Warped Factor has an extensive collection of “What if … was Doctor Who?” From Andrew Scott to David Jason. From David Bowie to Patrick McGoohan. Some of them are more creative than others, and like everyone else, I have a list of potential actors, both male and female, who could fill the role of the Doctor.
I've long thought that Brian Blessed (who has already been covered by Wil) would've made a great Doctor. I was lucky enough to see him give an interview/talk at a Sci-Fi weekend in north Wales recently. He did confirm that he was offered the roll of the Doctor around the time Z-Cars was finishing, nineteenhundredandseventymanyyearsago. Although he did admit that the Beeb changed their mind when he started making suggestions and wanted to have a directional input in the show. He also ruled himself out for the part now, saying he was too old and that it was really for a younger man... or woman... or both!
Another of my favourite choices for the Doctor would be Kenneth Branagh. His ott Shakespearean style would bring a different dimension to the world of Who, something we perhaps glimpsed with David Morrisey’s appearance in The Next Doctor.
Also, now that Downton Abbey is over how about Dame Maggie Smith?
Like Brian Blessed and many others, I believe it is time for the Doctor to be a woman. Dame Maggie would be an excellent replacement for Capaldi’s philosophical Doctor, and would bring a sense of gravitas and the dry sarcasm she does so well.
But top of my list for a new Who, and probably the most controversial choice of the lot (What? Me? Controversial?) would be Kevin Spacey.
We have had Doctors from most parts of the UK, so why not from the colonies? Besides, the amount of time Kevin Spacey spends in the UK practically makes him a Brit, and he has even talked about becoming one. Plus he already is an Honorary Knight Commander of the British Empire (KBE),
Spacey is a man who can personify calm (see K-pax or American Beauty). He can also portray the part of “with the intent of menace” something he had off to a tee in House of Cards. And then there is the light relief, illustrated by his portrayal of Lex Luthor in Superman Returns, probably the only thing of merit in an otherwise forgettable film. He can also play the downright weird too (see all of the above and many other film and TV roles), always a bonus when it comes to Doctor Who. And for all the honours he has won, two Oscars, Golden Globes etc, and (for an American) he has not courted fame or exploited it.
Spacey could be the psychoanalytical Doctor. “So why are you a dalek? Are you sure you want to be a dalek? Ask yourself, is it there more to life than exterminating?”Or, taking something from one of his own interviews, “Sometimes the person who is the most logical is the person whom we call insane.” His softly spoken, quiet persona would be ideal. I have read the first three in the K-Pax saga, but find it impossible to do so without hearing his voice.
With Spacey at the controls of the Tardis, we could have a few more episodes set in the Americas. Something that would most likely generate appeal in marketing the show. He'd be a cold, calculating Doctor with a Freudian twist. What’s not to like about that?
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Rick is the writer of comic fantasy series the Lyonnesse Tales. He hasn’t been able to give up the day-job yet, whatever it is, but lives in high hopes. When not reading, writing or watching a boxset, he tours around the UK and Europe on a motorcycle looking for interesting roads and sampling the local equivalent of beer.
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