Well, the last few days have certainly been an emotional rollercoaster for Doctor Who fans. On Saturday, news broke that Hugh Grant, of Four Weddings and a Funeral and Paddington 2 fame, would be playing the Fourteenth Doctor. Now, it looks like that was just an unfounded rumor that we should all ignore … OR IS IT? Who’s telling the truth? Who are we supposed to believe!? Is Hugh Grant going to be the new Doctor on Doctor Who or not?
About a Boy … (a.k.a. an alien who traverses all of space and time)
First, some backstory. As any good Whovian knows, Doctor Who tells the story of the Doctor, a nomadic Time Lord who wanders space and time, having adventures and getting up to trouble with various human companions. The show has been running since 1963, with a total of 13 different actors playing the Doctor up until now. The reason different actors can take on the role of one character is that the Doctor periodically regenerates into a new form, with new physical characteristics and a slightly different personality, but the same memories and experiences.
For about 55 years, the Doctor was always played by a white, male actor, but all that changed in 2017 when Jodie Whittaker took on the role. For the first time ever, the Doctor’s ability to regenerate into a female form was confirmed, and Jodie Whittaker’s performance was met with positive critical reception. Ben Lawrence of The Telegraph, for example, wrote that “Whittaker is a breath of fresh air: a talented, emotionally engaged actress who brings warmth and humanity to a show that was largely in danger of disappearing up its own black hole.” Whittaker’s performance has been groundbreaking enough that it’ll be tough to find someone to fill her shoes.
But that time has come, as Whittaker has announced that she’s finishing up her run as the Doctor. Her final performance will be a feature-length special that will air sometime in Autumn 2022, and everyone is wondering who will step into the TARDIS next. Several rumors have arisen in the past few months, including a rumor that David Tennant will return to play the 14th Doctor after his enormously popular run as the 10th Doctor from 2005 to 2008. Other rumored candidates include Olly Alexander, Omari Davis, Jo Martin, and Richard Ayoade.
Now, the latest rumor is that Hugh Grant is supposedly in talks to take over as the Doctor in a “Marvel-style makeover for the series.”
Love (and rumors) Actually are…all around
Russell T. Davies, who worked as showrunner for Doctor Who from 2005 to 2010, is taking over again starting in 2023, after Whittaker steps back from the role. According to The Mirror, an “insider” connected to the series claims that Davies is looking to give a “Marvel-style makeover” to Doctor Who, “building franchises around the Doctor and other key characters in his many lives” in much the same way that Marvel showcases each of its characters separately, and then has them come together for team-ups and events.
According to The Mirror’s source, Davies has tapped Grant for the role of the Doctor. The source claims that, in Davies’s opinion, Grant “offers many attributes—great actor, British, award-winning, Hollywood A-lister and excellent at comedy. Conversations are in progress.”
Tapping Hugh Grant to play the 14th Doctor doesn’t come completely out of left field. Grant has actually already played the Doctor once: in 1999, he portrayed the Doctor in a Comic Relief sketch, Doctor Who: The Curse of Fatal Death, written by Steven Moffat, who would start writing for the actual Doctor Who series in 2005.
Furthermore, Grant was offered the role of the Doctor in 2004, when the show was revived, but he turned it down. Christopher Eccleston was cast as the 9th Doctor instead. Has he since warmed up to the idea of playing the Doctor, especially now that the show is so successful?
Hugh Grant claims there’s Notting (Hill) to the rumors
Maybe not! Grant has now responded to the rumor, claiming that the Mirror article is false. On Monday he tweeted, “Nothing against Dr W but I’m not. No idea where the story came from.”
Seems cut and dry, right? Except for the fact that actors are BIG OL’ LIARS! It’s literally what they do for a living!
Remember way back in 2013, when rumors were flying that Peter Capaldi was going to be playing the 12th Doctor? And everyone involved in the show refused to let on that the rumors were 100% true, and even had that live BBC broadcast called Doctor Who Live: The Next Doctor and Zoe Ball pretended like it was a huge surprise when she unveiled that the next Doctor would be exactly who we all thought it would be? At least, that’s how I remember it.
To take a more recent example: remember way back in 2021, by which I mean a few months ago, when Andrew Garfield would not stop denying that he was in Spider-Man: No Way Home? If the BBC is taking its cues from Marvel now, then having its actors deny any and all involvement in their upcoming projects would be a pretty good way to go about it.
Having some Sense and Sensibility
What I’m saying here is, take everything you read about the next Doctor with a gigantic grain of salt. The Mirror, or its source, may be wrong. Honestly, that would be kind of a relief for a lot of fans who are encouraged by the diversity that Whittaker brought to the show, and are hoping to see more non-male or non-white actors take on the role.
Alternately, Grant may just be trying to control the rumors by denying his involvement. And if he were chosen for the role, that would also be pretty cool! His work in Paddington 2, in which he plays an over-the-top narcissistic villain, showcased the same kind of humor, charisma, and frenetic energy that has made the character of the Doctor so beloved over the years.
All these rumors are enough to make your head spin, but don’t worry, Whovians! They can’t keep this information from us forever. We’ll find out who’s playing the new Doctor soon enough (even if we have to steal a Tardis and go into the future ourselves)!
(image: Heyday Films)
