Familiar Faces, Double Identities

Posted by Allison Rose

Peter Capaldi isn't the first actor (or Doctor, for that matter,) who has had previous roles in Doctor Who:

1) Karen Gillan
Like Peter Capaldi, Karen Gillan played one of the eery, red-robed soothsayers in Series Four's episode, "The Fires of Pompeii."  Whovians know her better as Amy Pond from Series Five to Seven.

2) Colin Baker
The actor who so colorfully (pun intended) portrayed the Sixth Doctor in classic Who first appeared as another Time Lord, Commander Maxil, in a Fifth Doctor story arc, "The Arc of Infinity," which, ironically, did not contain an infinite amount of episodes, although fans of the Fifth Doctor would have most likely enjoyed that quite thoroughly.

3) Freema Ageyman
We know her as the Tenth Doctor's companion, Martha Jones, but before that, she played a character who is revealed to be Martha's cousin, Adeola.  Adeola worked for Torchwood, an organization which Martha later worked for as well in its eponymous spin-off series.

4) Chipo Chung
Chan-- Chung played Chantho in two episodes of the finale arc of Series Two, "Utopia" and "The Sound of Drums," a blue-skinned insect-like alien who worked with Professor Y.A.N.A. (you can figure out what that stands for).  The actress returned in Series Four to play the fortune teller who forces Donna to explore a disastrous alternate timeline.

5) Eve Myles
She's Gwen in Torchwood, but she also played a character named Gwendolyn back in Series One of the rebooted series, in the episode "The Unquiet Dead."  There's plenty of speculation as to why Gwen and Gwendolyn look the same, such as Gwen traveling back in time under an assumed name....

6) Bernard Cribbins
Remember Donna's sweet old grandfather, Wilf?  He had the honor of being the Doctor's companion in The End of Time, when David Tennant (sniff) regenerated into Matt Smith, but this is not the first time the actor has played a Doctor's companion.


Check out this trailer for the 1960s movie, Dr. Who and the Daleks.

"It's a flying saucer!"  Oh, Donna would be so jealous!

Source: http://www.bbcamerica.com/anglophenia/2012/01/doctor-who-and-the-reusable-actors-parts-1-10/