New Doctor Who companion Bradley Walsh has revealed that he initially turned down the role.
The Chase host and actor told The Sun (via Digital Spy) that he turned down the role of Graham because new showrunner Chris Chibnall refused to tell him who the new Doctor would be.
Talking about how he was offered the role, Walsh said:
“I was with Chris having lunch last year and he said, ‘Brad, I want you to do a job’.
“I said, ‘Sure, what?’ He said, ‘I can’t tell. It’s very, very secret. But you are the man for the job. It’s in Cardiff and will be a nine-month shoot’.”
It was a tempting offer but apparently not tempting enough. When the pair met up again, the conversation once again turned to the future role.
He added:
“I had another meeting and he said, ‘It is Doctor Who — not for the Doctor, though. We are going to change it around’. I said, ‘Who is going to be the Doctor?’ He said, ‘We can’t tell’.
“So I said, ‘I can’t accept’. He said, ‘But we want you. It will be an unbelievable journey. It will be groundbreaking. We are going to go for it. The BBC have trusted us’. So I’m in. A leap of faith.”
We’ll get to see whether or not that leap of faith worked when Doctor Who returns on Sunday 7th October on BBC One.
