There are countless names being bandied about when it comes to who will replace Peter Capaldi as the Doctor but one person who won’t be on any lists is Alan Cumming (well, other than you, me and Piers Morgan).
So why should we cross the artist formerly known as Nightcrawler and the Great Gazoo off the list? Well, it’s down to one very specific, very welsh reason.
Speaking at Listowel Writer’s Week in Ireland, the Huffington Post reports how Cumming regaled audiences with the tale of two propositions, one by “that lovely Welshman” (who we can only presume is Russell T Davies), and then again by writer Mark Gatiss in recent years.
Clearly keen on the idea, initial talks were quite promising. It was only when the conversation turned to the specifics of filming in Britain for eight months did things quickly go a bit pear shaped.
Cumming recalls:
“I said, ‘Sure, I still have a flat in London, it’d be perfect.’ Then he said, ‘It’s eight months of the year in Cardiff…’ And I said, ‘What?’ And I think that might have been what blew it,” Cumming said. “Nothing against Cardiff, but…”
Then the same hurdle reared its head when Cumming was approached by Gatiss.
Cumming added:
“He had heard of this [previous discussion], and he said, ‘Would you like to be Doctor Who now?’
“I said, ‘Fine, I’d love to, but they [previously] told me I’d have to go to Cardiff for eight months of the year’ and he said, ‘Oh no, you’d still have to do that.’”
And that’s when Cumming did his best Meatloaf impression and uttered:
“I’d do anything for Doctor Who, but I won’t do that.”
What’s wrong with Cardiff?