Doctor Who 12th Wishlist - 13 Probable, Plausible And Impossible Replacements For Matt Smith
9. Tim Roth
Am I alone on this? I have never once heard Tim Roth named as a potential Doctor, but to me, he seems such an obvious choice. I always felt that, if anyone ever had the audacity to attempt a Doctor Who origin story, Roth would be ideal to play a younger, pre-exile First Doctor, putting his own unique stamp on William Hartnells piercing, avian stare and mercurial shifts from gruff impatience to childish glee. So why not let him have a crack at Twelve?
WHY HIM: An accomplished actor with proven abilities in almost every genre, Roth conveys an intense braininess and an edgy idiosyncrasy in every role. He can be cold and distant, observing the world from deep behind his heavy-lidded eyes, or warm and gentle, allowing a strange compassion and awkward innocence to radiate on his face. Added to which, he is a professed fan of the show, and considers himself a bit of a sci-fi junkie, so I cant imagine him turning it down.
SEE HIM IN: If you can stomach the overall poor quality of the film, Roth has all pistons firing in Michael Caton-Jones Rob Roy, as a duplicitous, villainous courtier named (somewhat obviously) Cunningham. But really, youll have more fun sitting back and watching him play out existential Laurel and Hardy routines with Gary Oldman in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead.