The Next Doctor

[Arkleseizure @arkleseizure]

@ Craig :

Yes, I called him Doctor Who. I don’t care.

Yes, you did. Now resign your fandom in disgrace 😉

[Bluesqueakpip @bluesqueakpip]

@craig – well, since the Smith Doctor imprinted on Amelia Pond like a little baby duck, it wouldn’t be surprising if his next incarnation has a Scottish accent. Didn’t they blame the Tennant Doctor’s mockney on Rose?

[Arkleseizure @arkleseizure]

I was just thinking:

The Abbott of Amboise, Salamander, Princess Strella, Ann Talbot.

Doctor Who used to be able to take random doubles in its stride. What happened?

[blenkinsopthebrave @blenkinsopthebrave]

Bleary-eyed, but awake. The Doctor is in safe hands, methinks.

And it wasn’t a tin dog, after all. So that’s good.

[wolfweed @wolfweed]

Dr Who Proms to be shown Monday the 26th August (same day as ‘The Ice Warriors’ dvd release). Hurrah!

[wolfweed @wolfweed]

The ‘Next Doctor’ show is now on iplayer…

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b038rv5v/Doctor_Who_Live_The_Next_Doctor/

Don’t worry, Bonnie Langford doesn’t thcweam & thcweam & thcweam.

Reveal clip is here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01dpxh4

[Bluesqueakpip @bluesqueakpip]

It’s a good direction for the show, I think. In this fiftieth Anniversary year, it reverts to a ‘Hartnell style’. An actor in his fifties, well known for hard-edged parts. It takes the Doctor away from having to be a younger ‘action hero’ and loosens up the casting for subsequent producers.

And also, @Shazzbot, it does mean that Capaldi’s Doctor is much more likely to be ‘Grandfather’ than ‘Boyfriend’.

[Whisht @whisht]

ah well, there’s a grand on Zoe Ball being the next Doctor pissed into the wind…

[TardisBlue @tardisblue]

… heading off to don my tartan and crank up the Black Watch, Battlefield Band, Old Blind Dogs, Andy M. Stewart, Tannahill Weavers, Franz Ferdinand and Arcade Fire …

yes, @craig, every planet has a Scotland

but apparently *this* planet doesn’t have a readily searchable YouTube clip of pipers doing justice to the Doctor Who theme song.

This is the best I could come up with:

[OsakaHatter @osakahatter]

Yeah, happy with Capaldi. Which worries me.  Because I was worried about MS, and he’s surpassed my expectations (and will be missed in our house just as much as DT was.)  So my judgement is clearly awful and therefore we should be concerned about this choice!  But yeah, think he will do otherworldly and professorial well and I think the show will be quite different than the other AG series.

Think @bluesqueakpip is right – we’re in for a littering of roman references, but wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a reference to sometimes taking the image of someone the conscious or subconscious has once seen – another little continuity question mark waved away forever more.

Thought the live show was awful – cheap and largely pointless, and I reckon the absence of anyone currently involved with the show from the studio was telling.  Got the impression the clip of Kate Silverton reading the news that MS was leaving had been faked as well (and I’m pretty sure she was wearing the same suit when reading the news 5 mins after the show) – if so, why?   To create the impression that the BBC were always in control of the situation?  It all felt a bit amateurish.  Rufus Hound ‘Peter Eccleston’ – nearly gave the game away early?!

@shazzbot – cheers, and yeah the ninja toddler is grand.  Just started shouting ‘Doctor’ when the live show started.  He’s never said it before.  Two very proud parents 🙂

[Anonymous @]

@bluesqueakpip –

It takes the Doctor away from having to be a younger ‘action hero’ and loosens up the casting for subsequent producers.

Well said.  But interesting that such ‘loosening’ is required.  It simply shows up that the AG era has taken a hold on the template which quite overwhelms the BG era; Peter Davison notwithstanding, the Doctor was always played by someone well over 30.  Not having access to your handy percentages, I can only say that ‘younger’ Doctors have prevailed in the last 2 incarnations, plus the 5th; but all were otherwise much older.  So, 27% around 30-ish, and 73% older?

 

[Craig @craig Emperor]

Tis funny, I was just looking at this site’s home page, and you’ve got Matt and David on one side re the 50th, and on the other you’ve got, well, something that seems to me to be much more exciting.

That will be the last fangasm post of the night, promise.

