Harry Melling (Dudley Dursley) Wants to Be Doctor Who

Harry Melling has come a long ways since his Dudley days. Now he wants to travel all of time and space as Doctor Who.

More from Harry Potter

Harry Melling may have landed a role in the Harry Potter series that guaranteed he would appear in nearly every movie, at least for a few minutes. But as Harry’s spoiled, fat cousin Dudley Dursley, it also fixed the actor in our minds as an ugly figure, an overweight dull eyed teen hoodie who was a nemesis to the Boy Who Lived, more than his friend. Even as he grew up and lost much of the weight, the series kept him in a fat suit until the end.

Five years on from the final movies, Melling is working hard to shed that image. He’s starring in a new play in London’s West End (no, not *that* one) called Hand to God. He sees the weight loss as a blessing in disguise, because he can audition now, and no one sees him as Dudley, since he looks so different. He has the ten years of connections from the movies, but not the typecasting to have to fight. And he has one other connection that he’d really like to put to good use.

Part of why Melling got the audition back in 2000 for the Harry Potter series was due to his parents and his grandparents. His mother, Joanna Melling, a children’s book illustrator, is the daughter of Patrick Troughton. Troughton is the man famous for playing the Second Doctor, in the late 1960s, and credited with turning the role of Doctor Who into the irreverent mastermind of all of time and space. And with rumors swirling that Peter Capaldi, the current actor in possession of the Doctor Who role, retiring after the 10th season in 2017, Melling is all about being Doctor number 13.

Talking to The Express, he said he would love to follow in his grandfather’s footsteps and take the TARDIS for a spin.

“I would love to be the next new Doctor. I am not the person in charge of that but I would love to keep it in the family. It probably won’t happen as I might need to be a bit older. I’ve really enjoyed doing theatre but getting Doctor Who in the family again would be great.”

Though Doctor Who is busy being inundated with fans who want to see the next Doctor be played by a person of color or a woman, it is true that they *love* keeping things in the family. For instance, they cast Georgia Moffett, the daughter of Peter Davison who played the 5th Doctor, as “The Doctor’s Daughter” during David Tennant’s run as the 10th Doctor. Moffett and Tennant hit it off so well, now they are married, making the 10th Doctor the 5th Doctor’s son in law. And more recently, they had Michael Troughton, Patrick’s son and Melling’s uncle, guest star in the 2014 Christmas special. So chances are, if Melling gets a word into the right people, we might see him have a chance to at least be in all of time and space, if not actually driving the Blue Box.

Next: Ranking Every Death in the Harry Potter Series

Until then, Melling can be seen in Hand to God, where he is cast as Jason and the puppet Tyrone. The play is currently running at The Vaudeville Theatre in London.

Home/Harry Potter