decided that they wanted someone younger to succeed William Hartnell. Blessed claims he had a "long meeting" with the people in charge, but ultimately, he stepped away when he realised that his vision for the character didn't align with the BBC's.

Apparently, some of his ideas scared the BBC to death, so it might be for the best that Blessed was never given the keys to the TARDIS.

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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.