Michael Gambon Unhappy with Kazran Sardick Performance

Philip Bates is a writer at Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews - All the latest Doctor Who news and reviews with our weekly podKast, features and interviews, and a long-running forum.

In what I can only call a moment of madness, Michael Gambon has said he wasn’t very good as Kazran Sardick.

The Fortitude actor appeared in the 2010 festive special, A Christmas Carol, playing a Scrooge-like miser whose life the Doctor changes. But speaking at the London Film and Comic Con this previous weekend, he admitted that he wasn’t happy with how he’d portrayed Kazran. Naturally, and quite rightly, the crowd kicked off, to which he replied:

“No, I wasn’t very good! I tried hard, but I couldn’t quite get it.”

This might mean that he hadn’t fully grasped the timey-wimey element to the story, but he nonetheless said it was still “good fun.” And what did he think of our leading man, the brilliant Eleventh Doctor?

“Oh, [Matt Smith]’s a great bloke, isn’t he? I loved him. And who was that beautiful girl in it? Katherine Jenkins.”

He went on to joke: “Ooooh, Katherine Jenkins – I tried it on with her. No, too old. No hair.”

This comes as quite a surprise to me: I firmly believe, alongside many other people, I’m sure, that A Christmas Carol is the best Christmas special we’ve ever had. Gambon played a key part in that. He gave a stunning performance, as did, it must be said, everyone involved.

It’s been recently announced that Danny Horn will return to that same role for Big Finish’s Doctor Who: The Churchill Years: most likely, the Doctor takes Sardick back to meet the famous Prime Minister during A Christmas Carol.

Gambon also stated that he hasn’t been invited back to the Harry Potter franchise for either the spin-off film Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (for which Matt Smith’s name was mooted in the lead role, but which has since gone to Eddie Redmayne, riding high on the success of the excellent The Theory of Everything movie), nor the stage play, The Cursed Child. Daniel Radcliffe hasn’t been invited back as Potter either – not that that should come as any surprise. JK Rowling said Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows would be the last novel to feature the character, and I think that’s just.

So what did you think of A Christmas Carol? And of Gambon’s performance?

The post Michael Gambon Unhappy with Kazran Sardick Performance appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.