Doctor Who

One rumor I heard was Rupert Grint, and honestly? I wouldn't mind. He's a bit young, but so was Matt Smith. Plus, ginger!

I've heard that Ben Daniels was hired several months ago. Personally, I would prefer any of the choices mentioned above (especially Idris Elba!), but I do like Ben Daniels so I wouldn't be too mad.

Moffat could be lying - he does that. But I kinda think he was sincere when he talked about casting starting up and how it was going to change the life of someone out there just walking around, unaware.

My picks in no particular order:

John Hurt*
Helen Mirren
Chiwetel Ejiofor
Anna Torv**
Idris Elba
Tilda Swinton
Rupert Grint***
Una Stubbs
Martin Freeman
Louise Brealey
Andrew Scott****

My point is: there is literally infinite possibility for casting the Doctor. And I would hope that now, finally, we might see something fresh and new. I realize that several of my choices would be more "white male"-ness, but I would prefer a non-white or non-male (or both) option. And anyone who wants to cry about how "Time Lords don't change gender" can die in a fire - Nine warned Rose he might come back with two heads and Eleven came into the world believing he might be female for a split second, so endless possibilities are canon, jerks.

*obviously depends on how his story plays out in the 50th Anniversary

**not British, I know, but honestly... so what?

***Nice call, Shalamar. And finally, ginger!

****Yes, the last four choices are all plundered from the cast of Sherlock. And each of them would bring something drastically different to the role, I think.

Hey, I can accept not-male and not-Caucasian, but... not British? No, sir. That will not fly.

Yeah, but as Dr. House says, "If the Queen's on your money, you're British." So... close enough.

> now has to spend the rest of the afternoon envisioning each one of those worthies in turn in a fervid snogging scene with Captain Jack to evaluate. <

Grint and Barrowman. Hm. Like a little cinnamon toffee, one gulp.

Though now that I think of it, is there a Merlin-like pattern in the successive ages of the Doctors? Is each incarnation apparently younger than the predecessor? How convenient for the marketing department, if so.

Ooooh, speaking of Doctor House, how about Hugh Laurie? Or Stephen Fry.

Corvus, no. Look at Six and Seven. Older than their predecessors. It's more a matter of wanting someone younger in order to do all the action stuff.

I'm all caught up with the new Who (sorta, I just finished The Angels take Manhattan and I'm feeling kindof down. I really liked the Ponds, and River, and now Silence in the Library can't be too far away and I'm worried that I'm not going to like Clara.)

Am tempted to go back and watch some classic Who before I wrap up season 7, any suggestions on where should I start with - One? Five, or Four?

I stumbled across this in my internet wanderings, which I thought people might be interested in. The comments list a whole lot more.

I'd suggest starting with Four. He's a good entry for people coming from the new series. 'The City of Death' is one of the best serials from the entire old series. Or "Pyramids of Mars" (actually, anything from the Philip Hinchcliffe era is gold, as far as I'm concerned). Then I'd say go for either Three or Five. "The Green Death" is a great Three serial. Then definitely go back and visit Two if you like Matt Smith's Doctor. Just to keep with the "death" theme, I'd say go for "Seeds of Death" for Two!

I'd recommend dipping into a few of them, since there's no telling what's going to float your boat. I was told to start with Four, but while I enjoy his stories, I find Seven to be more immediately appealing. Two pretty much set the tone for what we see as "The Doctor". Three is less exploration oriented, but has action to make up for it. I don't get Five, but he has his supporters. Six is essentially the Wesley Crusher of Doctor Who: he's more interesting and sympathetic in the expanded universe than he is in the series (where, despite some followers, he's generally disliked by the fans), and yet his actor is enormously popular for his obvious love of the franchise.

Oh, and hold off on both One and Eight.

Thank you both. I enjoy story arcs rather than stand alone episodes. I just finished Cold War and once I got over the Russians speaking with english accents I realised I enjoy Clara, but it's the Doctor who is kind of squicking me out with his collection of young females for travelling companions. Loving Matt Smith's acting chops, though, hope his career after this takes off.

So... I hoped that they'd go a little older for 12, but Peter Capaldi is even older than I'd imagined them going.

Absolutely gutted. It's not just that he's old, though I do think he looks much too old - older than 55, actually. He looks evil, like a Professor Moriarty or the Master or someone.

I really wish they could have gone back and done Eight's story properly with Paul McGann if they wanted an older Doctor. It would have been easy to do, since they'll have to explain the John Hurt thing - have a story with Matt Smith and John Hurt, have them go back and meet Paul McGann's Doctor as part of finding out how John Hurt ended up doing whatever awful thing he did. At the end, you see the awful thing, maybe it gets fixed, John Hurt disappears but as part of sorting things out Eleven is toast and his regeneration begins. At which point something happens, the two remaining Doctors split up and Eleven vanishes in some way mid-regeneration. Eight is left, and we then follow Eight for at least a year as he attempts to track down what happened to his future incarnation.

Or something. But the gist of it is, Eight didn't have a proper go, dammit!

I wish they'd gone a luttle different than another white dude

Yeah, but do you have faith in Moffat writing a woman Doctor in a way that wouldn't make us all stabby? I honestly don't.

Good point.

Cutebutpsycho wrote:Yeah, but do you have faith in Moffat writing a woman Doctor in a way that wouldn't make us all stabby? I honestly don't.

This is exactly why I'm fine with it being another man, though I would have liked to see a non-white guy. Can't wait for all the Doctor/Malcolm Tucker mashups tumblr's going to produce.

Evil Lincoln wrote:

Cutebutpsycho wrote:Yeah, but do you have faith in Moffat writing a woman Doctor in a way that wouldn't make us all stabby? I honestly don't.

This is exactly why I'm fine with it being another man, though I would have liked to see a non-white guy. Can't wait for all the Doctor/Malcolm Tucker mashups tumblr's going to produce.

Ditto: Moffat's comments during the unveiling just underlined why I'm perfectly fine to wait until the next showrunner before getting a female doctor (as someone said, time for the role of the next DW to be played by a woman?).  I'm actually really excited about Capaldi, as he's a fantastic actor, even when he's not winning awards for the most creative use of invective. I'm really glad they went for someone older as with any luck this will change the vibe with the companion. But actually, my main hope for the next season is that Clara becomes more fleshed-out character than Sassy Plot Device.

ETA Feel compelled to add the first of what will doubtless be many DW/Malcolm Tucker mashups.

Holy shit, it's true! They found at least some of the lost episodes! This article is just confirming that they've found some, but info on how many and which ones is still forthcoming.

So exciting!

At the Gallifrey con in LA last February there was a whole panel on the missing episodes, much of it talking about the guy going around Africa rounding them up. It was very interesting, and successful it would appear!

New mini episode!

Two HUGE questions answered!  And I'm going to spoil what the questions are without even giving the answers.

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

LOVED the mini episode, it gave me chills. I'm really excited for the special now!

ActonBell wrote:LOVED the mini episode, it gave me chills. I'm really excited for the special now!

It was nice to see

Spoiler:

. Makes me want to check out the audiobooks.