Paul McGann 'gutted' not to be part of Doctor Who anniversary

Paul McGann has admitted he feels 'a bit gutted' not to have been included in the cast for the 50th anniversary episode of Doctor Who.

The actor played the eighth Doctor in a 1996 TV film and told Flicks And The City he was disappointed not to have been asked to take part in The Day Of The Doctor, which marks the show's milestone.

He said: "I was a bit dismayed because I always wanted to be in a 3D anything... so I was a bit gutted when I heard that's what it was going to be like, but there's no McCoy, we're not in it. Nor are we in the Christmas special or I don't think so anyway, unless they're going to shoot it next week.

"There's all kinds of rumours doing the rounds. One gets tired of trying to refute things on Twitter and the like, but take it from me - I'm not in it.

"The thing about Doctor Who is, if not now, then maybe some other time. That's the beauty of it - we can always come back."

Paul added that he thought the casting of Peter Capaldi as the 12th Doctor was a brilliant choice.

He said: "Peter Capaldi's going to take over - a proper fan, a brilliant actor, a lovely man, so it's in good hands.

"I think he'll bring the old-fashioned, scary gravitas that my favourite William Hartnell had. I think it was probably about time they went back into a middle-aged Doctor. He'll bring a fierce intelligence and a fatherly thing because that's also part of it.

"And hopefully he'll swear like a trooper like Malcolm Tucker, I think we're all secretly hoping that he will."

 

Patrick McLennan

Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix. 


An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.