The fix is in, the news is out, and the name of the latest actor to take on the role of The Doctor has been announced. For my part, I’m glad to see that the trend of younger and younger actors in the role has finally ceased, even as it leaves Young Zach crushed that he didn’t get to be the first pre-teen version of the Doc, and I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it may mean a change from the romantic couple vibe of the last several incarnations. There’s power in the archetype of the proverbial elder statesman, and I also think it would be a nice way to recognize the 50th Anniversary to give Twelve some elements of The First Doctor and give the gravitas of maturity to a character who is now over 1200 years old. (The fact that, like Hartnell when he took on the role, Capaldi is 55 years old is just a serendipitous coincidence… OR IS IT?)
The MS-QOTD (pronounced, as always, “misquoted”) is heartbroken to see Ol’ Sixie so sad that he didn’t get to come back and be Twelve as well, asking: Are you glad to see an older actor in the role of the Doctor?
21 Comments
Yes, I am. I’m hoping it will be a return to the sort of Doctor we saw in the old series to some degree. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve enjoyed the recent Doctors, but I’m growing a little tired of the romance subplots and would prefer to see a Doctor that is either paternal or a tad crotchety (or both).
I desperately wanted a Helen Mirren type to be given/take the role. I was hoping for an older doctor, and it would be nice to see a female doctor, or a minority.
I’m kind of hoping we’ll see a sort of “damn you young aliens, get off my lawn!” type doctor.
I know the actor isnt quite old enough for that stereotype, but hey, pushing it a bit for effect is hardly beyond the show.
Either way, excited.
Oh, and in so far as the title goes. Ron Weasly would have been awesome in the role too.
If only he had a soul, so the camera could see him (heh).
But he does have a soul. He keeps it in a jar ever since he took it from the soul’s original owner.
Please keep in mind that William Hartnell, the First Docto was 55 when he began, the same age as Peter Capaldi now.
Since my Dr. Who watching days were during the 70s and 80s I’ve always appreciated the older doctors. I would like to see them keep changing the doctor up and offer us a variety of Doctors. After Tom Baker left the show, the following two Doctors all seemed to be retreads of the Tom Baker take on the doctor, and they had such short tenures that when you factored in how difficult it was to find Dr. Who here where I live, doctors seemed to go past so quickly you could only catch a few episodes before some new doctor came along. I pretty much quit watching after that – mostly because when they did broadcast the doctor on a channel I could receive it was usually too late at night for me to catch since I am a working stiff.
I’ll have to say “wait and see”. I’ve only started watching the show since Eccleston’s tenure, so I’m not entirely sure what an older Doctor would be like. I like the diversity of personalities and styles that have been brought to the table so far, so I’m totally okay with this direction (heck, I would’ve been okay with a lady or a ginger).
Age matters little to me. Matt Smith has appeared to act like one of the oldest Doctors ever. John Pertwee more like an action film star in his 20’s. I wouldn’t mind him bringing in more of the Grandfather angle, Perhaps even a return of Susan (Whom I think was one of the women hiding her eyes next to Rassilon in Tennants swan song). Did you realize they were this age? Hartnell and troughton I believe appeared older while Colin Baker appeared younger to me. Tennant was 15 years older than his romantic interest while Smith was 19 years younger than Alex Kingston and they were perfect for each other in my opinion.. Below are the ages of the actors portraying the Doctor when they began. As you look, does age really mean anything when playing a virtual immortal?
William Hartnell – 55
Patrick Troughton – 46
John Pertwee – 51 (Most action oriented)
Tom Baker – 40
Peter Davison – 29
Colin Baker – 41
Sylvester McCoy – 44
Paul McGann – 37
Christopher Eccleston – 40
David Tennant – 34
Matt Smith – 28
Davies has stated when he wrote the woman, it was intended to be the Doctor’s mother, but later said it could possibly be Susan and was purposefully left unanswered.
I recall that. Could be Susan, and the other could be Romana. There were two.
Sure. The recent Doctors have been trending younger with each iteration, which is a fine artistic choice, but once you hit Matt Smith you really could go any younger.
The beauty of the regeneration conceit is the opportunity to radically change the characterization of the Doctor.
A more mature Doctor can open up some new characterizations as well putting a new spin on companion relationships.
When the Doctor “first” meets River, in the library, she comments on how young he seems. I think this iteration of the Doctor might very well see a great deal of romantic involvement with River as the “older” Doctor.
God, I hope so. River has been so under-used. And this “romance” thing with Clara is grating on my nerves. That is one of the chief reasons I’m happy about an older Doctor.
Not sure about River. In that final episode, I had the feeling that The Doctor would never see her again. As it is, he had over 200 years with her.
Yes, very much so. One thing that I loved about Classic Who is that the Doctor seemed like a cool teacher, even when he was younger. Moving away from the young buddy-like Doctors of the new series is a good idea, and I can only hope it means we’ve seen at least a break from the companion-as-love-interest nonsense I hate so much.
I”m very happy with his age, and I think I’ll like him as the Doctor. However, Peter Capaldi has had two previous roles in the Whoverse, although I haven’t seen the Torchwood one. I’ll be interested to see if they make him look different somehow, or if they ignore it (they can hardly say it was his cousin, like they did with Martha).
Both The Doctor and Romana have had incarnations played by actors we’ve seen in rather prominent roles before. One could write a dozen simple answers for that, including the one that Romana II used, which was that she just liked the face and “chose” it for her new incarnation…
While Romana I may have likedPrincess Astra enough to change into her willingly, Why The Doctor went into the form of Commander Maxil (whom he disliked) would be an interesting area to explore.
The 10th Doctor did appear to like Caceilius in the Fires of Pompeii enough to break the rules and save his family acquiescing to the pleas of Donna. That is something that could be explored, after all. When a Time Lord/Lady wishes to change even without having a dire reason, they may out of whimsy. They can even be forced to as seen by the 2nd, who still had the opportunity to choose his form.
I think most likely we won’t get a reason for why they look alike. The Doctor has met (or his companions have met) lookalikes before and it was merely due to chance that they were the same. As much as some people may be waiting for a specific explanation of why he looks like two other people, we probably will never get one.
On a different note, I am really excited to see what this casting will bring to the show. I really miss having older Doctors take the lead and am hoping for a bit more of a “classic” vibe returning to the series.
In “Journey’s End” they did sort of touch on how Gwen of Torchwood looked like another character they met in the past (both played by the same actress), but that was explained away as a familial resemblance.
I don’t even think they NEED to explain it, it isn’t like there aren’t people who look alike by sheer coincidence in the real world.