Doctor Who chief wants History Boys star to play Time Lord
Russell Tovey - alongside James Corden - could play Doctor Who
Also In The News
|
Tottenham remain rooted to the bottom of the Premier League table after being beaten 2-1 by Aston Villa at White Hart Lane. |  |
Tuesday, 16, Sep 2008 02:55
Doctor Who writer Russell T Davies has suggested that rising British actor Russell Tovey would be a suitable replacement for David Tennant.
Tovey, 26, made his breakthrough as Rudge in Alan Bennett's The History Boys, starring in the West End, Broadway and screen versions of the popular play, and also appeared in the Doctor Who Christmas special.
And with the length of Tennant's tenure as the Time Lord uncertain, email exchanges between Davies and journalist Benjamin Cook revealed the former's belief in Tovey's talent.
An email penned in June 2007 - they are currently being serialised in the Times newspaper - reveals that Tovey joining the Christmas special cast as Midshipman Frame was Davies' "favourite casting of the lot".
"He's going to be huge, that man," he added.
"He's amazing. I think I'd make him the eleventh Doctor."
The email exchanges also revealed that Davies planned to approach Harry Potter author JK Rowling for a cameo role, only for Tennant to be unimpressed by the suggestion.
"David doesn't like the JK idea, he thinks it sounds like a spoof, so we've paused slightly, wondering whether to win him round or just abandon something that he's not going to be happy with," he wrote in August 2007.
"We've got to keep him happy. He keeps us happy."
Tennant is currently playing the lead role in the royal Shakespeare Company's production of Hamlet, meaning that the fifth series of Doctor Who will not be seen until 2010, with two specials in 2009.