Warning: Spoilers ahead for Doctor Who season 14, episode 6, “Rogue.”

Doctor Who‘s reintroduction of a formerly non-canon Doctor serves as a huge redemption for the actor who played him and acts as an apology from the returning showrunner. Doctor Who season 14, episode 6, “Rogue,” includes a brief cameo from what is essentially just the face of Richard E. Grant. In 2003, Grant voiced an alternate Ninth Doctor who was originally intended to be part of the main canon, but the animated series ultimately became a standalone project.

Grant’s version of the Time Lord, commonly referred to as the “Shalka Doctor,” only required him to provide his voice, and his performance was initially criticized by an incredibly key member of the Doctor Who creative team. With the actor’s face appearing among the holograms of other former Doctors in Doctor Who‘s Disney era, the moment feels like something of an olive branch while also adding a major twist to the show’s canon. Grant may not be joining the Doctor Who season 14 cast, but he could appear down the line.

RTD Was Very Critical Of Richard E. Grant’s Doctor In The Past

The Doctor Who showrunner called Grant’s performance “lazy”

Richard E. Grant’s Doctor Who: Scream of the Shalka came between Paul McGann’s 1996 Doctor Who movie and the 2005 revival of the main show. Soon after Doctor Who returned with Christopher Eccleston’s Ninth Doctor in the TARDIS, Russell T Davies spoke with Doctor Who Magazine (Via BBC) about what he thought of Grant’s performance in Scream of the Shalka, and it wasn’t particularly complimentary.

“I wasn’t a fan of Richard E Grant in it, I have to say. And yes, you can print that! I thought he was terrible. I thought he took the money and ran, to be honest. It was a lazy performance. He was never on our list to play the Doctor.”

Since then, Davies has left Doctor Who and returned to the showrunner’s chair. With a seemingly new mindset, Davies’ decision to include Grant’s Doctor in live-action suggests he either regrets his words or has reevaluated Grant’s efforts in Scream of the Shalka. There’s also the possibility that Davies turned to 1999’s The Curse of Fatal Death – a live-action Doctor Who parody from Children in Need that featured Grant as an alternate Tenth Doctor. This may have also made Davies change his mind. Either way, the Shalka Doctor would appear to be back as part of the main canon.

RTD’s Shalka Doctor Retcon Means Richard E. Grant Can Return As A Live-Action Doctor

Grant’s live-action Doctor debut could be coming soon

With the Shalka Doctor reintegrated into the Time Lord’s story, the door is open for Richard E. Grant to make a full debut as a live-action version of the character. It will likely be an eventual introduction rather than anything too immediate, but Grant’s Doctor Who return now seems inevitable. That way, it can be explained why this particular regeneration has never been mentioned – although the Toymaker meddling with the Doctor’s timeline is a very viable theory. It’s a thoroughly compelling Doctor Who moment, and one that will hopefully carry a great deal of weight when it pays off.

Source: BBC