Don't Mention That Wig

IT was only six weeks of filming in a career that has spanned more than twenty years but don't think that Doctor Who hasn't had a lasting impact on Paul McGann's life.

During his recent visit to Australasia for the Armageddon Sci-Fi conventions in Melbourne and Auckland (which included him being presented with a new sonic screwdriver and costume made by the crew at Weta in New Zealand), he was more than happy to talk about the Doctor. And that was despite coming straight off the set of his BBC show police drama Luther which left him tired and jetlagged .

"Where am I and what day is it?" he joked down the phone-line from his Auckland hotel.

It was Friday, it was Auckland and he was about to spend several days telling stories and posing for pictures with avid fans.

Despite being seen on TV in his Doctor Who wig and coat for a little over 90 minutes and filming for just six weeks, he was in demand with the faithful.

Those six weeks in Vancouver in 1996 shooting what was ostensibly a pilot for a future series didn't lead to an on-going television role at the time. However it did produce the Doctor Who television movie, finally being released on DVD in a boxed-set in Australia on December 4, and, more importantly, it gave Who fans the Eighth Doctor.

And while not everyone considers Eight to be part of Doctor Who cannon, when you take into account the large number of Big Finish Audio plays in which he has played the Doctor, McGann is actually the longest serving actor in the role (beating Sylvester McCoy by just a few weeks).

"I've been at it so long my son is involved now," he laughed.

"Jake (born in 1990) has played the Doctor's great grandson in a few of the Big Finish plays. See I've been at it so long it's become a small family business."

But did he know what he was getting into all those years ago?

"I watched it as a kid growing up but I was never that dedicated," he admitted.
"Even I was offered the job I was slightly sceptical about it."

He began to realise that it was going to be more than just another job when he and his agent, a lady from Brisbane, were on-set a few weeks in. He said he hadn't realised at first that his agent Janet Fielding had been Teagan – companion to Peter Davison's fifth doctor but young Canadian fans watching from the sidelines had..

“A young guy about 19-20 came up to us – it took him about 60 seconds to realise it was her and proceeded to tell her about every episode she’d been in,” he said. “When he left she said “now you understand what you’ve taken on!’”

McGann believes his television movie, a joint venture between the BBC, Universal Pictures and the Fox Broadcasting Network which cost about as much a motion picture to make “bridged the gap” between classic and new who and probably planted the seed for the 2005 return of the show.

And speaking of the new series – would he return to the role? His yes comes quickly.

“I would if it was be a good appearance and more than a cough and a spit,” he mused. And then he added, in a tone that made you believe he was only half joking - “Mind you we’re fairly dispensable these days. If they need one of the Doctors they can just generate us. I’ve been in Matt’s series a few times without even setting foot in Cardiff.”

And while the rumours swirl every time there is an anniversary or major occasion, that there will be a multiple doctor episode, McGann is adamant that he has never been approached.

“But I’d like to break my duck!” he said, talking about finally making an appearance in an actual episode of the series. Mind you, probably not while wearing his original wig.

“Don’t mention that wig” he laughs.

And what’s next? Well according McGann, turning 50, on November 14 last year, has been great for his career.

“I’m old enough to play grand-dads now!”

After his Australian trip he returned to filming series two of Luther and has a ,“couple of exciting projects coming up but I’m too superstitious to tell you about them”.