"I don't want to be remembered as the George Lazenby of Doctor Who". Paul McGannPaul McGann: November 14, 1959
Paul became a hosehold name by his portrayal in the BBC serial The Monocled Mutineer, in which he played the lead role. But for Doctor Who fans he is better known as the 8th Doctor.
On January 10, 1996, it was announced that Paul McGann would play the eighth incarnation of the Doctor in the Doctor Who television movie. The television movie also starred Eric Roberts, Daphne Ashbrook, and the outgoing Seventh Doctor, Sylvester McCoy who agreed to film a regeneration scene. McGann's brother, Mark McGann, also auditioned for the title role.
The Doctor Who television movie was a joint venture between the BBC, Universal Studios and the Fox Broadcasting Network. McGann had signed a contract to appear as the Eighth Doctor in a new Doctor Who series, if Fox or Universal exercised their option. Thus, the television movie was supposed to be a "back door pilot" in that, if it obtained respectable ratings, the new series would continue to be produced. The movie aired on May 14, 1996 in the US and on May 27, 1996 in the UK. Although it earned 9.08 million viewers and was very successful in the UK, ratings were very low in the United States. As a consequence, Fox did not exercise its option to pick up the series and Universal could not find another network who was interested in airing a new Doctor Who series. Thus no new series was produced until 2005, after all the contractual rights had returned to the BBC. Sadly the movie became McGann's only televised appearance as the Eighth Doctor.
Although McGann played the Doctor on television only once, he gave permission for his likeness to be used on the covers of the BBC's Eighth Doctor novels and he has reprised the role of the Eighth Doctor in an extensive series of audio plays by Big Finish Productions.
For nine years, McGann was treated as the "current" Doctor by some fans until Christopher Eccleston assumed the role in 2005. McGann (1996-2005) is tied with Sylvester McCoy (1987-1996) for serving the longest period of time as the "current" Doctor, at nine years each, though McGann actually had the role for 40 days more. The show was not in production for virtually all of this time, however. McGann's single appearance as the Doctor in the television movie makes him the actor with the shortest "screen time" in that role.
McGann's co-star in Withnail, actor Richard E. Grant, also played the Doctor in the 2003 animated webcast Scream of the Shalka. As this new Doctor was originally intended to be the canonical Ninth Doctor, at the time it was wryly observed by fans that "'and I' regenerated into 'Withnail'."[citation needed]
Rumours abound that Paul McGann will retake the role of the eighth Doctor in a new series of television films, alongside the current television series. McGann has denied these rumours on the grounds of not having being asked back to play the part but if he were to be asked would be interested as long as he "didn't have to wear a wig".
Paul became a hosehold name by his portrayal in the BBC serial The Monocled Mutineer, in which he played the lead role. But for Doctor Who fans he is better known as the 8th Doctor.
On January 10, 1996, it was announced that Paul McGann would play the eighth incarnation of the Doctor in the Doctor Who television movie. The television movie also starred Eric Roberts, Daphne Ashbrook, and the outgoing Seventh Doctor, Sylvester McCoy who agreed to film a regeneration scene. McGann's brother, Mark McGann, also auditioned for the title role.
The Doctor Who television movie was a joint venture between the BBC, Universal Studios and the Fox Broadcasting Network. McGann had signed a contract to appear as the Eighth Doctor in a new Doctor Who series, if Fox or Universal exercised their option. Thus, the television movie was supposed to be a "back door pilot" in that, if it obtained respectable ratings, the new series would continue to be produced. The movie aired on May 14, 1996 in the US and on May 27, 1996 in the UK. Although it earned 9.08 million viewers and was very successful in the UK, ratings were very low in the United States. As a consequence, Fox did not exercise its option to pick up the series and Universal could not find another network who was interested in airing a new Doctor Who series. Thus no new series was produced until 2005, after all the contractual rights had returned to the BBC. Sadly the movie became McGann's only televised appearance as the Eighth Doctor.
Although McGann played the Doctor on television only once, he gave permission for his likeness to be used on the covers of the BBC's Eighth Doctor novels and he has reprised the role of the Eighth Doctor in an extensive series of audio plays by Big Finish Productions.
For nine years, McGann was treated as the "current" Doctor by some fans until Christopher Eccleston assumed the role in 2005. McGann (1996-2005) is tied with Sylvester McCoy (1987-1996) for serving the longest period of time as the "current" Doctor, at nine years each, though McGann actually had the role for 40 days more. The show was not in production for virtually all of this time, however. McGann's single appearance as the Doctor in the television movie makes him the actor with the shortest "screen time" in that role.
McGann's co-star in Withnail, actor Richard E. Grant, also played the Doctor in the 2003 animated webcast Scream of the Shalka. As this new Doctor was originally intended to be the canonical Ninth Doctor, at the time it was wryly observed by fans that "'and I' regenerated into 'Withnail'."[citation needed]
Rumours abound that Paul McGann will retake the role of the eighth Doctor in a new series of television films, alongside the current television series. McGann has denied these rumours on the grounds of not having being asked back to play the part but if he were to be asked would be interested as long as he "didn't have to wear a wig".
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