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It's been almost 20 years since they brought Doctor Who back. But what has the revival cast been up to since?
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00:00Hello everybody, Ellie here, and I'm about to make you all feel very old, so sorry about that.
00:05It's been almost 20 years since Doctor Who returned to our screens, 20 years.
00:10And given the long gap, I figured it was a good time to look at what the stars of that
00:15first series have been up to lately.
00:17Some have faded away quietly, some have faded away controversially, but most of them have been very, very busy since
00:232005.
00:24So let's start in no particular order with number 16, and that's good old Clive, Mark Benton.
00:32Without the hard work of dedicated Doctor Watcher Clive Finch, Rose Tyler would have never unlocked the secret of the
00:38mysterious man who saved her from the Autons.
00:41She wouldn't have joined his intergalactic escapades, and there's a very good chance none of us would be here.
00:46And what was his reward? Getting killed off by a mannequin.
00:48Oh, Clive.
00:49Clive was played by Mark Benton, and the first episode of the revival was his one and only Doctor Who
00:56credit.
00:56Prior to this, Benton was a regular on British TV, and that hasn't changed since his run-in with The
01:02Plastic Menace.
01:02Benton has been a series regular on soap opera Waterloo Road and detective drama Shakespeare and Hathaway Private Investigators,
01:09while also bagging a small role in the critically acclaimed 2015 biopic Eddie the Eagle.
01:15In 2013, he was a contestant on the 11th series of Strictly Come Dancing, where he lasted for 10 weeks.
01:21Maybe Clive could have waltzed away from the Autons' gunfire.
01:24Like a lot of Doctor Who actors, he also returned to play his character in several big Finnish audio dramas,
01:29beginning in 2019.
01:31Number 15. Simon Callow.
01:34For the Doctor and Rose's first brush with a historical figure, they travelled back to Victorian Cardiff,
01:39and had a run-in with ol' fancy words himself, Charles Dickens.
01:43The legendary author helped round up some pesky Gelf, creatures that were threatening to possess the bodies of the entire
01:48human race.
01:49Bringing Dickens to life was no easy feat, though, which is why the task was given to Olivier Award-winning
01:54thespian Simon Callow.
01:56Not to be confused with talent show judge Simon Cowell. Very different people.
02:00Callow's filmography prior to Who was enormous, and he hasn't slowed down since his battle with the gassiest ghosts.
02:06In the 2020s, he's been in huge TV shows like Hawkeye and The Witcher, and in 2017, he appeared in
02:13a movie called The Man Who Invented Christmas,
02:15which is all about Charles Dickens. Small world, really.
02:18He returned to the Hooniverse in 2009 as the voice of tree-lawn-acre-slitheen-blatherene in The Sarah Jane
02:24Adventures,
02:25before embodying Charlie Boy once again, very briefly, in The Wedding of River Song.
02:29He'll be next seen in Winnie-the-Pooh Blood and Honey 2. Hey, look, he's gotta pay the rent somehow.
02:34Number 14, Eve Miles.
02:36Though she may not have been a world-famous writer, Gwyneth was still vital in helping the Doctor and Rose
02:42stop the Gelf.
02:43Her psychic ability made her the perfect conduit for the invading spirits, but she ultimately chose to destroy herself to
02:49save the rest of humanity.
02:50Gwyneth was played by Welsh actress Eve Miles, because Russell T Davies was hell-bent on giving every single person
02:56in Wales a role during his first tenure in charge.
02:58Miles would go on to appear in the BBC's Little Dorrit, a Charles Dickens adaptation, alongside Arthur Darville and Freema
03:04Adjimin.
03:05And then in 2018, she featured in another RTD series, A Very English Scandal, where she played a character also
03:12called Gwen.
03:12She was most recently seen in the 2023 Apple TV Plus series Hijack opposite Idris Elba.
03:18But of course, Miles is most famous for joining the Torchwood spin-off as Gwen Cooper, which ran for four
03:24series between 2006 and 2011.
03:27Gwen would crop up in the Doctor Who series four finale, Journey's End, where the Doctor and Rose joke about
03:32how similar she looked to that brave girl they met in 1869.
03:37Number 13. Florence Hoth.
03:39The emotional core of the two-parter The Empty Child and The Doctor Dancers was definitely Nancy, the leader of
03:45a group of street kids who turns out to be the mother of the gas-mass zombie boy.
03:49Spoilers for an episode that came out two decades ago.
03:52Actress Florence Hoth was just 20 years old when the story aired, had been performing since the age of eight,
03:57having already appeared in numerous films and TV shows.
04:00After Doctor Who, she appeared in five episodes of Doctors and played Kitty Bennett in the Pride and Prejudice adaptation
04:05Lost in Austin, co-starring alongside one Alex Kingston.
