The United Kingdom is currently facing an unprecedented convergence of searches: a new prime minister, a new James Bond, and a new lead for Doctor Who. This triple casting call, as noted by arts and culture correspondent Nadia Khomami, underscores a broader national struggle to agree on who its protagonists should be and what story the country is telling about itself.
Political instability and cultural flux
Westminster is preparing for its seventh prime minister in a decade, with Larry the Downing Street cat having outlasted six of them. This political chaos coincides with uncertainty over two of Britain's most enduring cultural icons. James Bond, a cold-war fantasy of white, upper-crust British relevance, has been without a definitive successor since Daniel Craig's final outing in No Time to Die (2021). That film, revised by Phoebe Waller-Bridge for the #MeToo era, briefly handed the 007 codename to a Black woman, sparking controversy. The Telegraph warned that if Bond had "gone woke," he "might as well be cancelled."
Creative control has since passed from the Broccoli family to Amazon MGM, and the casting debate remains unresolved. Idris Elba, long rumored for the role, ruled himself out, citing that some audiences would not accept a Black 007. Five years later, no successor to Craig has been settled upon.
Doctor Who's regeneration challenges
Similarly, Doctor Who, a show built around regeneration, has become a battleground over change. Jodie Whittaker's casting as the first female Doctor split fans in 2017, and Ncuti Gatwa, the first Black Doctor, faced overt racism in 2023. A Disney+ partnership timed for the show's 60th anniversary failed to restore ratings, and Gatwa left after just two seasons. The BBC has put the Doctor's future out to competitive tender, and outgoing showrunner Russell T Davies confirmed that no actor has been approached to play the next Doctor. "Ironically, a show built around regeneration is now part of a national argument about how much change people are prepared to accept," Khomami writes.
National identity in question
Khomami argues that Westminster has the same problem. The UK will soon have its seventh prime minister in a decade because the stories politicians once relied on—postwar consensus, Thatcherism, New Labour, even Brexit—have fractured or run out of road. "There is no longer a settled idea of what Britain is, where it is heading—or even what alternatives politics should be offering," she explains. Competing visions of the country—a diverse, outward-looking nation versus one of cultural and demographic decline—remain unreconciled.
In 1941, George Orwell wrote in The Lion and the Unicorn that nations are held together by the stories they tell about themselves. The arguments over Bond, the Doctor, and No 10 revolve around a similar question: who gets to stand at the center of the national story, and what script are they asked to perform?
A playful suggestion
Reddit users have suggested one person fill all three roles. Khomami proposes Peter Capaldi as a strong candidate, but only if he behaves like Malcolm Tucker. Alternatively, she suggests rotating the roles: Daniel Craig as PM, Jodie Whittaker as Bond, and Keir Starmer as the Doctor. "Starmer couldn't solve our national identity problems in office, but hey, maybe a time machine could give him a fighting chance," she quips.
