Nighy favoured as Doctor?

The Sunday Times reported on 5th October that the BBC is to offer Bill Nighy the role of the Doctor in the forthcoming TV series.

In an interesting development in the huge speculation about who will star in the forthcoming Doctor Who series, Richard Brooks - Sunday Times Arts Editor - states that Nighy is also "said by friends to be very interested in the role." As yet it remains just speculation, but in the interest of our readers...

Nighy, currently one of Britain's better-known character actors, was born in 1949. He entered the much-discussed shortlist over a week ago when name-checked during Clayton Hickman's interview with Radio 4's Today programme. Hickman's claim that Nighy would be a preferred choice of the new series' writer-producer Russell T. Davies is reiterated by the Sunday Times.

Last week, Eddie Izzard was the name being bandied about most as a candidate to pilot the TARDIS, principally because of Tom Baker's assertions. It remains to be seen whether there's any more truth in the talk of Nighy being offered the role than Izzard, Alan Davies, Alan Cumming and so on.

Nighy can currently be seen in UK and US cinemas as the long-dormant vampire leader in the rather splendid horror film Underworld, although it's doubtful that role will have left him with much of a head-start as a prospective Doctor. He also impressed millions of BBC1 viewers in May 2003 as Cameron, 'the editor every journalist wants to work for' in thriller series State of Play (pictured above).

Other Nighy roles range from playing Sam Gamgee in the epic Radio 4 adaptation of Lord of the Rings in 1981, to a role he described as "a genius who is surrounded by beautiful women" in BBC Films' I Capture the Castle this year (co-starring with ex-Buffy squeeze Marc Blucas). He is married to actress Diana Quick, who appears in BBCi's forthcoming webcast Doctor Who drama starring Richard E. Grant.

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