If you spotted that cameo in Voyage of the Damned, you deserve a medal!
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00:00 If the surprise appearance of past Doctors and companions in The Power of the Doctor
00:04 proved anything, it's that Doctor Who fans love a cameo.
00:08 Indeed, many would argue that the best cameos involve actors we're already familiar with,
00:12 in roles where we can instantly recognise them.
00:15 But some cameos work more stealthily, disguising people we do know as people we don't, to
00:20 the point where we might not notice them until a repeat viewing, if at all.
00:24 And so, with that in mind, I'm Ellie with WhoCulture, here with 10 Doctor Who Cameos
00:29 you definitely missed.
00:31 10.
00:32 Sandy McDonald in The Unicorn and the Wasp
00:35 Appropriately enough, our first cameo comes from an episode all about looking for clues,
00:40 though hopefully you won't need a magnifying glass to spot him.
00:43 Look closely when the Tenth Doctor and Donna are enjoying cocktails on the lawn in The
00:47 Unicorn and the Wasp, and you might just spot a footman bearing a passing resemblance to
00:51 the tenth and now fourteenth incarnation of everyone's favourite Time Lord.
00:56 That's because he was played by David Tennant's late father, Sandy McDonald.
01:00 "I was coming down to visit David," McDonald explained to Doctor Who Confidential.
01:04 "I think they must have been short of someone because they very kindly invited me to play
01:08 the part of a footman."
01:09 Having your dad feature in Doctor Who is a claim to fame no other Doctor can make, but
01:13 consider also that Tennant's future wife, Georgia, and his father-in-law, Peter Davidson,
01:18 obviously also have appeared in Doctor Who.
01:22 At this point, the Tennant clan pretty much just own Doctor Who.
01:25 9.
01:26 Brian Miller in Deep Breath From the father of a doctor, we move to the
01:30 husband of a companion.
01:32 Who frowned me this face?
01:34 The Twelfth Doctor, Arsa Tramp, in his debut story Deep Breath, a nod to Peter Capaldi's
01:38 previous roles in the Whoniverse.
01:40 But Capaldi isn't the only familiar face in this scene.
01:43 In fact, the Tramp's face had also featured in the Whoniverse before, in the Fifth Doctor
01:48 serial Snake Dance, and in the Sarah Jane adventures in the story The Mad Woman in the
01:52 Attic.
01:53 The character behind these characters, Brian Miller, also provided Dalek voices for Resurrection
01:58 and Remembrance of the Daleks.
02:00 Miller also has another significant connection to the show, though.
02:03 He was the husband of Elizabeth Sladen, who of course played the wonderful Sarah Jane
02:08 Smith.
02:09 A meeting between the Twelfth Doctor and Sarah Jane was sadly always off the cards, due to
02:13 Sladen's untimely passing in 2011.
02:16 But by having her widow appear in Twelve's debut story, the production team were at least
02:20 able to nod to what could have been.
02:23 8.
02:24 Nicholas Courtney in Silver Nemesis
02:26 Brian Miller isn't the only person connected with Classic Who to enjoy a cheeky cameo.
02:31 When the TARDIS materialises at Windsor Castle in 25th Anniversary's Shindig's Silver
02:36 Nemesis, pay attention to the group of tourists that walk through the shot.
02:40 Some of these tourists are, as you would expect, plain old extras, but hidden away at the back
02:44 are a number of Doctor Who contributors, including none other than the Brigadier himself, Nicholas
02:49 Courtney.
02:50 Unlike the other tourists, Courtney's face is obscured, but he's easily identified
02:54 by his grey blazer and cream trousers.
02:57 The disguise is completed by a beret, apparently chosen by Courtney himself, having been told
03:01 he was playing a French tourist.
03:03 Also among the crowd were writers Graham Curry and Kevin Clarke, and directors Andrew Morgan,
03:08 Peter Moffat and Fiona Cumming.
03:10 If all had gone to plan, Silver Nemesis would have featured a much more prominent cameo
03:14 in the form of Prince Edward.
03:16 The ambitious producer John Nathan-Turner made an appeal to Buckingham Palace, hoping
03:20 for the best, but his appeal was swiftly shot down.
03:24 7.
