Why Every Lead Actor Left Doctor Who

9. Peter Davison

William Hartnell David Tennant Doctor Who
BBC Studios

As previously mentioned, Peter Davison wanted to stick to a three-year stint after listening to Patrick Troughton's advice about not being typecast. So that's exactly what he did!

However, there may be a little bit more to the story than that.

Though Davison was happy with his final season in 1984, he found the middle part of his run rather frustrating, clashing with Nathan-Turner over various creative decisions. Davison wished to bring more levity to his Doctor, which his superior consistently shot down.

Davison had also noted how long Tom Baker stayed in the role, and was concerned that staying any longer than three years might affect his future job opportunities.

And so, the Fifth Doctor regenerated on 16 March 1984, almost three years to the day since his first appearance at the end of Logopolis.

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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.