6/13/2007

The Casting Call

By Cara Wallace

Rumours had been flying about the casting of the new Doctor Who. The casting dept had been looking for someone who was used to working with multiple special effects; and had put out some offers. But the rest of the crew had yet to hear the final word on who they would be working with for the next few years (though they had their own ideas about who they thought might be good in the role). Now they were waiting, having been called to a special rehearsal session to do a reading with the new actor. They gossiped among themselves, wondering if any of them would be retired if they did not have the right chemistry with their new lead. Finally the door to the reading room opened and in walked the producers. One of them cleared his throat. “We have the new doctor, he is right outside this door; however we thought we would prepare you before you see him. I want to assure you that quite a bit of discussion and consideration went into this decision, this was not done lightly, and we have covered all the implications of our choice, and feel that he more than meets all of the qualifications for the new Doctor Who.”

The female producer spoke up at this point. “I hope you will all make him feel welcome, he has quite a bit of experience, and I’m sure he will make all our jobs easier. He has just completed a several year project and was looking for new territory. I feel that our goals are congruent and we will be able to use his previous performances to raise our own viewership. Since we have had some trouble in the last year, as you all know.” The producer paused, “I would like to bring him in now, and I ask that you all make him feel at home.” The producer reached behind him, turned and opened the door, beckoning in their newest cast member. When he stepped into the reading room, there was a collective intake of breath. Then, quite out of control, the woman who played the doctor’s companion’s mother turned quite red, and averted her face as she choked, trying not to laugh. She waved her hand in front of her face. “I’m sorry, I’m really sorry, I don’t mean to, really, please.” She gestured for him to sit down. He did and put his hands on the table.

“I know this is a bit of a shock; however we intend to stand by our decision.” The producer announced. “We believe this will be for all of our benefits, the show and the crew. And now I think the best way to prove that is with a script reading, so here is the first episode for the new doctor. Of course we’ll have to go back and film a regeneration episode, but I think we will be keeping this under wraps for awhile. So of course we will ask you not to tell anyone for the moment. We don’t want it to leak to the press until we are ready with our ad campaign.” He walked around the table and passed out the scripts.

Sometime later, when the reading was over and the actors were heading to their cars; they were trying not to talk about the new cast member in public. The companion’s mother still seemed to be having the hardest time with their new lead. The female companion just kept bursting into smiles as they walked through the parking lot. As they reached their cars, the mother commented in a whisper, “Just wait, just wait until they find out; that they’ve cast Harry Potter as the 13^th Doctor Who!” And with that she burst into giggles again, and shook her head as she turned the key in her door lock and opened her door.

The End.