h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

It depends on what an actor wants from a role.
If it is money, Hollywood is the best place.
If you want the challenge and interaction of a live audience you are probably better off on the stage.
But for the opportunity to develop a character over a long period of time, you can't beat television – although the pay and hours are quite lousy. And of course, only some television programmes give actors the opportunity to play more than a stereotype, whether 'Doctor Who' does will depend on the new production team, but in the past its focus has often been on being scary and featuring monsters-of-the-week. 'Doctor Who' will give you national recognition and you'll have a job for life doing conventions and audio dramas etc.

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I have no idea - I still have to catch up with all the David Tennant episodes. But I will be following this with interest.

Nice to see people digging up old threads.

The pay is anything but lousy.

Theater pay is lousy.

Peter Dinklage would be awesome I think.

Maybe Iaian Glen or Liam Cunningham would also be good shouts.


(Clearly I watch too much Game of Thrones).

Ive managed to avoid Game of Thrones so far but it seems to be a breeding ground for new names.

Don't avoid it, it's great!

Peter Dinklage is a good actor, but again he has appeared in Hollywood films now like 'X-Men' and 'Pixels' – would he want to go back full-time to television? ('Game of Thrones' is a bit different as it has such a huge cast, rather than one lead who is the focus of every episode. For 'Doctor Who' he would be the focus of 13 or 14 episodes a year, rather than someone appearing in a few scenes in up to 10 episodes).

Besides which – should the Doctor be a British actor?

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There's only one contender surely - Tilda Swinton. I've said this for ten years, but he role in Dr. Strange seems almost like an audition.

Ah, but. Dr Strange, strange Dr - they're different things surely? (Not that I fundamentally disagree with the premise)

"Peter Dinklage is a good actor [...] would he want to go back full-time to television?"

I don't know, ask him. In any case, he was in other movies before he started Game of Thrones.

If you're looking for new Doctors and you want them to be British, you could always give the role to Hugh Laurie!

Tilda Swinton is definitely talented – and scary in the Narnia films – but again if she is used to Hollywood, would she want to go back to telly?
Mind you, excluding Joanna Lumley, judging from the daft things people said about 'Ghostbusters', the first female doctor will get a lot of flack. She's already played a character who was male in the comics for 'Doctor Strange', so she'd know what to expect.
Hugh Laurie would be a good choice, however I suspect he's used to higher salaries than the BBC would pay.

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@Silicon Dioxide:
"Dr Strange, strange Dr - they're different things surely?"

Check Peter Capaldi's IMDb page - before he played Dr. Who, he was in "World War Z" with Brad Pitt playing... W.H.O. Doctor.

@Orcus: Liam Cunningham has already been in Who - he was the captain of the Russian sub in the Ice Warrior episode. Not that that stops him - Capaldi played two separate humans in the Whoniverse before they gave him the keys to the toybox.

On the subject of the Ice Warrior episode - I've always thought David Warner would be good. Probably too old, though.

David Warner would indeed be a good Doctor – in fact, he has played the Doctor – on audio at least:
http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/David_Warner

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I always liked him.

As an aside, a week or so ago, I went to the Dr Who exhibition here in Cardiff (been here years, why didn't I go before?) with a 10 and 6 year old in tow. We helped fix the Tardis, had Peter Capaldi (aka the Doctor) shouting at us and met Daleks and Weeping Angels, I also had both kids clinging on to me for dear life a couple of time.

It was awesomely good

(PS I forgot that Dinklage isn't British to be honest. But if Who doesn't have to be a man, why does he have to be british)

Yes Hugh Laurie is very used to massive US TV salaries now, but I bet he'd love it. That's a great suggestion. Dare I say it, Steven Fry instead maybe... not sure he's a good enough actor mind you.

Not physical enough. I mean you wouldn't catch him running around putting things to right, saving the universe and damsels in distress with his sonic screwdriver.

I think Hugh Laurie would be perfect, too. No chance, though. Any other Blackadder types likely? Rowan Atkinson?