10 actors with roles in both Doctor Who and Star Trek
Noel Clarke may be the latest, but he certainly isn't the first actor to star in both Doctor Who and Star Trek. Alex looks back at 10 actors who've done the same...
As Noel Clarke is cast in JJ Abrams’ sequel to Star Trek, he joins a small band of actors who’ve appeared in both of sci-fi television’s biggest franchises. Some actors have appeared in many more. Guy Siner has worked across Doctor Who, Star Trek, Star Wars and Babylon 5! But let’s stick to Who and Trek for now…
Here then, in alphabetical order, are ten actors to have crossed the divide.
Daphne Ashbrook
In 1996, Daphne Ashbrook was cast as Dr Grace Holloway in the Paul McGann TV Movie of Doctor Who. A few weeks before the film debuted, BBC2 premiered an episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine called Melora in which Daphne starred as the eponymous Melora Pazlar.
John Franklyn-Robbins
The opening scene of Doctor Who story Genesis Of The Daleks sees the Doctor confronted by a Time Lord in a cowl played by John Franklyn-Robbins, who gives him a time ring to act as a lifeline. Some years later, John appeared in Star Trek: The Next Generation as Macias in an episode called Pre-Emptive Strike.
Barrie Ingham
Barrie Ingham appeared opposite William Hartnell as Paris in the Doctor Who story The Myth Makers. He was seen alongside Peter Cushing as Alydon in the film Doctor Who and The Daleks. Much later he was seen in Star Trek: The Next Generation episode Up The Long Ladder as Daniel Odell.
Christopher Neame
In 1980 Christopher Neame appeared in Doctor Who as the alien Skagra in the Douglas Adams-scripted Shada. A strike meant the story wasn’t completed and to this day it remains untransmitted, bar a short clip of the Doctor and Romana punting which was used in The Five Doctors.
Neame had better luck with the Star Trek franchise, appearing in Star Trek: Voyager episode Heroes and Demons and more recently he was seen in the two-part Enterprise episode – Storm Front.
Simon Pegg
Simon Pegg and Jessica Stevenson’s sublime, pop culture-obsessed sitcom Spaced contained many Who references, most notably when Bill Bailey’s character Bilbo asks Tim to “step into the office” and they enter a police box door.
Both Pegg and Stevenson were in the cast for Invaders From Mars, a Big Finish Doctor Who audio adventure. Pegg appeared the series proper in 2005, playing The Editor in The Long Game. He also provided the narration on the first series of the companion programme Doctor Who Confidential. Jessica Stevenson, under her married name of Hynes, made two appearances in the episodes Human Nature/Family Of Blood and The End Of Time.
Simon Pegg’s burgeoning film career took him to America, where JJ Abrams cast him as Montgomery Scott in Star Trek.
Maurice Roeves
A fine character actor, Maurice Roeves played Stoltz in the superlative Doctor Who adventure The Caves Of Androzani, which saw Peter Davison’s Doctor meet his end in a dramatic and exciting action adventure created by, arguably, Who’s greatest writer: Bob Holmes.
In 1981, Holmes had scripted The Nightmare Man which featured Roeves as a policeman on a sleepy Scottish Isle confronted by an unseen horror. A few years later, Maurice Roeves turned up in Star Trek: The Next Generation as a Romulan Captain in the episode The Chase.
Deep Roy
In Doctor Who, Deep played the role of Mr Sin in The Talons Of Weng-Chiang. After a memorable appearance in the superb Blake’s 7 episode Gambit as the speed chess freak The Klute, Roy returned to Who as Posicarian in episode 7 of The Trial Of A Time Lord (or part three of Mindwarp, if you prefer). His more recent credit (in a multiple role) as the Umpa-Lumpas in Tim Burton’s Charlie And The Chocolate Factory led to his casting as Keenser in director JJ Abrams’ first Star Trek movie.
Mark Sheppard
Mark appeared in the most recent series of Doctor Who as Canton Delaware in The Impossible Astronaut and Day Of The Moon. A few years earlier, the Battlestar Galactica actor was seen as Leucon in the Star Trek: Voyager episodes Collective and Child’s Play.
Guy Siner
Guy Siner is perhaps best known as Lieutenant Hubert Gruber in ‘Allo ‘Allo. Siner has many sci-fi roles to his name. In Doctor Who, he appeared as Ravon in the classic Tom Baker story Genesis Of The Daleks. He was Stuart Reed in the Enterprise episode Silent Enemy, his credits also include Babylon 5 and several Star Wars video games. He is one of the few ‘Allo ‘Allo actors to also have appeared in the series which inspired it: Secret Army.
David Warner
Acclaimed character actor David Warner has several connections to the Doctor Who franchise.
In 1976 his character was memorably and shockingly decapitated in The Omen, which featured Patrick Troughton as a priest. More recently he played the Doctor himself in the Unbound audio series and appeared in the Scarifyers story Magic Circle as the no-nonsense retired cop Harry ‘Thumper’ Crow. His voice was heard in the Doctor Who animation Dreamland in 2009.
He has appeared in two Star Trek feature films – Star Trek V: The Final Frontier and Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country – as well as making an appearance as Gul Madred in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode Chain Of Command.
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