Mark Millar Reveals That A "Huge Name" Offered To Showrun Doctor Who And Cast Ben Daniels In The Role In 2018

2018 was arguably the year Doctor Who died, as Jody Whittaker was cast as the role, turning the Time Lord, who had always been male, into a woman to virtue signal to the modern audience the BBC wanted to attain. While this changed the course of Doctor Who to drop in ratings drastically over the next few years, fans are lamenting what might have been after Netflix creator Mark Millar floated that Ben Daniels might have been up for the role at the time.

Fans often view Chris Chibnall’s time as showrunner of Doctor Who as some of the worst in history. Not only did he replace the Time Lord with a woman to push into identity politics, but stories like “The Timeless Child” wrecked the continuity of Doctor Who irreparably.

The Jody Whittaker female Doctor era boasted the lowest ratings of all time, that is, until Russell T. Davies came back to flood the series with more left-wing politics and a gay, black Doctor that proved enough to take the show off the air as it’s gone into an indefinite hiatus.

It started with popular YouTuber Nerdrotic posting a video of his “nerd cave,” which starts with a door painted like the Doctor’s blue police box, showing his collection of various collectibles inside.

This followed with Mark Millar chiming in with the bombshell of what could have been with the show if identity politics hadn’t been made central. He posted, “PS Every time I see those blue doors I remember that a huge name, genius friend of mine offered himself as show-runner with the suggestion of Ben Daniels as The Doctor and they went with their 2018 revamp instead.”

Daniels had been considered to be the doctor in 2013, and was thought to be the favorite to take the role before Peter Capaldi was eventually chosen. His acting style combines intellectual gravitas, emotional intensity, and a sharp sense of irony, which are traits that align naturally with the Doctor’s character and would have made him a great choice.

In 2018, apparently, a big name in the industry was talking about going in as showrunner instead of Chibnall, and he wanted Daniels to play the character and get cast this time.

Daniels is classically trained, with an Olivier Award-winning stage career and high-profile television roles in The Exorcist, The Crown, and Foundation. His performances show a rare ability to pivot between charm and menace—a quality reminiscent of the Doctor’s unpredictable shifts from playfulness to moral fury. This depth would have suited the darker, more introspective tone the show adopted post–Matt Smith.

Unfortunately, what fans got instead was the destruction of a franchise from feminism, blackification, and the LGBTQ agenda, leaving Doctor Who in a state where very few even care what’s happening with the show anymore.

What do you think of Ben Daniels just missing playing The Doctor?

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