The Eleventh Doctor - who else auditioned?

[Piper]

In an early column in DWM RTD said, and I paraphrase, "We asked Hugh Grant - of course we asked Hugh Grant - and he was very flattered etc etc." As this is RTD, it's hard to know how serious this was.

I have a sneaking suspicion he'd have been secretly aghast if Grant had said yes - great publicity, but he wouldn't have made a good choice at all (and I say that as someone who really likes him.)

 

[The Borgified Corpse]

While I think everyone on the planet would have been shocked if Grant had accepted the role, I'd be very surprised if, knowing the draw he is, they didn't at least make an offer just in case. What would they have to lose? (Although, I agree that, from a characterization standpoint, Grant wouldn't have been right for it. But from a marketing standpoint, it would be insanely stupid not to cast him if he, against all odds & conventional wisdom, agreed to do it.)

Adeola/Martha aside, when Paterson Joseph was in BW/PotW, he did his dash. They'd never cast a Doctor from a male who'd previously had a guest role. I'll qualify that, just to be sure: they'd never cast a Doctor today who'd previously had a guest role.

True, in the case of Colin Baker, i suppose that it was due to the internet free zone of the 80s and the fact he was only a walk on part and they liked him, and asked him back for The Doctor and mostly went along un noticed as a previous guest due to the infancy of video recording/vhs releases, or maybe the few select eagle-eyed Who fans back then.

Where as nuWho today is picked apart and digested all the time online and in the official mag and other media, so casting a previous guest actor as the lead in the same show today may not have worked in the same way as it did back then.

Perhaps, but I doubt it. I don't think his character in "Bad Wolf"/"The Parting of the Ways" was particularly memorable. And that was 4 years ago. There are many other examples of guest actors appearing on a show, then later showing up as a regular. Besides Freema Agyeman popping up in "Army of Ghosts" before getting the regular role of Martha Jones, there's also Eve Myles playing Gwyneth in "The Unquiet Dead" and Naoko Mori playing the doctor in "Aliens of London" before being cast as Gwen Cooper & Toshiko Sato on Torchwood. Before she was cast as Romana, Lalla Ward played the princess in "The Armageddon Factor."

This has also happened on other TV shows. Jon Lovitz played a couple other totally different characters on NewsRadio before joining the cast as a regular in Season 5. A year before he was cast as Lennie Briscoe on Law & Order, Jerry Orbach played a slick defense attorney. Before joining the cast of M*A*S*H as Col. Potter, Harry Morgan had a major guest role as an insane general. And what about Robert Duncan MacNeill starting his Star Trek career as Nick Locarno in "The First Duty"?

It would definitely be cool to see those screen tests some day, to see all the different interpretations, and all the Doctors who "could have been."

Agreed. There's a lot of "what if" footage I'd like to see, like all the various screen tests they did of different actors to play Superman before they stumbled on Christopher Reeve. Or all of the Back to the Future scenes that had been shot with Eric Stoltz before they replaced him with Michael J. Fox.

I can't see him asking someone who played The Doctor in the spoof 'Curse of the Fatal Death' to play the Doctor.

Although, didn't Richard E. Grant play both a funny Doctor in "The Curse of Fatal Death" and a serious Doctor in "Scream of the Shalka"?

I'm cautiously optimistic about Matt Smith. Although, I'd prefer someone older like Bill Nighy or John Hurt.

 

[Captaindemotion]

^ Yeah, but that was an online drama, wasn't it? I mean, compared to the viewership for the tv series, the audience is tiny.

 

[Silent_Bob]

Wasn't there a rumour that Robert Carlyle was asked to be The Doctor and turned it down for SGU? I seem to recall a rather bitchy comment by RTD about his decision to do SGU.

 

[Starkers]

Carlyle's name seemed to crop up a lot after Tennant announced he was leaving (and even before). I dunno though, personally I can't see Carlyle as the Doctor. Whereas I could see Grant as him. Ok so I don't know if Hugh Grant could have played the same dark time war guilt ridden survivor that Eccleston did but he could have definitely done a Tennant'y style doc.

 

[Silent_Bob]

Carlyle's name seemed to crop up a lot after Tennant announced he was leaving (and even before). I dunno though, personally I can't see Carlyle as the Doctor. Whereas I could see Grant as him. Ok so I don't know if Hugh Grant could have played the same dark time war guilt ridden survivor that Eccleston did but he could have definitely done a Tennant'y style doc.

Funny you should say that, i was just thinking that Carlyle could definitely have played the darker, guilt ridden Ninth Doctor, but probably wouldn't have suited Ten's more manic Doctor.

 

[Captaindemotion]

^Yeah, I could definitely see Carlyle as an alternative to Eccleston's Doctor. They're about the same age, have similar lean builds and faces, both can do intensity and comedy equally well.

Their careers are even similar - both been in Cracker, both worked with Danny Boyle (Shallow Grave, Trainspotting), both had the odd stab at villainy in big-budget movies (The World is Not Enough, Gone in 60 Seconds), both been in the 28 Days/ Weeks Later movies, both working in US sci-fi series (Heroes, SGU).

 

[Starkers]

Yeah but Eccleston has, I dunno how best to describe it, but he's better at the otherworldly alienness of the Doctor. I'm not sure Carlyle could have brought that to the table.

