The New Doctor Who.

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For those interested....

Peter Capaldi is the 12th Doctor Who.

Comments

Good Choice

He's a good choice. He was one of the front-runners, so the news must have leaked out. But how long will he be willing to do it? The average tenure is about five years.

John B.

More like three years

Since the new Dr Who began (2005) it's been more like 3 years.

Peter Capaldi certainly has something to give and taking on such an iconic sci-fi role wouldn't affect his career like it would for some of the other names that had been mentioned.

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You can't choose your relatives but you can choose your family.

For anyone who's a fan of the

For anyone who's a fan of the show but isn't familiar with the name, Capaldi achieved lasting fame with his hilarious portrayal of spin-doctor Malcolm Tucker on The Thick of It. Imagine The West Wing with Tourette's and you'll have a rough idea of what to expect.

Caution: the following link contains very strong language

http://youtu.be/JjAyazqtQj8

Ban nothing. Question everything.

The Cursed Doctor

I must say I'm really looking forward to a Malcolm Tucker like Doctor, although we'll probably have to wait for one of the comedy/charity shows to get it.

But what's with all the Scots? Perhaps the BBC is hoping to convince Scotland that they're valued and shouldn't go for independence? (Almost all the BBC children's shows are hosted by Scottish folks, too—I've been surprised that British children don,t all have Scottish accents these days,)

-- Jane

No change really.

When I was a a kid in the 1940/50s in the English N Midlands I was avidly reading Thomson (Dandy, Beano) comics which were published in Scotland and were full of Scottish heroes. In some stories the 'baddies' were the English redcoat soldiers chasing the gallant, kilted highlanders after Culloden.

I will always think of Capaldi as the rather effete character he played in the film 'Local Hero' rather than as Malcolm Tucker. And, of course, Dr Who will always be William Hartnell for me because he was the one we rolled about laughing at how pathetic the programme was in the early days. At the time I was a TV repairman. I watched a more recent episode on the iPlayer (no TV) and it hasn't improved much - just got a bit flashier IMO.

Robi

Re: Peter Capaldi

This will not be the first time Peter Capaldi has appeared in Doctor Who. He played Lucius Caecilius in the Seaon 4 episode 'The Fires of Pompeii (2008)'.

He was also the evil

He was also the evil government minister John Frobisher through series 3 of Torchwood, which is the same universe as Doctor Who. That one is a bit harder to brush aside then a one off.

Do we wonder...

Do we wonder who will succeed him as the 13th doctor? Olivia Wilde has experience playing No. 13... :-)

13

While it would be nice to see a change, I suspect they'll follow convention with a White British Male actor. So female Doctors will probably have to remain in the realm of fanfic :(

Choosing a ginger girl, however, would be hilarious :D


As the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body, then only left-handers are in their right mind!

I thought

Angharad's picture

12 was the maximum number of times he could regenerate? So Capaldi could be the last one.

Angharad

13 was the number that was

13 was the number that was bandied about some years back (before the series was rebooted in 2005). So, even if that's still canon, they've got one more (well, unless the explanation for John Hurt involves a pre-Hartnell incarnation). I suspect they'll find some way to dispense with the limit, though, when they need to. One way they might do it involves the regen transfer from River to the Doctor to heal him when he was poisoned. They used to that to explain why she wouldn't regenerate more (she was on at least her third regen at the time, so there may be 10 more regens worth there).

There'll Be At Least One More

This will only be the 11th regeneration. Apparently 'thirteen lives' is the rule for Time Lords. But you know they'll find a way around it.

Ban nothing. Question everything.

There are lots of ways they

KristineRead's picture

There are lots of ways they can do it, one way that has been mentioned was that it was Gallifreyin (sp?) Law, and since Gallifrey is gone, it no longer applies.

Plus I believe the Master has had more than 13 regens...

In any case, as long as there is an audience they WILL find a way. Could be as simple as Doyle's, Holmes non-explanation of how he survived the falls. It just is.

Hugs,

Kristy

Regenerations.

I stopped watching Dr. Who shortly after Tom Baker took over from Jon Pertwee, that was the third to fourth Doctor. At that time it was pointed out that the Doctor was only able to make SIX regenerations. Clearly at some point since, probably during the sixth Doctors tenure, there was a ret-con done to allow for further regenerations in the future. It seems highly likely that, if it's been done once, it can be done again to allow the franchise to continue on it's merry way until the viewing figures drop enough to stop the show. Then, as happened before, there will be enough fan pressure after a few years absence for the BBC to resurect the show again!

Okay..., So I'm a cynic... Sue me!

John.

Wimps

I know they will not do a female doctor but frankly I think they need it to stir the pot. The current white male pattern is getting a bit stale if you ask me.

Kim

We're sadly unlikely to get

We're sadly unlikely to get strong women characters in the show, let alone as the Doctor, while Steven Moffet is running the show.

Subjective

That's a subjective thing as in my opinion none of the post 2005 female leads have been pushovers, with River being the most notable example.

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You can't choose your relatives but you can choose your family.

But Rose, Martha, and Donna

But Rose, Martha, and Donna were all pre-Moffet, while Russell T. Davies was running the show. Even River was conceived and introduced in that era, though her story didn't play out fully until after Moffet took over. The Moffet era has given us Amy Pond, and Clara Oswald, overall the weakest of the post-2005 companions, with the least agency. Victorian Clara from last year's Christmas special was an exception, and I had great hopes for her, but modern Clara was a dishrag with all the things that made Victorian Clara special stomped out of her.

