Written by The Wandering Fox
Hello everybody it is me, the Wandering Fox! Back here to talk about Doctor Who as the show turns 61 this month! As you all know I was largely disappointed by the 60th anniversary and series 14 and it had made me quit the series, but while I’ve given up on the series doesn’t mean I’ve given up on the franchise as a whole. I'm still on the search for audios, both old and recent, and I’ve been re-watching Classic Who. As I have, I got wondering about the Doctor, or the character’s actors.
Throughout its 61-year history, the Doctor has been played by loads of people in the series from William Hartnell to Ncuti Gatwa, including replacements for deceased Doctors with Richard Hurndell and David Bradley stepping in as the First Doctor, and mystery Doctors including John Hurt and Jo Martin. While we have had these Doctors, there’s always a big what if in regards to the Doctor and its always who could’ve got the role, would they have been good? Then there’s those who are particular fan favourite castings, some of which are my own, others based on fan’s own choices.
So without a further ado I thought I’d look into the Doctor’s we could’ve got and those I think would do a good job.
Who Could've Been
With the first we have to go way back to the 90s with:
Jim Carrey
With Doctor Who cancelled in 1989 there was a big interest from other properties to try bringing it back with even Steven Spielberg trying to revive the franchise. The Eighth Doctor was finally getting a chance to star on the screen, but the question was who were they going to go for? There was a huge chunk of folks who were being eyed for the role, including Tom Hanks, Richard Griffiths, Peter Capaldi, Mark McGann, Eddie Murphy. The actor who stood out the most to me though was Jim Carrey.
Anybody who knows Jim Carrey will always know him as a comedian who loves being incredibly funny and he was one of the stars of 90s Hollywood. Having grown up watching him in Dumb N' Dumber, Ace Ventura, The Mask, and the Good Liar, this was a big surprise to me that Jim was offered the role of the Eighth Doctor. This was before I learnt how well comedians were at acting so I was at first thinking “Oh thank goodness he didn’t get the role”. But upon seeing Jim in musher darker roles where even if he was comedic, he was quite scary, I saw Jim’s true pros as an actor, and it does make you wonder how he would’ve been as the Eighth Doctor.
I have a feeling Jim would’ve been a much softer spoken Eighth Doctor than McGann who, even though he has a soft voice in the film, has a gruff old fashioned booming voice if he yells. Jim could’ve used the Doctor as his chance to prove everybody earlier in his career he was a man who could show calm, brains and love for life.
Jim turned down the role as he hadn’t an idea of what Doctor Who was and thought it was best a fan play the character, so thanks to Jim Carey, and Tim Curry, we had Paul McGann come in and knock everybody’s socks out with his portrayal which he gradually helped mould into a darker character in the audios leading to two fantastic comebacks in portrayal in Night and Power of the Doctor.
Hmmm, funny isn't it how King Max Acorn and Dr Eggman both urged Paul McGann to get the role of the Doctor.
Though still, it does make you wonder what Jim could’ve done.
Up next we have:
Dawn French
Photo belongs to the Facebook page Dawn French as Doctor Who.
Dawn French is a treasure to behold once it comes to comedies, gracing our screens in the comedy series French and Saunders, The Vicar of Dibley, Coraline and Girls on Top. So, it will surprise many of you she was a suggested actor to play the Seventh Doctor. The only connection Dawn had to Doctor Who was in which she played a Silurian in a comedy sketch.
As we all know, comedians turn out to be actors who are truly amazing. Dawn French only got as far as being suggested to play the Doctor by one of the show’s original creators Sydney Newman, though in recent years Tom Baker even thought Dawn could’ve been a great Doctor. Sydney Newman suggested to Michael Grade to bring Patrick Troughton back as the Doctor for a season then have him regenerate into a female Doctor.
