As we wait to find out who will replace Peter Capaldi in Doctor Who, here’s someone who could have played the Doctor in the past: Scottish actor Alan Cumming, known for his various roles in the likes of GoldenEye, Spy Kids, X2 and The Good Wife, among many others
The Huffington Post revealed that the prolific actor was asked to play the face-changing Time Lord on not just one, but two occasions. While he says he would have loved to take the part, there was one big aspect of the job that put him off; relocating to Cardiff, Wales, where Doctor Who is filmed.
Cumming recalled that a “lovely Welshman” – presumably original showrunner Russell T. Davies – had phoned him to offer him the job, but once he found out where the production was located, he wasn’t interested.
“I said, ‘Sure, I still have a flat in London, it’d be perfect.’ Then he said, ‘It’s eight months of the year in Cardiff…’ And I said, ‘What?’ And I think that might have been what blew it. Nothing against Cardiff, but…”
He was then approached by writer Mark Gatiss in more recent years, but had to turn it down for the same reason.
“He had heard of this [previous discussion], and he said, ‘Would you like to be Doctor Who now?’ I said, ‘Fine, I’d love to, but they [previously] told me I’d have to go to Cardiff for eight months of the year ‘ and he said, ‘Oh no, you’d still have to do that.’
Cumming is clearly keen on Doctor Who, but the idea of moving to the Welsh capital city is enough to put him off, with the actor saying, “I’d do anything for Doctor Who, but I won’t do that.”
This is definitely a shame, as Cumming is a talented, chameleonic performer who would no doubt have done a terrific job at playing the Doctor. Still, if he had ended up with the role, that would mean we’d have missed out on one of the amazing actors we’ve seen in the part already, so it all turned out for the best.
Doctor Who is currently airing on Saturday nights on BBC America and you can check out the promo for the next episode down below.