"Things end. That's all. Everything ends, and it's always sad."

January 30, 2017 3:22 PM

Peter Capaldi announces he will stand down as Doctor Who at the end of the year. "I've never worked the same job for three years, and I feel like now is the right time to move on," he told BBC Radio 2. Capaldi will be stepping down at the end of the year with the Christmas special - when the regeneration will take place. This will also be the last series for showrunner Steven Moffat, who calls Capaldi "the best, and kindest and cleverest of men". The first episode of the new series, "A Star in Her Eye", will air on April 15.
posted by Doktor Zed (125 comments total)

fuckity-bye then
posted by docpops at 3:25 PM on January 30, 2017 [16 favorites]

Is this where I can ask for a female Doctor?
posted by computech_apolloniajames at 3:32 PM on January 30, 2017 [47 favorites]

Three series is about right, I think. Personally I've enjoyed seeing him do the role - and the last three episodes of last season were among the most remarkable things in an era of remarkable television - and am looking forward to this last series, particularly if they keep up the mania. They should keep changing it, keep making it different. As long as it looks like something we've not seen before, it still has a future.
posted by Grangousier at 3:33 PM on January 30, 2017 [4 favorites]

A female Doctor would be perfect, seeing as we've already got a female Master, but it probably won't happen for that exact reason.
posted by I-Write-Essays at 3:46 PM on January 30, 2017

Capaldi Doctor got me back into Who after my post-Donna break. I've been slowly making my way through the Matt Smith years, and honestly it makes me love Capaldi more.

As for Moffat... Sherlock was bananas! Beyond bananas! I hope now that's out of his system, he can write a story with a plot instead of a series of 'cool' scenes. Another request: no little girls, no Don't breathe/blink/move etc. Running through corridors is fine, that's Who tradition.
posted by betweenthebars at 3:47 PM on January 30, 2017 [3 favorites]

I understand that the upcoming season was sufficiently underwhelming to the BBC that they're a clean sweep, Doctor and Companion both. They're going back to a young, hip doctor a la 10 & 11*.

*War Doctors don't count.
posted by percor at 3:47 PM on January 30, 2017

Has it been three series already? Time flies when you're having anyoneotherthanMattSmithastheDoctor.

Sorry, Eleventh fans.
posted by supercres at 3:56 PM on January 30, 2017 [6 favorites]

So have we just done away with the whole Time Lords only get 12 regenerations canon thing at this point? Or will the next Doctor be the absolute last one?
posted by elsietheeel at 3:57 PM on January 30, 2017 [1 favorite]

Someone will have to write in some terribly bad fanfic way to give him bonus regenerations.
posted by jenfullmoon at 4:02 PM on January 30, 2017 [5 favorites]

Elsietheeel...Smith's doctor was gifted with an unspecified number of new regenerations in The Time of the Doctor. Theoretically, we're set til the end of time.
posted by Thorzdad at 4:03 PM on January 30, 2017 [8 favorites]

Someone will have to write in some terribly bad fanfic way to give him bonus regenerations.

You do realize what show we're discussing here, right? I expect---no, demand---epic bad writing.

One of the reasons they need to redo the inside of the tardis so often is that the stage furniture gets so tatty from all the chewing by the end of a series.
posted by bonehead at 4:10 PM on January 30, 2017 [21 favorites]

percor, that "dashing young Doctor" thing was mentioned in a British tabloid as something the BBC was demanding of Chris Chibnall when he takes over the show. They also said the BBC wanted Pearl Mackie replaced as the companion, even though they hadn't yet seen her in that role. AFAIK there hasn't been any confirmation or follow-up to that story.
posted by plastic_animals at 4:18 PM on January 30, 2017

The break between series 9 and 10 was deadly, IMO. A lot of motivation was killed by having the show take off almost all of 2016. I think that year-long break was a huge factor in Capaldi's decision to move on once 2017 ends.

As for "epic bad writing," I am sure there will be some ham-fisted Brexit commentary this series. No, wait, I got it! We'll have yet another return to Peladon, only this time to witness Peladon's attempts to leave the Galactic Federation.
posted by stannate at 4:23 PM on January 30, 2017 [3 favorites]

Capaldi was never my fav, but he's watchable. I'm certainly ready for a change.
Good riddance, Moffat. May you touch nothing I'm interested in watching again.
posted by greermahoney at 4:28 PM on January 30, 2017 [22 favorites]

this time to witness Peladon's attempts to leave the Galactic Federation.

Yes, but do you know how many Arcturans were taking the jobs away from tax paying Peladon Mine Guild members? Don't get me started on the Vegans.
posted by Ashwagandha at 4:32 PM on January 30, 2017 [3 favorites]

I'd be ok with a return of a young Doctor, as long as they aren't yet another manic, yapping dervish.
posted by Thorzdad at 4:37 PM on January 30, 2017 [2 favorites]

> Is this where I can ask for a female Doctor?

Ha! My money's on Roger Moore.
posted by kleinsteradikaleminderheit at 4:50 PM on January 30, 2017 [2 favorites]

Team Capaldi - I like my doctors to be slightly acidic. Not really Team Moffat, though.

