Star Trek The Next Generation’s Patrick Stewart may be ‘done with Hollywood’ but he is still open to doing some sci-fi. Stewart tells This Is North Scotland that not only is he a fan of the BBC’s Doctor Who, but he is "deeply dismayed" that he has not yet been asked to guest star on the show. Stewart has kept busy as a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company since his time playing TNG’s Picard and X-Men’s Professor Xavier and is currently playing the title role in MacBeth on the London stage. Even if Stewart doesn’t end up on Doctor Who he will get a chance to act with Doctor Who. It was recently reported that David Tennant will be playing the title role in Hamlet along with Stewart in an upcoming production.
OMG. David Tennant is leaving, and the new Doc hasn’t been set. Could the fates be conspiring to give us the most awesome series of Doctor Who ever?
Stewart for the Eleventh Doctor!
That would be cool.
Derrick Jacobi made a great (spoiler alert) Master.
Why not have Jean Luc get zapped by a Dalek?
Tennant is doing four eps for the next “series.” Meantime, he’ll get some stage work in. He’s set to stay on as the Doctor, though.
I’ve heard rumors to the contrary. Only rumors, but strong ones. We shall see…
Could be. I was really surprised as how quickly some of the actors (notably Christopher Eccleston) left the role. I wonder if it pays so little compared to US TV or if it’s very demanding. It’s got to be high-profile for the British audience. I would think actors would hang in for several years.
David Tennant is not leaving “Doctor Who”. The show will just take off a year (in 2009) so Tennant can do his stagework. Then the show will come back in 2010.
Go here for the article: http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/news/cult/news/drwho/2007/09/03/48471.shtml
Stewart for Davros!!! That would be sweet.
(Supposedly it’ll be Ben Kingsley but that’s old rumour.)
Stewart would not be “the most awesome” Doctor ever; Eccleston and Tennant already have him beat before he could begin.
Yeah, he’d make a good villain. Maybe a new one.
Obviously the BBC is doing what they can to keep Tennant on as the Doctor, delaying production for a year and going with some “specials” to work around other aspects of his career. The guy’s the most popular version of the Doctor in history and the most well-identified since Tom Baker.
That may be true Dennis, but Patrick as the 11th Doctor would certainly draw in a crowd. I’ve never watched an episode in my life, but I’d certainly tune in out of curiosity, if nothing else… surely I wouldn’t be the only first-time viewer to be drawn to a new Doctor Picard–er, Who. :)
Well, having seen Eccleston and Tennant I’ve no interest in a return to the “Old Who” characterisation of the Doctor as some sort of geezer. It would completely deflate the energy of the Davies version.
Dr. Who requires a certain sense of whimsey. I’m not sure Patrick Stewart, for all his charisma, has that.
The Doctor character is not a product of the age of the actor who plays him. He is like Dax in Deep Space Nine, different personality per carnation, but hundreds of years of experience knowledge and vast intelligence. Makes no difference if the actor is young or seasoned. It’s the writing that counts most. Patrick Stewart would just be as good a choice than anyone else regardless of age. However cant see him wanting to commit to years of sci fi again.
The Doctor character, in the Davies era, is very much a product of the actor who plays him. The silly old eccentricities of the video series just won’t cut it now. Get an old guy with no sex appeal in there and watch the ratings and international sales drop like a rock.
How about Patrick Stewart making an appearance on the the Doctor Who as the First Doctor. That would be cool. Now if Stewart was to be the 11th Doctor. I’m not sure that’s likely. I know him as Picard I don’t want the confusion (LOL!) of him being the Doctor.
If it aint on the page it aint on the stage. The writing is primary to a characters personality.
BTW rumours have it that Peter Davison will be reprising his role as the Doctor in a crossover episode in the new series. I bet its the highest rated episode of that series.
Sex appeal is not what sells Doctor Who. It’s sci-fi; not the OC. And its primary demographic target is a family audience not young adolescent teens; hence its time slot in the UK.
The actors chop and change and evolve constantly. The high calibre of the writing is the most important aspect of the show.
*snicker* High-caliber.
I’m sorry; I’m a bit of a snob. Almost stopped watching at the end of series 2 (or is it series 28?) with that silly demon pit arc, but Martha really helped redeem the show.
Point is, I really do watch it because the Doctor makes me laugh. It’s the only sci-fi show I watch because of the acting rather than the high-concept writing. I would argue, however, that Patrick Stewart has profound stores of sex appeal and a vein of humor that Star Trek left largely untapped. It would be fascinating, at least, and I suspect very successful.
