Doctor Who: 10 Actors Who Could Or Should Have Been The Doctor

8. The Third Doctor - Ron Moody

By 1969, the show€™s ratings had slumped to an average of 3 million a week and a replacement series was already being devised. Another run of episodes was eventually commissioned but it was clear that with Patrick Troughton leaving, whoever the new leading man was had to offer something dynamic - and very different. That new leading man was originally going to be Ron Moody. Moody€™s most famous role was Fagin in the 1968 film version of Oliver but he had many other credits to his name and was best known as a comic actor. This, for some reason, was what the top brass wanted, in spite of the fact that Troughton had already portrayed the Doctor as something of a clown - a €˜cosmic hobo€™. However, Moody turned the offer down allowing another comic actor, Jon Pertwee, to step into the frame. And really, despite Moody€™s later regret at his decision, it was the best thing to happen to Doctor Who. Pertwee, acting against expectations and portraying the Doctor as an action hero, ushered in the era of the Doctor as a superstar and turned the show into a ratings juggernaut. His casting represented a major paradigm change for the series, the effects of which would continue to be felt until Tom Baker relinquished the role in 1981. Moody, for all his gifts, probably wouldn€™t have achieved that. He had already played the defining role of his life. Doctor Who, in 1969, needed fire in its belly, and Pertwee undeniably gave it that.