10 Things That Must NEVER Happen In Doctor Who
2. An American Doctor
The 1996 TV Movie is probably the only time when American stars like Jeff Goldblum were seriously considered to play the Doctor. And even then, everyone involved in the production was fairly adamant that they needed a British actor to play the role.
Doctor Who is an iconic fictional character that is inextricably linked with the UK, as with James Bond or Sherlock Holmes. All three of these characters, for good or ill, are influenced by British culture, and have done a lot to influence it themselves.
An American playing the Doctor brings a completely new set of cultural stylings to the character that could dilute their homespun charm. An American Doctor would potentially be bigger, brasher, louder – elements that clash with the Doctor's default setting of humble traveller helping out wherever they can.
And while Americans have played iconic British characters like James Bond and Sherlock Holmes in a variety of formats... there's always something about it that isn't quite right.
Robert Downey Jr. gets away with it in the Sherlock Holmes movies, but only just. Do we really want a whole series of Doctor Who where Ryan Gosling does a dodgy British accent?