RUSSELL TOVEY - No.223

For a couple of years I have heard that Russell T. Davis wanted Russell Tovey to be Dr Who one day but had never found the actual proof of this rumour until now.

I recently finished reading The Writer’s Tale by Russell T. Davies and Benjamin Cook. Essentially it’s a record of Davies’s creative process as he gets to grip with writing the fourth season of Doctor Who, told in email exchanges between him and Cook, who writes for Doctor Who Magazine.

It’s a cracking read, a really fascinating insight into the writing and production process for TV drama. Here’s part of an email sent by Davies in response to a question from Cook asking about that year’s Christmas special, Voyage of the Damned.

From: Russell T .Davies To: Benjamin Cook

Tuesday June 26, 2007 23:13:50 GMT

A read-through with Kylie Minogue! Marvellous, isn't it? She's going to watch Last of the Time Lords on Saturday with David Tennant. Madder and madder! And we've cast Clive Swift as Mr Copper. That's brilliant! (Dennis Hopper, it turned out, isn't available for that many days.) And Geoffrey Palmer is Captain Hardaker, which is glorious. Also, Russell Tovey as Midshipman Frame, which is my favourite casting of the lot, because he's going to be huge, that man. He's amazing. I think I'd make him the Eleventh Doctor.

Russell regenerated.