Alan Cumming has revealed on Will Young and Chris Sweeney’s podcast Homo Sapiens that he will appear in the upcoming season of Doctor Who as King James I. He said, “I’m about to go and do an episode of Doctor Who, I’m so excited.”
On being asked if he would be playing the villain, he said: “I’m a nice baddie, I’m James I. I’m like a kind of dandy, foppy coward who comes alright in the end. And they’ve said he might come back!”
The monarch was known as King James VI of Scotland, and was crowned in 1567. In 1603 he was also crowned as King of England and Ireland, ruling as James I until his death in 1625.
The king is one of several British monarchs who is now believed to have had a same-sex lover, though Cumming did not mention if the romance will be featured on Doctor Who.
Cumming previously revealed he was approached about playing the Doctor himself. He also discussed his sexuality on Homo Sapiens. He said, Cumming said, “I identify as queer or bisexual, or call me gay, I don’t care! Whatever it is, I feel like there’s a grey area to desire that people are scared of. I don’t like being boxed in and told what I am. I don’t feel like I’m married to a man that I can’t call myself bisexual, having had relationships with women over the years. Even if I hadn’t had relationships with women, I can call myself bisexual if I desire them.”
