WOW!When I heard earlier this evening (the annual great banquet at Kasterborous Towers dragged me away from collating news for a couple of hours – it won’t happen again) that the BBC would be making a midnight announcement of an “iconic star” at midnight, the first thing to strike me was “what about Twitter?”
It seems that I shouldn’t have worried, however – the casting announcement for the Doctor Who Christmas Special that follows was a piece of extremely interesting news…
We’re delighted to confirm the brilliant Richard E Grant is appearing in the new series of #DoctorWho. More news later@ bbc.in/G19iB
— Doctor Who Official (@bbcdoctorwho) August 5, 2012
Richard E Grant.
He is, of course, the original Ninth Doctor, cruelly wiped from canon following the BBC announcement that they would be reviving the series with Russell T Davies in charge. A fascinating character, Grant – who starred with Eighth Doctor Paul McGann in the cult classic Withnail & I – wasn’t given the chance to develop his Doctor (and his relationship with a Derek Jacobi android Master) any further in Paul Cornell’s compelling but short-lived revival, Scream of the Shalka.
So, what’s Richard E. Grant – who also played the Doctor in Steven Moffat’s Comic Relief skit The Curse of the Fatal Death - exact role in the Doctor Who Christmas Special? We don’t yet know, of course, but the BBC will be filling in a few blanks (or posing new ones) later on today…
Loved him as Withnail. Problem is hes played that part every time since…
I think that’s a little unfair – he’s certainly lived off that performance in terms of being typecast, but he’s done plenty of stuff where he hasn’t (admittedly not as well-known…)
Last seen as that man in the Argos adverts.
And now in Who.
Hardly big news..
I do like Mr Grant, but ‘iconic’? Perhaps in this age (DW actors and Olympic sports star’s aside) of famous for the sake of being famous and little, a good actor who has had some decent roles,is considered iconic?
I thought they had landed Bradley Wiggins for a moment, or Mr Bolt? Or Arnie, or Mr Redford or Ms Streep??????? Tom? David T? No? Oh well…good casting though.
either that, or “iconic” has become PR shorthand for “we can’t think of a better word”?
I too like REG, have several of his films on DVD, know Withnail & I off by heart and found his Shalka Doctor fascinating, but using the word “iconic” is a big #fail, imho.
Tom Baker would be iconic in terms of DW; Paul McCartney, Madonna or Tom Cruise would be iconic in a a wider cultural sense. I don’t think iconic is a word that should have been associated with this particular announcement, regardless of how pleased I am about it!
I think the “we will tell you at midnight” bit also built it up too much.
If it had been just announced normally we would all have said “ooh, that’s nice, bet he’ll be good” rather than thinking it was going to be some major worldwide star and getting REG.
Also, I can’t remember which one it was, but didn’t RTD or the Moff say in an issue of DWM they couldn’t stand him as the Shalka Doctor as clearly he just phoned in his performance?
“Iconic” for Withnail fetishists perhaps…
Hmm, I would call myself a Withnail fetishist and even I don’t think “iconic” is appropriate