Kieran Hodgson on mimicking William Hartnell, future impressions videos and a potential appearance in the TV series.
In August 2020, stand-up comedian and actor Kieran Hodgson took Doctor Who fandom by storm with his viral parody of the BBC sci-fi’s first ever story, An Unearthly Child.
Having “spent most of 2020 watching friends of mine really nail online comedy in the pandemic”, Hodgson decided to try his hand at the game, putting out a two-minute video that saw him nailing impersonations of William Hartnell’s First Doctor and his companions.
“It was a momentary whim that paid handsome long-term dividends,” he tells RadioTimes.com. “I filmed it in half an hour, edited it in a half an hour and that was that – and then it got 1,000 likes, which was the most anything I’d ever done had ever got on the internet.”
Spurred on by the hugely positive fan reaction online, more videos followed – with Hodgson, known for his role of Gordon in the BBC sitcom Two Doors Down, also branching out into another series, achieving similar viral success with spot-on impressions spoofing the likes of The Crown and Happy Valley.
One for the Whovians, this morning.
— Kieran Hodgson (@KieranCHodgson) August 27, 2020
Bad Doctor Who Impressions No.1: ‘An Unearthly Child’ pic.twitter.com/nttZ1wvl9Z
“It became a lovely little hobby to do to do more of [the Doctor Who impressions] – I got as far as [fifth story] The Keys of Marinus, then I’d sort of learnt the grammar of doing the impressions videos and started doing them for other things.
“I did one for The Crown and that leapt beyond the Doctor Who community, and so I sort of ended up doing those for a while. I kept meaning to come back and do [next story] The Aztecs for two and a half years, and eventually I did it in the last few weeks. So it’s The Sensorites next!
A little treat for Doctor Who fans (Sorry for the 2.5 year gap)
— Kieran Hodgson (@KieranCHodgson) November 21, 2023
Bad Doctor Who Impressions: The Aztecs#DoctorWho @bbcdoctorwho #impressions #justabitofsillyfun #comedy #Whoniverse pic.twitter.com/oMAEQy66cc
“I mean, it’s a ludicrous project, because at the moment, I’ve set myself up as if I’m going to do all of Doctor Who, but at the current work rate, I will be something like 300 by the time I get through it, so I need to start working up an alternative strategy – maybe leaping ahead to [Patrick] Troughton sometime soon. But I should probably do all the first series, right?”
Hodgson – who is currently touring his stand-up show Big in Scotland, which charts his journey as he relocates to Scotland and attempts to reinvent himself – has appeared in a number of Big Finish’s Doctor Who audio plays and the scripted podcast spin-off Doctor Who: Redacted.
His dream role in the television series? The same as most fans…
“I won’t lie, I’d love to be the Doctor – but I think my my resemblance to David Tennant is going to sink my chances forever, which is a shame, and I do hold that against David Tennant because he’s really scuppered me,” he jokes.
“So, what will it be? I’d take a companion role, but again, I’m probably too old. So it’s probably going to have to be Davros. I’ll just have to wait for the current Davros (Julian Bleach) – who I think is brilliant, the best one they’ve ever had – to hand over the reins. I couldn’t be a Master… I’m too nice!”
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Kieran Hodgson’s show Big in Scotland has added extra tour dates, including at the King’s Theatre In Glasgow as part of Glasgow International Comedy Festival on 29th March 2024. For tickets visit www.berksnest.com/kieran
Doctor Who will return for The Church on Ruby Road on BBC One at 5:55pm on Christmas Day. Previous episodes are available on BBC iPlayer and on BritBox – you can sign up for a 7-day free trial here.
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