50 Actors Who Could Play the Next Doctor on Doctor Who

Hayley Atwell in “Captain America: The First Avenger”. (Photo: Marvel Studios)

Hayley Atwell

Everyone loves Hayley Atwell. Everyone. She’s best known as Agent Peggy Carter, all around badass SHIELD agent, girlfriend of Captain America, and general life goals for humanity. Seriously, Atwell is amazing. Gorgeous, charming, fierce and vulnerable, she’s got everything you could ever want in a Doctor. She’s proven she can carry a show as an actress, and that she can portray a character who has to carry the weight of the world with them. And, hey, a lot of people out there would really like to see a Time Lady this time around instead of a Time Lord. Atwell would cover all those bases, and be an amazing addition to the franchise at the same time.

Furthermore, Atwell comes with a built in fanbase from her work with Marvel, her previous series Agent Carter and her short-lived legal drama Conviction. Talk about brining new viewers to Doctor Who fandom, right? It’s a perfect, easy way to grow the show’s audience among the type of dedicated (okay, fine: obsessive) viewers most likely to also tell their friends to tune in, too. And just think about all the Agent Carter crossover cosplays.

However, Atwell just got cast in a BBC television adaptation of Howard’s End alongside Matthew Macfadyen. So she might be a little too busy to be the first female Time Lord at the moment. But that’s also looking like a one-season show, and there are already rumors of Season 11 of Doctor Who taking its time to get to our televisions. So, it’s probably not a dealbreaker. We’d hope.