Jonathan Groff is Coming to ‘Doctor Who’
The unbearable weight of massive talent continues to join Doctor Who. This time its the legendary music man that is Jonathan Groff.
Nothing builds momentum quite like Doctor Who. And that’s never more true than when a new showrunner, new companion, and new Doctor all enter the TARDIS. And while Russell T. Davies is technically an old hand in the realm of Timelords and Daleks, 2023 marks his first stories in the Whoniverse in over a decade.
Perhaps the biggest way Davies return reveals its enormity is in the casting. David Tennant and Catherine Tate along with a host of Davies regulars all return later this year. Alongside them is none other than Neil Patrick Harris.
2014 is already equally massive. Joining new Doctor Ncuti Gatwa and new companion Millie Gibson we know is drag superstar Jinkx Monsoon playing a major role. And recently we also found out that another absolutely huge star is set to join in on the Doctor Who fun as well – Jonathan Groff.
Courtesy of Disney Plus
What We Know About Jonathan Groff and Doctor Who So Far
Jonathan Groff is, at this point, a ridiculously well-known performer regardless of your interests. If you’re into serial killers, you know him as Holden Ford in Mindhunter. He’s done horror with Knock at the Cabin and sci-fi in The Matrix Resurrections. And, of course, he’s a musical star from Glee to Hamilton and as Kristoff in the Frozen movies. Short version: Groff is literally everywhere.
And now Jonathan Groff joins Doctor Who, which feels like a massive win for both he and the series. “This is an incredible coup, and a great honor, to get such a huge star striding onto our set,” says showrunner Russell T Davies in a prepared statement. “So strap on your space boots; this is going to be a blast!”
“I am so thrilled to jump into the extraordinary mind of Russell T Davies and watch the incredible Ncuti Gatwa soar in this iconic role,” Groff says of joining the cast.
As of now, all we know of Groff’s involvement is that he will play a key guest role. That being said… let’s speculate, shall we?
Courtesy of BBC Worldwide
The Power of Neil Patrick Harris
It’s no secret that people line up to work with Russell T Davies. He’s simply one of the most important television writers. And his influence has only grown from his days creating Queer as Folk and then Doctor Who. Recent shows like Years and Years and It’s A Sin keep Davies in the cultural conversation. And they make him a writer that performers, especially queer performers want to work with.
Where things get interesting though is how Neil Patrick Harris factors in. Harris plays Henry Coltrane in It’s A Sin – that’s the Davies connection. But he also stars with Jonathan Groff in The Matrix Resurrections. And, wouldn’t you know it, Harris plays host in the upcoming Hulu series Drag Me To Dinner which just so happens to feature Jinkx Monsoon.
And while what technically connects Davies to Monsoon isn’t Harris directly, it is a little eerie. Also, fun fact: former Doctor Who star Freema Agyeman brought Davies as her date to the premiere of The Matrix Resurrections.
All that being said, there’s something else all three of these upcoming guest stars have in common.
Courtesy of BBC Studios
Is Jonathan Groff Helping Make Doctor Who More Musical?
Every major actor set to appear thus far in the new Doctor Who has big musical chops. And, it’s worth noting that there’s one other major returning name to the sci-fi series: composer Murray Gold. Gold’s music is iconic and plays no small part in why people love the series.
So here’s the question – is this Murray Gold’s chance to bring big musical numbers into the show? Because it feels as though a full musical episode is a long-time in the making. Consider the fact that pop star Kylie Minogue stars in the Doctor Who Christmas episode “Voyage of the Damned” and yet does not single a single note. There’s even a song “The Stowaway” in the episode and Minogue does not sing it! A crime! We are overdue for a musical episode!
And that’s not all. There’s “Song For Ten” from “The Christmas Invasion”. Opera singer Katherine Jenkins performs Foxes briefly sings “Abigail’s Song” in “A Christmas Carol”. And in the episode “Mummy on the Orient Express”. None of that even mentions that Rose Tyler herself Billie Piper was a major British pop star long before she brought Doctor Who back to our TV screens in 2005.
We are so ridiculously overdue for a full musical episode and now it’s starting to feel like we might just get even more than that.
Courtesy of BBC Wales
A Musical Episode? How About a Musical Season?
There’s a lot of speculation about who each upcoming guest star will play. But no one is asking the big question – how many times will these stars play their roles? And might they all play those roles at some point together?
Despite how packed each of these stars’ schedules may be, there’s nothing that says they can’t all have individual episodes which feature music and then eventually all come together on an Avengers level for a full-on musical season finale. The other major way Doctor Who is set to change is the fact that it’s suddenly got a bigger budget courtesy of Disney. And big-budget, event storytelling is kind of what Disney does best, right?
So that’s our guess. Jonathan Groff is part of a secret Russell T Davies plot to make Doctor Who the most musical it has ever been. But, by all means, let us know what you’re hoping to see from Groff and all these other wonderful performers in the next two years.
