David Mitchell: The Next Doctor Who?

I know, it’s too early to be speculating about the 12th doctor. Before Matt Smith was announced as the 11th Doctor I was intrigued to find a lot of internet chatter and whovian interest in seeing actor and comedian David Mitchell get the part.

Personally, I think he’d be great! As someone who grew up with the original Doctor Who series, I can see why Mitchell’s name has been thrown in the hat – although it’s difficult to articulate precisely what it is about Mitchell that makes me (and many others) conclude he would be great for the role (he’d be the first Doctor with a double chin?). He has certainly endeared audiences with his performances in Peep Show and Mitchell and Webb, so he has wide appeal. As for his suitability in the role – he’d be different to the three dashing doctors we’ve had so far, perhaps a bit more laid back, clumsy, comical? More like one of the Doctors of old than of recent times? His different look, style and comedic experience would give the Doctor a distinct persona that we haven’t seen before, and I think would be quite charming! If it was 1984, he’d be a shoe in!

Mitchell once commented that he’d love to play the Doctor, but thought he would be too ugly for the part. It is true that Doctors 9, 10 and 11 from the new series are all very handsome. The producers of Doctor Who obviously understand the capacity of a dashing Doctor to capture and maintain a broader audience. However there’s a lot to be said for the success of the older Doctors based on their wit and charm – surely the new generation of Doctor Who fans can’t be so shallow as to require a handsome hunk for a timelord? In any case, I think Mitchell is being too harsh on himself!

Incidentally, David Mitchell and David Tennant appeared on Parkinson together in May 2007. Mitchell talks about pretending to be Doctor Who when he was a child (to watch this episode of Parkinson from the beginning, click here).