Friday
25Jul2008
Simon Pegg Is Not the Who to Take Over 'Doctor Who'
Friday, July 25, 2008 at 1:14AM 
I'm doubly excited about this news story:
Simon Pegg,
a great comedic actor with more depth than you'd think, says
he
wants no part in taking over the role of
Doctor Who,
the long-running British science fiction series that dates back nearly 50 years.
Why is this such good news to me? For starters, I like
Pegg in the movies he's done, even slightly uneven ones like Run Fatboy Run. So
I guess selfishly, I'd rather see him in film, which Pegg admits is where his
heart is at the moment.
"Being the Doctor? I don't think so," says Pegg. "First, I'm really
loving doing movies. I'm really enjoying working in the U.S. Second, I really love Doctor Who and would hate to sit down on Saturday
night and have it be me." That's the second reason I like this story: Simon Pegg
appears to still have humility. Always a good sign in an actor whose career is
starting to go places.
Why the Who talk? Because there is speculation that
David Tennant may not return
to the role. He's the tenth actor to play Doctor Who through the run of the
series (the first series ran from 1963 to 1989, and the new series began in
2005). I've always preferred
Tom Baker, the timelord of my youth. What I've seen
of Tennant (and it's admittedly been a small sample) is really good, but it
always feels like someone else playing the role rather than actually watching
Doctor Who, you know?
This series is on my short list of dream movie projects, though. And while it
has its fans in America, this thing is deeply ingrained in British culture. I
mentioned how many actors have played him...that's just in the actual series.
That number balloons if you count film, radio, and stage versions. Though Doctor
Who has enjoyed a resurgence thanks to the BAFTA-winning re-launch, I still
think this has tremendous potential as a film franchise. It couldn't do Harry
Potter money, but I think it would do very well out of the gate, especially if
you hired the right Doctor. For the record, that wouldn't be Simon Pegg in my book.
Any suggestions? I'll go with my candidate for
everything,
Chiwetel Ejiofor.
Colin Boyd | Permalink | in Doctor Who, Sci-Fi, Simon Pegg | Print Article | Email Article | 10 Comments | Share Article
Reader Comments (10)
Chiwetel Ejiofor would be great as the doctor,we know he can do sci-fi he was chilling as the assasin in SERNITY yes great choice!!!!!!
I agree. Chivetel is a brilliant suggestion that would breathe some new life into the old series.
Robert Lindsay would be another choice in keeping with the Tom Baker tradition.
Robert Lindsay would never be considered. He's nearly 60! It's a young man's part now. The last actor to play the part aged over 50 was Jon Pertwee back in the early 1970s. James Nesbitt said recently that at the age of just 43 he believes he would be considered too old for it nowadays.
I agree that it is a young man's role these days but I don't necessary agree that it has to be ;)
Henry, I'd like to agree with you. I also think that Robert Lindsay would make a very good Doctor. Realistically though, they won't ever go for another actor over 50 (I'm more than 90% certain about that) and I think Nesbitt's right, they probably won't go for an actor much over 40.
And I'd like to see Richard E Grant given an outing as an Offical TV Doctor Who, after years of doing the audio plays that kept the character alive during the late nineties and early 2000s.
Richard E Grant is unfortunately too old, he'd be my first choice too.
I'd probably prefer Eddie Izzard or Dylan Moran to the others being touted.
I THINK PAUL MCGANN WOULD MAKE A PERFECT DOCTOR.
PAUL MCGANN IS A BETTER CHOICE TO PLAY THE DOCTOR.
Chiwetel Ejiofor? Cool. No, no...cooooool. Eddie Izzard would be a great choice too.
That being said, I'm not really ready for Tennant to leave yet. If the truth be known, I wasn't ready for Eccleston to leave. Maybe it was the leather jacket, but I enjoyed seeing him as The Doctor.
I'm hoping that Big Finish Productions will find a way to get him and Tennant to do some audio plays.