If I had my druthers, I'd love to see Paul McGann get another shot. There was that line about "familiar faces" in the 50th anniversary episode...
posted by Joey Michaels at 4:57 PM on January 30, 2017 [5 favorites]

Paul McGann, even in a web series, would be nice.
posted by Ashwagandha at 4:59 PM on January 30, 2017 [6 favorites]

So long as Moffat's gone, I'll give the show another shot, but I just can't bear another episode of "woman as puzzle box" that he seems to be fixated on.
posted by peppermind at 5:02 PM on January 30, 2017 [16 favorites]

Is this where we push for Paterson Joseph to take the role?
posted by hanov3r at 5:10 PM on January 30, 2017 [9 favorites]

I just can't bear another episode of "woman as puzzle box"

Since it is Chibnall, maybe we'll have moody unshaven Doctor staring off into the sea instead. Maybe we'll get Olivia Colman as a bonus.
posted by Ashwagandha at 5:11 PM on January 30, 2017 [2 favorites]

Ha! My money's on Roger Moore.

Moore would probably refuse the role and claim that Bill isn't "English-English" enough to be the Companion.
posted by haileris23 at 5:24 PM on January 30, 2017

I have near-zero confidence in Chinballs, sorry. I am glad he'll have a free hand to soft-reboot the way both RTD and Moffat had though.

Sorry to see Capaldi go, it feels a touch too soon. If we'd had e.g. some 2016 specials I'd say it was perfect timing, but I feel like we've had the finding-his-feet series, the oh-I-do-like-this series and now the too-soon-departing series.

Good for him anyway, Peter Davison always says that Patrick Troughton told him 3 series was the right amount, and I'll more than happily doff my fez to the pair of those.
posted by comealongpole at 5:24 PM on January 30, 2017 [5 favorites]

If we'd had e.g. some 2016 specials I'd say it was perfect timing

Agreed. Not having anything in 2016, except the Christmas special, was a wasted opportunity.
posted by stannate at 5:29 PM on January 30, 2017 [5 favorites]

Don't get me started on the Vegans.

I'd like another Peladon episode if only so a new generation can experience the mellifluous tones of Alpha Centauri's voice.
posted by stannate at 5:31 PM on January 30, 2017 [3 favorites]

Never really warmed up to Capaldi's take on the Doctor. Mostly I wasn't a fan of his mumbly delivery which made me have to watch with subtitles on to figure out what he was saying.
posted by octothorpe at 5:33 PM on January 30, 2017 [5 favorites]

mellifluous tones of Alpha Centauri's voice

They need something to distract them from the fact that it is a man in a green penis costume.
posted by Ashwagandha at 5:34 PM on January 30, 2017 [1 favorite]

Hope Capaldi ends up doing Big Finish, His TV run has felt so bitty with all the production halts and weird scheduling.

Hope the Beeb force Chibnall to actually make a new series every year too, I have a feeling he'll be a bit more pliable than Moffat.

I did hear a rumour that S11 Is going to be much more diverse in its writing and less centrally dictated by the show runner. Which is good because Chibnall can't really write for toffee.

At least Gatiss didn't get it.
posted by brilliantmistake at 5:41 PM on January 30, 2017 [2 favorites]

*ahem*
posted by KingEdRa at 6:03 PM on January 30, 2017 [3 favorites]

If I had my druthers, I'd love to see Paul McGann get another shot. There was that line about "familiar faces" in the 50th anniversary episode...

Getting past the standard number of regenerations also provides a pretty convenient narrative reason to do something different -- like go to a past regeneration (or woman, or black man).
posted by wildblueyonder at 6:20 PM on January 30, 2017 [2 favorites]

Smith's doctor was gifted with an unspecified number of new regenerations in The Time of the Doctor.

Well I'm glad I stopped watching sometime during (reboot) season 7, because that's just absurd.

*stomps off to mourn Adric some more*
posted by elsietheeel at 6:27 PM on January 30, 2017 [5 favorites]

It always feels too soon for me. Three or four years just doesn't seem like much when American shows can run with a consistent cast* for six to eight years (or longer) and typically have twice as many episodes per year. What makes the difference? Do the actors get paid more? Are the contracts harder to get out of?

* I know this isn't always true, but it's certainly much more common.
posted by Foomandoonian at 6:40 PM on January 30, 2017 [1 favorite]

Capaldi is knocking on and the PR demands external to the actual acting-bit have ultimately knackered many a younger actor. Well, two. Ish. You know what I mean though.

I suppose it doesn't help that it's a "short" 3, we've had from him. Tennant was only (counts: Rose, Martha, Donna, Specials) 3 and a half years? Call it four, but he felt longer because we had the brief first series regen, plus Xmas special, then the Big Event Regen at the end.

In any event, here's hoping this coming series is more in the mould of the best of Capaldi's run to date (curse you, late Easter!)
posted by comealongpole at 6:58 PM on January 30, 2017

A woman Doctor? I mean how would look with a woman companion?!?!?
posted by 922257033c4a0f3cecdbd819a46d626999d1af4a at 7:02 PM on January 30, 2017

*stomps off to mourn Adric some more*

Although really, it's been 35 years... I should probably get over it, eh?

I might return to the fold if the doctor regenerated either into a woman or into a POC, or both. Romana I decided to regenerate into Romana II based on Princess Astra simply because she wanted to, so... why not have the Doctor regenerate as Martha Jones!
posted by elsietheeel at 7:03 PM on January 30, 2017 [1 favorite]

Damnit mother, why did you turn me into a Doctor Who nerd decades before it was cool??
posted by elsietheeel at 7:08 PM on January 30, 2017 [2 favorites]

Adric was always one of my favorite companions - held his own very well against Tom Baker, who was a Very Good Doctor Indeed. Great story line. I'd like more companions to push back against the Doctors in the same way.
posted by Death and Gravity at 7:11 PM on January 30, 2017 [1 favorite]

Moff has explicitly set the stage such that the next Doctor can be freely cast from an in-universe perspective. That's nothing to shout about and there's a more-than-fair argument that he could/should have done more, but that's explicitly how things stand. Any (prob. British) actor short of an actual baby could be considered for the role, so long as they're convincing at liking corridors and being the cleverest person in the room.
posted by comealongpole at 7:14 PM on January 30, 2017 [1 favorite]

I'll just say now that I think Helen Mirren would be a fucking amazing doctor, and they should offer her the role.
posted by Emperor SnooKloze at 7:57 PM on January 30, 2017 [17 favorites]

I fell off the show somewhere during Amy and Rory's span of the show and never caught back up after I had heard how terribly they were written off. Should I pick up where I left off and try to catch up? I've heard basically nothing about the quality of the show since.
posted by flatluigi at 8:21 PM on January 30, 2017

Catherine Tate. Doctor-Donna is already canon. ;)
posted by nfalkner at 8:33 PM on January 30, 2017 [11 favorites]

I'm glad to see Moffatt go; I really got tired of every season finale being The Doctor Save The Whole Entire Universe And Spacetime Itself. The quality of the show that had The Dcotor acting more like a time-traveling Sherlock Holmes is what made the original show so compelling and it's been missing in the revived show.
posted by eustacescrubb at 8:34 PM on January 30, 2017 [2 favorites]

As much as I like Calpaldi, between Moffat and Coleman (well, maybe not Coleman but certainly Clara) I just didn't have it in me to follow the series anymore.

Why can't they just give it to Charlie Booker to write and have Philomena Cunk and Barry Shitpeas be the Doctor and her companion?
posted by thecjm at 9:31 PM on January 30, 2017 [9 favorites]

I've been rewatching Nu-Who recently and yeah, they've definitely done the groundwork for a more diverse regeneration: in addition to the Mistress already mentioned, there was a line about the Valeyard changing sexes often in their regenerations. And both River Song and some Gallifreyan security official changed complexions in a regeneration. Oh, and while I'm thinking of it the Doctor enjoyed exchanging flirtiness with men from time to time, too. So yeah, there's plenty of in-story justification to cast whoever they want.
posted by traveler_ at 10:01 PM on January 30, 2017

do something different -- like go to a past regeneration (or woman, or black man).

I would literally part with limbs to see Idris Elba take a crack at the role.
posted by Itaxpica at 10:08 PM on January 30, 2017 [4 favorites]

Richard Ayoade.

drops mic
posted by nonasuch at 10:43 PM on January 30, 2017 [30 favorites]

Justin Bieber.

falls back through crack in time in wall
posted by Twang at 10:56 PM on January 30, 2017 [1 favorite]

It's a pity Depp wouldn't take a pay cut to do it. His career definitely needs a boost, and he excels at playing slightly restrained oddballs. Restrained being the operative word, since Depp self destructs when the leash is too slack. Considering that his best talent is mimicry, he could gives us a decent Tom Baker impersonation. Another awesome choice would be Michael Keaton, but the money just isn't there to attract that big of a star, same with Jack Black. Sad!
posted by Beholder at 11:02 PM on January 30, 2017

Should I pick up where I left off and try to catch up? I've heard basically nothing about the quality of the show since.

The end of Matt Smith's run is pretty uniformly terrible and eminently skippable.

S8 Capaldi is better if inconsistent (Mummy on the Orient Express and Flatline are modern Who classics, skip Robot of Sherwood)

S9 was the most consistent season since the first Smith, helped no end by the fact it's mostly two partners and the stories get a chance to breath. Skip the Gatiss episode Sleep No More though, it is awful.
posted by brilliantmistake at 12:27 AM on January 31, 2017 [3 favorites]

quidnunc kid.

drops "megaphone" formed of rolled-up newspaper

drops pants

drops another tab of acid

drops dead
posted by the quidnunc kid at 12:28 AM on January 31, 2017 [11 favorites]

Are young people that unwilling to watch an older Doctor? One of my favorite things about The Doctor when I was a young teenager was that he (and it would be no different if he was now a she!) was older than my parents, but still able to save the world from some evil alien. I simply don't believe it needs to be a young Doctor. The Doctor's benefit was smarts and a magic lock pick, not muscles and good looks.
posted by bigZLiLk at 12:31 AM on January 31, 2017 [4 favorites]

Great Doctor, terrible, terrible showrunner.

Really though, Who balances being a children's show evolved from hiding from plastic monsters and being a fandom institution kind of awkwardly. I have often wondered if the show could continue without the I'm the Doctor Speech Which Solves Things. Plus, Donna Noble was Peak Companion. I've also had it with the edgy pose that never really goes anywhere. I mean, Waters of Mars did it, but then stepped back; I would have watched half a season of an unhinged, history-twisting Doctor. The War Doctor was also sort of a damp squib, where we got the end of the arc, but not the oft-teased meany characters talked about for ages.

Anyway, my vote is for Richard Ayoade or Catherine Tate--why not take good old Donna's form since she has all that Time Lord brain energy floating around?
posted by mobunited at 1:29 AM on January 31, 2017 [2 favorites]

Double down on the young. Give it to Quvenzhané Wallis.
posted by kyrademon at 1:30 AM on January 31, 2017 [7 favorites]

Well, Stephen Fry has some spare time now.
posted by pseudocode at 1:30 AM on January 31, 2017 [1 favorite]

I would like to add that, while we're changing Doctors, I no longer need the AMAZINGLY LOUD MUSIC THAT has to slink away into a break because it realises that it's crescendoed too early and has run out of dynamic range but the Doctor is still talking so OH GOD CRANK IT UP AGAIN FOR THE SPEECH. Half of the Universe fears the Oncoming Storm because they don't want to suffer permanent hearing damage.
posted by nfalkner at 2:24 AM on January 31, 2017 [12 favorites]

Nobody funny. It has to be a serious actor or the thing turns into a pantomime.
posted by Segundus at 2:25 AM on January 31, 2017 [3 favorites]

I haven't seen any of the new Doctors, so I'm curious. Just how silly are they? Pre K9 Tom Baker or post K9 Tom Baker? Because K9 was one layer of silliness too much in my stuffy opinion.
posted by Beholder at 4:20 AM on January 31, 2017

It's a pity Depp wouldn't take a pay cut to do it.

Young, old, dude, lady, black or white, all of that is an option. But the Doctor simply must be from the United Kingdom. Nothing else is acceptable.
posted by dis_integration at 5:03 AM on January 31, 2017 [15 favorites]

Are young people that unwilling to watch an older Doctor?

I don't know about that and I hate to rag on the actor when I think it's more about the writing, but I did not enjoy Weirdly Creepy Sour Old Dude Doctor in the first Capaldi season (I haven't watched since). I remember being more delighted that he was going back to "madman with a box!" in the finale, but overall it wasn't fun to watch and I just haven't dragged myself back to finish it out. Mostly I just kept thinking things like "dude, you're a time traveler, have some fun with it."
posted by jenfullmoon at 5:07 AM on January 31, 2017

I joined the Doctor Who fray with Smith; it was something I had been aware of, culturally, for years but just never tried out. But I completely got hooked with Smith – imperfections and all. It was just enjoyable, you know? So when the regeneration to 12 happened I was optimistic... but, after his first ep, I dropped off the Whotrain™.

A few months back I decided to give the most recent season a try and found it to be good enough, but nothing where I felt the desire to really go on and see what happens. I do fault Moffat for this over Capaldi, as the formula and tropes he goes back to are tired and outmoded, largely. But with the casting and writing it overall just felt like this Doctor wasn't meant for me at all. And that's okay.

I hope it continues in a radically different direction – it's far, far beyond time for women and POC and transgender folks to have proper representation on this show.
posted by hijinx at 5:30 AM on January 31, 2017

If there ever WERE to be an American Doctor, it should be Christopher Meloni, hands down.
posted by Uther Bentrazor at 6:07 AM on January 31, 2017

So, what's Hayley Atwell's schedule like?
posted by plastic_animals at 6:15 AM on January 31, 2017 [15 favorites]

I think it's more about the writing, but I did not enjoy Weirdly Creepy Sour Old Dude Doctor in the first Capaldi season

I totally know where you're coming from - I spent a good part of the season going, "Really? That's what you're going to have The Doctor say?" But my feeling was that it really really was the writing/showrunning, Moffat's hamfisted attempt to write himself out of the corner he'd written himself into - namely that he'd spent most of the past seasons of nuWho making the young attractive companions fall in love with the young attractive Doctor. Once Capaldi was on board and it would've been an obvious May-December romance, that wasn't gonna fly. But the only way Moffat could think of to signal "NO ROMANCE" was to make The Doctor a sexist jerk.

He definitely eased up on this in the next season, so you might want to give it a shot, and the upcoming season too.

I really wish Capaldi would stick around for one more, because I would love to see what he could do under a show-runner without Moffat's fucking weird attitudes towards women.
posted by soundguy99 at 6:21 AM on January 31, 2017 [7 favorites]

Also, HELL YEAH HALEY ATWELL.
posted by soundguy99 at 6:23 AM on January 31, 2017 [3 favorites]

I have an extensive wishlist for Who and it starts with Romana (and that has its own casting wishlist ranging from Thandie Newton to Evanna Lynch) but one thing I would be really interested in is a Doctor who decides to circumvent Time in a smarter, more methodical way than he did in Waters of Mars-- a Doctor who is doing so not out of megalomania but out of a sincere desire to save people from the wreck of history and with a willingness to do it carefully.

Resulting in a Team TARDIS made up of Amelia Earhart (he likes Amelias), Titus Oates, and the occupant of the sole unrecovered lifepod from the wreck of the starliner Hypatia.

