In 1996, Paul McGann claimed the TARDIS keys and graced the big screen with the first transatlantic feature-length film experience of Doctor Who, and introduced the world to the Eighth Doctor. Sadly, McGann never returned to Doctor Who, save for some small cameos in the lead-up to the 50th-anniversary special in 2013, and most recently, alongside Jodie Whittaker in her series finale, “The Power of the Doctor”.
In a new interview with Doctor Who Magazine (courtesy of a story from The Radio Times), McGann, alongside Big Finish collaborator India Fisher (known for providing her vocal talents as Charlie Pollard between 2001 and 2009), revealed that he had waited by his phone for news on returning for the revival.
“Yeah. So, I thought to myself, ‘OK. No one has called me yet, but maybe the phone will ring and they’ll ask me to come and do a day on this thing.’”
McGann added: “That’s proper ‘sad actor’, isn’t it? When actors aren’t working, they sit in a room, looking out of a window, waiting for the phone to ring. And that was me for all those years. And the phone didn’t ring!”
In retrospect, Fisher was contacted, quite fleetingly, by showrunner Russell T Davies. This is what Fisher had to say: “I remember getting an email from [showrunner] Russell T Davies saying, ‘Thank you so much. If it hadn’t been for Charley, then Rose Tyler would never have been created.’”
“And I was like, ‘That’s lovely. Do you want to cast me, then?’” Fisher added. In response, McGann said: “Well, at least you had an email. That’s more contact than I’ve ever had with him!”
He continued: “Never met him, never spoken to him, never had an email. I mean, I admire him greatly, but no. I’ve never met him.”
Doctor Who returns for the 2024 Christmas Special, Joy to the World, the first festive special to be written by Steven Moffat since the Peter Capaldi swansong in 2017, Twice Upon A Time. More than 800 episodes of Doctor Who and associated spinoffs, including The Sarah Jane Adventures, Torchwood, and Class, are available on the BBC iPlayer.
