Ever since Ncuti Gatwa handed back his Tardis key and stepped away from Doctor Who, I’ve known who should play the Sixteenth Doctor – Danny Dyer.
Now, before you get your Tom Baker scarf in a knot or hire a Dalek to exterminate me, this isn’t a gag or an attempt at contrarianism.
I genuinely believe Danny should get a spin in the Tardis, and I even wrote about it back in April before Ncuti burned away to reveal Billie Piper’s smiling face.
Well, it turns out that the 47-year-old actor must be a Metro reader because he agrees with me.
During a recent interview with The Mirror, Danny said that while he’s never been asked to audition for The Doctor, he’d be well up for it.
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‘It’s such an iconic thing to do,’ he said. ‘It’s almost – not on the same level – like James Bond. It’s a character that’s loved by so many.’
‘Again, it gives you an opportunity with Doctor Who, because of the nature of the work, to bring something left-field, something a bit mental, a bit stylised, which I love. I love the idea of it.
So why am I so convinced that Danny – who’s better known for playing crime lords than time lords – would make a good Doctor?
Well, I can’t say it’s because I think he’d look great in a velvet Victorian frock coat (although he might?).
It’s more than I believe every actor who’s ever played the Doctor well needs three essential qualities, and Danny more than meets the criteria.
The first is that they need to be likeable. Check.
Any time I see Danny Dyer as himself (I wouldn’t say most of the characters he plays are likeable), I think he comes across as incredibly sincere and earnest.
Yeah, I know he swears a bit, but honestly, who doesn’t? And all it does is lend him a bit of authenticity.
Don’t believe me? Just watch his episode of The Assembly and try not to be charmed by him.
It’s impossible.
Danny’s just got a genuineness and consistency to his character that makes him really hard to dislike.
The second thing is that anyone who’s playing the Doctor needs to be a good actor, and I’m sorry, but Danny has proven he’s every bit as talented as the Time Lords who came before him.
Ignoring all the awards he’s won for acting (including, most recently, a Bafta for Mr Bigstuff), it’s clear we’re a long way away from the days when he was presenting Danny Dyer’s Deadliest Men and seemed more like someone interested in being on the telly than in acting.
You might think ‘he just plays tough men like Mick Carter, Tommy Johnson, and Moff’; that he plays the same character in every show.
But that hot take ignores his real skill.
What he does exceptionally well is to breathe pathos, a sense of weakness, into these tough nuts that makes them easy to sympathise with, even if we can’t always understand their actions.
You know who that sounds an awful lot like to me? The Doctor, a being who puts on a front to hide his loneliness and vulnerabilities, and sometimes makes terrible calls.
Oh, and before you start saying that Danny lacks range, just watch him in Rivals and Mr Bigstuff.
In those shows, he proves he can be every bit as tender, loving, and funny as we’d expect the Doctor to be.
Finally, then I think the Doctor must have an arc. Admittedly, this has more to do with scripts than the actor, but I think Danny’s persona here would be a valuable asset for the show.
Everyone knows Dyer as a ‘cockney hardman’ who’s the furthest thing from the traditional Doctor.
But why not lean into that?
I imagine him as a mash-up of the Third, Ninth and Twelfth Doctors. A bad-tempered figure who’s as passionate and brave as ever, but not afraid to spark out a mouthy Sontaran when they get out of line.
His arc then could be similar to Peter Capaldi’s Doctor, who went from a galaxy-sized grump to the kindest person to ever pilot the Tardis.
That happened over three series and made for brilliant TV. More than that, it arguably gave us the best season of Doctor Who since the revival – Series 10.
Ultimately, what I’m saying is Doctor Who is dying (perhaps it’s Dyer-ing) and Danny might just be the fresh face the show and the Doctor needs.
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