After my post this morning, in which I praised Peter Capaldi's acting abilities, but doubted he'd really be cast as the next Doctor, the BBC only went and announced tonight that he will indeed be playing the latest incarnation of our favourite Time Lord. Both Sarah and I were overjoyed at this fantastic, and brave, piece of casting. I say "brave" because this is a reversal of the recent trend of younger and younger actors taking on the role. Peter Capaldi is ( amazingly ) actually the same age as William Hartnell was when he originated the role way back in 1963. I didn't necessarily have a problem with young actors in the role, and definitely felt that Matt Smith was totally convincing as a 900-year old alien in a 20-something body. But the return to an older-looking Doctor seems like a challenge to all the fanboy/girl hysteria that has grown up around the last two incumbents of the part. I'm sure the show will both lose and gain viewers over this issue... even though it really shouldn't be an issue. The main thing is that the future of the show is yet again in the hands of a highly talented, charismatic actor who will no doubt do great things. I just hope he'll be up to all that running...
:-)
This is the first time an actor playing the Doctor has been older than me since 1996! (Actually Chris Eccleston is slightly older than I am but not by much).
ReplyDelete...and congrats, BTW on backing the winner. I was way off with Julian Rhind-Tutt. You should have put money on it!
ReplyDeleteJulian Rhind-Tutt would have been another fine choice... even though I can't take that surname of his seriously...
ReplyDeleteIt just screams "English" and "posh" :-)
Julian certainly sounds English, but the surname has Egyptian connotations to me. I don't even know who he is, to be honest - never heard of him.
ReplyDeleteHe's probably best known for Channel 4 comedy Green Wing. He managed to bring a real pathos to the character amongst all the surrealism and sarcasm of the show. I could definitely see him playing the Doctor... but maybe not this time :-)
ReplyDeleteI shall look forward to Capaldi's Doctor, but my concern remains the material he's given to work with. Last season was a real anti-climax. I'd like to see a return to multi-episode stories instead of the self-contained but spuriously linked efforts they've become obsessed with. Badwolf was a nice idea but now the challenge seems to be spot-the-underlying-story-arc above giving individual episodes enough impact. Perhaps it will settle down again once we're shot of the John Hurt shenanigans.
ReplyDeleteThese days I keep in touch with what "the young" are thinking from going to work. "The young" surprised me by never having heard of Peter Capaldi. They also said he's "too old" and "not hot enough". They also said "David Tennant was well hot". I remarked that, when I was a lad, Dr.Who was ALWAYS an old, un-hot guy. I'm not sure they believe me. Well done BBC and Moffat for going against the grain then.
ReplyDelete@Edward
ReplyDeleteGood to hear from you! Hope you and the family are well.
I get the impression that the single-part stories only came about because of the split seasons they've done over the last couple of years. Hopefully, they'll return to a proper 13-episode season next year and have more breathing space for two-parters. I don't mind the arc plots, TBH. The Bad Wolf arc , however, seemed like it was made up as they went along :-)
@John
Thanks for commenting!
As I said in my post, I'm sure there will be some "natural wastage" as the young kids who only want to see a "hot" Doctor move on to their latest crushes. No great loss, really. I know plenty of people who would prefer an older Doctor will fill the void. My daughter ( who is 17 ), on hearing Peter Capaldi would be the next Doc said "He's brilliant! I might have to start watching Doctor Who again..."
I think it's a good choice. As he's a bit older, perhaps we'll get some stories that are a bit more grown up, instead of them thinking "the kid's would think dinosaurs on a spaceship is cool, let's write a story where that happens somehow!"
ReplyDeleteSteve, I'm 46... but I think dinosaurs on a spaceship is a cool idea, too :-)
ReplyDeleteWhat does that say about me?
Don't answer that...
I think a spaceship IN a dinosaur is way cooler.
ReplyDeleteYeah! The Jurassic Voyage! Steven Moffatt, are you listening...?
ReplyDelete