Or, you know, something along those lines. We haven't had any decent historicals in ages, and I would LOVE to see some episodes that focus on solving history's mysteries and/or rescuing people whose historical fate is unrecorded.
posted by nonasuch at 6:28 AM on January 31, 2017 [4 favorites]

Tamsin Greig so she can re-create her Green Wing kiss with Michelle Gomez.
posted by whuppy at 6:30 AM on January 31, 2017 [1 favorite]

If I had my druthers, I'd love to see Paul McGann get another shot.

Or, at the very least, his TARDIS. I always liked the interior of that one. The control center and a simple overstuffed chair and sidetable, a few books, all within a big, dark, endless space. Like a vacant warehouse with only a couple of lights. It seemed so much more logical than the cramped-full control rooms of the current generation. The thing is infinitely large inside. Show it as such.
posted by Thorzdad at 6:42 AM on January 31, 2017 [2 favorites]

If it had to be another man the suggestion for Richard Ayoade is awesome, but only if Noel Fielding gets to be his companion. I would pay good money to watch that.

But I'd like a lady doctor and toss in Evanna Lynch's name as a possibility.
posted by 80 Cats in a Dog Suit at 6:54 AM on January 31, 2017 [4 favorites]

Are young people that unwilling to watch an older Doctor?

Oddly enough, it seems like from the first doctor to Matt Smith, the doctor was aging backwards. Getting younger as he went. It almost made a kind of sense for him. Then suddenly - Peter Capaldi. So maybe it's less not wanting an old doctor and some unconscious expectation we've been led into.
posted by 80 Cats in a Dog Suit at 6:56 AM on January 31, 2017

Oddly enough, it seems like from the first doctor to Matt Smith, the doctor was aging backwards. Getting younger as he went. It almost made a kind of sense for him. Then suddenly - Peter Capaldi

You could argue that, given Matt Smith's Doctor was an old man before the timey-wimey stuff occurred... OK, nah. There don't have to be canon or even headcanon explanations for everything.
posted by mushhushshu at 6:59 AM on January 31, 2017

Well there was a fan theory that the Doctors Regeneration age is tied to how guilty / angsty he was feeling after the last 'version' of himself.

So as written by Moffatt, the next Regeneration should really just be a bowl of dust.
posted by Faintdreams at 7:04 AM on January 31, 2017 [1 favorite]

Great Doctor, terrible, terrible showrunner.

Sums up the series in my opinion. I gave up the new Who some time during Matt Smith's time but thought the Doctors themselves were good but the writing is incredibly awful. At least the Who experience persuaded me to drop Sherlock after season 2 and to generally not put up with shit shows any longer.
posted by juiceCake at 7:21 AM on January 31, 2017

Hopefully it'll be someone most of us have never heard of or, at least, don't remember by name.

And everyone should always remember, Doctor Who has always been rubbish, except for the brilliant bits. And the Troughton era.

(if we're nominating Romana's then I would like Vicky McClure each and every time.)
posted by threetwentytwo at 7:56 AM on January 31, 2017 [1 favorite]

I'm sad to see Capaldi go, but as long as Moffatt is going, I'm willing to make the sacrifice. Maybe we'll finally get some companions who are just regular people and actual three-dimensional characters instead of the SUPER SPECIAL AWESOME KEYS TO THE UNIVERSE AND ALL OF SPACE AND TIME approach of which I am sick well-nigh unto death.
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 7:59 AM on January 31, 2017

So okay, I've stubbornly tried to "get into" Doctor Who twice in 10 years. I'm currently on my third attempt and I'm stalling on David Tennant's second series because I forgot how much I didn't like Tennant's doctor 10 years ago and I like it even less now. And now all I'm hearing is that the show gets worse?

I've also tried watching the old series and I inevitably end up watching "Destiny of the Daleks", or something.

How the fuck do people get into Doctor Who? I'm a Trekkie so I'm no stranger to this sort of thing, but Jesus.
posted by Automocar at 8:16 AM on January 31, 2017 [1 favorite]

How the fuck do people get into Doctor Who?

The traditional method is best. Gather 13 Doctor Who fans into a pub. Buy them a pint and ask them who the best Doctor is. Listen to the ensuing 3 hour argument. Go home and watch a compilation of all the opening credits on YouTube. Try again next year.
posted by threetwentytwo at 8:35 AM on January 31, 2017 [10 favorites]

How the fuck do people get into Doctor Who? I'm a Trekkie

I think you've answered the question.

I've mentioned this before but I'd love to see Matt Berry take on a role in the show.
posted by Ashwagandha at 8:52 AM on January 31, 2017 [2 favorites]

DAMN THESE ELECTRIC TIME PANTS
posted by robocop is bleeding at 8:58 AM on January 31, 2017 [9 favorites]

How the fuck do people get into Doctor Who? I'm a Trekkie so I'm no stranger to this sort of thing, but Jesus.

Honestly? Their parents show it to them when they are like seven. Then they can never quite give it up, despite knowing full well that it will never be consistently good, and often frankly bad. (But, if I were to make recommendations to you, old Who would be the Tom Baker-era "City of Death" [not anywhere near as grim as the title makes it sound; it's set in Paris!] and nu-Who would be season five--the first Amy Pond season--where I think Moffat comes as close as he's capable of to accomplishing what he set out to do.)

