When showrunner Russell T. Davies revived the Doctor Who television series in 2005, he offered the role of the Doctor to Hugh Grant – and was turned down. A couple years later, Grant said he regretted not taking the job: “It’s only when you see it on screen that you think, ‘Damn, that was good, why did I say no?'” After twelve years away from the series, Davies is set to take control of Doctor Who once again. The run of the current Doctor, Jodie Whittaker, and showrunner Chris Chibnall will be ending soon, and according to the Mirror Davies is looking to boost the show’s ratings by casting Hugh Grant as the lead. Will Grant accept the role this time, seventeen years later? We’ll have to wait and see.
A “TV insider” told the Mirror that Davies thinks Grant will “bring a fresh feel” to the Doctor.
He offers many attributes – great actor, British, award-winning, Hollywood A-lister and excellent at comedy. Conversations are in progress.”
This insider also says Davies’ vision is that
the show can be a Marvel-like product, building franchises around the Doctor and other key characters in his many lives. With the utmost respect to the BBC, in the past attempts like Torchwood were made on a very limited budget in locations around Wales. Now the world is Russell’s oyster.”
Apparently Davies is being fully backed by BBC Worldwide and Sony Pictures TV, which bought a majority stake in the show’s production company Wolf Studios, in this endeavor to make the Doctor Who franchise bigger than ever.
Grant has played the Doctor before, very briefly, in a 1999 Comic Relief sketch. That sketch was written by Steven Moffat, who was a showrunner on Doctor Who for several years, and also had Rowan Atkinson, Richard E. Grant, Jim Broadbent, and Joanna Lumley playing the Doctor over the course of its 21 minutes. (You can watch this sketch below.)
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