Obviously it depends on what Dawn would’ve done with the role and if she would’ve been comfortable with the Seventh Doctor’s darker character as his stories went on as the Seventh Doctor started as a comedic character until he would become one of the franchise’s darkest Doctors. I think Dawn could’ve maybe done well as an aloof Doctor who can cruelly tear somebody apart with her voice, though sadly we will never know, and honestly a part of me is glad she didn’t get the part as this was in Doctor Who’s dying days in the 80s with its viewing figures collapsing, the Sixth Doctor at the time was the most hated Doctor (NOT COLIN BAKER’S FAULT) and thus coming off of a fractured series and trying to keep it afloat would’ve maybe set her career back.
Funnily enough, in The Vicar of Dibley, future Doctor Who stars Roger Lloyd Pack, Kylie Minogue and the Doctor himself Peter Capaldi appeared, and in the final episode Geraldine has a Doctor Who themed wedding. Funny how it comes together.
Then we have:
Hugh Grant
With Doctor Who getting revived in 2004 and to return a year later, a search for a new Doctor was underway with no thought for McGann to reprise the role. Though Christopher Eccleston wound up getting the role, Hugh Grant was actually approached to play the Ninth Doctor. Grant turned it down though he regretted it. Grant had played a parody of the Twelfth Doctor in the comedy sketch The Curse of Fatal Death.
Grant by this point in his career was already on his way of making himself as a drama actor and with this he honestly could’ve been a fine choice to have played the Doctor. These days Grant is quite known for some of his darker and villainous roles though retained an air of comedy to him which could have done well with the Doctor if he followed the script. Obviously Eccleston knocked it out of the park as the Doctor though its still wondered if Grant would’ve brought something to the role. Funnily enough, Grant was rumoured to be either the Fourteenth or Fifteenth Doctors until Tennant and Gatwa took the roles.
Patterson Joseph
With Tennant leaving the Tenth Doctor character, the role was up for grabs, with many wondering who would take on the role next. I do recall all those years ago, and in later interviews, Paterson Joseph was a favourite to play the Doctor. He had appeared on the show before in Eccleston’s final stories. This would’ve meant Patterson Joseph would’ve been the first black man to play the Doctor in the series (until it was later revealed Colin Salmon was playing a future Doctor in Silence in the Library and Forest of the Dead). Having seen Paterson in dramas I think he would’ve made a VERY good Doctor. Moffat had envisioned Capaldi as the Eleventh Doctor back then until Smith came along and the character was altered, so I have to wonder would Patterson have had some influence over his Doctor? I think k he would’ve. I imagine Patterson would’ve maybe deviated from the Madman with a Box persona and made his Doctor as a more ominous wise man who didn’t want to repeat the mistakes the Tenth Doctor did.
The fact Patterson was in his late 40s at the time would’ve honestly given Moffat a challenge in writing his Doctor with maturity. Not saying Matt’s Doctor was bad as he was an awesome Doctor, but I think Moffat could’ve toned back the goofiness with Joseph’s casting and serve as a wise man to Amy and Rory as well as holding his own against River Song.
The final of the could’ve Doctors is:
Hayley Atwell
Yeah, Peggy Carter herself did show interest back in 2013 of taking on the role of the 12th Doctor and Hayley herself was no stranger to Doctor Who having played Professor Martez in Blood of the Daleks and other Big Finish audios. Though the Doctor ended up being played by Capaldi, Atwell was still a name which came up and finally with Capaldi leaving, Hayley was urged by her friend Phoebe Waller-Bridge to try out the role of the Doctor. Though oddly Atwell now didn’t want the role upon having the chance. I can’t find why she turned down the role so if anybody were to tell me then be happy to leave a comment down below.
With the could’ve Doctors done with, I would like to go to the fan favourites to play the Doctor. I’ll start with my first two just to get them out of the way then come to the others.
First up we have:
Robert Pattinson
“WHAT!? THE TWILIGHT GUY!?”
Yeah, Robert Pattinson, the guy who was in The Lost City of Z, The Lighthouse, The Batman, The Boy and the Heron, yeah, that Robert Pattinson.
