Hugh Grant plays down Doctor Who casting talk

Has Russell T Davies cast Hugh Grant as the new Doctor Who? If he has, it seems to be news to, er, Hugh Grant. As he comes off the back of wrapping up a pair of new film roles, Hugh Grant now finds himself in the midst of a fresh bout of casting speculation. Grant has popped up across several outlets as the frontrunner to take the lead in the next series of Doctor Who, replacing the incumbent in the TARDIS, Jodie Whittaker. There’s certainly a working relationship already in place for Grant when it comes to where the show’s going next. Russell T Davies is returning to take over Doctor Who for its 60^th anniversary, and he worked with Grant on A Very English Scandal a few years back. Plus, Grant has played the Time Lord on screen before in the 1999 Comic Relief short Doctor Who: The Curse Of Fatal Death. That said, reports that he was in talks to take on the role appear to have popped up out of nowhere, and have come as much of a surprise to Grant as to everyone else. Here’s his Tweet where he confesses his bafflement…

Nothing against Dr W but I’m not. No idea where the story came from. https://t.co/g1PG4VsqYN

— Hugh Grant (@HackedOffHugh) March 21, 2022

Grant’s two film projects edging towards release are Guy Ritchie’s completed Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre (that was due for release this month but has been put back), and the upcoming Dungeons & Dragons film that’s just wrapped shooting. Further reports suggests that Davies is planning a broader Doctor Who universe of shows and spin-offs. That’d certainly be an upgrade on a dwindling number of episodes every 18 months. Who knows? We might get another Doctor Who film as well. Just don’t expect Hugh Grant to star in it… — Thank you for visiting! If you’d like to support our attempts to make a non-clickbaity movie website: Follow Film Stories on Twitter here, and on Facebook here. Buy our Film Stories and Film Stories Junior print magazines here. Become a Patron here.