BBC viewers have raged about the ‘jarring’ omission of a former Time Lord during its coverage of the Doctor Who 60th anniversary celebrations.
Paul McGann, who played the eighth Doctor in 1996 in a TV film and more than 70 audio dramas, was snubbed from BBC Breakfast’s report on the beloved sci-fi series on Saturday.
The Withnail and I star, 64, was missing from a montage of archive clips of previous actors who played the iconic role in coverage presented by BBC reporter Lizo Mzimba.
Previous Time Lords, who were featured in the report, were William Hartnell, Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee, Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Colin Baker and McCoy.
More recently, Christopher Eccleston, David Tennant, Matt Smith, Peter Capaldi and Jodie Whittaker have travelled in the tardis, while an image of incoming Doctor Ncuti Gatwa was included on the segment.
The exclusion angered a number of X, formerly known as Twitter, users, with one fuming: ‘#DoctorWho noticing an astoundingly jarring lack of Paul McGann recognition by the BBC today. Hope it leads to something.’
Another raged: ‘@BBCBreakfast you had better let Lizo know that his Doctor Who report omits Paul McGann from its montage- I am calm but some Whovians might be outraged.’
‘@BBCNews might be an oversight (hope it was anyway) but couldn’t help but notice the lack of Paul McGann during your Doctor Who segment this morning. Especially during the montage of previous actors playing the role,’ a third commented.
But Paul fans do not despair as he is reportedly in talks to star in a Doctor Who spin-off series, with screenwriter Russell T Davies also confirming there was more to come in the Whovian universe.
‘Russell likes the idea of bringing back McGann with his own set of episodes in the TARDIS,’ a source has now said.
‘Disney are on board as they want more original content and want to fully exploit the franchise as they know how big it could become,’ they added when speaking to The Mirror.
Paul played the eighth incarnation of the Doctor in a television film, which also starred Eric Roberts, Daphne Ashbrook and featured the outgoing seventh Doctor, Sylvester McCoy.
A co-production between BBC Worldwide and Universal Studios, the film was an attempt to revive the sci-fi show after it was cancelled in 1989.
While there were plans to turn it into a series, low ratings in the United States meant it was never picked up and no new series was produced until 2005.
Then, last year, he also made a cameo in The Power of the Doctor special alongside other past Doctors, with that episode marking Jodie’s final outing in the role.
Last month Paul also said he’d love to return, telling The Guardian: ‘The fans call me the longest and the shortest [Doctor]. I’ll have it. Less than two hours of screen time in 27 years, but somehow still kind of everywhere all at once. It could only happen in Who world.’
‘I was recently in one of the Jodie Whittaker episodes (The Power of the Doctor). That’s the only time that the Eighth Doctor got on to the telly. So, it gave me a little taste for it. I wouldn’t mind doing some more,’ he added.
Doctor Who returns later this month with three specials celebrating the 60th anniversary, with David Tennant back as the Doctor and Catherine Tate as Donna Noble.
The specials will start with The Star Beast on November 25 and will see the Doctor and Donna come face-to-face after years apart.
This will be followed by Wild Blue Yonder on December 2 and The Giggle on December 8.
Metro.co.uk has contacted the BBC for comment.
Doctor Who is available to watch on iPlayer.
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