[Anonymous @]

@osakahatter – I’m in the middle of watching the show on iPlayer myself.  It is cringe-worthily awful.  The running ticker-tape of tweets makes me want to claw my eyes out.

Zoe Ball?  Who she?  And as you rightly said, why wasn’t anyone actually involved in the production of the programme anywhere near the set?  I think they all knew how rubbish it sounded and wanted nothing to do with it.

Rufus Hound is probably committing hari-kiri at home right now, so let’s cut him a bit of slack.  … nawww, that was really, really bad.  (And I agree with previous commenters, his facial hair was about all that gave him interest.)  Three raps, not four?  Peter Eccleston?

I’m only 20 minutes in, and grimly soldiering on solely through a sense of duty.

PS And, your bairn said ‘Doctor’!  Truly you have intelligently spawned.  🙂

[Anonymous @]

@craig –

Tis funny, I was just looking at this site’s home page, and you’ve got Matt and David on one side re the 50th, and on the other you’ve got, well, something that seems to me to be much more exciting.

Aww, you just never liked the ‘floppy fringe look’ of 10 and 11.   😀

[Pufferfish @pufferfish]

Zoe Ball’s birthday is 23rd November, and she really is a massive fan.

[Craig @craig Emperor]

@Shazzbot Even when I had a fringe I didn’t like a fringe 😉

I know Matt and David had gravitas, but Capaldi, I hope, will take that to the next level.

[OsakaHatter @osakahatter]

@shazzbot – Zoe Ball, convenient on payroll presenter who presumably wasn’t doing anything at the time.  Married to Fat Boy Slim, who also has nothing to do with Doctor Who.  Also appears to be turning into Tess Daly.

What worried me more about it was that it felt so cheap.  Exactly the stick used to beat DW with BG – so if anyone with only a casual interest tuned in, they may have gotten the impression that the AG advances in production values had been reversed and the show was heading back to the 80’s underfunding.  May be me just being paranoid of course.

[chickenelly @chickenelly]

If the short intro filmed by Capaldi is anything to go by, he’s going for the sinister angle.  Still very pleased with the casting, dreadful BBC show aside.  Glad to see you suffering like us after the event @Shazzbot.  Least you know who it is beforehand.

[Miapatrick @miapatrick]

Very happy about this. I wanted a (physically) older doctor, mostly because I do think there are only so many ways to play a younger one.

 

It’s interesting to think how it might be different. After all, the Doctor has been ‘old’ for a long time. And the younger Doctors didn’t really play him young. Tennant, towards the end, gave the impression of (to paraphrase ‘eight’ in Withinail and I) ‘the  frozen years melt(ing)’. And Smith never seemed young.

I’m assuming this Doctor will run about less. And any extended fight/action sequences- wasn’t that often what the companions were for? I would prefer this to rule out any romantic involvement between him and Clara (I’d like that ruled out anyway, and to be fair to Moffit, he does seem to have had a bit of a rule ‘no wags on the tardis (full time)- Ten’s interest in  MdP in GITM while Rose tries not to look too jealous in front of her actual boyfriend, Amy’s amorous impulse towards Eleven earning her a ‘Romantic’ trip to Venice with her fiancé, River declining to travel with the Doctor for more than the odd adventure), but I don’t for a moment think/want it to rule out any return of River.

There is, I admit, an almighty opportunity for youtube mash ups.

[overunder @jamesunderscore]

Well, the live show was every bit as pants as I expected. Hope it doesn’t become a regular thing, and I’m guessing it was only made because Ian “bloody” Levine spoiled the surprise regeneration.

Pretty happy with the casting, PC is consistently brilliant at everything he turns his hand to, so I’m looking forward to his take on the Doctor.

[Anonymous @]

The official pics make him look suspiciously like an older version of Ten, but that’s by no means a bad thing. But the video makes me think that we might actually get a kind of McCoy redux Doctor from him. Which again is no bad thing by a long chalk. I’m not sure that the action quotient is too much of a concern either. The big set pieces are largely CGI these days and one of Tucker’s things that he was constantly running around manically. Not that much of a change. And PC looks as if he keeps in trim too.

[wolfweed @wolfweed]

The big question now is: What will he wear?

[FishComBobulated @fishcombobulated]

So excited about the the choice here. PC has a thundrously wide range and will be able to dress down hostile aliens in a singular manner.

That was an incredibly painful live show. It’s basically a drawn-out press release, but global interest made the BBC appear to think it was necessary. Too bad they faffed it. As an American, I had no idea who any of the British celebrities were (or why they were on there in the first place). But I watched, so make of that what you will.

