50 Actors Who Could Play the Next Doctor on Doctor Who

John Noble as Walter Bishop on “Fringe”. (Photo: FOX)

John Noble

Yes, yes, let’s get it out of the way right off. John Noble is an Australian actor. So if he were to become the Doctor, the Doctor would also be Australian. Well, Doctor Who is a global brand, and Time Lords can adopt any accent they like. Why not go with an Australian, if they’re as amazing and talented as Noble is? Because make no mistake, he would be a heartrendingly good Thirteen.

Noble comes with a lengthy resume full of great performances. He starred in the popular sci-fi series Fringe for five years, playing not one, not two but three different versions of brilliant scientist Walter Bishop. And he broke everyone’s heart in about thirty-six different ways in the process. Noble also had major roles on shows like Sleepy Hollow and Elementary, all of which are extremely popular among the geek community. Oh and he also played the broken and rather villainous Denethor in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. Noble can do anything. And he’s played everything – from hero to villain, from comedy to tragedy. (And sometimes all at once together, if his Fringe days are anything to go by.)

Of course, the idea of casting Noble as Thirteen runs into the same problem as several other names on this list. And that is age. Rumor has it that the folks behind the BBC already think Peter Capaldi is too old to play the Doctor. (Some rumors even imply that his age is seen as a reason the show’s been struggling, ratings-wise. Garbage, I say.) So how likely is it that the show might cast another older actor, no matter how amazing they are? Probably not much – even though Noble is incredibly amazing. But it’s nice to dream about what his Doctor might look like, and how emotionally devastating he’d probably turn out to be.