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Alan Cumming to Play King James I in Doctor Who Series 11

Alan Cumming has revealed that he’ll play King James I in Doctor Who Series 11!
The X-Men 2 star was on the podcast, Homo Sapiens and revealed:

“I’m about to go and do an episode of Doctor Who. I’m so excited! I’ve never been in it.”

He further went on to say he’d play a “baddie”, with something of a caveat:

“Like a nice baddie. I’m like a sort of dandy, foppy character who becomes alright in the end. They said he might come back.”

In the interrogation chair, he confirmed that he’d play Scottish Monarch, King James – the first of England and Ireland but the sixth of Scotland. His reign in England lasted from July 1603 to March 1625, and during his time on the throne, he faced the Gunpowder Plot, various parliamentarian struggles, and tried to maintain peace by keeping out of the so-called Thirty-Years’ War. He succeeded Queen Elizabeth I, who, as we saw in The Shakespeare Code (2007) and The Day of the Doctor (2013), hated the Doctor.
All things considered, he wasn’t such a bad chap. He did oppose the 1618- 48 war, but perhaps the Doctor is supposed to have some influence on him.
After the podcast, Cumming took to Twitter to admit that he actually wasn’t suppose to say he’s working on Doctor Who…


Oops! Ah well. In this age of all news being stifled, it’s nice to actually hear something of Series 11! At any rate, he’ll presumably be seen around Cardiff, likely filming in public, so the secret wouldn’t stay secret for very long.
Cumming has previously announced that he has been approached to play the Doctor – twice, in fact!
Doctor Who Series 11 begins the Autumn, with an approximate airdate of early October 2018.

Philip Bates

Editor and co-founder of the Doctor Who Companion. When he’s not watching television, reading books ‘n’ Marvel comics, listening to The Killers, and obsessing over script ideas, Philip Bates pretends to be a freelance writer. He enjoys collecting everything. Writer of The Black Archive: The Pandorica Opens/ The Big Bang, The Silver Archive: The Stone Tape, and 100 Objects of Doctor Who.

Alan Cumming to Play King James I in Doctor Who Series 11

by Philip Bates time to read: 1 min
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