Word is that the BBC is going to be returning Doctor Who to the small screen after a ten year sabbatical. No details of the show are available.
The natural question, of course, is…who do you cast? I personally would have been happy with several of the Doctors we saw in “Curse of the Fatal Death,” including Rowan Atkinson and Hugh Grant. Doubtful, however, that either would commit.
So who would I want to see in the role? Y’ask me, only one guy for the job:
Anthony Stewart Head.
He can handle everything from comedy to action to involved exposition. It’s as if Giles has been a seven year warm-up for the role.
Bring in Julia Sawalha, who played the companion in “Fatal Death,” and you’re good to go.
Runner up to Tony Head would be Chris Barrie. But ASH is definitely the way to go.
PAD
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Stephen Fry as the doctor.
Hugh Laurie as the companion.
Oh, even better…
Kenneth Branaugh as the doctor, Full of William Hartnell arrogance.
Emma Thompson as the companion.
Colin Firth as the doctor.
Hundreds of adoring women as his companions.
I’ve also seen Alan Davies — aka “Jonathan Creek” — nominated as a new Doctor. He’d be excellent, as Jonathan Creek isn’t too far removed from Tom Baker’s Doctor.
Anthony Stewart Head would indeed be a great choice.
However, there is no limitation on what the ninth doctor will be like (assuming Paul McGann doesn’t convince them to cast him again). The next Doctor could be of any personality type. Means there is a lot of room to botch it all up, but also means that they could look for an actor who would be good and then tailor the new doctor to his skills.
For example, I was pondering the odd notion of Johnny Depp as the Doctor. Now it’s not gonna happen, but you could easily sit down with him and work up a script and character to suit him.
Nevertheless, if there were an official poll, I would vote for ASH.
This is the first I’ve heard of new TV adventures. Does this go against the BBC online adventures starring Richard Grant due for the 40th anniversary?
Personally, I hope they don’t continue to jump ahead to a new Doctor each time there is a new project. I loved Paul McGann but he never really got a shot. So if Richard Grant is the next Doctor, stick with him for a while. I’d hope th 10th Doctor is a few more years off.
And a 10 year hiatus. Does that mean new shows in 2006? Or did they mean 1989, in which they are a few years too late?
The Richard E. Grant project is a stand-alone internet story to be aired this November. Paul McGann has been doing ‘seasons’ as the Doctor on Big Finish’s DW audio adventures (which are ok’d by the Beeb).
Personally, I’d like to see Paul get a go at the series, or maybe try things with Richard. I know Alan Davies has been mentioned, but I think he’d want to escape typecasting as an actor who plays a Doctor-like character. Jonathan Creek, btw, is produced by Verity Lambert, the first Doctor Who producer.
The Sox get the wild card, and new Who for 2005. Hmm…seems a bit chilly…
New Who in 2005?
Haven’t I heard mention of that year before somewhere?
The Doctor vs. Unicron?
Nah, it’ll never happen 😉
Stephen and/or Hugh would be VERY inspired casting.
Chris Barrie would be great, too. I’d love to see Rowan Atkinson as well. How about Tony Slattery?
Paul McGann should get a better shot at it – If he doesn’t, he should still get to do the handover to a new doctor.
It has been in every single new doctor changeover since the beginning. Even Sylvester Mccoy got to hand over to McGann after a long wait at the end of his season.
I personally am still waiting with baited breath for the Red Dwarf Movie, (currently just started production apparently) and is due out in May / June 2004 on the big screen. As a UK bod, this is defintelty the definitive Sci-fi comedy of all time, though i know the US pilot was a bit dodgy. For the Trek fans, Terry Farrell played the cat. Apparently the UK version is shown on some cable channels. Watch it if you get the chance. It is a great insight into the great British humour. If you don’t like it .. Smeg off
Red Dwarf shows on the local PBS station all the time. Wish they’d get the DVDs out a bit quicker, but oh well…
Anyhow… back to the topic at hand. I almost wish they’d ignore the McGann movie, since some of the stuff they had in there made me ill. And Sylvester’s death scene just wasn’t right.
