You may have heard that a certain Scottish actor is set to take on the role of The Doctor this August, in the 8th revived series of the BBC’s iconic sci-fi show Doctor Who. Well, this mightn’t have been the case had some BBC bosses gotten their way. In fact, forget Peter Capaldi, we almost didn’t have Matt Smith…
Speaking yesterday at the Hay Literary Festival, showrunner Steven Moffat revealed the BBC were ready to axe the long-running series after Smith’s predecessor David Tennant and then-showrunner Russell T Davies announced their departure back in 2008.
“I think there were plans maybe to consider ending it,” said Moffat. “It was Russell T Davies saying, ‘You are not allowed to end it’ [that kept it going].”
He continued, “David owned that role in a spectacular way, gave it an all-new cheeky sexy performance and became a national treasure. So the idea that Doctor Who could go on at all in the absence of David was a huge question.
“I didn’t realise how many people thought it wouldn’t succeed at all. That was quite terrifying when I found out about it later.”
So there you have it, it wasn’t just the screaming fangirls who lost interest in the show after Tennant announced he was stepping down. It makes us wonder, did the same thing happen again when Matt Smith vacated the role, especially considering his successor is the 55 year old Capaldi who teenagers may feel less inclined to decorate their bedroom walls with posters of?
Marc
Marc is a self-confessed nerd. Ever since seeing Star Wars for the first time around 1979 he’s been an unapologetic fan of the Wars and still believes, with Clone Wars and now Underworld, we are yet to see the best Star Wars. He’s a dad of two who now doesn’t have the time (or money) to collect the amount of toys, comics, movies and books he once did, much to the relief of his long-suffering wife. In the real world he’s a graphic designer. He started Following the Nerd because he was tired of searching a million sites every day for all the best news that he loves and decided to create one place where you can go to get the whole lot. Secretly he longs to be sitting in the cockpit of his YT-1300 Corellian Transport ship with his co-pilot Chewie, roaming the universe, waiting for his next big adventure, but feels just at home watching cartoons with his kids….
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