The actor revealed he “couldn’t be happier being part of that world” now, but he wasn’t so keen when approached for the 1996 Doctor Who TV film. <\/p>
Paul McGann, who played the eighth incarnation of the Doctor in the 1996\u00a0Doctor Who<\/span><\/a>\u00a0TV film, has opened about his thoughts on the role.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The actor, who is best known for his roles in cult film Withnail and I and Luther, has revealed he wasn\u2019t so sure about playing the Time Lord when he was first approached by the BBC.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI was sceptical when I was offered the part of Doctor Who,\u201d McGann told The Big Issue<\/span><\/a>. \u201cI thought \u2018God, do I really want to do this?’\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n He added: \u201cThis was in the \u201990s, before the big revival. Like everyone, I\u2019d watched it as a child but I\u2019d never been a big fan. At that time it even felt a bit\u2026 uncool. But my kids were babies and we needed to pay the mortgage and the BBC were offering a bit of money so I did it.\u201d<\/span><\/p> The film, which he described as a \u201cpilot\u00a0for an American show\u201d that \u201cwasn\u2019t picked up\u201d, was a joint venture between the BBC, Universal Studios and Fox.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Ultimately, however, McGann revealed he was glad he took part. \u201cThe revived show has such a smile on its face and a sense of humour,\u201d he said. \u201cNow, I couldn\u2019t be happier being part of that world. Going to conventions, meeting fans, it feels like you\u2019re in a big gang. It couldn\u2019t have worked out better.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n McGann has reprised the role several times, appearing in a series of Big Finish productions and on the show\u2019s 50th anniversary mini-episode The Night of the Doctor.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Looking for something else to watch? Check out our<\/b><\/span>\u00a0<\/b>TV Guide<\/b><\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/b><\/span>or visit our dedicated<\/b><\/span>\u00a0<\/b>Sci-Fi<\/b><\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/b><\/span>hub for the latest news.\u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n The actor revealed he “couldn’t be happier being part of that world” now, but he wasn’t so keen when approached for the 1996 Doctor Who TV film. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":3667,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/08\/paul-mcgann-was-initially-sceptical-about-doctor-who-role-it-felt-a-bit-uncool.jpg",800,533,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/08\/paul-mcgann-was-initially-sceptical-about-doctor-who-role-it-felt-a-bit-uncool-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/08\/paul-mcgann-was-initially-sceptical-about-doctor-who-role-it-felt-a-bit-uncool-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/08\/paul-mcgann-was-initially-sceptical-about-doctor-who-role-it-felt-a-bit-uncool-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/08\/paul-mcgann-was-initially-sceptical-about-doctor-who-role-it-felt-a-bit-uncool.jpg",800,533,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/08\/paul-mcgann-was-initially-sceptical-about-doctor-who-role-it-felt-a-bit-uncool.jpg",800,533,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/08\/paul-mcgann-was-initially-sceptical-about-doctor-who-role-it-felt-a-bit-uncool.jpg",800,533,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"The actor revealed he \"couldn't be happier being part of that world\" now, but he wasn't so keen when approached for the 1996 Doctor Who TV film.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/3666"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3667"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3666"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3666"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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