 

[The Mirrorball Man]

Yeah but Eccleston has, I dunno how best to describe it, but he's better at the otherworldly alienness of the Doctor. I'm not sure Carlyle could have brought that to the table.

I think he could have, and I have proof.

 

[Starkers]

Sorry not seeing it, that's just regular Robert Carlyle...

 

[The Mirrorball Man]

Sorry not seeing it, that's just regular Robert Carlyle...

Really? Well, maybe you're right, and I just find regular Robert Carlyle otherworldly enough.

 

[Logopolis]

When Chris Eccleston landed the role, my understanding was that he'd e-mailed Russell Davies, with whom he'd previously worked, and told him that he'd be up for the role if RTD thought he'd be the man for the job. When Eccleston left, the producers seemed to have had David Tennant - who had appeared in Casanova for RTD - lined up from the outset.

You make it sound like Eccleston and Tennant were the only choices for Nine and Ten. But we know that Hugh Grant and Bill Nighy both turned down the role before Eccleston was offered it, and there were apparently other actors considered in case Tennant turned down the role (though, to be fair, he was Davies' first choice).

That's nothing compared to the list they had in mind for McGann's Doctor. Some names included:

- Patrick Stewart
- Pierce Brosnan
- John Cleese
- Sam Neill
- Michael Palin
- Bill Nighy
- Alan Rickman
- Jonathon Pryce
- John Pertwee's son (sorry, forgot his name but he was an option)
- Hugh Grant
- Hugh Lawrie
- David Tennant
- Robert Lindsay

They're just some of the names. Apparently the list was massive. They're just some of the names I recall reading, there was heaps more though.

As for Robert Carlisle as the Doctor...what a brilliant 5 years that would have been! I'd go as far as saying that he would be the first true attempt to rival Tom Baker's 7 years in the role. He would have been brilliant.

 

[Silent_Bob]

When Chris Eccleston landed the role, my understanding was that he'd e-mailed Russell Davies, with whom he'd previously worked, and told him that he'd be up for the role if RTD thought he'd be the man for the job. When Eccleston left, the producers seemed to have had David Tennant - who had appeared in Casanova for RTD - lined up from the outset.

You make it sound like Eccleston and Tennant were the only choices for Nine and Ten. But we know that Hugh Grant and Bill Nighy both turned down the role before Eccleston was offered it, and there were apparently other actors considered in case Tennant turned down the role (though, to be fair, he was Davies' first choice).

That's nothing compared to the list they had in mind for McGann's Doctor. Some names included:

- Patrick Stewart
- Pierce Brosnan
- John Cleese
- Sam Neill
- Michael Palin
- Bill Nighy
- Alan Rickman
- Jonathon Pryce
- John Pertwee's son (sorry, forgot his name but he was an option)
- Hugh Grant
- Hugh Lawrie
- David Tennant
- Robert Lindsay

They're just some of the names. Apparently the list was massive. They're just some of the names I recall reading, there was heaps more though.

As for Robert Carlisle as the Doctor...what a brilliant 5 years that would have been! I'd go as far as saying that he would be the first true attempt to rival Tom Baker's 7 years in the role. He would have been brilliant.

If Fox had had their way, David frickin' Hasselhoff would be on that list too.

 

[Captaindemotion]

^ I remember a tabloid claiming that the Hoff was under consideration, with Pamela Anderson as his companion. More realistically, there was also talk of Eric Idle, with Peter O'Toole playing his father. (Coincidence corner, O'Toole later played the older version of Casanova in the David Tennant-starring, RTD-written series).

 

[The Borgified Corpse]

I'm unfamiliar with most of that 8th Doctor list, meanwhile it's missing the major name that I have heard of as a major 8th Doctor contender-- Anthony Stewart Head (a year before the WB gave him his big break as Giles on Buffy the Vampire Slayer).

 

[Mr. Sin]

GEEK magazine said that Anthony was an 11th candidate as well, as I recall.

 

[scnj]

I heard that James Nesbitt, Stephen Fry and Chiwetel Ejiofor were considered, but I'd take it with a pinch of salt. I'd love to see Ejiofor as the Doctor though. Massively underrated actor.

 

[Starkers]

The Nebitt thing pretty much came about from him starring in Moffat's Jekyll. Ejiofor would make a great doc I think, not my first choice for a black Doctor (that'd be Paterson, sorry) but probably I'd have been quite happy if they'd chosen him.

Though to be honest right now I'm quite glad they chose Smith.

 

[The]

Yeah, Russel Davies himself talked about Hugh Grant being offered Doc Nine. I wonder if they would have skipped the Eccleston version and gave Hugh the Tennant-flavor?

James Nesbitt would be an awesome Doctor, but an even BETTER Master. In fact, going on the 'Moriarty'-angle like they did with Tennant/Simms, Nesbitt would be perfect for Eccleston's Doctor. The same intensity, darkness, everything.

Alan Rickman should easily be a good Master. Almost typecasting for him, though. I have no idea who he would be good against. Still, he was born to play that character.

 

[Captaindemotion]

^I'd rather see Rickman as The Doctor. I like casting against type. Sure, he would be an excellent Master but it would be a bit too predictable, IMHO.