Continuing the trend of celebrities who say they want to be the next Doctor Who, even though they have not been approached by Bad Wolf/Disney/BBC about the part, Danny Dyer has thrown his hat (and scarf) into the ring.
Speaking to the Daily Mirror, the former EastEnders actor said:
“It’s such an iconic thing to do. It’s almost – not on the same level – like James Bond.
“It’s a character that’s loved by so many.”
But what would Mr Dyer’s Doctor Who be like?, wondered the Daily Mirror (a pertinent question since no one has approached Danny about playing the Doctor).
Dyer mused:
“It gives you an opportunity with Doctor Who, because of the nature of the work, to bring something left-field, something a bit mental, a bit stylised, which I love. I love the idea of it. [I] would be an incredibly working-class Doctor Who. Yeah, maybe a bit alpha.
“I don’t think you’d want me to come in and play Doctor Who, you know, really posh. I don’t think we’ve ever had a working-class Doctor Who, have we? Well, Jodie Whittaker; she brought a bit of that to it.”
Danny admitted that “no one’s ever approached” him about the role but said that “it’s definitely something I would consider.” He also said the part wouldn’t be easy:
“Some of the dialogue he’s got, he’s got big monologues, talking about sh*t you don’t understand.”
Mr Dyer’s comments continue a long tradition of actors putting themselves forward for parts in Doctor Who which have not been offered to them. On hearing that Louise Jameson was to leave the show in 1977, the actress Imogen Bickford-Smith and her agent went into overdrive to put her name forward as the next companion: a part which, of course, went to Mary Tamm as Romana. Ms Bickford-Smith appeared as Tala in Underworld and said that she was aged to death in the story and would have died had not Doctor Who (Tom Baker) rescued her. “I haven’t been offered a regular part in the series,” Imogen opined, but stated that she was ready and willing to board the TARDIS. The BBC passed on her kind offer.
Who, dear reader, do you think should be the next Doctor? Will there even be a next Doctor? Is the part not already filled by Billie Piper? Would we like a working class, “alpha male” Doctor, as Mr Dyer is offering? Or something else entirely? Indeed, do we care any more?
