Doctor Who legend's cameo was cut from Netflix sci-fi

But the series nearly had one more icon of British TV appear, with the showrunners confirming an unnamed actor who played the Doctor was set for a cameo before that particular sequence was "set aside".

Speaking about moments that didn't make the cut, co-creator Alexander Woo told The Hollywood Reporter: "There was another sequence that was really fun and played really well and would have been a fantastic cameo appearance for an actor that I don’t want to name —because I don’t want to make someone feel bad for being cut out of the show.

"However, it is a former Doctor Who, I’ll say that much. Fans of that would probably would have found it delightful. But for the sake of the rest of the episode, we had to set it aside."

DB Weiss joked: "Jon Pertwee – 124 years old and still showed up."

While that Doctor Who legend didn't make the cut, the show was still brimming with talent across sci-fi and fantasy, and was even a Game of Thrones reunion for various of the actors on the show (not surprising, considering Thrones showrunners David Benioff and DB Weiss adapted the show with Woo).

However, the writers previously admitted they were "terrified" of adapting the story, based on Cixin Liu's iconic novel.

"The feeling that it may be too much was familiar for us," Weiss admitted. "It was what we felt with Thrones, in conjunction with a tremendous amount of excitement over the possibilities of where it could go if we could get it off the ground."

The writer added to Empire: "It was the terror of the magnitude of what was in front of us. If you're not afraid, you're doing something wrong.”

The writers also suggested that they'd like to see the series through to its three book (and presumably three season) conclusion, with Benioff adding: "Honestly, the ending of the third book is one of my favourite endings of any giant saga of all time, so we want to get there.

"The hardest thing is always the first season. Can we justify the big investment from Netflix? I feel like this will grow as it grows. I'm hopeful.”

3 Body Problem season 1 is available to stream on Netflix now.

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