04:09She confirmed in Doctor Who magazine in 2015 that she had retired from the acting industry, and now she runs
04:15a children's edutainment YouTube channel called Xenipops alongside her husband, which is really, really wholesome.
04:21And honestly, I don't care to admit how long I spent watching these videos.
04:26Number 12. Simon Pegg.
04:28In the far-flung future, all of humanity's news is filtered through the mysterious Satellite 5, a gigantic space station
04:34controlled by the mighty Jagrafess of the holy Hadrojacic Maxaroddon folk.
04:39Yes! Smashed it!
04:40They only put the whole name in the script just to see if they could stump me.
04:43And they didn't.
04:44Big J conducts its business via a human servant known as The Editor.
04:49He's played by everyone's favourite super nerd, Simon Pegg, and boy has he been busy since 2005.
04:55Pegg has risen from cherished UK comedian to bona fide megastar over the last 20 years.
05:01From Edgar Wright's Cornetto trilogy to Mission Impossible to The Boys, Pegg has been in anything and everything, usually putting
05:08in a great performance to boot.
05:10She's not only been in the Doctor Who universe, but also the Star Wars, Star Trek, and Harry Potter ones
05:15too, having recently voiced headmaster Phineas Nigellus Black in the 2023 smash hit video game Hogwarts Legacy.
05:22He continues to be one of the busiest men in Hollywood, and will next be seen in the eighth and
05:27final Mission Impossible movie in 2025.
05:31Number 11. Patterson Joseph
05:33When Rose finds herself in the middle of a deadly game of The Weakest Link, one of her fellow contestants
05:38is the money-hungry Roderick, who ultimately wins the show.
05:42Despite being a minor role, Roderick is still fabulously hateable, even in the same episode as the Killer Space Nazis.
05:47That's because the man behind the character, Patterson Joseph, is a very fine actor.
05:52British comedy fans will know Joseph from his time in Peep Show, where he played Mark Corrigan's slick-talking boss,
05:58Alan Johnson, between 2003 and 2015.
06:01He's still highly active to this day too, having memorably portrayed the evil chocolatier Arthur Slugworth opposite Timothee Chalamet in
06:082023's Delightful Wonka.
06:10Interestingly, he also auditioned to play the 11th Doctor before Matt Smith bagged the part.
06:15Can you imagine the Doctor reflecting on why he shares a face with that random bloke from the game station?
06:20Number 10. Joe Joyner
06:22The death of Linda, with a Y, in Series 1 finale, The Parting of the Ways, is still one of
06:27the most haunting Doctor Who moments.
06:29The brave Big Brother contestant is cornered by the Daleks, who blast her into space by shattering the glass window
06:35protecting her.
06:36It's a tragic scene, in large part because Linda was so damn likable.
06:40At the time, actress Joe Joyner was enjoying a regular role in the Channel 4 show No Angels, created by
06:45Doctor Who writer Toby Whithouse,
06:47who penned episodes like School Reunion, The God Complex, and The Lie of the Land.
06:51Post Who, Joyner assumed her most recognisable role to date as Tanya Branning in EastEnders,
06:56appearing in 679 episodes between 2006 and 2018, which is mental.
07:03Interestingly, she also plays Luella Shakespeare in the ongoing series Shakespeare and Hathaway Private Investigators,
07:09alongside the aforementioned Mark Benton.
07:11Now, Benton was killed in the first episode of Series 1, and Joyner was killed in the last.
07:16Life is funny sometimes. Or maybe it's just a coincidence, but maybe not.
07:20Number 9. Penelope Wilton
07:22Before she was Prime Minister, and then former Prime Minister,
07:26Harriet Jones was the humble MP for Flydale North, and she would not let anyone forget it.
07:31The boisterous backbencher found herself at the centre of the action when the Doctor and Rose discovered
07:35that top English politicians were actually hideous green monsters full of hot air.
07:39You can make your own jokes there.
07:41Jones was played by the marvellous Penelope Wilton, who is still going strong today at the grand old age of
07:4677.
07:46She is perhaps best known for her role in the iconic drama series Downton Abbey,
07:51which she reprised in the 2022 feature film sequel Downton Abbey A New Era.
07:56Recently, she was seen in a recurring role in Ricky Gervais' hit Netflix comedy series Afterlife.
08:01In 2016, she was made a dame for her services to drama, yet another accolade she can repeatedly remind people
08:07of.
08:08Number 8. Bruno Langley
08:10Halfway through series 1, RTD decided to showcase what a truly awful companion would look like.
08:15Enter Adam Mitchell.
