David Tennant and 10 Other Harry Potter Actors Who Appeared in Doctor Who
British shows and movies tend to have more or less the same cast, but these two franchises took it one step further.
Here are some of the actors who played Harry Potter characters and popped up in Doctor Who as well.
David Tennant
Let’s start from the obvious. The beloved baddie Barty Crouch Junior was the same guy who played the Tenth Doctor – and now also the Fourteenth Doctor! These roles are so strikingly different that they are truly a testament to Tennant’s astonishing acting talent.
Mark Williams
Many Harry Potter fans were surprised to see Mister Weasley, the father of seven, pop up in a season 7 space adventure with the Doctor, Amy, and Rory as the latter’s dad! Arthur still got it – he played fetch with actual dinosaurs, and that’s the most Mister Weasley thing ever.
David Bradley
This actor just has one of these faces that make casting directors give him bad guy roles to play. Bradley was first Argus Filch, the hated Squid caretaker who was always followed around by his cat Missis Norris, and then he appeared as vicious Solomon, who killed all the Silurians and stole their dinosaurs. He was later “promoted” to playing the First Doctor himself!
John Hurt
Once the wandmaker Mister Ollivander, Hurt went on to play the iconic War Doctor in the 50th-anniversary special. He was close to unrecognizable in his Time Lord attire, though, so maybe the late actor really was a wizard.
Michael Gambon
This star took over the role of mostly calm Albus Dumbledore, the Hogwarts headmaster (and part-time the manipulator of people’s lives), after Richard Harris passed away. His Doctor Who role was just as complicated – he portrayed the father-son duo, Kazran and Elliot Sardick, in the 2010 Chistmas special.
Adrian Rawlins
OK, get ready to have your mind blown. Remember Doctor Ryder, the guy who infiltrated the Ood factory to destroy it from within? That’s James Potter. Yeah, you heard us right (we are just as shook as you probably are).
Helen McCrory
The late actress had grace and poise like no one else, and her roles reflected that. McCrory played the aristocrat Narcissa Malfoy in Harry Potter and the alien fish leader Rosanna Calvierri in Doctor Who.
Warwick Davis
You may remember Davis as either Professor Flitwick, Griphook in the last two Harry Potter movies, or the goblin in the Gringotts Bank in the first film. He also notably played Porridge, the emperor in disguise who proposed to Clara in season 7.
Toby Jones
This actor may not have physically appeared in Harry Potter, but he famously played the beloved Dobby the house-elf, Harry’s friend and protector. His Doctor Who character was nowhere as sweet as Dobby – he was the trickster Dream Lord in the season 5 episode.
Zoë Wanamaker
Harry Potter’s own Professor Hooch, who was the fair judge of all Quidditch matches, was once Lady Cassandra, the so-called last pure human whose catchphrase “Moisturize me!” allowed for so many creative jokes in Doctor Who.
Simon Fisher-Becker
Potterheads certainly remember this star as Fat Friar, the Hufflepuff House’s resident ghost. In Doctor Who, his role was more prominent – he landed the role of Dorium Maldovar, the Doctor’s ally, and played a key role in quite a few episodes.
