How I Met Your Doctor – Neil Patrick Harris Joins Doctor Who
Jed | Hollywood Scholar | Jun 13, 2022 |
Fans of the long-running British sci-fi series Doctor Who can no longer use logic or critical thinking to project the future of this precarious franchise, as every piece of news about the 60th anniversary and season 14 comes out of left field, with little to no logical throughline. This is not to say the news has been wholly bad because much of it has inspired a degree of hope. However, there is enough bad news that many diehard Doctor Who fans have found it challenging to look forward to season 14 and the 60th anniversary with anything less than dread. The next addition to this series of unexpected reveals is the announcement that How I Met Your Mother star Neil Patrick Harris will be joining the cast of Doctor Who for an unknown role in at least the 60th anniversary special.
As reported by DoctorWhoTV, Neil Patrick Harris has “joined the cast of Doctor Who and is currently filming scenes set to air in 2023 as part of the show’s 60th anniversary.” At this time, nothing is known about what role Harris will be playing, including whether or not he will be a legacy character or an original one. Regardless, this news is surprising because Doctor Who has rarely, if ever, featured prominent A-list celebrities, let alone American ones. With that said, fans certainly could not have predicted “How I Met Your Doctor.” -Blabbering Collector.
The only explanation for this sudden notoriety in the cast is the fact that Harris starred in Russell T. Davies’s previous show, It’s a Sin, last year. The only inference that can be made here is that Harris and Davies maintained a personal relationship behind the scenes and were able to come to some sort of arrangement. Beyond this speculation, the only other thing known about this casting and this role are the comments made by Davies upon the announcement:
“It’s my huge honour to open our studio doors for the mighty Neil Patrick Harris… but who, why, what is he playing? You’ll just have to wait. But I promise you, the stuff we’re shooting now is off the scale. Doctor beware!”
As fans always do when such news releases, the Doctor Who fandom has come to life with theories and predictions for how Harris will be integrated into this 60th anniversary and perhaps beyond. Due to the inference that Harris will be playing a villain – derived from Davies’s quote, “Doctor beware” – the chief among these theories is the idea that he will be playing a new incarnation of the Master. Out of all the legacy villains in the pantheon of Doctor Who, the Master is the only one to have a precedent set for being portrayed by an American actor. Eric Roberts played the iconic role back in 1996 in the Doctor Who TV movie, marking one of the few Oscar-nominee performances in the series, and one of the few American performances as well. Harris’s talent is apparent in How I Met Your Mother and A Series of Unfortunate Events, both of which show an ability to portray manic, terrifying, and borderline psychotic roles, which would translate perfectly to the Master. Other possibilities, though less likely, are the Valeyard and the Toymaker. At this point, these are all only theories and are based on no evidence whatsoever.
The news surrounding Doctor Who this year has been complicated, to say the least. Some announcements drew fans back in with excitement, while others terrified them, hinting that the dark place the series is currently in will continue under the new management. The addition of Harris to the cast can neither assuage fans’ fears nor add to them. This is but a curiosity and not a beacon from which to predict the future of the series. As always, all that can be done is to wait in anticipation and trepidation for the release of the 60th anniversary in November 2023. Until then, Doctor Who is Schrodinger’s franchise, neither good nor bad until the box is opened, the episode is aired, and its quality is revealed.
