13 Good Omens actors you didn't know were in Doctor Who

Good Omens had a lot going for it when it first came out. It was incredibly popular as a book, but the television series seemed to strike gold in a way that few other shows have managed. Neil Gaiman was an increasingly beloved writer, the series was perfectly timed within a spree of late-2010s Antichrist stories, and the cast was incredible. But perhaps one of the best things that the show had going for it was all of the connections to Doctor Who.

Of course, pretty much everyone knows that David Tennant, who famously played the Tenth (and now Fourteenth) Doctor on Doctor Who, is one of Good Omens' stars as Crowley. But the crossovers go much farther than that. According to IMDb's collaboration search feature, there are more than 150 people cross-credited between the two franchises.

Much of this is to be expected, as both productions are British. Doctor Who has had nearly 900 episodes across its history, so it's no wonder that some of the cast and crew from that time also worked on Good Omens. However, it creates an enjoyable experience for fans of both shows to call out the many crossovers as they see them.

Some actors seemed to appear in Good Omens precisely because of their connections to Doctor Who. This includes David Tennant's father-in-law and fifth Doctor Peter Davison and Steven Moffat's frequent collaborator, Mark Gatiss. However, many more simply appeared in one or two episodes of Doctor Who before taking on more prominent roles in Good Omens.

The 13 actors described below were only in Doctor Who for a short time, but that doesn't mean their contributions to the sci-fi giant should be ignored. Here, we give a brief reminder of their roles in Good Omens before diving into their Doctor Who appearances.

*Note: Some of these actors played roles that were not shown in available clips. In these instances, a video clip that showcases the episode or similar moments to those the actor performed in are used instead.

Anna Maxwell Martin

Fans will recognize Anna Maxwell Martin as the corporeal form for Beelzebub in the first season of Good Omens, with a brief reappearance in the final episode of season two. Martin voiced Maddie Bower in two episodes of The Diary of River Song, but will be better remembered for her earlier appearance in the Whoniverse. One of her first acting roles was in the first series of Doctor Who, where she played Eva Saint Julienne in “The Long Game.”

If that name doesn’t sound familiar, it might be because her character was actually using an alias (Suki Macrae Cantrell) at the time. “The Long Game” featured the Doctor, Rose, and Adam visiting Satellite 5 in the year 200,000. Eva Saint Julienne was a rebel, looking to prove the corruption at Satellite 5 and take down those responsible for it. While she was killed for learning too much, her corpse was reanimated and ended up playing a pivotal role in stopping the Jagrafess.

Brian Cox

Although better known for his role in Succession, fans of Good Omens may recognize Brian Cox as the voice behind Death in the first season. He had the perfect balance of patience and ominousness in that portrayal, which might have tugged at Doctor Who fans’ memories. This is because he also voiced the Elder Ood in “The End of Time.”

The Ood may largely look alike, but Cox’s version is a standout for a few reasons. The major reason is that the Elder Ood is the only one not voiced by Silas Carson. In addition, the Elder Ood has a prominent role in the story, warning the Doctor of the Master’s return and getting to say the titular line.

Jamie Hill

Jamie Hill is a fascinating counter to Brian Cox, as he was the performer responsible for Death’s body in Good Omens. His only other professional credits come from Doctor Who, where he has been the body behind five different monsters, across eleven episodes.

He is formally credited as the Foretold in “Mummy on the Orient Express” and the Monk in the series 10 arc from “Extremis” to “The Lie of the Land.” However, he has also shared that he was one of three actors to play a Silent in series 6 and 8, an Ice Warrior in “Empress of Mars,” and a Mondasian Cyberman in “World Enough and Time.” While his face may not be well-known, he is a shining example of the crossover between the two British series.

Elizabeth Berrington

Elizabeth Berrington portrayed the demon Dagon across both seasons of Good Omens, typically serving as an underling for Beelzebub. Before that, she took on the role of Auntie in “The Doctor’s Wife,” ironically acting alongside Michael Sheen’s House in an episode written by Neil Gaiman.

In that episode, Auntie worked alongside Uncle and Nephew to lure TARDISes to the planet. Her body was composed primarily of body parts from slaughtered Time Lords, with an arm that was taken from the Corsair. She and her Frankensteined companion were only able to survive with House’s assistance, leading to their deaths when he abandoned them.

Derek Jacobi

Although he has only been in two episodes of Good Omens so far, Derek Jacobi’s Metatron is very well-known to fans as the angel behind Crowley and Aziraphale’s separation. He is similarly well-known to the Doctor Who community, despite only appearing on-screen once.

Derek Jacobi was considered for multiple roles in Doctor Who’s history, but he didn’t make it into the franchise until 2003 when he played the Master in “Scream of the Shalka.” He then ended up playing the War Master (AKA Professor Yana) in the series 3 episode “Utopia.” Since then, he has reprised the role around 50 times in audio dramas.

Daniel Mays

Daniel Mays took on the role of the Antichrist’s chosen father, Arthur Young, in Good Omens, where he was a clumsy yet dutiful father. He had played a similar role eight years earlier on Doctor Who when he portrayed Alex in the series 6 episode “Night Terrors.”

