Tom Baker’s Advice for the Next Doctor — plus A24 Vampires and More

Morning News · Monday 19 October 2026

Tom Baker has a few words for whoever takes the TARDIS next. This morning’s edition also has Hunter Schafer’s first proper tease of Arkasha Stevenson’s secret A24 vampire film, a strong US return for Ken Russell’s once-banned The Devils ahead of its UK release, and Josh Brolin on why he said no to Lanterns.

The News That Matters

Tom Baker’s advice for the next Doctor: “Be yourself and then some”

• New development: The Fourth Doctor spoke to Radio Times in an interview published on Sunday 18 October
• Where things stand: The BBC’s Doctor Who tender is under way; initial pitches from the long-listed producers are due on Friday 23 October, with a contract decision expected in spring 2027
• Also from Baker: He is back as Sherlock Holmes in AUK Studios’ audio drama Sir Sherlock: The Doctor’s Son, opposite his old K9 co-star John Leeson as Watson
• UK availability: Doctor Who streams on BBC iPlayer. No date for the next TV series, which is planned for 2028/29; The Doctor’s Son is crowdfunding now, release date not yet confirmed

With the show out to tender and the hunt for a new lead some way off, the man many still picture first when they hear the words “the Doctor” has offered a brief job description. “Well, I’m not going to tell them how to do it. That would give the game away, wouldn’t it?” Tom Baker told Radio Times. “Just be yourself. Be yourself and then some. You’re the Doctor.”

Baker, who played the Fourth Doctor from 1974 to 1981, called the character “the best of Humanity, wrapped into one being, commenting on Humanity, all whilst eating jelly babies!” His words follow a week of reflection across the Whoniverse: Jodie Whittaker said the show’s moments of pause are part of its magic, and Russell T Davies has predicted the next Doctor could be named next summer. Away from the TARDIS, Baker returns as Holmes in The Doctor’s Son, the fourth Sir Sherlock adventure, with John Leeson as Watson.

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Hunter Schafer says Arkasha Stevenson’s secret A24 vampire film is “batshit crazy”

• New development: Schafer revealed the vampire premise on the Academy Museum Gala red carpet; reported on Sunday 18 October
• The film: Untitled A24 horror from The First Omen director Arkasha Stevenson, co-written with Tim Smith, with Ari Aster executive producing. It reportedly follows a bachelor party that spirals into terror
• Cast: Hunter Schafer, Emma Corrin, Havana Rose Liu, Sophie Wilde, Josh Hutcherson, Caleb Landry Jones, Fabien Frankel, Suzanna Son and Emory Cohen
• UK availability: Filming has wrapped. Title, release date and UK date not yet confirmed

Asked which horror franchise she would like to join, Hunter Schafer talked about one she has already shot. “Earlier this year I just did a vampire movie. I’m so excited about it. It might be my favourite thing I’ve ever filmed,” she said at the Academy Museum Gala. Why? “Because it is batshit crazy. Me and my fellow actresses also got to act in sort of this batshit crazy way.”

She would not say whether she plays one of the vampires (“I don’t know if I’m allowed to say it”), and it is still listed only as an untitled A24 project. Even so, that is the clearest picture yet of Stevenson’s follow-up to The First Omen, with an ensemble full of genre names, from Talk to Me’s Sophie Wilde to Nosferatu’s Emma Corrin. Schafer’s next stop is sooner: she leads Blade Runner 2099 with Michelle Yeoh on Prime Video from 25 November.

Ken Russell’s once-banned The Devils earns $1.64 million on its US return, with UK cinemas next

• New development: The 4K director’s cut took $1.64 million from 350 North American cinemas over 16–18 October, a one-week exclusive engagement
• Why it matters: That is about $4,700 per cinema for a 55-year-old film, from the first public release of the cut Russell intended
• The film: Oliver Reed and Vanessa Redgrave star in Russell’s 1971 drama about the 17th-century priest Urbain Grandier; Derek Jarman designed it
• UK availability: In UK and Irish cinemas from Friday 30 October via BFI Distribution; a full Ken Russell retrospective follows at BFI Southbank in July and August 2027

Warner Bros. Clockwork’s restoration of Ken Russell’s The Devils has made a loud return. Censored for more than half a century, the film took $1.64 million in its one-week US run, according to Box Office Mojo figures and The Industry’s weekend box office breakdown. That is a healthy per-cinema average for a limited run of a 1971 film.

The cut was first reconstructed in 2004 under Russell’s own supervision with editor Michael Bradsell and Mark Kermode, then restored in 4K from the original camera negative and unveiled at Cannes Classics this year. The BFI calls it “one of the great masterpieces of British cinema”. UK audiences can judge for themselves from 30 October, just in time for Halloween. Check our UK Release Calendar for the rest of that week’s openings.

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Josh Brolin explains why he turned down Hal Jordan in Lanterns

• New development: Brolin spoke to The Hollywood Reporter; the interview was published on Sunday 18 October
• His reason: The offer came “too close” to Prime Video’s cancellation of his sci-fi western Outer Range
• Verdict on the show: He has watched Lanterns, loves its cast and hopes it is “killing it”. Kyle Chandler plays Hal Jordan opposite Aaron Pierre’s John Stewart
• UK availability: All eight episodes of Lanterns season one are on HBO Max in the UK, also available through NOW and Sky

Before Kyle Chandler put on the ring, Josh Brolin was in the frame to play Hal Jordan. He has now said why he passed. “I don’t know, maybe it was too close [to Outer Range],” he told The Hollywood Reporter. “I really loved Outer Range, and seeing what those actors — Tom Pelphrey, Lewis Pullman, Imogen Poots — have done since then makes me very happy. To me, it’s a great middle finger to those people who cancelled that show.”

There are no hard feelings towards the DCU. Brolin says he has seen the series and admires it, and points out that a different actor simply makes a different character. He is hardly short of work: as we reported last night, he is lining up Sicario 3 for a 2027 shoot. Lanterns ended its first season on 5 October.

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Tom Baker says “be yourself and then some”. What should the next Doctor bring to the role?