BBC to reveal new Doctor on Sunday

[nanako]

Just so you know, if you didn't know.

 

http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2013/aug/02/who-next-doctor-who-sunday

[ailrox]

I'm excited! But at the same time, I sort of want to be surprised when I watch the episode. Especially if it's an actor I already know (which, I admit, isn't very likely based on past Doctors).

 

It'll be pretty hard to avoid finding out though, considering how much time I spend on the internet. Oh well.

[GeoChip]

Yes, I saw this new on the Twitterverse yesterday. Very excited to see who will star as the next Doctor. As Ailrox comments, it may be hard avoiding who gets the gig before tomorrow's live broadcast, so I may have to limit my exposure to social media for the next 28 hours.

[porchcricket13]

Squee!!!! They know it will absolutely leak before the episode airs so they are trying to announce  it first. I hope it's someone totally green. At least then we will know who but have no frame of reference for how they may play the part.

[chairohkey]

Looks like the rumors were true. Our new Doctor Peter Capaldi.

 

[bigm141414]

I don't know how I feel about this. Since the new series has only had young youthful Doctors I don't know how the new guy will go over.

I for one will still watch and to see how this plays out.

[BreadMage]

I like that he was the W.H.O. Doctor in World War Z.

[Mad Hatter]

There's definitely potential here! How long until Christmas now...?

[pantinaprovina]

I wish I could have been surprised during the episode, but it was spoiled for me twice on FB, twice on Twitter, once from husband, and once from Fitocracy. Why do people feel the need to shout it from the rooftops?

Well, it's nice to see people being polite somewhere. NF <3

[mikemystery]

I so badly want him to be a sweary Malcolm Tucker Doctor.

[Mad Hatter]

Haha, not sure if the parental guidance committees would approve

[porchcricket13]

I'm in the minority that I'm not happy with the choice huh. At least it has time to grow on me.

[bigm141414]

I so badly want him to be a sweary Malcolm Tucker Doctor.

 

 

Already a mashup: 

 

[SmashingPixie]

Not thrilled with this choice at all, I had kinda hoped they would go with a lady doctor =/

[Maledictus]

That's two in a row I've been pretty happy with (didn't have a clue who matt smith was but they showed clips of everyone in the running and the second I saw him I wanted it to be him - he just looks so out of kilter at times)

 

I like the fact the new doctor  was sufficiently nerdy that they wrote fan mail about it 40 years ago.

[Mad Hatter]

Two in a row? What about David Tennant?! 

[ailrox]

At first I was a little surprised and sort of 'oh, I don't know about this guy...'

But the more I see of him, the more I am absolutely certain that he IS the Doctor. I feel like he's perfect for it.

[CaffeineMan]

I was disappointed that The Doctor was another white man, but on the other hand, at least he's better than Matt Smith.

[Maledictus]

Two in a row? What about David Tennant?! 

 

Didn't really have any feelings either way ... liked him when he was there.  Matt Smith just looks like a bit of a gonk at times (which works) and the main problem with the new guy is he's probably going to be the scariest thing on it.  Which does tie in with some of what they've been doing.  Most of the new ones have been pretty good, although the writing has been variable.  Of course, none of them are a patch on Tom Baker.

[Mad Hatter]

What David Tennant was awesome! Though admittedly I'm of the new generation of doctors so I'm a bit biased.

[mikemystery]

Didn't really have any feelings either way ... liked him when he was there.  Matt Smith just looks like a bit of a gonk at times (which works) and the main problem with the new guy is he's probably going to be the scariest thing on it.  Which does tie in with some of what they've been doing.  Most of the new ones have been pretty good, although the writing has been variable.  Of course, none of them are a patch on Tom Baker.

Tom Baker is a god to me. I did a voiceover with him once, and asked him to sign my copy of his book  "The Boy Who Kicked Pigs" for my son Max (who was only a toddler at the time). He wrote "to Max, best wishes from the grave, Tom Baker'. genius

[jcb1948]

When I first saw his pic, I wasn't feeling it. When I watched the "live" reveal, the first thing I thought when I saw him (still kind of in the smoke) was he looks like an older Matt Smith. It would be interesting if this isn't a regeneration but the Doctor returning to Clara after, say, 400 years of wandering. Or maybe imprisonment -- that would be interesting.

[Raev]

If the writing is done right, it will work.

 

I'm glad they went this direction.  Chris was a little on the rougher side and older side.  Then they went to David who was younger, a little sillier and still occasionally rough around the edges.  From there we have Matt who was very young, very silly and occasionally bordering on lunatic.  From there they either had to break the pattern of going younger/sillier or cast someone so young that his voice was still a little squeaky and had ADHD.

 

The writing has taken more dramatic turns lately with more dark edges to the stories, so I think casting someone who has good dramatic acting chops was a good call.  This fella also seems to look a lot more serious, which should lend itself well to those aspects of the stories and when he *IS* being a madman in a box and a little manic (all of them in the new series have had those moments) it should really stand out more.  Overall, I do think this was a smart casting move.

 

This also puts the emphasis on the stories fully, instead of pretty boys to appease fangirls.

 

Will it be an adjustment to go from Matt to him?  Sure.  Just like it was going from Chris to David and David to Matt.  In the end it worked out each time though.  They have the casting of the Doctor down to a science and I will show them faith in this until they prove otherwise.

 

As for the Doctor being a woman - I think that also would have been a brilliant move but I fear that too many of the fans would freak out over that.  At the end of the day, the BBC is still a company and they are probably too afraid of backlash from the public to make a move THAT bold.

[GeoChip]

I agree. They needed to take a break from the young and silly. Now, I like young and silly, but that's only one dimension of the Doctor -- and if anything, it's probably the least apt characteristic.  At least the young part! Bring it on, Pete! (I has Pete because that's what his buddy Craig Ferguson called him.)

[Jonny2284]

As for the Doctor being a woman - I think that also would have been a brilliant move but I fear that too many of the fans would freak out over that.  At the end of the day, the BBC is still a company and they are probably too afraid of backlash from the public to make a move THAT bold.

 

I understand where the people with this mindset are coming from, but tbh after a character has been male for 12 incarnations over 50 years with a plethora of superb actors available is there any reason to change other than to go "look at us, we're so progressive"?

 

Gender aside Capaldi is a fantastic choice as long as the writing for him is solid, I'm hoping his casting is going to mean a return to a less silly tone, less deus ex machina endings and adding a little darkness and mystery back to the franchise, something akin to the way McCoy's Doctor was heading in his final series (and did in the audio series) but without pantomime series stopping that change from being taken seriously.