The weird NuWho emotional cannibalism of prior story tropes can't go on forever, though--they've pretty much run out of things to revisit ONLY BLOWN UP TO EMOTIONAL ELEVEN. I'm curious to know what they'll try next.
posted by praemunire at 9:10 AM on January 31, 2017 [3 favorites]

Ooo, with Rich Fulcher as the companion. It could be a stealth second season of Snuff Box.
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 9:10 AM on January 31, 2017 [2 favorites]

if I were to make recommendations to you, old Who would be the Tom Baker-era "City of Death" [not anywhere near as grim as the title makes it sound; it's set in Paris!]

And scripted by Douglas Adams!
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 9:11 AM on January 31, 2017 [1 favorite]

...and guest-starring Julian Glover!
posted by praemunire at 9:12 AM on January 31, 2017 [1 favorite]

With a cameo by John Cleese.
posted by Ashwagandha at 9:20 AM on January 31, 2017 [1 favorite]

And Eleanor Bron.

Personally I'd like Adeel Akhtar, but we should probably file that under "Things that really are not going to happen", largely because his air of baffled, slightly glum geniality is something that I think would be perfect, but probably wouldn't pass muster with the general public. And we've just had an "odd" one, we're supposed to expect a "normal" one now.

I must confess, I'm expecting it to get quite dull under Chris Chibnall, and am assuming he'll hire the sort of person an unimaginative BBC commissioning editor would like (like a good-looking but wooden ex-Eastenders actor, for example). But the great thing about being terminally pessimistic and also usually wrong is that I'm often pleasantly surprised.

I'll probably carry on watching anyway. It's one of the few cultural traditions I have.
posted by Grangousier at 9:35 AM on January 31, 2017 [2 favorites]

Doctor Who? Didn't that show end a couple of years ago?
posted by miyabo at 9:40 AM on January 31, 2017

Yes, in 1989.
posted by Ashwagandha at 9:41 AM on January 31, 2017 [2 favorites]

quidnunc kid

They're casting #13 (or perhaps I should say "Thirteen," which is now actually #15), not #1. I only vote for #1 quidnunc kid.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 9:45 AM on January 31, 2017

Young male Doctor: Rupert Grint. Young female Doctor: Evanna Lynch. Other variants, I'll have to think on some more, not that I will.

If I had my druthers, though: Jonny Lee Miller. But he already has a steady job.
posted by Devoidoid at 9:55 AM on January 31, 2017

A few things to note: as much as I'm tired of Moffet, you can't blame the SUPER SPECIAL season finales on him. RTD was just as bad, at least after the first season finale. The thing to remember is that it's done as an intentional strategy. Yes, it turns off a lot of us die-hard fans, but it's supposed to (and it's largely been successful at this) get a lot more of the general public watching because it's a Big Event. That means ratings, which are important, and it means potentially hooking new viewers.

Late Moffet has veered to close to late John Nathan Turner for me. Too much fan service and continuity. It was fine and necessary for the big 50th anniversary, but Russel Davies' concept of the show was to cut back all that from the start and slowly reintroduce old canon elements. I hope Chibnall cuts back the cruft, goes back to basics with a clear concept, and then just lets us go adventuring!

We have to keep in mind that the 2005 reboot was bringing the show into the modern age, which at the time meant Buffy and the X-Files. TV's totally different again. For Doctor Who to survive, it needs to update with the times. It did so too slowly in the 1980s. Chibnall's Who episodes have never been great, but he knows how to run a successful series and bring it back year to year with a new perspective. If he doesn't try to write too much (Moffet's biggest flaw), and doesn't treat it as a sacred cow, we may be okay.
posted by rikschell at 9:57 AM on January 31, 2017 [2 favorites]

Chibnall's Who episodes were written in the framework of what RTD and Moffet were doing.
posted by ZeusHumms at 10:09 AM on January 31, 2017

Please, please, please let the next doctor be Craig Ferguson!
posted by Perko at 10:17 AM on January 31, 2017 [6 favorites]

Count me as another fan wanting Hayley Atwell for the role. It's long past time the Doctor was a woman, and I want to see her doing something awesome again.

Also: I couldn't stick out the Moffat years either. I forget exactly where I gave up, but I did take a break for almost all of S7. Him moving the hell on is the best Who news I've heard in ages. (I doubt I'm watching another project he's writing for again.)
posted by mordax at 10:33 AM on January 31, 2017

I'll say it before, and I'll say it again. There's no need to make the Doctor a woman when we have a perfectly good character already in the canon. Her name is Romana, and she's smarter and better organized than the Doctor. Romana was the catalyst for the single best season of Doctor Who ever, the 16th season quest for the Key To Time. This would also allow the writers to get out from under all the accumulated plot baggage of the last ten years. Get Gillian Anderson on the line. Call it a soft reboot. I'd watch it, and so would you.
posted by vibrotronica at 10:50 AM on January 31, 2017 [2 favorites]

For Doctor Who to survive, it needs to update with the times. It did so too slowly in the 1980s.

I think that is mostly true but I'd add that how the show was produced at that time made it a fossil - I think the only other show that was produced in a similar fashion at the time was Coronation Street. JNT wasn't able to make those changes fast enough so by 1989 it was a little too little too late. Never mind all the other production problems with the show at the time.

