Scottish actor Alan Cumming, known for his various roles in the likes of GoldenEye, Spy Kids, X2 and The Good Wife, among many others, is no stranger to Doctor Who. In fact, he’s been asked to play the face-changing Time Lord on not just one, but two occasions. While he’s said in the past that he would have loved to take the part, there was one big aspect of the job that always put him off; relocating to Cardiff, Wales, where the show is filmed.
Now, however, he’ll finally get a chance to join the iconic sci-fi series, though not in the titular role. Speaking on a recent podcast, the actor revealed that he’s been cast in season 11 as King James I, who he describes as a “nice baddie.” Though Cumming didn’t say much else, he did note that there’s a chance he’ll come back, meaning it could be a recurring part, which would be great.
After all, Alan Cumming’s a talented, chameleonic performer who would no doubt have done a terrific job at playing the Doctor. So to see him still get a chance to be involved somehow should make fans very happy and gives us yet another thing to look forward to now with the upcoming season.
Speaking of which, it really is shaping up to be a very memorable year of Doctor Who. Of course, there’s new Doctor Jodie Whittaker to be excited about along with new showrunner Chris Chibnall, but aside from them, we’re also getting brand new companions, some fancy high-tech cameras to give the series a more cinematic feel and also a revised format for the season,
This year, it’ll be comprised of 10 installments in total. After the 65 minute opener, the rest of the run will come in at 50 minutes, and it all kicks off this fall, when Doctor Who returns to our screens.
