We definitely didn’t see this one coming. After Danny Dyer announced last week that he will be quitting EastEnders, the bookies have added him to the list of potential replacements for Jodie Whittaker as the next Doctor Who. While The Mirror reports his odds were slashed to 2/1 at one point, as of Monday morning, Danny’s odds of getting the coveted role were a more modest 20/1.
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Danny Dyer for Doctor Who?
Speaking to The Sun, a Ladbrokes spokeswoman said:
Danny may be not be the archetypal actor to portray the Doctor but that's just why he might be the perfect choice to make a big change on the show. He's all the rage with punters and has already said he wants to take on different roles. So we could see him swapping The Queen Vic for the Tardis — and we've slashed our odds accordingly.
Doctor Who could be another woman
Meanwhile, another former EastEnders star currently has even better odds than Danny. Rakhee Thakrar, who played Shabnam Masood from 2014-2016, is currently listed at 7/1 by both Ladbrokes and Coral. Since leaving EastEnders, Rakhee has become even more well-known with her role as a teacher in Netflix’s smash-hit Sex Education. She also already has links to Doctor Who as she voices Bliss, a companion to Paul McGann’s Doctor in the Doctor Who: The Time War audio plays.
However, the current favourite to play the next Doctor is Lydia West. The 28-year-old actress is best-known for starring in BBC One drama Years and Years and Channel 4’s It’s A Sin. Both these shows were created and written by Russell T. Davies, who just so happens to be returning to the helm of Doctor Who as showrunner for the next series.