Who fandom loves to hate on its showrunners but it is important to look at their successes. RTD (as much as I loathed his era) managed to reboot the franchise as a regional BBC production (in Wales). Which I think was really very clever. And imperfect as he is Moffatt has set the ground work for the character to continue in the future - allowing infinite regenerations, male/female and POC regenerations. So not sure what to expect from Chibnall - I'm sure we'll find reasons to hate him but hopefully reasons to like him too. As long as his era isn't as terrible as Broadchurch, no fat shaming or cheesy flirting (like RTD) and better female characters (unlike Moffat) and POC (unlike both of them). Ultimately for me, the show runner matters less, what I'd like to see is less running through hallways, less breathlessly paced stories and MURRAY GOLD MUSIC drowning out the dialogue and convincing me that the story is way more dramatic then it is. Good stories, good central performance of the Doctor (any gender as long as it isn't gimmicky) with a good rapport with their companions - is that too much to ask for?

Continuity in the Who stories is whole other kettle of fish. I think the idea of continuity and Doctor Who is a pretty thorny one - until JNT the show barely had any. Sure bad guys would return or the Doctor would mention some place as a running gag but it really didn't have continuity in the Comic Book Guy sense until that late 70's. Look at the Dalek stories pre-Genesis, they are all over the place. In Nu Who, RTD had almost no continuity with the old series (though he seemed to reference the Virgin Novels) and Moffatt, who for some people, had too much. Chibnall is another old fan so I have no idea how he'll handle it. Personally, I think a little continuity goes a long way.
posted by Ashwagandha at 11:07 AM on January 31, 2017 [1 favorite]

"what I'd like to see is less running through hallways"

Does not compute. Running through corridors is as essential to Doctor Who as abandoned quarries, Daleks, and regenerating Time Lords.
posted by plastic_animals at 11:32 AM on January 31, 2017 [7 favorites]

Tilda Swinton

(!)
posted by JohnFromGR at 11:43 AM on January 31, 2017 [5 favorites]

Running through corridors

I'll clarify - in the old serials running through corridors is spread out over a longer amount of time. As a result more is going on with the story then watching our heroes running. Spread over the shorter running time of the new episodes it takes up much more of the story. I have no proof of this of course but my feeling is RTD liked running through corridors because my memory of the Tennant era consists entirely of him doing just that. To MURRAY FUCKING GOLD blasting away at me. I'd like less of that thank you.
posted by Ashwagandha at 11:57 AM on January 31, 2017 [3 favorites]

Young, old, dude, lady, black or white, all of that is an option. But the Doctor simply must be from the United Kingdom. Nothing else is acceptable.

So you're saying Henry Cavill is disqualified because he's from Jersey, which is a Crown Dependency and therefore not technically part of the UK? Is that what you're saying?
posted by The Tensor at 11:57 AM on January 31, 2017 [3 favorites]

Henry Cavill is disqualified because Doctors are not allowed to be smokingly, conventionally hot.
posted by praemunire at 12:56 PM on January 31, 2017 [1 favorite]

(Unless they're girls. I'll take Gillian Anderson or Hayley Atwell any day.)
posted by praemunire at 1:08 PM on January 31, 2017

bigZLiLk: "Are young people that unwilling to watch an older Doctor?"

I'd hope not, but a data point is that my wife's highschool Dr.Who fanclub dissolved not long after Matt Smith went away. The older Doctor was listed as a reason for loss of interest. :(
posted by charred husk at 2:06 PM on January 31, 2017

The BBC has a speculative article up on the next actor in the role: Doctor Who: Who could replace Peter Capaldi? Some names have come up before during previous transitions, e.g. Ben Whishaw, Rory Kinnear, and Russell Tovey, and others have been mentioned in this thread, e.g. Richard Ayoade and Hayley Atwel. The framework for casting a new Doctor, however, rules out a lot of fan favorites (sorry, no Helen Mirren).

First, a potential Doctor must be the right age to be up to the demands of the role, both handling the fame and the rigors of the shooting and promotion schedules - the average span of a Doctor's tenure is about four years, and the average age of a starting Doctor is 41 (though no actor older than 55 has been cast yet, so no to Tilda Swinton). A potential Doctor must demonstrate wide dramatic and comic range - which discounts, say, Idris Elba - and be open to science fiction (or some genre fiction). A potential Doctor has to have shown the capability to carry a series without actually breaking out into stardom, if only to keep down the salary costs, which means that Simon Pegg and Emma Watson are both out. (It should also go without saying that a potential Doctor must avoid making borderline sexist/racist public statements or merely stupid comments, which disqualifies Henry Cavill.) Above all, a potential Doctor should be unexpected, which, at least at this stage, rules out anyone getting 10/1 odds or better from the bookies.

