Change is in the air for Doctor Who once again, as the show will reportedly see a new lead step into the TARDIS to portray the immortal alien Time Lord.
According to a new report by The Mirror via Metro, Paddington 2 actor Hugh Grant is being courted to take over from Jodie Whitaker once she officially exits the series, which will also see the return of Russell T. Davies as showrunner for the 60th anniversary of Doctor Who next year.
“He offers many attributes–great actor, British, award-winning, Hollywood A-lister, and excellent at comedy. Conversations are in progress,” The Mirror’s source said. The insider said that Davies is also looking to expand Doctor Who into a Marvel-like franchise, creating new spin-offs focused on characters who have had interactions with the Doctor. This wouldn’t be the first time that Doctor Who has had such content, as Torchwood, The Sarah Jane Chronicles, and Class all spun out from the main series.
The big difference here is that Davies is planning to create shows with a more generous budget attached to them, and with the backing of BBC Worldwide and Sony Pictures TV, the man who led the revival of Doctor Who in 2005 will have some considerable resources to make use of.
Whitaker’s final Doctor Who adventure is still several months away, but executive producer Matt Strevens described her next story as being the “the final story is a massive, feature-length epic” that will have a few surprises in store. If Whitaker does regenerate into Grant, this won’t be the first time that the Love Actually star has played the Time Lord.
Back in 1999’s charity special Doctor Who: The Curse of Fatal Death, Rowan Atkinson played the Doctor and was met with a number of lethal ends that saw him regenerate into new incarnations played by Richard E. Grant, Jim Broadbent, and Grant.
Grant’s turn as the more-charming Doctor was short though, and quickly saw him regenerate into a new form played by Joanna Lumley. It’s obviously not canon, but it is a lesson that you’ve got to really watch out for those Zektronic energy beam deathtraps.
