13 Doctor Who actors who played different characters in Torchwood

The TV universe of Doctor Who (aka the Whoniverse) is a wonderful place, stuffed full with callbacks, recurring characters and running gags that make it feel like a richly-realised world.

However, the best planning in the world can’t prevent the odd inconsistency, especially in a series that features so many British actors over such a period of time. Yep, it was inevitable that a few stars would appear as characters in the main series, only to contradict it by appearing as someone completely different in one of its spin-offs, namely BBC3 adult-themed drama Torchwood.

Frankly, no claims of spatial genetic multiplicity are going to explain away some of these repeated actors…

1. Peter Capaldi Yes, this is the one we all know – Twelfth Doctor Peter Capaldi famously played government official John Frobisher in Torchwood before he got the keys to the TARDIS, which happened after he’d already appeared once in Doctor Who as a Roman called Caecilius.

Yep, he gets around – though last year this repeated face was finally explained by showrunner Steven Moffat …

2. Colin McFarlane Together with Capaldi’s appearance, this one completes a rather pleasing double whammy… You’ll probably recognise McFarlane for his Doctor Who role in last series’ Under the Lake/Before the Flood, where he played the ghostly Moran. But he also starred alongside Capaldi in Torchwood: Children of Earth, playing General Pierce to Capaldi’s John Frobisher.

3. Eve Myles Another well-known reoccurrence, Eve Myles’ role as psychic maid Gwyneth in 2005’s The Unquiet Dead ended up scoring her a lead role as Gwen Cooper in Torchwood.

4. William Thomas The veteran Welsh actor played scientist and Slitheen victim Mr Cleaver in Doctor Who, and returned to the Whoniverse to take the role of Gwen Cooper’s (Eve Myles) father in the adult spin-off.

5. Julian Bleach Best known for playing Dalek creator Davros in 2008 and 2015 episodes of Doctor Who, Bleach previously appeared in Torchwood as a breath-stealing villain called The Ghostmaker. And, completing the set, Bleach also played a Sarah-Jane Adventures villain, appearing as The Nightmare Man in a story of the same name.

6. Yasmin Bannerman We all remember Bannerman’s performance as tree-lady Jabe in 2005 episode The End of the World – but you might not realise that she also cropped up in Torchwood playing DI Kathy Swanson, who investigated the team for a string of murders.

7. Owen Teale Time for a bit of a Game of Thrones section now, starting with Ser Alliser Thorne actor Owen Teale.

Teale’s second-ever acting credit was on Doctor Who, seeing him take the role of a guard called Maldak in classic 1985 episode Vengeance on Varos. Years later, he returned to his sci-fi roots for 2006 Torchwood episode Countrycide, where he played a cannibalistic villager called Evan Sherman.

8. Roger Ashton-Griffiths Game of Thrones actor number two is Roger Ashton-Griffiths (aka Mace Tyrell), who played a kindly teacher in 2006 Torchwood episode Random Shoes and a rebellious villager who was murdered by the Sheriff of Nottingham in 2014 Doctor Who episode Robot of Sherwood.

9. Robert Pugh And the last GoT entry is Robert Pugh, who before playing Craster in the HBO series racked up an appearance as engineer Tony Mack in Silurian two-parter The Hungry Earth/Cold Blood.

However, he’d already appeared in the Whoniverse in Torchwood episode Adrift, where he played traumatised Rift victim Jonah.

10. Richard Briers The late, great Richard Briers is another classic Who actor to appear in Torchwood, as the Chief Caretaker in 1987 Seventh Doctor story Paradise Towers and as millionaire entrepreneur Henry Parker in 2008 Torchwood episode A Day in the Death.

11. Paul Kasey You’ll definitely have seen Paul Kasey in one of his roles across Doctor Who, Torchwood or the Sarah-Jane Adventures, but you’d be hard pushed to recognize the actor as he’s always completely encased inside a monster suit as one of the Doctor’s alien foes.

Over the years he’s played Weevils, Judoon, Clockwork droids, Ood, Blowfish, Slitheen and Zygons, as well as appearing without prosthetics for a cameo in Peter Capaldi’s first full Doctor Who episode Deep Breath.

12. Nicholas Briggs Perennial voice-of-Daleks Nicholas Briggs made a rare foray into live-action performing for Torchwood, playing slimy deputy Prime Minister Rick Yates in 2009’s Children of Earth.

13. And finally… Freema Agyeman Yep, you read that right, and no, we haven’t got confused. While Agyeman did reprise her Doctor Who role as companion Martha Jones for Torchwood, rather than star as a new character, technically she still qualifies for this list because she’d previously played someone else entirely in Doctor Who – Torchwood One worker Adeola, who was brainwashed by the Cybermen.