The BBC has announced that Graham Norton is set to make a guest appearance in the upcoming season of Doctor Who, but this isn’t the first time the comedian’s crossed paths with the Time Lord.
On April 24, 2010, during the climactic moments of the season 5 episode The Time of Angels, Norton made an accidental cameo on the popular sci-fi show.
How do you make an accidental cameo? Well, as the Doctor (Matt Smith) was giving a final heroic speech, an animated banner that was not a part of the episode – featuring a cartoon version of the 62-year-old talk show host – appeared on screen, blocking the action.
Needless to say, fans weren’t very happy, and the incident generated more than 5,000 complaints. More than that, it prompted an outburst of fury worthy of a grumpy Dalek from fans across social media, who claimed the BBC had spoiled a great episode of Doctor Who.
It wasn’t just regular fans who were annoyed. A host of famous faces joined in the criticism with comedy star Simon Pegg writing on X: ‘Congrats to the BBC for ruining the climax to Doctor Who with a cartoon Graham Norton.’
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Meanwhile, Black Mirror creator Charlie Brooker laid into the BBC with his trademark barbed wit, before adding that he hoped Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat was ‘bellowing down a phone to someone right now.’
However, the harshest criticism came from Life on Mars co-creator Matthew Graham who wrote on X: ‘I take it everyone else was livid that the Beeb put a gurning cartoon Graham Norton across the exciting cliffhanger climax of Dr Who.’
‘Please BBC – you’re not a US network, you’re so much better than they are. Don’t cheapen yourself. The public knows what’s up next.’
Following the backlash a BBC spokesperson apologised for the incident, explaining that the banner ran 20 seconds earlier than intended and that the corporation was taking steps to ensure this never happened again.
When Karen Gillan – who was playing the Doctor’s companion Amy Pond at the time – appeared on The Graham Norton Show a few days later, the host couldn’t help but poke fun at the incident by unveiling a new cartoon where he was exterminated by Daleks.
This wasn’t the first time Norton had unintentionally annoyed Doctor Who fans, though. In 2005, during the premiere of the very first episode of the Doctor Who revival, a technical issue meant that Norton could be heard in some regions presenting Strictly Dance Fever over Billie Piper battling the Autons.
It appears though that Doctor Who showrunner Russell T Davies doesn’t bear a grudge. In a statement, he praised Norton, going so far as to say he’s vital to the upcoming episode, which is about an intergalactic version of the Eurovision Song Contest.
‘There’s no song contest without the great man himself, and it was an honour to welcome Graham Norton to our studios in Cardiff,’ Davies said. ‘And it’s not just a cameo, he has a whole plot twist all to himself! This is the wildest episode of all, and we’re lucky to have Graham adding to the mayhem.’
Season two of Doctor Who launches on April 12 and the episode featuring Norton, The Interstellar Song Contest, will air on May 17.
Over 800 episodes of Doctor Who are available to watch on BBC iPlayer including the latest season.
Doctor Who returns with its new season this Saturday at 6.50pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
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