See, this presents a problem for those of us for whom the name triggers visions of crinkly buttocks in The Full Monty. So we have to ask: is Robert Carlyle still eye-candy? And I don't mean to be unkind, but... was he ever? These days, simply playing Doctor Who seems to grant people a certain magnetism (in a way that it never did in the Sylvester McCoy days, although of course the assistants were better then), so perhaps we'll start to look at him differently if he really does get the gig when Tennant lays down in sonic screwdriver in 2010 (earth time), as certain quarters are claiming.
James Nesbitt (him again!) and Alan "Jonathan Creek" Davies have also been tipped for the part. I can only assume the last one is a joke.
