• Welcome! The TrekBBS is the number one place to chat about Star Trek with like-minded fans.
    If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Who would you cast as the next Doctor Who?

Didn't they produce more episodes back in the old days though? And why is making 13 whole episodes a year so terrible? In America 22 episodes is the norm, and then they make movies on their summer break.
 
Didn't they produce more episodes back in the old days though? And why is making 13 whole episodes a year so terrible? In America 22 episodes is the norm, and then they make movies on their summer break.
Hollywood is a huge television-making behemoth. When they can't film something within the allowed timeframe, they just hire more people, they film at night, they simply throw money at problems until problems disappear. It doesn't work like that in the UK (or anywhere in Europe). American studios would probably be able to produce 22 episodes of Doctor Who every year, but BBC Wales simply can't.
 
UIt's apparently quite a tight shooting shcedule. Also unlike most shows which have an ensemble Dr Who is just the Doctor plus a companion, so whilst Michael Dorn might not have a lot to do in a proportion of TNG episodes (for example) It's hard to have more than a single episode where the Doctor doesn't feature heavily.
 
RTD was interviewed once and said that for nu-Who the Doctor has to be relatively young, and certainly in good health. It's nothing to do with how they want the character portrayed, but rather a simple matter of practicality. The shooting schedule is just too demanding for an older actor.
Define an "older" actor. I daresay Doctor Who's schedule isn't anywhere near as hectic as Law and Order, which had one of the best weekly series actors on TV, the late Jerry Orbach.
 
Define an "older" actor. I daresay Doctor Who's schedule isn't anywhere near as hectic as Law and Order, which had one of the best weekly series actors on TV, the late Jerry Orbach.
Whoever plays the Doctor has a tight schedule, but he also has to run pretty much constantly for the whole shoot, at night, in quarries, has to do his own stunts, plus the extreme grinning action. It's not an old man's job.
 
RTD was interviewed once and said that for nu-Who the Doctor has to be relatively young, and certainly in good health. It's nothing to do with how they want the character portrayed, but rather a simple matter of practicality. The shooting schedule is just too demanding for an older actor.

I'll counter your argument with Jon Pertwee.
 
I think 40-45 is going to be the cutoff age for any future Doctor Who actors, and even then they'll have to be fairly young-looking 40somethings to boot.

That being said, I'd cast Richard Hammond...
:D
 
Define an "older" actor. I daresay Doctor Who's schedule isn't anywhere near as hectic as Law and Order, which had one of the best weekly series actors on TV, the late Jerry Orbach.
Whoever plays the Doctor has a tight schedule, but he also has to run pretty much constantly for the whole shoot, at night, in quarries, has to do his own stunts, plus the extreme grinning action. It's not an old man's job.

Define "old man". Over 30? Over 40? If you say over 40 is too old then I have two words for you - Daniel Craig ;)
 
Define "old man". Over 30? Over 40? If you say over 40 is too old then I have two words for you - Daniel Craig ;)
Haha! You have the whole thing planned, I see!

Well, Pertwee was 50 when he took on the role. That would be "old" for a Doctor Who actor these days.
No planning at all. Remember, every age is the new "age-10 years" now. 40 is the new 30, 60 is the new 50, and all that. I honestly don't see why the Doctor has to run around like a headless chicken in every single episode these days. Mindless action will never, ever take the place of an excellent script.

Either way, don't discount someone because of his age. Look at Bruce Willis and the movies he's been in lately. Hell, I'm 40 and yet Jack LeLane is in far better shape than I.
 
I really like the idea of Eddie Izzard in the role. He just seems to have the right level of strangeness and can be serious when need be. From a PR standpoint I've never seen him in a bad interview,

I doubt many would agree - but if he wasn't becoming so expensive (I say as if I'm running the show), I'd give Simon Pegg an audition. He's popular, funny and if he can hit the serious tones the show required then I'd give him serious consideration.

Even odder I have Chris Barrie in my head as a 21st century McCoy...

But my immediate thought would be to go with someone known. Tennant is quite a popular Doctor and a hard act to follow because of that. I would be too cautious about putting a fresh face in the role.

If by some odd, bizarre reason I were to go American - Leland Orser. I don't know why but that guy's always seemed Doctorish to me, especially with his hair grown out.
 
RTD was interviewed once and said that for nu-Who the Doctor has to be relatively young, and certainly in good health. It's nothing to do with how they want the character portrayed, but rather a simple matter of practicality. The shooting schedule is just too demanding for an older actor.
Define an "older" actor. I daresay Doctor Who's schedule isn't anywhere near as hectic as Law and Order, which had one of the best weekly series actors on TV, the late Jerry Orbach.


Though, with Law and Order, Jerry was basically shooting half a show.
 
RTD was interviewed once and said that for nu-Who the Doctor has to be relatively young, and certainly in good health. It's nothing to do with how they want the character portrayed, but rather a simple matter of practicality. The shooting schedule is just too demanding for an older actor.

I'll counter your argument with Jon Pertwee.


Well it's not my argument, it's RTD's. And Verity Lambert, who was being interviewed with him, agreed.
 
Back in the 1960s, Doctor Who may have been in production for most of the year, but it only actually recorded once a week-- the actors would rehearse all week and record on Fridays. Things had started changing by the 1970s, but it still wasn't terribly intense.
 
I always thought David Thewlis would make a good Doctor. As Lupin in the Harry Potter movies, he has kind of a rumpled eccentricity about him that would work well as the Doctor.

davidthewlis.jpg
 
RTD was interviewed once and said that for nu-Who the Doctor has to be relatively young, and certainly in good health. It's nothing to do with how they want the character portrayed, but rather a simple matter of practicality. The shooting schedule is just too demanding for an older actor.

I'll counter your argument with Jon Pertwee.


Well it's not my argument, it's RTD's. And Verity Lambert, who was being interviewed with him, agreed.

It's worth looking at someone like Troughton, part of the reason he left was down to the punishing schedule I believe.
 
Just to add, I don'rt personally subscibe to the notion that there should be a cut off point for the age of the actor playing the Doctor. Look at Patrick Stewart, fitter than many men half his age one imagines, and the kind of theatre schedules he does aren't exactly easy. I agree that the actor playing the Doctor needs good fitness levels but putting an arbitary age limit on it seems silly.
 
Just to add, I don'rt personally subscibe to the notion that there should be a cut off point for the age of the actor playing the Doctor. Look at Patrick Stewart, fitter than many men half his age one imagines, and the kind of theatre schedules he does aren't exactly easy. I agree that the actor playing the Doctor needs good fitness levels but putting an arbitrary age limit on it seems silly.

Thank you.
 
It's worth looking at someone like Troughton, part of the reason he left was down to the punishing schedule I believe.

It's also worth noting that in Tennant's three full seasons there have been episodes where the Doctor has been pushed to the background. Apparently this is to give the actor a bit of a rest.
 
the 'Doctor Lite' episodes were done in years 2, 3 and 4 and they were done because they essentially made 2 episodes at the same time to save time and money. of course, it was most notable in S4 for producing the 'Doctor Lite' Turn Left and the 'Donna Lite' Midnight.
 
If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Sign up / Register


Back
Top