Veteran actor Brian Blessed says he has no regrets about turning down the coveted role of Doctor Who. The BBC wanted him to take over as the Time Lord in 1966 when William Hartnell left the then-three-year-old sci-fi drama through ill health. But 88-year-old Brian claims the Beeb started touting his name around as the second Doctor before he had even been approached. And so he decided to cause havoc behind the scenes with TV bosses when they eventually asked him to join the show.

He revealed: “Did you know The Radio Times put me on the front cover as Doctor Who? The BBC were going to make me Doctor Who without even talking to me. But they were terrified when I said ‘If I ever play Doctor Who I’d want to play him as oriental’. This was in the 1960s and they nearly had a f****** heart attack. Who?? His name is not Doctor Smith. It’s Doctor Whooooooooooo… he’s f****** oriental. I don’t regret turning it down.”

The second incarnation of the Time Lord went to a then 46-year-old Patrick Troughton, who played the role for three years. It would be another 20 years before Brian appeared in the long-running show as King Yrcanos. But his decision did not backfire on him. Having already been in BBC series Z-Cars, he starred in films such as Flash Gordon, Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, and Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.