Posted in: BBC, Doctor Who, Opinion, TV, TV | Tagged: bbc, doctor who, it's a sin, jodie whittaker, olly alexander, opinion, rumours

Doctor Who: On Olly Alexander and Those "Next Doctor" Rumours

Another day, another Doctor Who casting rumour: now the British tabloids are claiming that Olly Alexander is negotiating to take over as The Doctor once Jodie Whittaker leaves. But then virtually every actor under the sun has been rumoured to be the next Doctor.

Olly Alexander is as much of a rumour as Jo Martin or Eddie Izzard. This is typical of how the media likes to jump on a high-profile Flavour of the Month star to claim they're the next Doctor Who so it's likely not true. Jo Martin is in reserve because she's already a Doctor, but anyone else on the list is just fan and media "fantasy football." For fans, it's a bit of fun. For newspapers, it's sales, clickbait, bums on seats. They never have to apologise when it turns out to be false because no harm is really done, just a bit of speculative fun. The BBC will never cast an actor whose star power threatens to overshadow the figure of The Doctor. It's always someone respected but not yet a household name.

And constant rumours that the BBC want a good-looking "David Tennant-type" to lure back the female fans. Remember the pundits insisting in 2017 that Kris Marshall was a lock to be the next Doctor when Matt Smith was leaving, or Peter Capaldi? Or the ones who insisted that it would be Phoebe Waller-Bridge, just hot off Fleabag? Why would Waller-Bridge, whose career was about to take off like a rocket suddenly decide to star in Doctor Who?! That made no sense for her. Did that ever really come to pass? That's not how the business or careful management of actors' careers work.

Let's remember, nobody expected Christopher Eccleston, David Tennant, Matt Smith, Peter Capaldi or Whittaker to be declared the new Doctor. All respected actors in the industry but none of them household names. Capaldi was the closest but the public thought of him as Malcolm Tucker from The Thick of It, not Peter Capaldi.

John Barrowman and Russell T. Davies began pushing the idea of Alexander being the next Doctor before It's A Sin! came out for press, and now it surfaces during the final days of the show's Emmy nominations push. Davies also previously pushed Russell Tovey in the past, saying "he'd make a great Doctor!". That never happened.

Both Eccleston and Tennant got cast as The Doctor right after working with Davies on another miniseries – The Second Coming for Eccleston, after which Davies picked him for The 9^th Doctor after David Warner allegedly fell through;, and Tennant after CASANOVA was a hit and Eccleston suddenly quit after one season , whereupon Davies was already showrunner for Doctor Who and cast him to replace Eccleston. Davies is no longer showrunner, so has no real say, even if he's friends with current showrunner Chris Chibnall.

Bottom line: if it's too high-profile an actor, it won't be them because the BBC doesn't want their fame to overshadow the Doctor's. Doctor Who is a brand, and so is a famous actor's name. The BBC is aware of that and needs to protect the brand they own. After all, it's worth tens of millions of pounds. If you really want to find out who the next Doctor is, check with the UK bookmakers a few days before BBC makes their official scheduled announcement. Some people in the know tend to bet a few thousand quid to shift the odds. Chances are the next Doctor will be someone who has worked with Chibnall before.

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