08:17At first, he seems like a good egg, but a trip to the future reveals Adam's true nature when he
08:21attempts to steal information to make himself rich.
08:23This short-lived TARDIS traveller was played by Bruno Langley,
08:27who is best known for his long-running role as Todd Grimshaw in Coronation Street between 2001 and 2017.
08:32His acting career came screeching to a halt when he was charged with two counts of sexual assault in 2017.
08:38He pleaded guilty soon after, and was ordered to serve a 12-month community order and attend rehabilitation.
08:44His Corrie contract was terminated, and he hasn't returned to the show since.
08:48In fact, Langley hasn't been seen on TV or films since his conviction.
08:52In 2021, he attempted to relaunch himself as a musician, though apparently that didn't go down too well.
08:58Number 7. Annette Badland
08:59Though she first appeared in the Slothene two-parter, Margaret Blaine came into her own in the criminally underrated Boomtown.
09:07Part of why Boomtown is so good is because the actor behind Margaret, Annette Badland, fully understands the assignment.
09:14She delivers a fantastically nuanced performance, balancing her evil intentions with genuine regret and fear.
09:20In the years since, Badland has cropped up in numerous British TV shows, including Skins, Midsummer Murders, and you'll never
09:26believe this, Shakespeare and Hathaway Private Investigators.
09:28What is it with this show?
09:30Recently, Badland found a new audience as the gloriously foul-mouthed landlady May in the Apple TV Plus comedy Ted
09:37Lasso,
09:37for which she won an Ensemble Acting Award at the Screen Actors Guild Awards in 2022.
09:42Now, she didn't win anything for Boomtown, but that's because the world is a cruel place.
09:46Also, just putting it out there, I love Ted Lasso.
09:49Number 6. Sean Dingwall
09:51In one of the most emotional episodes of Doctor Who ever, Rose returns to the day of her father's death,
09:56to be by his side in his dying moments.
09:59Of course, she mucks the whole thing up by saving his life, but look, she was just doing her best.
10:03Daddy Tyler, or to give him his boring name, Pete, was played by Sean Dingwall, who effortlessly inhabits this kind
10:09-hearted dreamer.
10:10Dingwall would reappear as alternate universe Pete in 2006, eventually coming to his daughter's aid by saving her from the
10:17void.
10:17Dingwall has enjoyed a steady career over the last two decades.
10:21In 2010, he memorably featured in Only Falls and Horse's prequel series, Rock and Chips, as Del Boy's father, Reg
10:27Trotter.
10:28He then made the jump to Hollywood in 2017, starring alongside Donal Gleeson and Margot Robbie in Goodbye Christopher Robin,
10:35before returning to play Pete in the 2019 Big Finish audio series, Rose Tyler, The Dimension Canon.
10:41Number 5. Noel Clark
10:43Noel Clark appeared in the very first episode of series one as Rose's sweet yet unremarkable boyfriend, Mickey Smith.
10:50Over the next few years, Mickey would go from tin dog to confident leader, forging his own path in a
10:55parallel world.
10:56He then also married Martha Jones, which was weird.
10:59Clark gained massive prominence following the release of 2006's Kidulthood, a no-punches-pulled look at teenage life on the
11:06streets of London.
11:07Clark wrote and starred in the movie and directed its two sequels, 2008's Adulthood and 2016's Brotherhood.
11:13Becoming known as one of the hardest-hitting storytellers in UK cinema.
11:17In the interim, he also had a minor role in 2013 blockbuster Star Trek Into Darkness.
11:22In 2021, he was accused by dozens of women of bullying and sexual harassment.
11:27Clark's career was effectively halted.
11:29His recently awarded BAFTA for outstanding British contribution to cinema was revoked,
11:33and he's been out of the spotlight ever since.
11:35Clark swiftly denied the claims, and in 2023, he filed a £10 million defamation suit against The Guardian,
11:42which had published eight articles detailing various accusations against him.
11:46It remains to be seen whether or not Clark will win the case.
11:49He hasn't been seen in TV or films since the accusations in 2021, though.
11:54Number 4.
11:55Camille Kaduri
11:55After her husband Pete died in a tragic car accident that may or may not have saved the entire human
12:01race,
12:01Jackie Tyler soldiered on as a single mother to Rose.
12:04When a mysterious man called the Doctor came into their lives, Jackie was initially sceptical,
12:08but she eventually warmed to him, even joining him on a few of his adventures.
12:12Sadly, she was never allowed to drive the TARDIS.
12:15Jackie was one of the most relatable characters in the show.
12:17Everyone knew a Jackie in real life, for better or for worse.
12:20This was down to the work of Camille Kaduri, who excelled as the gossip-loving mum.
