Neil Gaiman: 'Bake Off's Sue Perkins should be the next Doctor Who'
Fantasy author Neil Gaiman has made revealed who he would like to take the lead role in Doctor Who, after Peter Capaldi steps down at the end of this year.
Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live, the American Gods writer said he would "love to see a woman Doctor", before naming The Great British Bake Off's Sue Perkins as the perfect candidate for to play the time-travelling alien. If Perkins wins the role, the comedian's fans will be hoping to see her Bake Off colleague Mel Giedroyc make an appearance as the Doctor's companion.
But Perkins wasn't the only name on Gaiman's list. "If we have to go for an older Doctor it would be Helen Mirren," he added, while also suggesting that The X Files star Gillian Anderson would be more than able to take on the challenge. "I don't think there's anything Gillian can't do!" he said.
The 56-year-old author is no stranger to the Whoniverse, having written two episodes of the BBC One show: The Doctor's Wife, which won the prestigious Hugo Award for sci-fi writing in 2012, and Nightmare in Silver, a 2013 adventure in which Matt Smith's Doctor fought the Cybermen.
He is not alone in suggesting the next Doctor should be a woman. Last month, the show's former star David Tennant said Olivia Colman would "clearly be a magnificent choice" for the role.
Colman has one useful connection on the show: she stars in Broadchurch, the crime drama series created by Chris Chibnall, who will become Doctor Who's new head writer from 2018.
Some bookmakers are offering odds as short as 5/1 on Colman landing the part, while Ladbrokes considers Oscar-winner Tilda Swinton the frontrunner. But Gaiman isn't convinced that any actress is likely to land the role. Although he is keen to see the first female Doctor in the show's 53-year history, he admitted that he has "no idea whether Chris Chibnall's going to give us one".
Chibnall's recent comments suggest he may not. Speaking to The Telegraph this week, he said: "We'll cast the role in the traditional way: write the script, then go and find the best person for that part in that script."
The candidates to take over as the Doctor
