Former Doctor Who star Paul McGann joins cast of Holby City

FORMER Doctor Who star Paul McGann has landed a role in the BBC’s long-running drama series Holby City.

Paul will appear in the medical programme from December as charming surgeon and “mercurial force to be reckoned with” Professor John Gaskell.

Professor Gaskell will arrive and reveal himself as a saviour amid the hospital’s struggle under a crisis, utilising his surgical innovations to take Holby into an exciting yet unknown future.

Paul, 57, said of his new TV role: “I’m really excited to be joining Holby. Professor John Gaskell is certainly going to be an interesting character and I can’t wait to get started on the wards.”

Oliver Kent, head of continuing drama for BBC Studios Scripted, said: “I am utterly thrilled that the brilliant Paul McGann has agreed to join the cast of Holby City as Professor John Gaskell.

“I’ve admired Paul’s work for many years on stage, screen and radio and it’s a dream come true that he is joining our company. In his hands, John Gaskell will be a mercurial force to be reckoned with and I can’t wait to see him locking horns with Jac, Hanssen, Griffin and the other Holby titans.”

Paul is known for portraying the eighth incarnation of the Doctor in the 1996 TV movie of Doctor Who, a role he reprised in a mini-episode in 2013.

He has also appeared in films including Withnail and I and Alien 3, while his TV credits include parts in drama series Luther and Jonathan Creek.

It was recently confirmed that Holby City will continue to be produced by BBC Studios for the next three years.

The BBC won its bid to go on creating the weekly medical drama, a BBC One mainstay since 1999, after it was put out to competitive tender as part of the new Charter agreement.