John Hurt

John Hurt (born January 22 1940) played an unknown incarnation of the Doctor in TV: The Name of the Doctor. He is one of the few Oscar-nominated actors to appear in Doctor Who and only Oscar-nominated actor to play The Doctor.

He is the oldest actor to play The Doctor, beating out William Hartnell by more than 15 years). He is the first actor to play The Doctor in the revived series to be born before the original series first premiered.

Within the Doctor Who universe
John Hurt exists as an individual within the Doctor Who universe. In TV: Greeks Bearing Gifts, 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."