I have to say I’m incredibly relieved that they cast an older Doctor. I think it allows for a different direction in the way the character is written and is acted.

[Anonymous @]

I agree with @miapatrick I think they should have brought someone elderly looking to the roll of The Doctor we only had the 1st and 3rd  so we’ve had 7 years of old doctors.

[overunder @jamesunderscore]

@wolfweed Oxford bags, genuine andean poncho and boots like Dave Hill from Slade

[Craig @craig Emperor]

They just said on the news that Capaldi was the only actor considered for the role. Wonder if that’s true?

I think it’s a brave choice. A brilliant choice for the programme, one that I love, but if they’re concerned about ratings an older Doctor could see a ratings drop. I really hope the grandfather effect increases the kids viewing as the teens may drop off.

[chickenelly @chickenelly]

@wolfweed nooooo!!!!

I raise you that and give you this which is more horrific:

[Juniperfish @juniperfish]

@craig – nice work already 🙂

Peter Capaldi is definitely an interesting choice for Who. He is both a forwards and backwards looking Doctor at this 50th year, deliberately the last in a cycle of 13 regenerations I suspect, before the clock resets (as we’ve discussed on these pages before).

He is (to state the obvious) like the show’s first and as yet unbroken template, white and male, which is beginning to look a little retro. But he is also 55, which means his life-span pretty much matches the show’s at this point; symbolic, I think.

And as the show has become break-out popular in the States, where the template for television leads in sci-fi and fantasy is relentlessly younger and underwear model sexy, choosing older (if proven talent) over younger and prettier is brave (if marketably eccentric and “British”).

Of course, the Doctor always turns out to be the good wizard in fairytales and kids love wizards, whom they know are often ancient. So with an eye on the next generation of fans, kids just turning 6, 7, 8, for whom Capaldi will be “their” Doctor, 55 is just fine.  Elizabeth Sladen helmed the Sarah Jane Adventures in her fifties and kids loved her, after all.

Disappointed as I am not to see the Doctor regenerate as a woman, Capaldi will be a firecracker of a Time Lord. But please, as @Shazzbot says, no Clara snogging!

And yes indeed @bluesqueakpip, Grandfather looks much more likely now, which would be highly narratively satisfying as part of the circularity of 50 years Moffat seems to be weaving (spider that he is).

Dearly beloved Matt Smith, you’ve been simply amazing. You have revived the bow-tie as a fashion accessory, capered across the stars like a time-travelling Chaplin, and I know you’ll make us cry when you go.

Dear Peter Capaldi, whether he be velvety smooth or one fierce bad rabbit, your Doctor will be a whole new venus fly-trap of an adventure. I can’t wait to have it.

[Anonymous @]

FishComBobulated –

As an American, I had no idea who any of the British celebrities were (or why they were on there in the first place)

Babe, it wasn’t just you.   Those weren’t British ‘celebrities’, they appear to have been there simply because they weren’t on holiday, and they’ve worked on the BBC before.

(Except for Bernard Cribbins.  He is a legend in British entertainment.)

[Anonymous @]

@wolfweed — I’m inclined to think that a beat-up old suit a la Tennant would suit Capaldi best but it would probably be too close to Malcolm Tucker for comfort. Maybe a variation on Hartnell’s Edwardian gear might work. Tho actually his outfit as Rory in The Crow Road would be perfect. Biker jacket and old cords maybe?

[wolfweed @wolfweed]

Peter Capaldi co-stars in this brilliantly tongue in cheek Ken Russell film. Contains mature content.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rk1-rUKlU2E

[Anonymous @]

Interestingly, @wolfweed and @jimthefish – I wondered upon watching that excrement of a programme tonight, whether PC’s silver suit wasn’t a harbinger of what he could wear as the Doctor. Everything else about that programme was attempted to be stage-managed to within an inch of its life (how many times did Zoe Ball do a wrap-up ‘OK, thanks!’ only for the other person to continue talking?), so surely PC’s sartorial choice was perhaps not entirely his own?

[Anonymous @]

@craig and @shazzbot someone people said they would have liked to see a teen doctor. I didn’t think to much of it I just thought it won’t work out in the end and even teens shot that idea down.

[Bluesqueakpip @bluesqueakpip]

@Shazzbot

they appear to have been there simply because they weren’t on holiday, and they’ve worked on the BBC before.

