Paul McGann played the Eighth Doctor in a 1996 Doctor Who TV movie which was co-produced by BBC Worldwide and Universal Studios. It was a last-ditch effort to revive the sci-fi franchise after its cancellation in 1989, but the response to what many deemed an "Americanisation" of the property wasn't overly positive.
Ratings in the UK were solid but, ironically, it failed to take off in the U.S. and plans for a new series were subsequently scrapped. Doctor Who then sat on the shelf until 2005 when Russell T Davies rebooted the show and it's been going strong ever since.
As for McGann, while he didn't receive a lot of love at the time, fans have grown to love his Doctor and he's since returned for the 50th anniversary special and to bid farewell to Jodie Whittaker's Doctor in The Power of the Doctor.
Now, Mirror Online (via SFFGazette.com) is claiming that the 63-year-old actor is being eyed to take centre stage in a spin-off series which is meant to expand the franchise similar to Disney+'s small screen Star Wars projects.
"Russell likes the idea of bringing back McGann with his own set of episodes in the TARDIS," a source reportedly tells the site. "Disney are on board as they want more original content and want to fully exploit the franchise as they know how big it could become."
We'd be interested to see how a show like this works and what it ultimately adds to the wider Doctor Who mythos (following David Tennant's brief return, Ncuti Gatwa takes over the role as the Fiftheen Doctor). Given the source, it's best to take this rumour with a pinch of salt, though we're sure many Whoniverse fans will be positively buzzing about the potential spin-off series.
McGann, meanwhile, has said on numerous occasions that he's grateful for his place in the Doctor Who franchise. "Suddenly, now I'm signing photographs where the Eighth is in the middle of the photo and you've got Matt Smith slightly behind," he said of the way he's been embraced by fans. "I used to be like the afterthought in a school photograph - where they put your heads in a cloud because you weren't there on the day! So it was all change. There was that nice sense of his being accepted."
"Just on a personal level, if I ever had misgivings - just about being in Doctor Who in the first place, or the nature of it - they've long since gone. I really enjoy it. It's a good family to be part of - and it's still going places. It's a lovely thing to be associated with."
Are you excited about this potential Doctor Who spin-off? Let us know in the comments section below.