Philip Glenister has explained why David Tennant wasn't cast in the Bergerac reboot.
The Doctor Who and Rivals actor was rumoured to be playing the titular investigator in U&Drama's revival of the '80s series, but Brassic and Being Human's Damien Molony was confirmed for the role instead.
Glenister, who plays wealthy new businessman Arthur Wakefield, has now told Radio Times that Tennant may have "too much baggage" to join the cast.
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"I think the problem is, if you cast someone like David Tennant in a reboot, I'm using David as an example, and it's nothing against him as an actor at all, but I think if you cast someone like David Tennant in a reboot of a show like that, it's going to be very difficult," he said.
"It makes your job harder from the production side of things, I think, because you're asking your audience, 'Oh, it's Doctor Who, who's now playing Jim Bergerac', and he comes with, dare I say it, too much baggage, almost."
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Glenister added he believes Moloney is the perfect casting because he's in the sweet spot of having a lot of TV acting experience but hasn't yet had a role he's been strongly linked to.
"Although obviously Damian has been working a lot, I'd never met him, but I'd heard of him because he was in Brassic, but he's new in that respect for a lot of people," Glenister continued.
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"And he's sort of been there under that radar, which is always nice, waiting to come above the surface. And he was one of those actors that it was always going to happen, because he's really, really good, and you're just getting to that level, and then the next level, you're thinking, 'this is the one'."
The actor added: "So I think it was a really good decision to go with somebody who is known and respected, but not massively well known, although he’ll probably become that now."
The Bergerac reboot premieres on U&Drama on February 27, and will be available to stream on the service U.
Joe Anderton is a freelance news writer at Digital Spy, having worked there since 2016. In his time, he's covered a host of live events and interviewed celebrities big and small. A big fan of TV and movies both mainstream and obscure, Joe also enjoys video games and in particular PlayStation. Joe currently does not use Twitter, but he only ever used it to tell people to watch the film Help! I'm a Fish.