It’d be nice, though, if they tied up everything that was going on in “Survival”.
Colin Baker didn’t get to do the handoff to Sylvester McCoy, but then it wasn’t under the usual circumstances…
According to IMBD, Head, a big fan of Doctor Who, was up for the part of the Doctor in the TV Movie. He lost out to Paul McGann.
When I read that, it got my head spinning. I mean, suppose the WB had decided to revive the show rather than attempt to adapt a failed movie (“Buffy”)? After all, on paper, Doctor Who would be more logical, right?
And the original “Buffy” cast could still work on “Doctor Who.” You have Xander as the Jamie, Steven, Harry Sullivan character. There’s Cordelia as the whiny airhead who actually has a lot of depth (she would fit in sort of like Tegan as far as being contentious). And Willow is the girl genius who the Doctor would sort of take under his wing.
Later, you could introduce Faith as the “bad girl” who can’t really be trusted — kind of a female Turlough.
Yes, I have too much time on my hands.
Wow. The mind boggles. On the one hand, I do agree that it seems Dr. Who is the role ASH was just born to play. On the other, I agree with sevral other people that Paul McGann really didn’t get a fair shot. I happened to enjoy his performance in that rather head-scratching film that looks like they blew all the money on the TARDIS set and had a script written in a few days by two hacks with only a Dr. Who technical manual for reference and a gallon of coffee for company. Okay, temper check…Got that out of my system.
Okay, so to add my 2 cents, my personal preferences would be giving McGann a decent shot to show he could do it, barring that, ASH. Barring either of them, I think Michael Praed (Robin Hood, Secret Adventures of Jules Verne) would also do quite well.
Cheers!
(P.S. I want to be Giles if/when I ever grow up)
WHO?
Tristan Rogers and Finola Hughes
That’s WHO.
ASH played a recurring villain called Grayvorn in three feature-length full-cast audio dramas released on CD, going up against the 5th, 6th and 7th Doctors.
The BBC 8th Doctor novels are pretty dire and drown in stupid continuity, but Paul McGann has starred in 10 of those audio dramas himself and I believe he’s recorded a further batch of 4 or 6…
There’s a phenomenally dense “Doctor Who Reference Guide” here which puts all the TV shows, novels and CD audio dramas in a pretty neat continuity. http://www.drwhoguide.com/who.htm
And my vote’s for Richard E. Grant for the new series: the BBC did just announce him as “the ninth Doctor” six weeks ago.
–Grant
ASH as the Doctor was a widely-spread rumor about a year ago, which was quickly denied. He has said he’d be interested, though, if I recall correctly. I think it would be an absolutely brilliant move.
I thought the Paul McGann movie was OK — not great, but OK — and I do think he should get to do a hand-off, but I don’t think I’d want to see him regularly continue in the role. However, I’d welcome him interacting with whoever the current Doctor will be in a “The Five Doctors”-type episode; in fact, I think it’d be wonderful if they could do an episode with all the surviving Doctors (that’d be Tom Baker, Davison, Colin Baker, and McCoy in addition to McGann, right?).
The main problem with the McGann movie was Eric Roberts as The Master. WAY too over the top. Anthony Ainley, he ain’t.
FWIW, the three names listed in the news story I read listed Paul McGann, Richard E. Grant, and Andrew Davies as the front-runners for the role. They’d all be perfect, as would Anthony Stewart Head or Rowan Atkinson.
—KRAD
I’ve always felt that fans didn’t give the McGann film much credit. It wasn’t perfect, but really, the show has always had plenty of flaws. No one gave it time to develop. There were more drastic changes in DW than the the movie (“The Deadly Assassin” completely rewrote Who history) and worse continuity gaffs (“The Five Doctors”). I’d like to see McGann have a longer go at it. He had an infectious passion and curiousity that I liked.