12:25You might not have heard her name a whole lot over the last 20 years,
12:28but she's popped up absolutely everywhere,
12:30from British period drama Lark Rise to Candleford in 2008,
12:34to crime comedy series Death in Paradise, or Channel 4's Big Boys in 2022.
12:39She's also returned to the Hooniverse in audio form,
12:41both as an actor and as the narrator of several Ninth Doctor audiobooks.
12:46See?
12:46She does like him, really.
12:47Number 3.
12:48John Barrowman
12:49With Adam out of the way, the door was opened for another new companion to join the TARDIS crew,
12:54and that vacancy was filled by dashing former time agent and future face of Bo, Captain Jack Harkness.
13:01He didn't last long, though, and was killed at the Battle of Satellite 5,
13:04only for Rose to accidentally grant him immortality.
13:06And the rest, as they say, is history.
13:09More so than most Series 1 stars,
13:11John Barrowman has enjoyed a successful mainstream career since those early revival days.
13:15He, of course, returned to Doctor Who multiple times,
13:18most recently in 2021's Revolution of the Daleks,
13:21and led the Torchwood spin-off until its final series in 2011.
13:25Away from the Hooniverse, he appeared in the Oscar-winning movie Zero Dark Thirty in 2012,
13:31chowed down on some goat's eyes in I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here in 2018,
13:35and joined the judges' panel for Dancing on Ice in 2020.
13:38In the wake of the Noel Clarke allegations, though,
13:41stories of John Barrowman's inappropriate on-set behaviour over the years began to surface.
13:46He apologised for reportedly exposing himself while making Doctor Who,
13:49saying that his actions were, quote,
13:51only ever intended in good humour.
13:53Soon after, Big Finish pulled the Torchwood audio drama Absent Friends from their release schedule,
13:58and ITV announced that he would not be returning to Dancing on Ice.
14:01But despite the controversy,
14:03Barrowman recently stated that he'd love to return to Doctor Who if given the chance.
14:07Number 2. Billy Piper
14:09From shop worker to time traveller to saviour of the entire universe,
14:13Rose Tyler went on quite the journey throughout the first series of Modern Who.
14:17As the first companion of the new era, Rose had a monumental task on her hands.
14:21But she pulled it off with aplomb,
14:23and is now regarded as one of the greatest partners the Doctor has ever had.
14:27And you can thank Billy Piper for that.
14:29The former pop star has continued to be an in-demand actress since 2005.
14:33She led the spicy drama series Secret Diary of a Cool Girl between 2007 and 2011,
14:39sharing a few memorable scenes with the 11th Doctor along the way.
14:42Her most iconic role, however, not counting her various returns to the Hooniverse,
14:47is undoubtedly Susie Pickles in the Bad Wolf-produced drama I Hate Susie,
14:52for which Piper has received widespread critical acclaim and awards buzz.
14:55Two series aired between 2020 and 2022,
14:58and the possibility of a third is still up in the air.
15:01Piper will next be seen in another major project,
15:04the Netflix movie Scoop,
15:06which tells the story of Newsnight's 2019 interview with Prince Andrew.
15:11And number one, Christopher Eccleston.
15:13Without Christopher Eccleston stepping into the luscious leather jacket of the 9th Doctor,
15:18there wouldn't be Doctor Who as we know it today.
15:20His gritty stoicism and dynamic presence attracted millions of new fans to the show,
15:25and reassured the old ones that things were in good hands.
15:28Despite exiting under controversial circumstances,
15:31Eccleston has been a very busy guy since turning into David Tennant.
15:35He was the baddie in major Hollywood productions Thor The Dark World and G.I. Joe The Rise of Cobra,
15:40and appeared in 23 episodes of HBO's The Leftovers during the mid-2010s,
15:45receiving a handful of Critics' Choice Award nominations in the process.
15:48More recently, we saw him play the role of Fagan in CBBC's Dodger,
15:53in which we finally got to see the 9th Doctor cross paths with River Song,
15:57as Alex Kingston also had a recurring role in that show.
16:00He returned to play the 9th Doctor on audio from 2021 onwards,
16:04and can currently be seen in season 4 of another HBO show, the crime series True Detective.
16:10He continues to dazzle as an actor, and is refreshingly outspoken of anything he doesn't like.
16:15Eccleston is truly one of a kind, and we were all lucky to have him as the Doctor, albeit briefly.
16:21And there you have it, but while we're on the topic of Doctor Who actors,
16:25why not check out Why Every Lead Actor Left Doctor Who?
16:28In the meantime, I've been Ellie with Who Culture,
16:30and in the words of River Song herself, goodbye, sweeties.
16:34Tree Entry
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