Who's That Doctor?

50th anniversary special
23 November 2013

• You Can't Destroy the Doctor
• Doctor Doctor ...
• Who's That Doctor?
• The Man in Charge
• The Grumpy Old Man Who Spawned a TV Legend
• How Charlie Chaplin Saved Doctor Who
• The Comedian Who Wanted to Be Taken Seriously
• The Time Lord Saved Me from the Building Site
• Fans Invade the Tardis
• Totally Tasteless
• No More Ferrets for Me
• The Doctor Hits America
• The Man Who Said 'No'
• One for the Ladies
• The Geek Inherits the Universe

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Radio Times anniversary specials
10th (1973) | 20th (1983) | 30th (1993) | 40th (2003) | 50th (2013) | 60th (2023)

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• Publication: Radio Times
• Date: 2013-11-23
• Author: John Naughton
• Page: 28
• Language: English

Step forward, acting legend John Hurt...

IT ALL HAPPENED very suddenly," says John Hurt, explaining how he came to be in Doctor Who. "I was doing Krapp's Last Tape in Dublin and this came through. I couldn't resist it really; it sounded like a lot of fun."

It's not clear whether Hurt, 73, deliberately leaves this last remark hanging for the purposes of irony, but we're talking on location at Chepstow Castle in freezing-cold April and as he doubles up with a coughing fit, a little bit of Beckett at the Gate Theatre probably seems infinitely preferable.

Then again, this is a man who's seen the inside of a Turkish prison in Midnight Express, been the subject of a Victorian freakshow in The Elephant Man and is about to leave for Hungary to star in Hercules: the Thracian Wars with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson - "I hear he's an absolutely smashing guy" - so he's clearly a trouper.

And no matter how hoarse his throat, it only seems to make his famously mellilfluous voice more beguiling. "It's an old actor's tale," he laughs when asked about the origins of his distinctive tones, "but if you want to really ruin a young actor, tell him he's got a good voice."

Hurt is full of wise words, though he can say very little about his role in Doctor Who. But does he remember where he was on the night the first episode was broadcast in 1963?

"I don't think I saw the first episode and I think it escaped me for quite a long time. It was a kiddies' programme, or it was assumed to be. It was known basically for the fact that all the scenery used to fall over."

Hurt once complained that Hollywood was constantly discovering him, suggesting that whenever he delivered a breakthrough performance, his first being Quentin Crisp in The Naked Civil Servant - "without any question, that changed everything" - it was never followed up. But it has meant that every generation knows him for at least one role.

"If it's so, it hasn't been particularly artful," he demurs. "I haven't tried to do that. It's just the way it's turned out. I do seem to keep finding another audience. Harry Potter made another audience [he played wand-maker Ollivander] and even Merlin made another audience. The children love that dragon!" For my generation, that role would be John Merrick in The Elephant Man. Does he ever get requests to do a Merrick impression at parties? "It's very

difficult to do it without the gums and the teeth," he laughs, breaking into a coughing fit at the idea. "And the make-up. Very hard." And with that, the hardest-working, smoothest-voiced septuagenarian in the business is ushered back on set, trying his level best not to think of a nice warm Green Room somewhere in Dublin.

Disclaimer: These citations are created on-the-fly using primitive parsing techniques. You should double-check all citations. Send feedback to whovian@cuttingsarchive.org

• APA 6th ed.: Naughton, John (2013-11-23). Who's That Doctor?. Radio Times p. 28.
• MLA 7th ed.: Naughton, John. "Who's That Doctor?." Radio Times [add city] 2013-11-23, 28. Print.
• Chicago 15th ed.: Naughton, John. "Who's That Doctor?." Radio Times, edition, sec., 2013-11-23
• Turabian: Naughton, John. "Who's That Doctor?." Radio Times, 2013-11-23, section, 28 edition.
• Wikipedia (this article): <ref>{{cite news| title=Who's That Doctor? | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Who%27s_That_Doctor%3F | work=Radio Times | pages=28 | date=2013-11-23 | via=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=15 April 2025 }}</ref>
• Wikipedia (this page): <ref>{{cite web | title=Who's That Doctor? | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Who%27s_That_Doctor%3F | work=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=15 April 2025}}</ref>