Doctor Who is currently in a dark place. Following Ncuti Gatwa’s regeneration into Billie Piper, no date for Doctor Who season 16 – or, indeed, any form of continuation – has been forthcoming. It’s a feeling of despair older fans will be all too familiar with, having experienced something similar when Doctor Who was canceled in 1989 during the Seventh Doctor’s era.

Despite no longer being a weekly presence on TV, Doctor Who lived on throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, most prominently in books and audio stories but occasionally onscreen too. In a strange twist of fate, this era of Doctor Who – and the two new Doctors who led it – made their names in the same British cult classic.

One Star Of Withnail & I Regenerated Into The Other

Withnail & I released in 1987 to great critical acclaim, but its reputation has only matured over the decades since, with Bruce Robinson’s tale of red wine and despair in the Lake District becoming arguably the greatest cult movie in British history. A story about two unemployed actors, Withnail & I appropriately cast fresh faces as its тιтular leads: Richard E. Grant as Withnail and Paul McGann as I.

It was the start of two stellar careers. For his part, he enjoyed a steady stream of film roles throughout the early ’90s, including Alien 3, The Three Musketeers, The One That Got Away, and even some films without a number in the тιтle.

McGann’s next big role came via the TARDIS, when he was cast as Sylvester McCoy’s replacement in an attempt to revive Doctor Who in feature-length form. Ultimately, the Doctor Who TV movie failed to resurrect the franchise’s onscreen fortunes, and off it trudged into the wilderness once again.

Doctor Who‘s next significant TV project would be 2003’s animated “Scream of the Shalka,” which continued the same canon and followed on from McGann’s movie, but with a Ninth Doctor replacing the Eighth. Quite brilliantly, Doctor Who opted for McGann’s Withnail and I co-star, Richard E. Grant, as the next incarnation of the iconic Time Lord.

“Scream of the Shalka” wasn’t Grant’s first rodeo as the Doctor either. He – along with a string of other well-known actors including Hugh Grant and Rowan Atkinson – played the role in 1999 charity skit The Curse of Fatal Death. For the period between 1996 and 2003, therefore, Doctor Who was very much channeling the drunken spirit of Withnail & I.

The Two “Withnail” Doctors Only Became Appreciated Years Later

Withnail & I was certainly celebrated upon release, but the pᴀssage of time has allowed it to be appreciated as a true masterpiece, with new generations continuously discovering its offbeat charm. In a similar way, the two Doctors it spawned have found greater acclaim years down the line.

Doctor Who‘s 1996 movie was an awkward mashup of the original TV show and ’90s Hollywood. Poor effects, odd casting, a muddled tone, and core changes to the Doctor’s character ensured it would never be fully embraced. Still, almost everyone could agree that Paul McGann was brilliant in the part, and he went on to enjoy an impressive run as the Eighth Doctor in audio form before triumphantly returning to live-action with “The Night of the Doctor.”

Richard E. Grant experienced a similar phenomenon. “Scream of the Shalka” premiered to a somewhat mixed response, with future Doctor Who showrunner Russell T Davies giving a particularly scathing review, saying of Grant (via Doctor Who Magazine), “I thought he was terrible. I thought he took the money and ran, to be honest. It was a lazy performance.“

RTD took the opportunity to apologize, in a sense, by including Grant’s “Shalka” Doctor in a holographic montage of other canon Doctor Who actors in season 14’s “Rogue.” The cameo immediately sparked renewed interest in “Scream of the Shalka” and a reappraisal of Grant’s more gothic take on the Doctor.

In true Withnail & I fashion, therefore, Paul McGann and Richard E. Grant’s respective stints on Doctor Who aged like fine wine.

Sources: Doctor Who Magazine