In that episode, Mays played a young man whose son was secretly an alien known as a Tenza. His son, George, seemed to be scared of everything, and his fears began to manifest themselves in the real world. The crux of the episode was George’s fear that his father would send him away, with resolution only being possible when Alex assured his son that he would not abandon him.

Nina Sosanya

Nina Sosanya is one of the Good Omens actors who changed roles from one season to the next. She played Sister Loquacious in season one and then Nina in season two. Similarly, Doctor Who fans may know her for playing Trish Webber in the series 2 episode “Fear Her” or for voicing Anna Maynard in the audio drama Aquitaine.

In the show, her character was the mother of Chloe Webber, a young girl with the power to bring her drawings to life. The child had befriended a psychic alien, which was using its powers to trape people from the real world in drawings. When the alien left, Trish had to keep her daughter calm, especially when it seemed like her abusive ex might be coming back.

Reece Shearsmith

Reece Shearsmith played two roles in Good Omens, portraying William Shakespeare in the first season and then the demon Furfur in the second. Likewise, he has held two roles in the world of Doctor Who. He acted as Patrick Troughton/the Second Doctor when they were needed in the modern era, as well as originating a unique role as Gagan Rassmussen in the series 9 episode “Sleep No More.”

The episode was structured as a found footage collection, narrated by Rassmussen. The Doctor, Clara, and a rescue team come to a space station that has seemingly been abandoned for one day. But it was actually overtaken by monsters, generated by the Morpheus technology (which allows humans a month’s wakefulness with only 5 minutes’ sleep). The technology was created by Rassmussen, and he continued to be an antagonist as the episode moved forward.

Ariyon Bakare

Ariyon Bakare plays Ligur in Good Omens, a demon who worked with Hastur to bring the Antichrist to Earth. He played two different roles in the Doctor Who audio dramas but would be best known to fans for portraying Leandro in the series 9 episode “The Woman Who Lived.”

The episode showed the Doctor meeting back up with Ashildr, a Viking girl he had given immortality. She had become a bandit, partnering up with an alien (Leandro). They had been trying to get an artifact that would allow them to leave Earth, but Leandro betrayed her and revealed himself to be a scout for an invading species.

Maggie Service

Like Nina Sosanya, Maggie Service played a nun (Sister Theresa Garrulous) in the first season and then a self-titled lead character in season two of Good Omens. In the expanded world of Doctor Who, she has become a prominent voice actor, with eight audio drama episodes under her belt and interactions with at least three different Doctors. In the show, she played Elsie in the series 8 opener, “Deep Breath.”

While Clara tried to accept the Doctor’s new form, they joined the Paternoster gang to investigate cases of spontaneous combustion in London. Elsie is one of the locals who witnessed some of the strange events that were happening. Her husband blamed the appearance of a dinosaur in the Thames on a government conspiracy and was shortly thereafter killed for his eyes.

Steve Pemberton

Steve Pemberton portrayed Mr. Glozier in Good Omens, a Nazi spy seeking The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch. He then appeared again as a zombie version of the same character in season two. In a more morally ambiguous role, Pemberton played Strackman Lux in Silence in the Library and Forest of the Dead.

In those episodes, Lux was in charge of River Song’s archaeological expedition, which had come to discover why the Library shut down. As the descendant of the Library’s founder, he had a vested personal and financial interest in determining what went wrong. This often put him in a secondary antagonist role, but he did eventually provide the information needed to free those who had been trapped there.

Bill Paterson

Bill Paterson played a small but memorable role in Good Omens as R. P. Tyler, the head of the Tadfield Neighbourhood Watch and overall crotchety old man. In Doctor Who, he portrayed Edwin Bracewell, the supposed inventor of the Daleks in the series 5 episode, “Victory of the Daleks.”

Bracewell seemed to be a military-minded inventor, but it turned out that he was actually the invention, a product of the Daleks whose body could be used as a bomb if he was discovered before they accomplished their goals. Although officially an android, Bracewell had human memories and emotions, which Amy and the Doctor used to break through his programming.

Jill Winternitz

When the Antichrist was brought to Earth, a game of swaps happened, which resulted in a completely mortal child going to Harriet and Thaddeus Dowling. The would-be adopted mother of the Antichrist, Harriet Dowling, was played by Jill Winternitz. She showed up in a very different role in the Doctor Who series 9 episode, “The Zygon Invasion.”

The episode explored the aftermath of the Zygon-human treaty from “The Day of the Doctor,” with a splinter group of the Zygons trying to start a war with humanity. UNIT was tasked with stopping them, but in doing so perpetuated further violence. Jill Winternitz portrayed one of the UNIT officers, Lisa, who was supposed to bomb a Zygon colony. However, she called off the attacks when the Zygons took on the forms of her family, demonstrating their unique ability for psychological warfare.

Ultimately, it's no surprise that there is so much crossover between Doctor Who and Good Omens. A full accounting of those who worked on both shows would be far beyond the means of one article. But these thirteen actors show that even when they didn't have a world-changing role in Doctor Who, simply being a part of that franchise can showcase actors and bring them into genre projects for sci-fi and fantasy fans to fall in love with for years to come.