BTW, thanks for the link to the Doctor Who reference guide.
In order of preference:
Paul McGann
ASH
Joanna Lumley
Hugh Grant
Michael Praed
Alan Davies
But the big question is, who would be the villian of a new six-part series? And if you’re thinking of the Master, who would play him?
My choice – Johnathon Pryce, who was hysterical as the Master in the BBC Dr. Who spoof, “Curse of Fatal Death.”
“They’re not breasts…they’re etheryic bumps…”
I feel as if we’ve had about seven years of McGann as The Doctor. He’s been in dozens of books and a rather full era overall. I’d rather start with a blank slate – -a new Doctor, one who is NOT HALF-HUMAN!
Ahem.
Giles would be great as the Doctor but I hope that the villian is the Master and not the Raynee (pardon the spelling)
Even better would be a cameo by Tom Baker the best Dr. Who to date. I would love to see the same Police Box exterior for the TARDIS but 21 century FX for the interior. And of course a high tech version of K-9
Regards:
WSJ3
Time to think out of the blue box (hah, I kill me). How about:
TONI COLLETTE!
C’mon, she’s brilliant, she’s quirky and she can play British. I’d watch that show.
Tony Slattery? That’s a wicked good idea…ASH would also be good, but my dream Doctor would be David Warner (“Sympathy for the Devil” notwithstanding).
I’m all happy to hear the news. Read one name that took me by surprise : Sean Pertwee. Guess I’ll do a search and find out about the son of the dandy Doctor. I personally was hoping for a movie with Jeff Goldblum as the renegade Timelord but TV is better than nothing. Well my tea’s getting cold.
Actually, I’d prefer they find a way to pick up where they left off, with Sylvester McCoy. The actor did a great job with the role, and the themes they were exploring were deeper than ever — and we were getting substantial clues to the Doctor’s past, to boot!
Barring that, I’ve always wondered how things would look with a Doctor with the face of — Gene Wilder. 😀
With all the lives that the Doctor has consumed, perhaps a new cowardly approach to the role would be interesting. Michael Keating (Villa) would be great.
I think that Sean Pertwee would be an inspired choice. He’s done a few parts recently in some action movies (Event Horizon, Dog Soldiers) but the one role I recently saw him in that showed his comedic abilities was “Stiff Upper Lips”, a parody of the serious British films that we’ve had in the last few years.
For full details on the Doctor Who news, check out http://www.gallifreyone.com, which has been posting constant updates as more details surface.
No offence PAD, but your choices are obviously those of an american – though maybe they would go for someone that is well known over there too. Is the good doctor well known over there outside of cult circles?
There are a few character actors over here that I could see in the role, depending on how they choose to write him this time.
I will confess, I don’t know much of Tony Head, not being a regular Buffy watcher (was that a pun? U-Decide!), but from what I’ve seen, I’m not convinced he can do the scary part. I think the Doc works best when he is a bit creepy.
ASH is, to my mind, the perfect choice for the role, with McGann a respectable second. But if we’re thinking outside the blue box (hee), does the Doctor have to be an actor from the Isles? How ’bout a respected American character actor like, say, Bruce Davison? Or if you want to go goofy with the Doctor, Bruce Campbell? Or some other actor not named Bruce at all?
I think the thing about Doctor Who that gave it its unique twist was its British-ness. I wouldn’t want to see an American as the Doctor. I also think that I’d want someone who could bring something new to the role, not re-invoke ideas of previous Doctors. I fear a lot of folks who only saw Tom Baker want a cookie cutout of that type.
I agree that the actor should be a Brit. Not sure about ASH, might be too much like his Buffy character to see a difference.
Years ago there was a rumour that the McGann TV movie part might go to David Hasselhoff. How horrible might the world be if that happened!!!
Good to see it discussed.
Giles (ASH) made an appearance on the show MI-5 thats on Tuesday nights on A&E. He played a spy that betrayed them for love.
I would watch Doctor Who if he was the doctor. I do agree that he should be British.
