Paul McGann might be attached to the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Special, but the question remains; in what capacity?
Bleeding Cool News is reporting that they have it on good authority that Paul McGann, who played the Doctor in the one-off 1990s movie, is going to be filming a sequence for the 50th Anniversary Special.
It has been widely surmised that the previous Doctors, other than David Tennant, would appear via archival footage in much the same way they did in this last year’s season finale. Other Doctors including McGann have all denied their involvement in the project. In fact, back in April, McGann appeared on an Australian news program alongside fellow Doctors Sylvester McCoy and Colin Baker where they all adamantly denied their involvement. Furthermore, McCoy especially seemed to indicate his annoyance at their lack of participation.
Bleeding Cool thinks that McGann may be needed to film a regeneration scene that changes his Doctor into the version that John Hurt will play, the “Doctor” responsible for the Time War that annihilated both the Daleks and the Time Lords. Since McGann has not aged considerably since filming Doctor Who, such as scene is plausible.
It is important to note that at Comic-Con last week, a fan asked showrunner Steven Moffat why Captain Jack Harkness, a fan favorite played by John Barrowman, was not included in the 50th Anniversary Special. Moffat in turn indicated that he’s “been lying [his] teeth off” about details surrounding the 50th Anniversary Special. Moffat has said in multiple interviews that the only details he has admitted to are the ones that were filmed out in the open in public view as denying them would have been pointless.
As for the validity of the Bleeding Cool News as a source, it should be noted that Bleeding Cool just a month ago ran a story claiming that they had insider knowledge that a huge stash of missing Doctor Who footage had been unearthed. The story caused a lot of stir at the time, and it later proved to be completely unfounded.