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John Hurt Knighted

Allyn Gibson

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John Hurt has been awarded a knighthood, making him the first Doctor to be so rewarded. From the Anglophenia write-up:

Hurt has had an incredibly fruitful, fifty-year-plus career in film and television, with highlights including his performances as John Merrick in The Elephant Man in 1980 (which scored him a BAFTA award along with Golden Globe and Oscar nominations), the lead role in Nineteen Eighty-Four, and another BAFTA-winning portrayal as Quentin Crisp in the TV drama The Naked Civil Servant. These roles established him as one of the country's most accomplished actors, but he's also shown a willingness to play a diverse range of genre roles, including in such films as Alien, Harry Potter (as the wand-maker Ollivander), Midnight Express and V For Vendetta. Most recently, of course, he attracted acclaim for his role as The War Doctor in the Doctor Who anniversary special "The Day of the Doctor", making him the first ever incarnation of the Time Lord to be awarded a knighthood (although other knights to have appeared in the show include Sir Derek Jacobi and Sir Ian McKellen). Link

Congrats to Sir John!

Who will be the next Doctor to be knighted? Tennant, perhaps, in forty years?
 
Congrats to Sir John, a long time fav of mine. And to all those who don't count him as a "real Doctor", I think you should reconsider.
 
That's good. I love John Hurt.

Now, when will the Doctor be knighted? He needs to be banished from Britain, married to Queen Elizabeth I and knighted at the same time. At least.
 
About time. I first noticed Hurt while watching Midnight Express back when it was in theaters.
 
I don't know why, but I find it kind of amusing that this is the first time a Doctor has been knighted even though we've already had a knight as the Master.

Also, the only Doctor and the only Master played by knights were one-offs. Although I guess Derek Jacobi did appear twice as the Master.
 
Technically, the Doctor is knighted, King of England, President-Elect of Gallifrey, President of Earth, and probably a number of other titles.
 
I find it weird that Prince William was never named "King consort", and that also implies that the Doctor is probably not King of England in any official sense. A shame, really. And I thought these things were automatic like "Queen" is, but royalty is inherently unequal when it comes to gender.
 
Ten did say in TDOTD "I'm gonna be King!", but more likely he would have been given a dukedom and styled "Royal Highness".

In English/Irish history:

Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou never received any titles from his wife when she was "Lady of the English" (though that post was disputed anyway).

Lord Guildford Dudley wanted to be made King when Jane took the crown (also disputed). She said he would be king "by me, by Act of Parliament". Later she said he would not be king at all, but she would create him Duke of Clarence. He managed to convince ambassadors from Brussels to call him "King Guildford".

Philip II of Spain was made a co-monarch with Mary I. An Act of Parliament gave him the title of King. In all official documents, and on coins, the couple were shown together. Philip lost these titles when Mary passed away.

In Scottish history, Margaret had no spouse, Mary I had three:

Francis II of France was King Consort of Scots between his wife's accession and his own death.

Henry Stuart was "His Grace The King of Scots" throughout his marriage. He was also created Duke of Albany eight days before the wedding.

James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell was created Duke of Orkney and Marquess of Fife on 12th May 1567, but all his peerages were removed by Act of Parliament on December 29th. He never held the title of King, nor any royal style.

In English/Scottish/Irish combined history:

William & Mary were crowned together as co-regents (it was sometimes called a Diarchy).William held the majority of power (really he had won the throne by conquest), and continued to reign alone after his wife died.

Prince George of Denmark and Norway married Anne on 18 July 1683, He was created Duke of Cumberland, Earl of Kendal and Baron Wokingham by William III six years later, taking his seat in the House of Lords on 20 April 1689. When his wife became Queen, he was content to remain the dutiful consort and he never made a bid for the title King.

In UK and British Empire/Commonwealth history:

Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg & Gotha married Victoria in 1840, but was not actually created "Prince Consort" until 1857. The government refused to elevate him further, though he eventually amassed enough political influence that Charles Greville noted "He is King to all intents and purposes.".

Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark renounced his foreign tiles to become a British citizen (though this later turned out to be unnecessary). On 20th November 1947 (just before his wedding), George VI created Sir Philip Mountbatten 1st Duke of Edinburgh, Earl of Merioneth and Baron Greenwich. On their tenth wedding anniversary, Elizabeth II created him "The Prince Philip".

So the Doctor may have been King of England and Ireland, or he may have only been made a Duke (this assumes that nobody questioned why the Queen was marrying an oddly dressed nobody in a wooden blue booth with a flashing lantern on the top).

With regards to Sir John, it is noteworthy that none of the other Doctors have so much as an MBE between them (perhaps the Queen is worried that if she knights any one of them then all the others will start demanding gongs as well).

The real fun starts if any of them get a life peerage. (I can imagine other peers taking the piss during the introduction ceremony, maybe making the inductee wear a Gallifreyan collar on top of the ermine robe.)
 
Very well deserved, I jsut rewatched The Day Of The Doctor and like always he gave a great proformance, I can't think of any role I've seen him where he did less than the best, even if I didn't like the character he played.
 
As much as I continue to find Moffat's revisionism of the Warrior annoying and pointless.... John Hurt not only worked in that casting, he knocked it out of the park. He's so completely great as the forgotten Doctor, who wasn't the Doctor, yet always was. Great, great performance by him. Truly the case of an actor transcending the part.
 
How long has England been knighting actors? Why? I thought (like I know anything about it) it was supposed to be for service to the Crown. Does it have any real meaning now?
 
Roughly

It's more of their contribution to film and TV(particularly UK projects) and any charities they support.
 
As much as I continue to find Moffat's revisionism of the Warrior annoying and pointless.... John Hurt not only worked in that casting, he knocked it out of the park. He's so completely great as the forgotten Doctor, who wasn't the Doctor, yet always was. Great, great performance by him. Truly the case of an actor transcending the part.

Agreed, although I find it absolutely ridiculous that it wasn't Paul McGann in the role.
 
As much as I continue to find Moffat's revisionism of the Warrior annoying and pointless.... John Hurt not only worked in that casting, he knocked it out of the park. He's so completely great as the forgotten Doctor, who wasn't the Doctor, yet always was. Great, great performance by him. Truly the case of an actor transcending the part.

Agreed, although I find it absolutely ridiculous that it wasn't Paul McGann in the role.
Yeah, thats what I mean. Moffat's argument was that he couldn't see him being a Warrior type, but... he's not only wrong at that (just listen to Lucie Miller/To The End and judge if he could be that or not) but the Warrior was, in that story, also very much the Doctor.

A reviewer said it best: His appearence in the 50th would've made for a great mirror counterpart to his first TV appearence. How he started with a youthful, romantic look and how he would end up as a battered, broken man, a Warrior more than a Doctor anymore. Oh, it would've been brilliant.
 
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