{"id":30810,"date":"2023-03-07T11:00:25","date_gmt":"2023-03-07T10:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/?p=1795949"},"modified":"2023-03-07T11:41:10","modified_gmt":"2023-03-07T10:41:10","slug":"doctor-whos-hugh-futcher-almost-landed-life-changing-seventh-doctor-role","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/rss_feed\/doctor-whos-hugh-futcher-almost-landed-life-changing-seventh-doctor-role\/","title":{"rendered":"Doctor Who\u2019s Hugh Futcher almost landed \u201clife changing\u201d Seventh Doctor role"},"content":{"rendered":"

Futcher had previously played the character Hickman in classic 1972 serial The Sea Devils. <\/p>

By Morgan Jeffery\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Tuesday, 07 March 2023 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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The role of the Doctor in Doctor Who<\/a> remains one of the most iconic parts in television \u2013 after 60 years, only a relatively small number of actors have been cast as the character, while other hopefuls missed out.<\/p>\n

One auditionee who fell into the latter camp was Hugh Futcher. Best known for his appearances in the Carry On films, Futcher was up for the role of the Seventh Doctor, which eventually went to Sylvester McCoy.<\/p>\n

He had previously appeared in Doctor Who 15 years earlier, playing an ill-fated maintenance workman named Hickman in 1972 serial The Sea Devils<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Speaking at a BFI screening of that story to promote the\u00a0Doctor Who: The Collection \u2013 Season 9 Blu-Ray set<\/a>, Futcher recalled his second brush with the series in the late 1980s.<\/p>

\u201cI was \u2013 along with four other actors \u2013 considered to be the next Doctor Who,\u201d he said. \u201cI can\u2019t remember the name of the producer \u2013 [they] came to see me in a play that I was doing at the time\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Though Futcher was unable to recall the producer\u2019s name, it\u2019s probable he was remembering an encounter with John Nathan-Turner, who served as Doctor Who producer from 1980 until the show went off air in 1989.<\/p>\n

Read more:<\/strong><\/p>\n