Isn’t Tristan Rogers from Australia? Or was that just his character?
Anthony Stewart Head is PERFECT!!!
You are Dead on Mr David!!
Plus I believe Anthony Stewart Head is or was recently doing the Dr Who radio shows in Britain. He is of knowledge of the Doctor in the first place, aside from being a terrific actor!!
Having just seen BUBBA HO-TEP this afternoon, I laughed to see ASH listed as the new Doctor — made me think of Bruce Campbell. (“Your primitive intellect wouldn’t understand things with alloys and compositions and things with … molecular structures.”) And while Bruce is great, I’d rather see him as the lead in a movie version of I AM LEGEND.
Anyway, they weren’t wrong to cast Joanna Lumley as the Doctor in THE CURSE OF FATAL DEATH. If the Doctor can get younger, why not change sex? He’s never had romantic relationships with the numerous women he’s encountered (making him the anti-Kirk?), and she’d bring a wonderful level of whimsy and mischeviousness to the role.
MICHAEL PALIN.
–m4 (hey, why not?)
I’m surprised more people aren’t voting for Chris Barrie. He is intelligent, funny, and has a depth that I think can be plumbed for exceptional creepiness. I think he’d make a fine Doctor.
Someone else who came to mind, but who likely wouldn’t do it, was Robbie Coltrane. He is also intelligent and funny. However, none of the Doctors to date have looked as if they could crush you like a bug (John Pertwee’s jujitsu aside). Having a physically imposing Doctor may add an intriguing dimension to the role.
One last person I thought of was John Cleese. He would not be perfect, but I think he’d be quite good.
Oh, what the heck…
How about Patrick Stewart? As long as we’re listing every significant British male actor. 🙂
Somewhat more seriously, if you wanted to go for a whimsical Doctor, Richard Coyle, who plays Jeff on the British version of Coupling, would seem promising (side note: Pay no attention to the NBC version of Coupling, particularly since its Jeff is *much* inferior to Coyle’s).
Hello. I’d say that I was new here, except for the fact that I’ve been visiting this site for about two years now and I’ve been too reticent to actually speak up. I’m already something of a veteran over at Harlan Ellison’s website. (HI, JOSEPH!)
DOCTOR WHO, returning in 2005. Splendiferous news. Frabjous day, callooh, callay. (I chortle in my joy.) Personally, I’m a tad uncertain about Anthony Stewart Head. He doesn’t exactly radiate the ‘kooky’ nature of the Doctor that Hartnell, Troughton, Pertwee, etc. personified so well. Then again, I’m only familiar with Head’s character from BUFFY, so maybe I should just shut up.
Now, if the Doctor underwent a sex-change regeneration as he did in CURSE OF FATAL DEATH, then things would become interesting. I know that I want to vote for Helena Bonham Carter as the 9th Doctor. (Although Toni Collette isn’t a bad idea either…)
In alphabetical order, actors I think would be suited to the role:
Alan Davies
Stephen Fry
Hugh Grant
Malcolm McDowell
Ian McKellan
Tony Robinson
Alexander Siddig
While I would like to see McGann (continuing from “Enemy Within”) or Richard E. Grant (continuing from “Scream of the Shalka”) continue in the role of the Doctor, I think for a new Doctor Who series to really find its own feet it would need to make its own start and not begin with someone else’s. That doesn’t mean that Big Finish can’t continue with McGann as their “current” model of the Doctor, or that BBCi can’t make more animated webcasts with Grant. I’d rather see a new start of the character instead of taking on the baggage of forty years.
Oh, just occurred to me.
Head, besides playing the villain in Big Finish’s Excelis trilogy, also appeared as a Time Lord named Valentine in “Death Comes to Time,” the web-broadcast audio play from several years ago.
Stephen Fry, mentioned several times in this thread, appeared as the Time Lord The Minister in the same production.
Valentine was a rather faceless character in the play, but Fry was rather Doctorish, until the tragic conclusion to his story in the final episode.