Given that the BBC were, earlier in the year, saying that the new Doctor would be announced early autumn – there was almost certainly another bloody leak.

@craig – I trust the production team;  the problem appears to be once it gets beyond the production team and into the wider BBC. But that show had all the signs of something arranged in a tearing hurry with whoever was available.

[wolfweed @wolfweed]

The story has hit Sky News. Moffat was at the Elstree studio and talked about approaching Capaldi . They interviewed lots of cosplayers which was really quite fun.

Tomorrow’s Daily Mail has the cover headline; ‘Was there a BBC betting coup on new Dr Who?’

[Juniperfish @juniperfish]

@bluesqueakpip I agree – it was a mess and definitely hasty leak-control.

It was sort of an endearing (and very British) mess. It really reminded me of 1970s tele (unfortunately, it reminded me somewhat of Jim’ll Fix It)

I mean, Smithy said “he”, then a clip of Moff, deliberately still saying the gender neutral “person”, followed? So they couldn’t even cut it together to keep up the guessing-game momentum for half an hour? As @wolfweed says, Capaldi’s name was already all over the bookies.

It was always a bum’s rush trying to keep the regeneration a secret.

[Anonymous @]

@wolfweed —

Tomorrow’s Daily Mail has the cover headline; ‘Was there a BBC betting coup on new Dr Who?’

God, I hate the Daily Mail… twats…

That programme did seem a bit like a lash-up job, but Capaldi’s name has been kicking around for a couple of days now. If someone was going to leak it then why wait until the Beeb have had a couple of days to put an announcement programme together? Unless the Mail has it right and there were some dodgy big bets being laid inside the Corporation and they had to move fast to stomp on it. Because another scandal like that is the last thing they need right now.

Of course, the Who production office has pretty good relations with the press at the moment. They could have been able to stomp on a full leak story by calling in favours and asking editors to sit on the story until they had time to put something together themselves. If we see a rash of nice, big interviews with Capaldi in the coming days then I suspect that will prove to have been the case…

[Anonymous @]

@jimthefish – I smell another Media Mongers blog coming on … 😆

[Anonymous @]

@juniperfish —

It was always a bum’s rush trying to keep the regeneration a secret.

Agreed.

Man, I bet SM really, really hates Ian Levine now.

[PhaseShift @phaseshift Time Lord]

@bluesqueakpip @craig

yes. Population of Scotland as percentage of total UK population – 8.7%

Population of Scottish Doctors as percentage of total Doctor population – 23.1%

I am going to write that “Doctor Who is thunderously regionalist” joke column for the next regeneration demanging a welsh actor. This is an outrage! 😀

[OsakaHatter @osakahatter]

@fishcombobulated  – As a Briton, I have no idea why most of the celebrities were there either.  Or whether they really qualify as celebrities.  If the talking heads had been limited to current and ex-stars of the show, that would have been a start.  When Bonnie Langford is one of the highlights of a Doctor Who related show, something is going wrong.

The whole thing has annoyed me because it smacks of the BBC taking a slapdash approach to one of it’s biggest shows (and cashcows.)  Symptomatic of the whole approach to the 50th anniversary.  Still no trailer…grr…

Despite that, I’m really happy and excited about Peter Capaldi as the next Doctor.  To focus on the point of this topic – my guess is a Doctor who is observing, advising and encouraging others, rather than getting hands on in the action himself – not least because having made himself unknown to his enemies, it’ll be a bit pointless if they all immediately start finding out who he is again.  I’m also hopeful for permanent multiple companions.  And I can’t picture PC doing the Last of the TimeLords angst – I reckon he’ll either have come to terms with it, or won’t be the last anymore.

[Anonymous @]

Oooh, @osakahatter – you are opening up a few avenues of good bonkers theorising in that comment.

my guess is a Doctor who is observing, advising and encouraging others, rather than getting hands on in the action himself – not least because having made himself unknown to his enemies, it’ll be a bit pointless if they all immediately start finding out who he is again

…

I can’t picture PC doing the Last of the TimeLords angst – I reckon he’ll either have come to terms with it, or won’t be the last anymore.

I agree with everything you said about tonight’s programme [and @juniperfish:  “It was sort of an endearing (and very British) mess”].

But better that we put that overblown press release (FishComBobulated ) behind us, and focus on the important work at hand – bonkersly theorising how Peter Capaldi’s Doctor will move forward!