While technically true that

KristineRead's picture

While technically true that River was introduced during Davies tenure, the episode that introduced her was written by Stephen Moffet. And certainly she came into her own in his time. I think you have to count her character as being his.

I personally loved the character of River Song, and to me she only got better. I'm definitely going to miss her. As for Amy, I've read lots of criticism of her character, but I really liked her. Sure she had her moments when she was the girl to be saved. But she had a strong side as well, and could and did make choices that were hard to make.

Life threw an awful lot of crap at Amy Pond, and yet she survived, and it was often because of her strength that the others did as well..

As for Clara - so far I'm unimpressed. In part that's because the relationship between her and the Doctor doesn't click the way that the Doctor and Amy/Rory with occassional River did, or 10 and Donna did. Maybe she will do better with 12.

Putting Clara aside yet, because she has not had much of a chance to grow, the weakest character was Martha during her run with the 10. Until she got smart and left him. Then she got a whole lot better.

I'll commit blasphemy and say it, I thought Rose was okay, but I didn't particularly like her. I really hated how she treated Mickey. As she says at the end of Boom Town, he deserved better.

So while, in my mind, Donna is the best of the post re-boot companions, (and I will NEVER forgive Davies for the way her story ended) River would be next... I love her... Spoilers, Sweetie. Amy and Rory are next.

But people will see these things thru their own filters.

As for their being a female Doctor. I personally wouldn't have a problem with it. There is no cannonical reason it could not happen. But based on the fan comments I've read, I do think that they would antagonize a large segment of their fan base, if they were to do so. Lets face it TV is about making money.

Hugs,

Kristy

I would have to disagree. I

I would have to disagree. I thought Donna was bloody terrible. She was so wretched I believe she's one of the few companions who almost everyone seemed to decry, including myself. Regarding Martha I liked her quite a bit and she's up there with Rose for me in companions. I'll be honest that I started with the reboot on Dr.Who and love Eccleston, much preferring him over Tenant and to a lesser extent Smith. Smith actually has surprised me with how much I've enjoyed him.
Now, in regardless to the poster before you Kristine, do we know what lines Moffat wrote for "Coupling"? If he wrote that line from Sally in the show about women's breasts and their journey then I would have my doubts he could write anything BUT a strong female character. If you know the line you know what I mean.
In regards to Mickey in Boom Town she's Billie Piper and he deserved what he got. ;-)
Who cares if they have a female doctor(in the sense I don't know why some fans would have kittens) but first lets do something really interesting. Cast Idris Elba as the Doctor after this one. He's a great actor and he is so beautiful. That nice deep, dark skin.

We will have to agree to

KristineRead's picture

We will have to agree to disagree about Donna.

As for universal decrying of Donna, that's not my experience, from what i've seen in the fandom. Granted a lot of people did not like her first appearance, pre-Martha, but that changed when she came back.

But again we tend to see things thru our own filters. I started with Dr. Who, with Tom Baker, and followed thru Peter Davidson, and started on Colin Baker... Could not stand Colin Baker, and that was when I left.

Watched the movie with 8 with great hopes, and was very disappointed.

When it came back on, I did not jump right back in, my wife and son actually got hooked on it again first. I was blah on it, till Tenant/Donna.

The last few episodes with Tenant were not ones I liked, especially Waters of Mars. He lost his balance, with her gone. The final episode though was decent, and I loved Wilf getting to be a companion, even for a short time.

It took a while for Matt Smith to grow on me, but he eventually did. We will just have to see what happens with Capuldi. As for who will be the 13th, I'm really not interested in speculating.

what happened to...

the cross sex clone from 3rd or 4 season. I remember at the end of the episode she had regenerated and launched herself into space.

Peter Capaldi

Just checking his IMDb page, and he was in World War Z, where he played a (drum roll please) W.H.O Doctor.

I'm just glad Doctor #12 looks a bit older

laika's picture

I was afraid marketing considerations weren't going to let him get out of the 20-30's range, which is dumb because the first old goat they had was such a kick, and plus because the character hisself is coming up on a millennium here soon...

I just hope the Capaldi's Doctor isn't going to be ginger-headed, it would wreck the punchline for my fanfic TROUBLE IN THAMESMEAD*, if I ever get back to writing...
~hugs, Veronica
.

(*and yes, those wacky orange-jumpsuit kids will be making a cameo crossover appearance...)

The Valiyard

In the classic season arc story "Trial of a Timelord" the villain and prosecutor of the Doctor known as the Valiyard was revealed to be a product of an imperfect regeneration between the 12th and 13th regeneration. I've always wondered what it would take to produce the imperfect regeneration that produced the villain, The Valliyard as an inbetween state of the regeneration. What turned the Doctor Evil and more than that what did it take to complete the regeneration back to the Doctor that we know?
It will be interesting if they address this or completely ignore it.

All my hopes,
Sasha Zarya Nexus

All my hopes
Sasha Zarya Nexus

Who Doctor Who

I remember a Doctor Who from the sixties, but I have never seen or heard about Doctor Who being on TV. Am I an old fart or what? My daughter did a facebook on doctor who and now you blog about doctor who.

Paula

Seek freedom and become captive of your desires. Seek discipline and find your liberty.

The Coda
Chapterhouse: Dune

Great stuff!

I was always a fan of 'Traffic', and loved his playing. Will we get Winwood to guest as well?

Oh. Wrong Capaldi....