Forgotten Doctor Who Cameo Nearly Had a Starring Role

Most fans didn’t really know who Georgia Moffett was until she appeared in the episode “The Doctor’s Daughter.” In that episode, she isn’t the product of anyone doing the horizontal mambo with David Tennant (though that remains the dream of fans around the world). Instead, her character is the product of a special machine that used some of the Doctor’s DNA to create his progeny.

Part of what makes this character so special in Doctor Who lore is that, as the Doctor’s daughter, she is one of only two known genetic relatives of the Doctor. The first is his granddaughter, Susan, who served as a Companion way back in the very first season of the classic show. Fans occasionally worry that the writers have forgotten about her, so it was great to hear Ncuti Gatwa’s Doctor reference her in the recent 60’s-set episode “The Devil’s Chord.”

If Georgia Moffett had her way decades ago, though, she would have played a more prominent Doctor Who role than the Doctor’s daughter. Back in 2004, she wanted to audition for the role of Rose Tyler, which isn’t as crazy as it sounds. In addition to her family connection to the franchise via her famous father, she had already acted in the Big Finish audio drama Red Dawn back in 2000.

Unfortunately, Doctor Who showrunner Russell T. Davies and his producers didn’t even let her audition for the role because they thought she was too young. That’s a little ironic because she was about 20 at the time and Rose Tyler is supposed to be 19 at the beginning of the show. Instead, they chose to cast Billie Piper in the role, who was only about two years older than Moffett.

Still, things worked out well for the actor: when she later auditioned to play Robina Redmond in the Doctor Who episode “The Unicorn and the Wasp,” Davies told her to hold off because he wanted her to perform as the title character in “The Doctor’s Daughter.”

Sadly, her Jenny character has never appeared onscreen again after that despite strong fan demand. However, fans who are eager for more of her adventures may be excited to learn that she has reprised the character for several more Big Finish audio productions.

Georgia Moffett grew up with Doctor Who, and while she had to settle for playing the Doctor’s daughter instead of his Companion, we doubt she has any regrets. As any fan worth their Sonic Screwdriver knows, a primary feature of Companion Rose Tyler is that she fell in love with David Tennant’s Doctor.

Moffett did the same thing in real life: she married Tennant in 2011, and the two of them have their own “Doctor’s daughter,” a lovely girl born in March 2011.