Rumours have been flying around for the past couple of weeks that David Tennant – whose tenure as Dr. Who is, of course, coming to an end – was set to join Simon Pegg in John Landis’ upcoming movie about the infamous grave-robbers, Burke & Hare.
So, naturally, when Tennant bounded onto the red carpet at last night’s London Film Festival screening of his new movie, Glorious 39, we asked him about his potential involvement.
“Where do these things come from?” he said, shouting to be heard over the cacophony of cheers and screams from the residents of Whoville. But the sly smile and the glint in his eye indicated that the rumours are true. So, are they?
“I don’t like to jinx things by talking about them before they’re done, you know what I mean? But,” he said, knowingly, “John Landis is a legend.”
So, take it how you will, but we’re saying that that’s as close as we’re going to come to a confirmation until there actually is a confirmation. So, Who fans, rejoice, for your boy is hitting the big screen.
Burke & Hare were two Ulster-born Scots who provided cadavers for Edinburgh physician, Dr. Robert Knox, via less-than-legal means in 1827 and 1828. Their story has been told on screen before, notably in the 1960 Peter Cushing movie, The Flesh And The Fiends, and in disguised form as Timothy Dalton vehicle, The Doctor And The Devils, in 1985.
Pegg – who is apparently down to play William Burke – and Tennant, who’s marked for William Hare, should make a great team, and if Landis can recapture his best black comedy form, this should make for a little belter of a movie. The only question that remains is: who will play Knox?