50 Actors Who Could Play the Next Doctor on Doctor Who

Period garb is a good look for Rufus Sewell, as evidenced by this still from “Victoria”. (Photo: Courtesy ITV Plc)

Rufus Sewell

Rufus Sewell may be a little bit on the older side for an actor having his first major heartthrob moment, but, here we are. Sewell recently starred as Lord Melbourne, Queen Victoria’s first Prime Minister, in popular period drama Victoria. And “starred” kind of means “stole,” in this particular instance. His dreamy portrayal of the brooding Lord M, who chose duty over his obvious romantic feelings for the queen, had pretty much everyone swooning. That’s the kind of charisma we need in a Doctor Who lead, yeah? And it certainly doesn’t hurt that he’s dishy as hell.

Sewell also earned rave reviews recently for his portrayal of the villainous Nazi John Smith in The Man in the High Castle. So he can clearly play any kind of character – good, bad, or in-between – and still be compelling. Plus, if you believe this report from back in the day, Sewell was considered for the part of the Doctor once before. According to rumor, he was on the casting list for the Eighth Doctor in the 1996 TV movie. To be fair, that list consisted of literally dozens of names, and almost everyone you know from British TV appears to be on it. But, still. (Fun fact: Sewell would have been the youngest Doctor ever back then. He would have only been about 18 at the time.)

Sewell might be an unexpected choice – he’s still got a major part in High Castle, after all. And he regularly does theater gigs in between roles. So, he could be something of a scheduling conundrum, particularly given that Who likes to film for months at a time. But he’d definitely be worth it.