Early rock-and-roll star Tommy Steele nearly beat Patrick Troughton to the lead role in Doctor Who, according to his co-star Anneke Wills.

Wills, who played the Doctor’s companion Polly, said that Steele’s name was put forward as a possible replacement for William Hartnell after the actor left the sci-fi series in 1966.

“We all knew Bill [Hartnell] was going to leave at the end of the summer season,” said Wills. “There were discussions about is that the end of the show or shall we have another actor.  And then there were all the different people who were up for it – Michael Hordern was one. Tommy Steele was another one, and I thought – coo, he’s sexy! That would be good!”

Steele, who has been called Britain’s first teen idol, became a star after his single Singing the Blues topped the UK charts in 1957. Alongside his musical career, he was also a successful actor, creating the lead role of Arthur Kipps in 1963 West End musical Half a Sixpence, and reprising the character for the 1967 film.

Wills revealed that Steele was in the running for the role yesterday, at a premiere screening for The Power of the Daleks, a newly animated version of Patrick Troughton’s first adventure which was first broadcast 50 years ago this week. It was the first time that the Doctor “regenerated”, although that term was never used until much later in the series’ run.

“When we heard it was Patrick we knew that we had a chance. But we still didn’t know if the audience would accept it and accept that the Doctor could change his body,” Wills said.

Although The Power of the Daleks has been wiped from the BBC archives, a new animated version has been created using a soundtrack which survived from the recording, featuring the cast’s original vocal performances.

“In the animation you see how adorable [Troughton] was, you couldn’t resist him. And they didn’t resist him. So luckily it was him and we’re all here talking about it,” said Wills. The episode sees Polly and the Doctor visit a human colony on Vulcan, where a Dalek has tricked the colonisers into believing it wants to help them.

“Clearly it was a something of a punt to take such a large and important story and animate it,” said BBC Worldwide producer Paul Hembury. “We need to see what the fans think and how well received it is… There are lots and lots of missing stories, and the soundtracks exist for all of them, so there is clearly more that can be done.”

The Power of the Daleks is available on demand from the BBC Store from November 5