John Simm: 'I'm not returning to Doctor Who'
Published Apr 24 2012, 14:24 BST | By Justin Harp
John Simm has denied that he will be returning to Doctor Who.The actor addressed rumours that he'd be reprising his role of The Master after his name appeared on IMDb's cast list for upcoming Doctor Who episodes.
© PA Images / Zak Hussein/PA Archive
© BBC
"In reply to many, regardless of what it says on imdb, No i'm not returning to Dr Who. Got absolutely no plans to do so #hopethatclearsitup," Simm tweeted on Monday (April 23).
Simm first appeared as The Doctor's mortal enemy in the three-part third series finale, later returning for David Tennant's final episodes in 2010.
He spoke of an interest in returning to Doctor Who last summer, when he told The One Show: "I haven't spoke to anyone about it, but I would definitely consider it [if asked]. It was such fun to do."
Sherlock actor Benedict Cumberbatch has recently been linked to the role of The Master, but current Doctor Matt Smith dismissed those rumours in February.
"I know Ben and I've not heard anything about it. But he's a wonderful actor and a mate," Smith commented.
Torchwood star John Barrowman recently revealed that he shared his desire to return to Doctor Who in a chat with Smitth, adding that showrunner Steven Moffat "thought it would be a great idea".
Doctor Who will return to BBC One and BBC America in the autumn.
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Watch the Doctor Who series seven trailer below:
I am so disappointed as I thought that John Simm was one if not the best master to star on Dr Who. He was very good and showing us a twisted warped minded the master was. Dr Who has not been the same since David Tennant and the old gang starred in it. :(
May 17th 2012 at 2:39pm
Thank God! Jon Simm's The Master was utterly, utterly dreadful. He was badly written, had a completely nonsensical story, the dialogue was terrible and frankly Jon Simm did such an abysmal job at playing the part that I'd rather just forget it ever happened. I'd rather see just about any other actor in the role than him.
I don't think it helps that, unlike the Doctor who they simply regenerate, they keep killing him off and then bringing him back so often it's lost the element of surprise. After the mediocre job that Eric Roberts did I was surprised that I actually thought he did the better job of the two.
As they seem to be making all the actors in the show younger and younger (I predict the next Doctor will have only just finished puberty at the time of casting) then I think someone who could make a good replacement for Jon Simm is Hugh Dancy as he has a slight quirkyness about him which I think would work really well.
April 26th 2012 at 8:30pm
I would have loved John Simm to have played the doctor but hey ho us fans don't get much of a choice now do we. x
April 26th 2012 at 1:11pm
he did indeed play the part very well wes,but i feel that as the dr changes with each death/regeneration,so must the master.i think benedict would be great in the role.totally agree with you about the unfair vitriol moffat and smith get.i'm a huge tennant fan and still think he was one of best ever.but david and rtd's time has been and gone.a multiple dr story with david would be a great buzz,but as the current dr matt is brilliant and moffats stories have been great.also the comments saying his stories are too complex is absurd.so people have to concentrate a bit more,well boo hoo.theres still plenty stand alone stories that lead up to the series finales.just like with rtd really.i liked rtd's stories,but he was running out of ideas and fresh blood was needed,as you pretty much said
April 26th 2012 at 12:59pm
Guy Westcott But tragedy isn't death. Like the old saying goes, "where there's life, there's hope." ESPECIALLY when the 50th anniversary is around the corner. Moffat's deaths feel better to me because he's willing to call it what it is. "Aha..you got me. It was a cheat." Where RTD is that guy that keeps insisting he's telling the truth long after he's been caught out lying. "Its.....a death.....of sorts. Really!! Erm....from a certain point of view?" Yeah, ok Obi Wan Kenobi, just come out and say it. Nobody died. And simply throwing dimestore psychics at us to prophecy death got stale fast too.
Speaking of which, the Devil predicted Rose's death in The Satan Pit, and in the finale she said "My name is Rose Tyler, and this is the story of how I died."
When you say that RTD's era was more popular I have to make a correction. Series 4 and the Specials were more popular than S5 and 6. Now you might think I'm splitting hairs but I think it is very significant. You are talking about a period of time where RTD was building up to the end of his era, bringing back all the old companions for their curtain call, with Davros and the Master too. It was a singular point of his era that Moffat hasn't reached yet, and as such it's a poor comparison. As I said before, when you compare Moffat's first two seasons to RTD's first two seasons the difference in ratings is negligible at best. If RTD were in Moffat's shoes I don't think things would be any different.
April 25th 2012 at 11:28pm