John Hurt

 was a human actor who appeared in a film titled Alien. A memorable scene involved an alien creature bursting out of his character's chest. Toshiko Sato compared the body of a dead soldier with his heart ripped out to "that bit in Alien where that thing bursts out of John Hurt". (TV: Greeks Bearing Gifts)

Behind the scenes
John Hurt the actor has not only been referenced in the Doctor Who universe, but he also played an unknown incarnation of the Doctor in TV: The Name of the Doctor.

Born 22 January 1940, John Hurt is one of the few -nominated actors to appear in Doctor Who, and the only Oscar-nominated actor to play the Doctor. He is also the oldest actor to play the Doctor, beating William Hartnell by more than 15 years, as well as the first actor to play the Doctor in the revived series to be born before the original series was first broadcast.

He is known for various iconic roles such as Winston Smith in the film adaptation of 1984, and his award winning performance Quentin Crisp in the TV series The Naked Civil Servant. Hurt also appeared in I, Claudius alongside Derek Jacobi, and more recently in three of the Harry Potter movies as Garrick Ollivander, V For Vendetta, Tinker Tailer Soldier Spy, and provided the voice of the dragon, in the BBC series Merlin.

Hurt also appeared in the Ridley Scott film Alien, portraying the character of Kane who is central to the infamous "chest-bursting" scene, regarded as one of the most famous scenes in science fiction cinema. As such it has been referenced and parodied several times, which he did himself in Spaceballs. Steven Moffat's earlier series Coupling is another such example.