1. Gavin & Stacey star James Corden has made a return to Doctor Who in its thirty-third season and drew a fair bit of press attention. But featuring comedy stars in the show has been a long tradition:
2. Fawlty Towers: John Cleese was in City Of Death in a one-scene cameo as an art expert. I mention this because it is probably the most successful sitcom – certainly its twelve episodes are regarded as the most influential television comedy show by members of the BFI (according to a recent poll). Cleese’s cameo (along with fellow Cambridge footlights star Eleanor Bron) is fondly remembered and often YouTubed.
3. Butterflies: Geoffrey Palmer was in Doctor Who And The Cave Monsters and Voyage Of The damned
4. Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads: Stars from this series appeared in two Dalek serials, Rodney Bewes played Dalek duplicate Stien in Resurrection Of The Daleks and Bridgit Forsyth played Ruth Maxtible in 1967’s Evil Of The Daleks
5. The Good Life: Richard Briers turned in a truly abysmal performance as The Chief Caretaker in Paradise Towers (1988), while Felicity Kendall played Lady Clemency Eddison in The Unicorn And The Wasp (2008)
6. The League Of Gentlemen: Mark Gatiss as Professor Lazarus in The Lazarus Experiment, and Gantok in The Wedding Of River Song, and Steve Pemberton as Strackman Lux in Silence In The Library.
7. Only Fools And Horses: Roger Lloyd-Pack as John Lumic in The Rise Of The Cybermen/The Age Of Steel (2006), John Challis as Scorby in The Seeds Of Doom (1976)
8. One Foot In The Grave: Richard Wilson as Doctor Constantine in The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances (2005), and Annette Crosbie as Mrs Angelo in The Eleventh Hour (2010)
9. The Liver Birds: Polly James in 1982’s The Awakening and Nerys Hughes in Kinda (1984) both starred alongside Peter Davison.
But the first star of Doctor Who, William Hartnell comes from a venerable sit-com:
10.The Army Game (1957-1961). He is in good company: First Ice Warrior Varga from The Ice Warriors (1967) was played by Bernard Bresslaw, and Bill Fraser played Grugger in 1980’s Meglos.
So in general, it’s a very good ploy for Doctor Who directors to cast comedy stars. In most cases they can act, in some cases, they turn in an exceptional performance. The only real clunker in this list is Richard Briers who, having given sterling service in Marriage Lines, Ever Decreasing Circles, and The Good Life, and proved himself in “serious” theatre, chose to ham it up carelessly in Paradise Towers.
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