[Tiddler @tiddler]

In terms of a leak, some of the Guardian commenters seemed to be saying that Capaldi’s Wiki page was updated to say that he was the 12th Doctor a couple of days ago – seems difficult to believe though, you’d have thought it would have been all over the internet if that was the case.

[Juniperfish @juniperfish]

@jimthefish Oh, there’s a doll of Levine with pins in it somewhere on Moff’s desk, for sure!

@osakahatter

And I can’t picture PC doing the Last of the TimeLords angst – I reckon he’ll either have come to terms with it, or won’t be the last anymore.

Agreed. What’s more, I look forward to the casting for the new Master when he (or she) shows up, because they’ll need someone who can pull off more venom than Capaldi – quite a feat!

Hmmmn – who would play well against him as the Master? I fancy Eva Green’s chances. She was Vesper Lynd in Casino Royale but she was also a rather wonderful Morgan le Fey in the otherwise dubious Camelot.

[OsakaHatter @osakahatter]

Oh, and I’d like him to be wearing a toga.  With absolutely no explanation as to why.

[PhaseShift @phaseshift Time Lord]

Just to say I’m massively delighted about Peter Capaldi. It was an idea that when floated you thought – wouldn’t that be brilliant! Never happen, but wouldn’t it be brilliant.

Well – it’s happening, and I think he will be brilliant.

One thing a lot of people forgot when talking about him is what a massive geek (in a nice way, embracing challenges) he is. Jim posted some stuff from the Crow Road (which anyone should seek out), but remember him in Neil Gaimans “Neverwhere” as the Angel Islington? He knows Neil Gaiman from that frustrating shoot, so I think he may draw more work out of that source.

[Anonymous @]

@juniperfish –

I look forward to the casting for the new Master when he (or she) shows up, because they’ll need someone who can pull off more venom than Capaldi

That’s impressive, and you’re exactly right.  We all know PC can do venom when required as an actor, and the perfect foil as Master against his Doctor would simply have to be someone quite different.  A female Master would be wonderful.

Although, that having been said … River Song could still come back.  And she could be very, very angry.  And I’m already having fangasms about Alex Kingston facing off against Peter Capaldi.  C’mon, doesn’t that sound like the most magnificent OK Corral moment?

[Anonymous @]

I think @juniperfish is spot on that a new Master will need some serious gravitas as a Capaldi Doc will easily be able to face him down. Actually, if they could actually get Derek Jacobi back in a more long-term way, he’d be perfect…

[Galiende @galiende]

I am new here, having just found this site, and did not find the ‘thread’ I wanted. So I may be posting in the wrong place. If so, please be kind with a gentle remonstration and directions to correct ‘thread’.  That being said:
Tom Baker was my first Doctor, and I have loved everyone of them (except the Ninth) equally well. With the advent of the Twelfth Doctor looming so near on the horizon, it is only a matter of time before the final episode. (crying softly) HOWEVER….! There are future possibilities, should anyone care to pursue them. Maybe there are scripts already being considered? Block Buster Movie… THE TIME WAR .. If Christopher Eccles won’t play that part, just get someone who looks a lot like him. Then there are future tv episodes of a ‘young’ Doctor. The child (played by David Tenant’s adopted son Tyler) would be good for a few episodes, and maybe a few flashbacks. A young man can play the Doctor in school/college/work place for a few episodes with the occasional flashback (?). Then we learn why/how the elder Doctor becomes a ‘thief’ when he ‘borrows’ the TARDIS. There could even be a few episodes on the TARDIS herself, revealing to us (not the Doctor) why ‘she’ chose ‘him’. As by this time the Doctor’s name may have been revealed on the new episodes approaching in 2014, the ‘child’ Doctor could be called by his NAME or a nick name. (shrug) Do I sound like a frantic Who fan who does not want it to end? Oh, rather than walk all overr the Who franchise, the new series could be called ‘Child of Galifrey’. We should also meet the ‘Master’ as a child. He should be ‘normal’, not a sociopath, but a few casual glances into ‘how/why’ he became ‘dark’. Yes! I think this is a wonderful idea and someone should present it to Steven Moffat. He may have plenty of ideas already, surely he does, but just in case they are ideas about things other than ‘the Doctor’, he should know about THIS. Yeah?

[Bluesqueakpip @bluesqueakpip]

I’d actually enjoy the Great Intelligence coming back in its Richard E. Grant incarnation – because while Matt Smith was certainly trying to face Grant down, he wasn’t quite making it.

Now, a Grant vs Capaldi face-off…

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