03:25 Mark Gatiss in Victory of the Daleks
03:28 Over a period of 12 years, from 2005 to 2017, Mark Gatiss penned no less than nine Doctor
03:35 Who stories, and physically appeared in three, as Richard Lazarus in The Lazarus Experiment,
03:40 Gantok in The Wedding of River Song, and Archibald Hamish Lethbridge-Stewart in Twice Upon a
03:45 Time.
03:46 What's important to know is that Gatiss also provided the voice of World War II pilot
03:49 Danny Boy in Victory of the Daleks, the only instance of him appearing in an episode that
03:54 he had also written, and the first time in the show's history that a character had
03:58 been written and performed by the same person.
04:01 Gatiss had not written the part with himself in mind, but he was offered it late in the
04:05 day by cast and director Andy Pryor.
04:07 He reprised the role in A Good Man Goes to War when Danny Boy returned to help take down
04:11 Demon's Run.
04:12 It's hardly Gatiss' most significant contribution to the show, but nevertheless
04:17 it's a role he clearly relished playing.
04:19 Number 6 - Harley Byrd in In the Forest of the Night
04:23 This entry is another voice you might recognise, and is the youngest actor on this list.
04:28 Harley Byrd played inquisitive schoolgirl Ruby in series 8's In the Forest of the
04:33 Night.
04:34 If you notice something familiar about her voice, specifically a similar cadence to that
04:37 of a certain cartoon character, then you'd be onto something.
04:41 That's because she was the voice of Pepper Pig between 2007 and 2020.
04:45 Byrd is one of four actors to have voiced the character over the years, and the longest
04:50 serving.
04:51 She was just 12 years old when she recorded her Doctor Who scenes, roughly halfway through
04:54 her stint as the animated piglet.
04:56 Interestingly, she's also not the only actor to have starred in both shows.
05:01 Pepper Pig's grandparents, Grandpa Pig and Granny Pig, have both been played by classic
05:05 Who alums, specifically David Graham, who voiced the Daleks throughout the Hartnell
05:09 era, and Frances White, Cassandra in the first Doctor serial, The Myth Makers.
05:14 So basically, Pepper Pig's grandparents are a 60s Dalek and a Greek High Priestess.
05:19 Now there's an idea for a big finish box set.
05:23 Number 5 - John Nathan Turner in Arc of Infinity
05:26 This is by far the hardest cameo on this list to spot, but persevere with that pause button
05:32 and you'll find it eventually.
05:33 The episode in question is part 4 of Arc of Infinity, Towards the Beginning.
05:37 Here, the TARDIS lands in Amsterdam, and the Fifth Doctor consults the directory inside
05:42 a telephone booth.
05:43 Pay close attention and you might just glimpse a man walking behind the booth in a brown
05:47 sheepskin coat.
05:48 That man is Doctor Who stalwart John Nathan Turner, the producer who oversaw the show
05:52 from 1980 to its cancellation in 1989.
05:56 Unlike the Silver Nemesis cameos, however, Nathan Turner's inclusion was nothing more
06:00 than an accident.
06:01 The filming in Amsterdam attracted lots of attention, with many shots ruined by people
06:06 pointing at the camera.
06:07 Consequently, John Nathan Turner had to act as a crowd marshal, which is how he ended
06:11 up in the shot.
06:12 Reportedly, on another occasion, an old woman started attacking him, believing him to be
06:16 a thief.
06:17 Sadly, this particular instance of crowd control wasn't committed to camera.
06:21 Number 4 - Greg James in Closing Time
06:24 Closing Time saw the return of James Corden as the Eleventh Doctor's one-time flat share
06:28 Craig Owens, and it also saw Aunty Mabel herself, Linda Barron, appear in a supporting role
06:33 as shop worker Val.
06:35 But Corden and Barron weren't the only stars to frequent the aisles of Sanderson and Granger.
06:40 Pay attention when Craig is making a fool of himself in the ladieswear section, and
06:44 you'll catch a glimpse of Radio 1 DJ Greg James.
06:47 James was left to invent his character from scratch, a task which he met with open arms,
06:52 christening him Carlos and hinting at a complex backstory.
06:55 However, his Doctor Who experience was also something of a logistical nightmare.
06:59 Why?
07:00 Well, Doctor Who is filmed in Cardiff, a two-hour train ride from the Radio 1 studio in London.