I’m seconding the Sean Pertwee nomination. Guy was brilliant in Dog Soliders, he’s got the family connection…I’d very much think he could do the role proud.
Anthony Stewart Head I’d like to see as the Master.
Come late to the party and all your nominations get taken. I would love to see Richard Coyle in the role of the Doctor. If you brought back Nicholaa Bryant (Peri), all of Coyle’s lines would contain “breasts”. 😉
ASH or Stephen Fry would be the best choices, but Robbie Coltrane could do the “dark” aspects of the Doctor.
Brain overload! Too many good choices; but would they choose to do it?
While I’m not a big fan of the Fox tv movie, I would love to see McGann get another shot at the role.
Hugh Grant? Nah. Too commercial. Some of the other names suggested are a bit too commercial as well.
Eric Roberts was a horrible Master Jonathan Pryce was excellent, however 🙂
The Doctors are starting to get some notice though. 🙂
McCoy auditioned for the role of Bilbo (and was pleasantly surprised at the lofty competition that did get the role) and McGann auditioned for Bruce Banner for the Hulk movie as well I heard.
I will confess, I don’t know much of Tony Head, not being a regular Buffy watcher (was that a pun? U-Decide!), but from what I’ve seen, I’m not convinced he can do the scary part. I think the Doc works best when he is a bit creepy.
Ohhhh, he can do creepy. From the episode “The Dark Ages” where we learn about his past, to a good chunk of the 7th season where he was acting so strangely we thought he was evil incarnate, to his staggeringly impressive turn as Dr. Frank-N-Furter in “Rocky Horror,” believe me…he’s got the scary bit down.
Although, y’know…Derek Jacobi would be interesting, too…
PAD
i thought the mcgann doc was the last incarnation? how many regenerations can a timelord have?
the master was on his last one. could a half breed timelord have more than that?
my couple of cents…
hugh grant – nah
ASH – he’s an all rounder so yeah
bruce campbell… i’m speechless… brit would be better
chris barrie – initial thought “wtf, they want rimmer?’ but i’m coming round
malcolm mcdowell… fantasy island and soran off generations… i’d make him the master instead
tony slattery… good god! although funny, not sure he could be the doc – is he still working? he had a breakdown a few years ago and didn’t leave his house. my fave whose liner
Alan davies – i could see it, but not dark enuff. he’s like monotone
dame judy dench was mentioned at one point. but for some reason that makes me think of an agatha christie in a tardis thing.
joanna lumley would be cool if we were going for a female as a doc. don’t know why it hasn’t happened before the audio stuff. a previously all guy regeneration thrust into a woman’s body. how would that affect a guy… er woman?
I would rather stick with Paul McGann, nice contuining with it
While Mr. Head is a great performer and would make an excellent Doctor, I feel that Paul McGann should be given first refusal.
Why?
(1) It’s only fair, to give him another opportunity.
(2) Even ignoring fairness, he has consistently demonstrated his ability in the role in audio stories, and has built up a following.
To Allyn Gibson, a good series doesn’t have to rely on continuity – just good storytelling. The writer has always had greater influence on Doctor Who than the director (or least in my opinion …)
To Warren S. Jones, the villian was The Rani (Hindu for Queen)
Finally, to Peter David, if you’re reading this … I’ve always thought that you and an established Who author should co-write a Who/Trek crossover (preferably graphic novel format). Would you take the job if offered?
Sylvester McCoy’s doctor is the last I’d want them to imitate. He tended to seem rather wishy-washy to me and even my girlfriend at the time – a fan of both WHO and CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL – felt the same. Either McCoy just wasn’t suited for the role, or they were writing dismally for him.
No, the two Bakers were the best for me. One could really believe such characters would make it a habit to run around the universe poking their noses into things and generally having fun doing it. I particularly enjoyed the initial appearance of the cocksure Colin Baker interpretation. Unfortunately watered down after a while. Pity.
