sigh, trolls.

Or in two cases, sons

In fact, I understand Sean Pertwee was in the running for the tenth doctor, but Matt Smith got it, so I bet he'd jump at the chance of playing his dad.

I think that would be a very bad idea. It didn't really work with Richard Hurndall and i think its just disrespectful to the actors' memories.

Neither he nor the Troughton boys look anything like their fathers. There was only one Jon and one Patrick. Anyone else would just be doing an impersonation of the second and third Doctors.

Cum negante principia nequit disputari! An old saying from philosophy... basically that you can't even have an argument without at least some basic principles agreed upon.

Poseur. ^

Absolutely right. David Troughton does look like his father but he doesn't look like the 2nd Doctor (if you see what I mean!). Rather beside the point but Fraser Hines has had a lot of good reviews for his Companion Chronicles impersonation... I don't hear it myself, though.

I wouldn't like to see the actors recast as I don't think the Doctor is just another acting role like Hamlet or somesuch - the actor's personality is vital. However, nothing could be more distasteful than the floating heads in Dimensions in Time!

Please read Digital Spy's Terms & conditions para 2.1 before calling anyone a ponce!

Give it 3 more years and CGI may be able to put old actors into new scenes, it's not there yet but...

Don't know if I like the idea of Avatar-esque technology reanimating William Hartnell just to keep Doctor Who fans happy! The actors have passed away so I'd rather they were represented by archive footage only. Anything else, for me, is in questionable taste.

1. I meant that strictly in the sense of being an ostentatious show-off.

2. If you'll notice, I was referring to myself.

3. I've changed it and shan't do it again if it offends anyone, I promise.

Very much my view, as well.

But why would this be worse than digging out old, fat actors to play their younger selves, it's only a story after all!

Personally, I think "old, fat actors" do their best work as the Doctor on audio, nowadays!

Sure, it's "only a story" but I find the idea of Jon Pertwee's image being digitally manipulated just to service a TV show rather repellent. I know similar techniques have been used for adverts in the past but, I think, if you've died that should really be the end of your acting career!

Because it would be disrespectful to the memory of the actors who created those characters, and insensitive to their families, friends and fans . Just as the phrase 'old, fat actors' is disrespectful to the ones still alive, in fact.

You have'nt seen Colin Baker recently then?

Yes, I have-he appears to have lost weight, in fact. Not that that is even remotely the point. Why do you think it's OK to insult the man with thoughtless remarks about his weight?

I agree. This might sound strange, but I have always thought it sort of refuted why regeneration was introduced to continue the series with a new lead actor, to then just cast someone else as an incarnation once played by someone else. I'd rather they had incorporated footage of Hartnell to some degree.

I've often thought about ways a multi-doctor 'special' could be done and I personally think an animation, with as many of the original actors as possible doing their own voices would be the most tasteful and logical route - also getting Sean Pertwee and David Troughton to pay tribute to their fathers Doctors in this way would be quite acceptable, whereas I don't believe trying to impersonate them physically would. In the same way as I quite like Sean Lennons version of 'Dear Prudence' and Julian Lennons version of Day Tripper, but would bulk at any suggestion of them standing in for John Lennon in some kind of Beatle reunion
However, I'm fairly sure they would decline the idea quite frankly, as oassibly would one or two of the actual 'Doctors'.

Diverging massively from the topic, what's the sentiment on, hypothetically, recreating lost stories from the original audio with the telesnaps as a guide should some sort of near magical computer technology for [re]animating dead actors in a photorealistic fashion appear?

I'm not sure what you mean. You mean a sort of photo-realistic animation based on the telesnaps? I'm not sure that would ever be possible, but at least used be using the original material and the original actors performances on audio. I find that less objectionable than recasting them (the animated version of The Invasion worked quite well). Though it could be a little unsettling for their families, more so than straightforward animation I would think.

Floating heads and reanimating dead actors have never much appealed to me - I still remain to be convinced what possible benefit an 11 Doctor Story would have outside of fandom even if all Doctors were available to do it looking exactly as they did...I feel sure that if SM is still at the helm in 2013 (which ought to be pretty much a certainty) he and the Team will manage to come up with a suitable celebration of the 50th Anniversary that won't involve compromising the actual programme itself which, in my opinion, The Five Doctors came quite close to doing given all the problems it was subject to.

I've always thought that to be nonsense. All three of the late Doctors were huge fans of the show and none of them would have a problem with another actor taking on the role. It wasn't disrespectful for Karl Urban to take on the role of McCoy in Star Trek, it's just a character. The first, second and third Doctors are characters and I'm sure all three actors would want those characters to continue.

Does this mean that all the comics I have collect are all lies?

What a silly thread - the OP should be time locked in his own little world