07:05 For James, this meant being whisked off to Cardiff as soon as his show had finished recording,
07:09 then heading straight back to London the following morning to record his next show on very little
07:13 sleep that afternoon.
07:15 Now, that's the level of dedication that Doctor Who deserves.
07:19 Number 3 - Murray Gold in Voyage of the Damned
07:21 2007 Christmas special Voyage of the Damned boasts one of Doctor Who's most impressive
07:26 guest casts.
07:27 Kylie Minogue, Jeffrey Palmer, Russell Tovey, Bernard Cribbins, Clive Swift, the list goes
07:32 on and on.
07:33 But look closely and you'll find another star hidden away on the decks of the Space
07:37 Titanic.
07:38 He only ever appears in the background, in the band playing guitar, and he doesn't look
07:42 particularly notable.
07:44 You might not even recognise his face - the moustache does help keep it disguised - but
07:48 you'll definitely recognise his music.
07:50 That's because this man is Doctor Who's former composer, Murray Gold.
07:54 Gold had contributed his musical talents to every modern Who episode up until that point,
07:59 and Voyage of the Damned was no exception, only this time he'd end up starring in the
08:03 episode 2.
08:04 It was something of a departure for Gold, who admitted to Doctor Who Confidential that
08:08 he found work as a supporting actor boring, and that he resented having to wear a fake
08:12 moustache.
08:13 Number 2 - Dudley Simpson in The Talons of Wen Chaing
08:17 Murray Gold wasn't the first Doctor Who composer to feature in the show.
08:20 30 years earlier, classic Who's own maestro got there first.
08:24 To find him, you'll need to turn to the fourth Doctor serial, The Talons of Wen Chaing.
08:28 Keep your eyes peeled in the opening moments of part 1, and you might just spot a very
08:32 energetic conductor playing the band off as the curtain comes down in the Palace Theatre.
08:36 Fast forward to part 4, and this mysterious figure appears again, this time conducting
08:41 a rendition of the popular music hall song Daisy Bell.
08:44 This is Dudley Simpson, the man who was responsible for some of classic Who's most iconic soundtracks,
08:50 including the score to City of Death.
08:52 Like Gold, you might not know his face, but his music is nothing short of brilliant.
08:56 Indeed, with over 60 scores to his name, Simpson was classic Who's most prolific composer,
09:01 so it's fitting that he was the one to make it into the show itself.
09:05 Number 1 - Kayvan Novak in The Time of the Doctor
09:08 You'd be forgiven for thinking that there wasn't anything particularly remarkable about
09:12 the actor who played Handles, the Eleventh Doctor's beloved cyberhead.
09:16 He's got a slightly different twang to that of usual Cyberman voice actor Nick Briggs,
09:20 yes, but surely it's not someone we'd recognise from elsewhere, is it?
09:24 Well, that's where you'd be wrong.
09:26 Even prior to appearing in The Time of the Doctor, Kayvan Novak had multiple TV credits
09:30 to his name, including E4 comedy Phone Jacker, a show he also co-created and which won him
09:36 a BAFTA.
09:37 His film credits were fewer, but have exploded in the years since he lent his pipes to Matt
09:41 Smith's Swan Song, with roles in Paddington, Men in Black, International, and Cruella.
09:46 But by far, Novak's most well-known role is one that came about six years after The
09:50 Time of the Doctor, as the vampire Nandor in the TV adaptation of What We Do in the
09:55 Shadows.
09:56 It's a rare case, on this list at least, of someone cameoing in Doctor Who before rising
10:00 to prominence, to the point where fans of Novak's other work will likely not have
10:04 made the connection.
10:05 So, we're gonna say that his star-turner's Handles was responsible for his career boom.
10:10 We're sure of it.
10:11 And that concludes our list.
10:12 If you think we missed anyone, then do let us know in the comments below, and while you're
10:16 there, don't forget to like and subscribe and tap that notification bell so you never
10:19 miss a Who Culture video again.
10:21 Also head over to Twitter and follow us there and Instagram as well, and I can be found
10:25 across various social medias just by searching Ellie Littlechild.
10:28 Look out for Sean Ferrick on the various socials as well, and Dan The Meeks too.
10:32 I've been Ellie with Who Culture, and in the words of River Song herself, goodbye,