Having watched some of Robert’s recent works like The Lost City of Z, The Batman and The Boy and the Heron, I think he’d honestly make a good Doctor. In fact if I casted him, he’d be a “Casting Against Type” of role with the Doctor, as I know everybody would expect his Doctor to be a romantic, so why not flip that on its head and have his Doctor go back to Classic Who characteristics in him being uninterested in romance and more of a grumpy alien who looks almost unsuspecting who has a dry sense of humour but has a lot of love for adventure.
It’d be nice as well to have Robert play against type in which, though the Doctor is action based, he’s not as big of a fighter and could honestly serve as a test of Robert’s acting as the wise man who does his best to do good with others. I do have my own vision of him as the Doctor but to avoid RTD or any other competitors seeking to do Doctor Who later I will not share it here, the closest you’re getting is the above.
Up next we have:
Henry Cavill
Yup, the man himself, Supes, Cavillrine, I think Henry would make a fine Doctor.
Like Robert I can honestly see Henry playing against type with his Doctor. While Henry has played action-based characters, he has shown he can look incredibly dashing in an old suit be it either in Stardust or Enola Holmes. His Doctor I imagine would be an eccentric man who has this strong presence in which everybody turns to him, a gent who looks sweet but has a strong voice with his moral compass firmly set, having a taste for the past while keeping an interested eye for the future. The only thing that's stopping Cavill or Pattinson getting the roles is the fact they’re overly famous so it’d probably be odd to cast actors whose salary would devour the budgets. Though hey, a fan can dream hey?
With my favourites out of the way let's look at what other fans have said.
Adrian Lester
I’ve only seen Adrian in Hustle and in a few other drama, but I do agree with other fans he would’ve made a fine Doctor with him having shown he’s capable of playing quirky, aloof characters as well as characters who have this aura to them that if they’re going to get angry you may as well back away from him. I can see Adrian’s Doctor being quite the character who is somewhat friendly but will honestly have you wishing you didn’t do anything evil in front of him. And hey, I think if another Doctor could wear a suit again and make it rock, it’d be Adrian.
After Adrian we have:
Simon Pegg
With Tennant’s Doctor being gunned down by a Dalek in The Stolen Earth, many were wondering who it was who’d take on the role of the Doctor upon him regenerating at the end. Obviously the Tenth Doctor didn’t regenerate but I do remember that whole week wondering if we were going to get a new Doctor. Fans were being interviewed everywhere and interestingly; Simon Pegg was a name which came up as a fan favourite to play the Eleventh Doctor.
Having recently appeared in the Ninth Doctor episode as the Editor in The Long Game and in the Eighth Doctor audio Invaders from Mars, by this point Simon Pegg became a beloved face on the big screen thanks to his works on Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. Having watched him in other works like Star Trek, Paul, The World’s End, I think Simon could’ve brought the maturity of his character Sgt. Angel to the role with the quirkiness of his character from The World’s End. Heck, I think the coat he wore in the latter was Doctor-esque enough they could have fashioned a coat after his character for him. The only thing stopping Simon is the fact he’s a overly famous actor.
Lastly...
Michael Sheen
Michael is a talented actor who fans have clamoured for to play the Doctor for ages. With many acting experiences under his belt as either the calm and collected or the passionate gentleman he would later be known for playing with Azirapheal in Good Omens, Michael Sheen’s history with Doctor Who goes back to playing the Eleventh Doctor villain House and his friendship with David Tennant has only earned more desire from the fans of wanting him to play the Doctor. Apparently he did audition for the role once but lost out. Why not try again then?
For special mentions of other could’ve been Doctors:
Judi Dench
Catherine Zeta Jones
Andrew Sachs
Ben Whishaw
Kris Marshall
Steve Martin
And many others
I hope you all enjoyed this topic, if there’s any actor you feel deserved or could be the Doctor then do tell me down below. I’m the Wandering Fox and I will see you all later.
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