Carole Ann Ford: 'One of my big hates was the fact that my character Susan was constantly running into danger and screaming.' Photograph: Perou for the Guardian

My character was Susan, the granddaughter of Bill Hartnell's Doctor. I played her for 18 months in 1963, from the very first episode. Susan wasn't called a companion at the time. She was just his granddaughter, and when she left he missed her and decided he needed a companion, so he started recruiting young ladies. We had no idea the show was going to run for 50 years, but we got mobbed from the start. Then, as now, the fans were aged from eight to 80.

I played Susan quite tomboyishly. When the part was first suggested to me, they said I was going to have the physicality of an Avengers girl, with all sorts of extraordinary powers. I'd have happily done anything they flung at me, but none of that happened.

One of my big hates about the part was the fact that Susan was constantly running into danger and screaming. We met goodness knows how many peculiar creatures, and I just don't think she would automatically have screamed. But I was told, "No, you're a damsel in distress." They did put it into the script that Susan was the Doctor's equal, and she was even meant to be capable of flying the Tardis, but I was never allowed to do more than flick the odd switch.

There are times I wish I hadn't done Doctor Who. It more or less put a halt to my TV career: it was a struggle to get parts that weren't kooky 15-year-olds. But I did a lot of theatre. They were very happy to have me because at that time a television name put bums on seats.

I am so jealous of the current companions. It started when I saw Billie Piper swinging on a rope. I'd have loved to have done that. The girls nowadays have it good. They're given proper, three-dimensional characters to play, and they have a wonderful time. They're allowed to be funny, they're allowed to be sexy – they're just allowed to be interesting people.

• Carole Ann wears jacket, £1,899, by Balmain, from harrods.com. turtleneck, £135, by johnsmedley.com. leggings, £12, by topshop.com. Boots, £455, by russellandbromley.co.uk. Makeup: Victoria Bond at Mandy Coakley Represents using Chanel Le Weekend and A/W 2013. Hair: Ernesto Montenovo at Phamous Artists.

Deborah Watling: 'It was mostly men on set. I went out with a Yeti, and a Cyberman, but only for one night.' Photograph: Perou for the Guardian

My character, Victoria Waterfield, was a Victorian miss living in a very large house with her father. I played her for a year from 1967. Her mother had died, and then the Daleks came along and killed her father. That's when the Doctor – the second one, played by lovely Patrick Troughton – came to rescue me and took me off in the Tardis.

At first, I was very prim, in this long frock with big sleeves. But I thought, "I can't stay in this for a year if I've got to climb mountains." So gradually Victoria got her own character and the frocks changed: she became stronger and stronger.

There weren't many women on Doctor Who. It was mostly men on the set. I went out with one of the camera boys; that was quite fun. I went out with a Yeti as well, and a Cyberman, but only for one night. I couldn't take it. The height of him!

I enjoyed being the damsel in distress and getting all that attention. I worked with so many monsters: the Daleks first, then the Ice Warriors and the Cybermen – they were horrendous. And I killed the Seaweed Monster with my scream. They all nicknamed me "leather lungs".

When they announced there was going to be a new Doctor, people kept coming up to me and saying, "Have you heard the rumour? It could be a woman." I said, "Don't be so ridiculous." Every time the Doctor changes, they always say that. I'd just like him to be a little older, so kids can relate to him like a father or grandfather. Peter Capaldi's going to be brilliant.

• Deborah wears blouse, £630, by Giles, from matchesfashion.com. Makeup: Victoria Bond at Mandy Coakley Represents using Chanel Le Weekend and A/W 2013. Hair: Ernesto Montenovo at Phamous Artists.

Katy Manning: 'I may have had one or two champagnes too many at a photo shoot and ended up wrapping myself round a Dalek wearing only sparkly boots. It caused an absolute furore.' Photograph: Perou for the Guardian

I played Jo Grant in the 1970s. She was young and very much a woman of her time. Most of her clothes were from Biba: tiny miniskirts and thigh-high boots with seven-inch platforms, worn while scampering over mountain sides in a very English winter. Once, during filming, my feet froze to the ground through my thin suede boots.

People assumed Jo was ditsy, but she was actually a very tough, feisty, little person. She was incredibly loyal, too: she was prepared to lay down her life for the Doctor. But because she was clumsy and screamed a lot, people assumed she wasn't strong.

We had some interesting monsters. We had a black plastic chair and when someone sat in it, it ate them. And we had these policemen, Autons, who ripped off their faces. After that, apparently, lots of children became frightened of policemen.

Three years after I left, the famous Dalek shot happened [Manning posed naked with a Dalek for Girl Illustrated]. The shot was my idea: I may have had one or two champagnes too many at the shoot and ended up wrapping myself round the Dalek wearing only sparkly boots. It caused an absolute furore. I ended up in every newspaper and live on the Six O'Clock News.

I was told I owed it to the fans to be appropriate. It was bizarre. I came into the show to bring in a teenage audience, and I assume the very short skirts were to encourage the fathers to keep watching after the football results. Yet here I was being told this photo was "disgraceful". Once, a boy said to me, "We've got a picture of you and you've got no clothes on!" And I said, "Well, yes, I had to go and save the universe and I didn't have time to get dressed."

• Katy wears jacket, £890, by 3.1 Phillip Lim, from harrods.com. Turtleneck, £135, by johnsmedley.com. Leggings, £12, by topshop.com. Gloves, Katy's own. Makeup: Victoria Bond at Mandy Coakley Represents using Chanel Le Weekend and A/W 2013. Hair: Ernesto Montenovo at Phamous Artists.

Louise Jameson: 'I didn’t think the costume – or lack of it – was gratuitous at the time.' Photograph: Perou for the Guardian

Doctor Who was a bit of a ritual in our house: watching in the living room with our boiled eggs and baked beans became a weekly staple. I love that I was brought on to a programme that had been part of my childhood.

Being in Doctor Who was a gift that kept on giving for me: it's turned into my pension, basically. It takes me all over the world. In the past 12 months, I've been to Chicago, Los Angeles, Sydney, Melbourne, Auckland… I wouldn't say being in Doctor Who has defined my career, but it certainly launched my career in television, and for that I am eternally grateful.

My character, Leela, was a warrior: intelligent, aggressive and moral. She lived in the jungle and wore leathers. At the time – 1977, the age of the struggle for equal rights – she was intended to be a role model. She was punchy, she was feisty, but she took off her clothes to do it. I didn't think the costume – or lack of it – was gratuitous at the time. In hindsight, I might have liked her to be brighter, with more dialogue, but I think my leather leotard did bring in a new male demographic. Wearing it never bothered me, though it was very uncomfortable trying to go for a pee. But I did get a funny piece of fan mail once from a young girl called Katie that said, "Will you please put some clothes on?" It saddens me now that Leela's outfits are the main thing people remember about her. She really held her own against the men.

I think the new Doctor should have been a black, redheaded lesbian. Everyone goes, "Is it gonna be gay? Is it gonna be redheaded? Is it gonna be a woman?" Perhaps they should just do it all at once.

• Louise wears top, £55, and necklace, £20, by Freedom at Topshop, both topshop.com. White rollneck, £115, by johnsmedley.com. Makeup: Victoria Bond at Mandy Coakley Represents using Chanel Le Weekend and A/W 2013. Hair: Ernesto Montenovo at Phamous Artists.