Source:
TV Guide [follow link for complete column]
TV GUIDE: Ask Matt: The New Doctor, Fosters, Emmy Snubs, Dance, Glee
Aug 12, 2013
by
Matt Roush
Keep sending your comments and questions to
askmatt@tvguidemagazine.com or on
Twitter!
...
Question: What are your thoughts on the selection of Scottish actor
Peter Capaldi as
Doctor Who's Twelfth Doctor? I have to admit that I had no idea who he was — I assume he's more of a household name in the U.K. I don't want to prematurely bash the selection and I'm willing to see how things work out, but it seems to be a traditional choice and even more so since the modern
Doctor Who series has featured younger actors. During the special that announced the selection, the show runner floated the possibility for a female Doctor, yet the selection did not seem to do much in terms of moving the show into modern times. —
Brian
Matt Roush: "
Modern times" is a rather quaint concept for a Time Lord, don't you think? But I get your point. I wish
Steven Moffat hadn't teased the notion of a female Doctor so strenuously if it weren't an actual option, but otherwise, I have nothing but high hopes and great expectations for
Peter Capaldi's reign as the next Doctor, though I'm going to miss the verve of
Matt Smith tremendously. Besides, I don't see this as a particularly "
traditional" choice, in part because the recent history of
Doctor Who has favored younger actors, and this is a chance for someone with a fairly high media/TV profile to put his stamp on this iconic character. If he's not a household name here, he should be, and
Capaldi's credits are sterling, from the vicious political satire of
The Thick of It to his devastating performance in the great
Torchwood miniseries
Children of Earth and more recently as an enigmatic boss in
BBC America's The Hour. As many have noted, he has a history with
Doctor Who, having guest starred during the
David Tennant era in the 2008 "
The Fires of Pompeii" episode. I see no negatives here, although I do hope a female Doctor is in the franchise's long-term future...
CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE BBC VIDEO ANNOUNCING THE NEW 12TH DOCTOR WHO