#14 – good shout Levois, I’m sure Patrick Stewart could give a great version of the William Hartnell Doctor. I don’t think he’s fit enough for the role any more, too much running up and down corridors! And both CE and DT, and the other actors and crew, regularly talk about how punishing the filming schedule is, as well as eating up 6 months of their year.
I read in T.V. Guide that David Tennant will do something like four movies for 2009 and then return back in the full show in 2010 or something like that. I don’t recall all of the details, but I recall being glad that Tennant was staying in the role. Though I did not watch the other series–I saw a few old ones when I was a kid, but wasn’t a regular viewer–I really got into the show right about the time Tennant took over.
I wouldn’t mind seeing Patrick Stewart on the show. Just not as the Doctor. Stewart is a fine actor and while I did not care for Picard or the Next Generation, I will admit that Stewart is a talented actor. I liked him him the X-men movies and he’s one of my favorite Scrooges to date.
Patrick Stewert appearing in Dr Who would be the biggest coup for the show like EVER!
The star of Star Trek and X Men – it’d be tremendous.
Remember Patrick used to appeared in BBC productions before he became the Sci Fi mega star hes been from 1987 onwards..stuff like Play for Today, I Claudius, Tinker Tailor Soilder Spy, Hamlet etc…..as soon as he wrapped up Star Trek and X Men in hollywood he came back to the UK and to theatre and tv (11th Hour) …plus he appeared in BBCs Extras sending himself up in the best episode of that series.
I can see this happening….
Any crotchety old-style Doctor would destroy the show. Tennant rules.
#13 Dennis- YES.
The current producer of Dr Who, Russel T Davies, is on record as saying he would never cast anyone over 45 in the title role, no matter how good they are. So if Stewart were to get a big part I think it would need to be a baddie or a strong historical figure.
As for Tennant, he is confirmed for a 2010 season, but beyond that I think it is possible he will wish to move on. Apparently filming the series is extremely demanding on an actors’ time (one reason Billie Piper left) and by 2010 he will have been associated with the role for quite a while.
That said they’d do well to try to keep him on as long as possible. He is not perhaps the most popular Doctor *ever* ( Tom Baker was just as huge in his 1970s heyday, and still is!), but I think Tennant is a very strong second and is certainly the most instantly associated actor with the role since Baker. (Pertwee perhaps coming third). Tellingly, he has also been able to extend this popularity to the US just as Baker did.
Maybe put him in next year’s “Doctor-lite” episode (a la Blink?). He’d absolutely steal the show!!
It would be hilarious if Stewart dusted off one of his old roles, and let the Doctor meet… Seganus from I, Claudius… or Guenavere’s dad from Excalibur.
Frankly, I’m a little annoyed with Stewart after he praised Nemesis as the best Trek ever (and I know promotion is part of the job)until the critics, and the rest of us, hated it and then dissed it like crazy. He seems a bit too hammy in his roles – outside of Picard, for the most part – to be on the show… he’s starting to be a bit too much like Shatner…
As a fan of CERTAIN ‘Doctor Whos’ over the years, including David Tennant’s, I hope the current update that was brilliantly restarted by the excellent Christopher Eccleston, doesn’t degenerate into a celebrity / comedian of the week kind of show like it did in the past… It’s already getting into this type of thing again I believe, and that is just a distraction to the episodes. Patrick Stewart MIGHT make for a more interesting addition however, as he at least has a certain gravitas…but I wouldn’t care for another ‘stiff’ Doctor after the energy of the two recent ones…
Oh, and the wonderful Jon Pertwee and the style of of his episodes were always my favourites :) …with Tom Bakers and Christopher Eccleston’s a close second.
How about a Trek-Who Crossover? After leaving victorian england, the tardis jumps out of time-vortex-wormhole thingy only to find the Enterprise-E right beside it doing some stellar-cartografic technobabble. An invisible creature that has attached itself to the outside of the tardis and jumps into the E’s computer saying, “Redjak, Redjak Redjak….. hahahaha!”, murders troy and leaves Geordi holding the blade. The Doctor channels a Moc-Tar sealth chant though his sonic screwdriver/swizzle stick to force the alien to leave, but in the process, the “E” loses all of the historical documents and it’s beryllium sphere. Live long and never surrender!
#16: “Almost stopped watching at the end of series 2 with that silly demon pit arc.”
Silly? I thought that “The Impossible Planet” and “The Satan Pit” were the best of Season 2.
Someone’s changed their tune!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/classic/webcasts/shada/interviews/ward/page10.shtml
(read the last two paragraphs!)