Who is Paul McGann?

Before Who

Paul McGann was born in 1959, the third of six children. Like his brothers Mark, Stephen and Joe (who all became actors as well) Paul showed a talent for performance from an early age. Indeed, one of his school teachers suggested he apply for a place at the prestigious acting college RADA – which Paul duly did.

McGann first found fame with the searing 1986 series The Monocled Mutineer, in which he played Percy Toplis, a World War One deserter and criminal. Then, in 1987, he appeared alongside Richard E Grant in the black comedy Withnail and I, which has since become regarded as one of the all-time great British films. Some years later, McGann was cast as the Napoleonic hero Richard Sharpe, but a freak injury sustained during filming meant he had to be replaced by Sean Bean. But, as if by some karmic compensation, he was later cast in another iconic role: that of Doctor Who.

His Who

McGann played the Eighth Doctor just once on screen, in the 1996 TV movie made by the BBC and an American studio. While it was a faithful continuation of the original series (even featuring Sylvester McCoy as the Seventh Doctor), it was unlike anything fans had seen before. The TARDIS was completely re-imagined as a kind of Gothic palace, and the special effects were a million miles away from the wobbly sets and rubbery monsters of old.

McGann himself gave us a new kind of Doctor – a softly-spoken Romantic figure in period garb, brimming with a child-like sense of wonderment at the mysteries of the universe. He fought a titanic duel against a new Master (in the form of Julia Roberts's brother Eric), and – rather controversially – enjoyed an unprecedented smooch with his American companion. The previous Doctors would have been shocked, we're sure.

After Who

While the Doctor Who movie was a huge success here in Britain, American audiences weren't quite so responsive, perhaps because of the film's many references to a show most of them had never seen. As a result, US backing was withdrawn and a follow-up series was never commissioned.

Still, the Eighth Doctor lived on in a series of successful audio plays which McGann enthusiastically participated in. He has also maintained a solid screen career, starring in programmes like Sea of Souls and Hornblower, as well as a lavish 2005 adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's Kidnapped. And look out for his upcoming project True Dare Kiss, a darkly witty series about a family's sinister secrets.

Who knew?

One of McGann's rivals to play the Eighth Doctor was his own brother Mark, who also auditioned for the part. Other stars who did screen tests included Anthony Head, Robert Lindsay and Nathaniel "Inspector Lynley" Parker.

Who says

Fans were divided over the fateful moment in the TV movie when the Eighth Doctor planted a big happy kiss on his companion's lips. And if you're purist about such matters, you'll be glad to know that McGann didn't entirely approve either. "I was a bit sceptical myself," he later admitted. "You'll notice I kept my lips closed!"