Interesting article including quotes from David Tennant about his casting, and how, that as he was obviously cast before Eccleston had even aired, he worried that if the revival wasn't succesful he might not have gotten past that regeneration scene and could have been the guy who only 'played the doctor for 35 seconds'.

http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2016-...neration-scene

Has any other actor taken such a risk in taking the role?. I mean, Mcgann even knew he was guaranteed a full length film of playing the role.

I don't think anyone else, when agreeing to the role, had a risk of possibly filming the regeneration scene and nothing more. As a big fan, for whom it was a dream role, it must have been even more of a personal risk to him, as he would know that if the revival had been unsuccessful, and he'd been associated with it, then it would be unlikely he'd be asked to play the role properly in any other revival attempts.

Anyway, So glad he took the risk, and that it paid of for him, and those of us who immensely enjoyed his time on the show.

Though he was guaranteed a lot more time than Tennant, I think Patrick Troughton must have taken the biggest risk of all in taking on the role. There was no other Doctor but Hartnell at that point, no viewer would have been used to Regeneration back then so there was a cocktail of many things that could have gone wrong.

Had Troughton not succeeded in the role the show may have finished there and then and Tennant's career and all the other Doctor's would have taken a different path.

Troughton's casting always fascinates me, because it would have been very easy for them to cast somebody who was similar to Hartnell and had all his attributes, and it's what you would expect really, but they took a big risk in going for somebody with a very different energy and it ended up being one of the most crucial points in the history of Doctor Who. Definitely the riskiest Doctor casting of all.

Good on Tennant for risking being the half a minute Doctor though, I think any actor who's a fan would want that opportunity. It's easy for people to look at somebody like Colin Baker or Paul McGann and think "I don't want to be the Doctor nobody remembers" but I'm sure they're grateful to have been and still be a part of it.

I don't think he would have only done half a minute. If the show bombed so badly that it got cancelled, they would have known this before episode 13 aired, and re-edited it to not have the Doctor regenerate. Tennant's footage would be on the cutting room floor.

I think whoever replaced Hartnell, it was always going to be tough going. As you say, making him different was a big risk and it worked It would have been the same if they'd put a copycat Hartnellesque Doctor as a replacement. Either way, it was a no-win sitiuation as both scenarios would have met with audience resistance.

I don't agree. They had what they had, and it's not like they had a back up ending for the episode. I don't see how they could have ended the episode without it.

It's a most unusual situation, in which the lead actor exits at the end of the first series

Having said that, the BBC would have seen the rushes and known that they had a hit on their hands, and generally the BBC takes a longer term approach to new shows than commercial channels

it's hard to know though whether 'the guys in the office' thinking its great will turn into audience adoration. We've all seen the case of a new big budget thing from a channel which is hyping it up, which then turns out to be a complete flop that gets axed after one series.

If everyone involved and everyone in the company, or even external critics think it is great, it still doesn't necessarily mean it will translate into ratings success for whatever reason.

As I said in my opening post, I think for someone wanting the role as badly as Tennant, for him to take the role in those unknown circumstances was a potentially huge risk, that, if it failed, could of ruled him out of playing the doctor properly in a future revival by association.

It makes me admire his time on the show more that he was willing to take that risk in order to say yes to the role at that time.

There was a non regeneration scene filmed which could have been used.


http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/The_Par...Ways_(TV_story)


Other sources say that once the news of CE leaving was public there was no point in using the alternative ending in Press Screenings so the version with the regeneration was shown.

Actually looking at the dates involved DT wasn't taking that big a risk.



Series 2 was announced as going ahead on the 30th March 2005.

DT was announced as the Doctor on the 16th April 2005.

DT recorded his half of the Regeneration on the 21st April 2005.


So while it's possible DT may have accepted the role (can't find a date for this) before Series 2 was announced, he was only announced as the Doctor and filmed the role after Series 2 was announced.

RTD said he thought unless it crashed and burned completely it was always going to get a second series as the BBC had spent a fortune in start up costs.

BBC bigwigs would also have seen some footage, maybe rough copies of the opening episodes. They would have seen from those that the series would either be a hit OR at worst a well intentioned failure, worthy of a second series. Indeed if the series had flopped, then a different lead actor would be the perfect excuse to give it a second chance!

TV shows are often publicly hyped up, when behind the scenes the producers know they stink. It's best to ignore the public comments at the time, the truth only comes out later!

Brilliant thread. It's been so dull on the Doctor who forum for ages . I have been going into the Big Brother forum and David Icke's just to keep myself entertained.