Could Tom Cruise be cameoing on the upcoming Christmas episode of Doctor Who?!
It’s not impossible.
I was doing some research on Tom Cruise for a round of the Big Shiny Geek Show Pub Quiz we hold weekly when I found an upcoming episode of Dr. Who on his IMDb profile. The IMDb is notoriously inaccurate for upcoming projects, but this episode seems to have been shot and it’s got an unusually complete page, which isn’t normal for pages with wild inaccuracies. It also has Michael Gambon (Dumbeldore) listed in the episode, and there’s been a lot of reporting on that as well.
You can see the IMDb page in question by clicking here.
I got very excited about this news. I really like Tom Cruise when he’s behind a good director, in a good project, and on the top of his game. He’s been in a lot of movies that I would consider some of my favorites (Magnolia, Eyes Wide Shut, The Color of Money, Minority Report) and turned in some incredible performances. And who could forget his impeccable comedic turn in Tropic Thunder?
I did some digging and I really can’t find a solid confirmation. I’ve found no denials, but I found a string of articles dating back to November 2007 that said Doctor Who producers were approaching Cruise for a part. Here’s one article from the Boston Globe (who in turn based their report on the UK’s Daily Star):
The ‘Lions for Lambs’ actor is among a host of top US stars, including Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie and Madonna, who the BBC are hoping to get on board for three blockbuster instalments of the British sci-fi series to be filmed next year.
An insider told Britain’s Daily Star newspaper: “BBC producers know they can’t pay these stars what they are used to, but what they can offer is an exciting role in a real cutting-edge show. And the big stars love that kind of kudos.”
I’m not anywhere close to being this caught up. I’m new to Doctor Who mania and I’m an episode away from finishing the first season of Torchwood before I attack David Tennant’s second season as the Doctor in earnest. At this point I would consider myself a burgeoning super-fan and this news actually excites me and is incentive to catch up more quickly.
The episode he’s allegedly on will air on Christmas Day 2010.
What do you guys think? Is this the mistake Den of Geek seems to think it is? Or could this make an episode of Dr. Who into something even more awesome?