As for not having an American, I seem to recall a pretty bad American WHO movie some years ago. Let’s NOT go back there, PLEASE!
And while this may be heresy to RED DWARF fans, I fear I can’t agree as to it being the best SF/parody/satire out there. Subjectively – heck, objectively, for that matter – THE HITCH HIKER’S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY – either in radio or novel format win that prize hands down. The TV series wasn’t bad, but suffered from the BBC ordinary effects syndrome which distracted from the silliness.
While selecting the right “Who” is paramount to the overall success or failure of the show, other factors should be considered.
1. The special effects.
Granted, not the best during the original run, but the technology has improved over the years. So as long as the BBC does not hire some second rate shop to do it on the cheap…
2. The approach.
The Doctor has a rich background that can’t be totally ignored, so it would be best if the BBC produced the series from a light “back to square one” approach”. Whenever encountering a previous foe/situation, etc.; the Doctor would just give a brief exposition of what went on before without totally bogging down the story/action.
3. The storyline.
The standard one hour format would be best, with each episode adding on to the overall series while yet standing alone per se. No longwinded serial where if you miss one episode, you’re totally out of the loop.
4. Which doctor?
“Whoever” does get cast in the title role should bethe eighth doctor/seventh regeneration. Remember folks, Time Lords only have twelve “official” regenerations, unless you want him to go the way of the Master or the Valyard!
5. The traveling companion(s).
The BBC should start with just one, possibly using that character as our POV/starting point to come into the series.
6. “Selling” the series.
Although with a built in and eager fan base, it has been a while for those only familiar with the television doctors across the pond here. The BBC should attempt to find a good, mass market syndication package deal to reach as many people as possible. A niche market such as the SCI-FI channel should be a last resort in my humble opinion.
Now then, with all the above suggestions, my main concern is:
Will there actually be a new series???
After ‘Doctor’ McCoy, the BBC tried to find someone to make the show for them to defray their costs, but still wanted to control everything from the first word of the script to the last frame of film.
The Fox movie was supposed to be the springboard/pilot for the Doctor as a mid-season or summer replacement, but that never happened.
Regardless of “Who” is cast, I really and truly hope that the Tardis gets to takeoff once more.
And if anyone connected with the BBC happens to actually like any of my suggestions, I am available for employment.
Wahoo! I just got back from “gallifryone.com” And you guys aren’t just yanking my chain, the Doctor’s really coming back.
My choice for the Doctor? Paul McGann all the way. I think think he made a great Doctor in the TV movie (the half human thing was the writer’s fault, not his) and I really don’t want to see them waste another incarnation like they did with Colin Baker. I mean come on, they only let him do 11 stories for crying out loud. They’ve recovered more Troughton episodes then poor Mr. Baker ever made. (sorry about that, it’s been bugging me for a while and this seemed as good a place as any to vent.)
Anyways whatever they do, I hope they do it well and I pray thet don’t just junk all the past continuty and start “from scratch”
Ultimate Doctor Who anybody?
Peter
I interviewed ASH around a year ago, around the time that some rumours were already linking him to the role.
He said that though he though the role would be a challenging one if done correctly, he couldn’t see himself doing it and would prefer not to become immediately associated with another genre icon (hence his recent decision to do roles in series such as Spooks/MI5 and Manchild).
He didn’t rule it out completely, but made it clear that it wasn’t a role he’d consider in his foreseeable future.
Around the same time I spoke to Buffy/Angel’s David Fury, who mentioned that he had been approached by the BBC for advice and comment on their own Dr Who ideas. He did say that such conversations had never gone beyond the tentative.
I was interviewing these guys for UK mag Dreamwatch which ran the combined Who news in one article. Sadly, some journos didn’t bother to read the article properly and within 24 hr of DW’s publication the word went around the world’s newspapers/websites that ‘Fury and Tony Head to collaborate on Doctor Who for BBC’.
So sadly, it remains unlikley. However, Tony Head certainly has my vote should all parties reconsider
John