The League of Gentlemen star Reece Shearsmith will play Second Doctor Patrick Troughton in Mark Gatiss’ An Adventure In Space An Time.
The Radio Times revealed that Shearsmith had been cast in the drama, which will tell the story of the creation of Doctor Who. He joins David Bradley as William Hartnell, Brian Cox as BBC drama head Sydney Newman and Jessica Raine as Doctor Who producer Verity Lambert.
Gatiss told The Radio Times that:
“I first asked Reece about 12 years ago when I started thinking about this project. We were in the midst of League of Gentlemen and I just remember thinking, if anyone plays Patrick Troughton, it should be Reece. Like the second Doctor, he’s small, saturnine and a comic genius. The complete package. He thought it was a fantastic idea and I’ve kind of nurtured it all this time.
“Reece has a funny relationship with Doctor Who – mostly to do with impressions of the Borad from Timelash! He and a friend were obsessed with season 22 [Colin Baker’s Doctor, 1985]. One of my earliest memories of Reece is him going, ‘I am the Borad!’ He’ll do the whole of Timelash at the drop of a hat. Which is a strange qualification. He’s not steeped in Doctor Who like I am, but has been lightly dipped over the years. I know he’s delighted to be a part of An Adventure in Space and Time.”
Gatiss and Shearsmith both wrote and starred in The League of Gentlemen, and Gatiss made a guest appearance in Shearsmith’s Pyschoville.
An Adventure In Space And Time is now filming and will air on the BBC later this year. You can buy Psychoville series 1 and 2 on DVD for £12.25 on Amazon.co.uk
