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Michael Palin joins Torchwood

S

StCoop

Rear Admiral
Rear Admiral
Official announcement at 4pm UK time today but Big Finish have been dropping clues on Twitter over the past two days.

The funny thing in retrospect is that the title of the story in question, "Tropical Beach Sounds and Other Relaxing Seascapes #4" sounds just like a Monty Python episode!
 
Christopher said:
I'd rather see Michael Palin join Doctor Who. Imagine the travel special he'd get out of that!
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i want Palin to join the Doctor as himself. Now that would be a journey he's never been at. Also, think of all the zingers he'd throw at the Doctor's enemies.

MICHAEL PALIN: The Daleks? Are we sure they're not called The Alex? Although how odd it'd be for an entire race to have the same name. Can you imagine all the Brits being called The Dennis?
 
Sounds like he’s just narrating the story. I doubt any of the others are in that with that price.
 
Holy shit! And he's playing a haunted self-help tape. That's amazing.
You are listening to a self-help tape. You are hearing a soothing voice. You have always wanted to do something with your life, haven’t you? Oh, how you’ve ached to be a better person.

Well now. This is your chance. Go on. Sit back. Close your eyes. Relax. You’re going to learn all about Captain Jack Harkness. You’re going to learn all about Torchwood.

You’re going to change the world.
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Wasn’t Eric Idle at one stage supposed to play The Doctor for American TV? Admittedly pretty much every British actor out there (and quite a few Irish) were also considered at that time.
 
Captaindemotion said:
Wasn’t Eric Idle at one stage supposed to play The Doctor for American TV? Admittedly pretty much every British actor out there (and quite a few Irish) were also considered at that time.
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Yep. Also, Paul McGann's brother auditioned. That must have been a bittersweet experience.

Actors who auditioned for the role in the 1996 film included Rowan Atkinson (who played a spoof version of the Doctor in Curse of Fatal Death), Liam Cunningham[24] (who appeared in the 2013 Doctor Who episode "Cold War"), Mark McGann (whose brother Paul McGann eventually got the role),[25] Robert Lindsay, Eric Idle, Tim McInnerny (who appeared in the 2008 Doctor Who episode "Planet of the Ood"), Nathaniel Parker, Peter Woodward, John Sessions (who later played Tannis in the audio drama Death Comes to Time, and voiced Gus in the 2014 Doctor Who episode Mummy on the Orient Express), Anthony Head (who appeared in the 2006 Doctor Who episode "School Reunion", narrated episodes of the Doctor Who Confidential behind-the-scenes series, and provided voice-acting work for both the televised The Infinite Quest and the Excelis story arc from Big Finish Productions), Rik Mayall and Tony Slattery.[26] Billy Connolly has stated that he was also considered for the part.[27] Peter Capaldi was invited to audition, but declined, as he "didn't think [he] would get it, and... didn't want to just be part of a big cull of actors." Capaldi was eventually cast as the Twelfth Doctor.[28]
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Allyn Gibson said:
I just cannot imagine Idle as the Doctor. Terry Jones and Graham Chapman I could see as the Doctor.
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When I think of Chapman, I think more along the lines of the Brigadier, because of his very similar "This sketch is too silly" officer character.

I can see John Cleese as an arrogant Doctor in the Colin Baker/Capaldi vein, or Michael Palin as a sweet, lovable Doctor in the Troughton vein. The real-life Palin of the BBC travel specials, this charming fellow who goes on extraordinary journeys and greets all the different people he meets with friendly curiosity and participates gamely in their customs and endures all the hardships of the journey with good-humored aplomb -- he's halfway to being the Doctor already. His shows are the kind of journeys the Doctor would want to have if they didn't keep running into alien invasions and evil conquerors and deadly mutant seaweed and whatnot. (Although if the Doctor had visited North Korea, they would've ended up overthrowing the regime by the time they left.)

Ooh, better yet -- Palin as the Doctor... and Cleese as the Master.
 
Christopher said:
I can see John Cleese as an arrogant Doctor in the Colin Baker/Capaldi vein, or Michael Palin as a sweet, lovable Doctor in the Troughton vein. The real-life Palin of the BBC travel specials, this charming fellow who goes on extraordinary journeys and greets all the different people he meets with friendly curiosity and participates gamely in their customs and endures all the hardships of the journey with good-humored aplomb -- he's halfway to being the Doctor already. His shows are the kind of journeys the Doctor would want to have if they didn't keep running into alien invasions and evil conquerors and deadly mutant seaweed and whatnot. (Although if the Doctor had visited North Korea, they would've ended up overthrowing the regime by the time they left.)
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I'm now imagining a series of Doctor Who with a Palin Doctor, and it's just him being a galactic tourist. Oh, his companion may say, "But is it safe, Doctor? You remember, we just fought the Daleks on Renicke IV last week!" and Palin-Doctor is like, "Oh, ho, nothing like that," and it's nothing like that. The most conflict they have is over the tea not being quite right at a riverfront cafe on Betelgeuse II. All the bad stuff, all the stuff that's normally in a Doctor Who story, that's off-stage and only ever talked about. Instead, it's like the bit on the Galapagos Islands, with Stephen studying the wildlife, in Master & Commander: The Far Side of the World. The Doctor joins an archaeological expedition -- and no ancient evils are unearthed, just pottery shards! The Doctor explores a cave system -- and no ancient gods are found, just cave paintings! The TARDIS lands in a gleaming high-tech city -- and it's not filled with Daleks, it's filled with artists! Yeah, that's a nice thought. :)

And I wouldn't necessarily see Cleese as an arrogant Doctor. Cleese, if cast, might well have played against type and played the Doctor as a gentle soul, just because everyone expected him to play the Doctor as an ass. I think he'd have found that more interesting, actually.
 
Allyn Gibson said:
And I wouldn't necessarily see Cleese as an arrogant Doctor. Cleese, if cast, might well have played against type and played the Doctor as a gentle soul, just because everyone expected him to play the Doctor as an ass. I think he'd have found that more interesting, actually.
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Hmm, maybe a Hartnell-ish Doctor who seems aloof and abrasive at first but has a warm, soulful side once he lets you in.

Now I want to see a Dalek attack done as Terry Gilliam cutout animation.
 
I can't see Palin as the Doctor, quite honestly. He'd be closer to Professor Chronotis than anyone else, an occassional traveller to some destinations but never welcoming of conflict and lacking resolve.

Of the Pythons, easily Jones, Cleese and most of all, Chapman. Eric Idle would be ideal for a more cunning version of the Monk. Gilliam would be a great villain.
 
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