(Dead) Actors and the Doctor

[selenak]

While we're waiting for the big announcement: I got around to listening to David Tennant being interviewed on Broadcasting House (Dec. 21st) . Basically your standard "so, how does it feel to play Hamlet after the Doctor" interview, but two replies made me smile: one to the question whether he wants to play James Bond (which was basically "no way, and also, no, but a Bond villain would be fun"), and the other as to which dead actor he'd regard as great casting for the Doctor. The interviewer boringly suggested Laurence Olivier. David T., bless his fannish heart, politely let that pass and came up with Charles Laughton instead. Which instantly made me wish for a time travel device of my own, because YES. Charles Laughton would have done great and original things with the Doctor.

It also made me wonder: which dead and gone actor would you regard as good Doctor casting?

Comments

[bimo.livejournal.com]

Mhm, let me think...

Early Peter Ustinov. Most other actors that come to my mind, are, while high in age, fortunately still alive ;-)

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Isn't Peter Ustinov still alive as well? Though yes, young Peter U. would be an interesting choice.

No Alec Guinness from you is a bit surprising. Would he work better as a companion?

[scriva.livejournal.com]

No, unfortunately, he died in 2004, a little while after playing in "Luther". He played his last role in that movie.

[bimo.livejournal.com]

No Alec Guinness from you is a bit surprising.

Why go for the obvious choice if you can go for a more inventive one? ;-)

Now that you are mentioning it, I think Guinness would actually make an excellent companion, especially if his character was written as ambivalent and having an agenda on his own.

The ideal Doctor to team him up with would possibly be a James Mason version of Six...

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Which would be interesting indeed, especially since Six had no on screen male companions. (There is one in the audios, though.)

...would Guiness!Companion be around when Five regenerates into Mason!Six? Because the strangling attempt afterwards might influence the relationship...