Neil Gaiman described the anticipation of a new Doctor best: "I want to see The Doctor. I want to be taken by surprise. I want to squint at a photo of the person online and go 'but how can that be The Doctor?'. Then I want to be amazingly, delightedly, completely proven wrong, and, six episodes in, I want to wonder how I could have been so blind. Because this is the Doctor. Of course it is."
posted by Doktor Zed at 2:08 PM on January 31, 2017 [9 favorites]

I was shocked there - "Tilda Swinton, older than 55? How can it be possible?" But it's not only possible, it is so. What is the universe coming to?
posted by Grangousier at 2:13 PM on January 31, 2017 [1 favorite]

I still want Claudia Black. Although she lives in LA now and mostly just does voice work...
posted by suelac at 2:27 PM on January 31, 2017 [1 favorite]

My vote for new Doctor is Olivia Colman.
posted by turbid dahlia at 2:55 PM on January 31, 2017 [3 favorites]

Ooo, with Rich Fulcher as the companion. It could be a stealth second season of Snuff Box.

Over the past few years America has realized what a national treasure it has in Rich Fulcher and I don't think we'll be giving him back any time soon.



And I'm sure I'll be booed out of the thread for this suggestion, but I'd like to see Russell Brand as the Doctor. The first overtly sexual Doctor! Hey baby, d'you wanna see what's in my box?
posted by elsietheeel at 3:06 PM on January 31, 2017

Doctor Who has always been rubbish, except for the brilliant bits.

Let's watch that great old classic The Horns of Nimon! It's really quite the thing to watch while partaking of your psycho-active drug of choice.
posted by juiceCake at 7:24 PM on January 31, 2017

A lovely little article went up on Den Of Geek this morning: Peter Capaldi, Doctor Who, and his behind the scenes humanity.
posted by garrett at 12:02 AM on February 1, 2017 [2 favorites]

some ham-fisted Brexit commentary

Gallifrexit? I recommended Ayoade and Noel Fielding as Eurovision commentators, but they would also make an excellent Doctor and Companion, thinking about it. Obviously Helen Mirren would be perfect too, as she would be for all roles.
posted by Jon Mitchell at 12:28 AM on February 1, 2017 [2 favorites]

Maybe this means we'll get a Malcolm Tucker reincarnation...
posted by the christopher hundreds at 2:29 AM on February 1, 2017

I would like to see Sharon Horgan as Doctor AND showrunner.
posted by Uncle Ira at 9:11 AM on February 1, 2017 [2 favorites]

Gallifrexit?

This is already a fantastic metaphor AND a great substitute swear.
posted by wildblueyonder at 9:15 AM on February 1, 2017 [3 favorites]

Another quasi-rule of casting the next Doctor: A potential candidate must have worked with the BBC before. This isn't a hard requirement for most UK actors, and the only exception I believe is the original, William Hartnell.
posted by Doktor Zed at 10:00 AM on February 1, 2017

Funny that Horns Of Nimon was mentioned, since that just wrapped up yesterday on Retro TV. My wife still calls that episode "a bad high-school production," and given the state of Doctor Who in the late 1970s, she isn't too far off-target.

I get the parallels with Moffat and JNT, as most of the nuWho fandom was excited when Moffat took over and old Who fandom was ecstatic when JNT took over in 1980. JNT made significant efforts to placate the existing fanbase with more call-outs to its past (hello, Ian Levine), thereby ensuring loyalty. And IMO, Season 18 (Tom Baker's last as the Fourth Doctor) and Season 19 (Peter Davison's first as the Fifth Doctor) are significantly better than what immediately preceded it, much as how Series 5 was so much better than the end of Tennant's run. There was the shock of the new with JNT's overhaul of the show: it looked better, it was more serious in nature, there were actual risks involved with the Doctor and companions (RIP Adric), it felt relevant and contemporary. In a related vein, Series 5 had a more vulnerable Doctor with Matt Smith, and compared to the grandiose nature of RTD's last year, it felt like the Doctor was in a smaller, more controllable universe. He was Amy's Doctor, the raggedy man. Unfortunately, the initially welcome reception that both producers received faded quickly--space and patience does not permit me to rehash JNT's well-documented fall or Moffat's well-documented insertion of himself inside himself.

Admittedly, not every new producer is going to be as destructive as JNT was, which is something the new show has so far avoided experiencing. Likewise, not every new Doctor is going to be as polarizing or poorly-received as, say, Colin Baker. However, every time there's a change with the Doctor or producer, I can't help but think of the negative impacts made by these changes, while at the same time recognizing that for a brief spell, even the negative folks made positive marks. Self-contradictory, maybe? Well, that's Doctor Who.
posted by stannate at 10:14 AM on February 1, 2017

A nit on "no one older than 55" would be that One and Twelve were both on the downslope towards 56 by the time they started, for what it's worth. And 55 is much younger now than it was in 1963.

At the end of his tenure -- which presumably comes at the end of 2017, no? -- Capaldi will be the oldest actor to play the Doctor, full stop, since Hartnell stopped just shy of 59, and Capaldi will be almost 60.

Of the named bandied about, I think I like Colman the best, but the fact of the matter is that she's probably too "big" and known at this point. They tend to pick folks on the way up, not folks people already know, right? (Same ding goes for Whishaw and Ayoade and, well, much of the rest of the folks on the BBC list linked uptopic.)
posted by uberchet at 11:50 AM on February 1, 2017 [1 favorite]

I know this sort of thing isn't possible in the modern era, but I would love it so much if both the timing and the result of the next regeneration were a complete surprise. I would simply love to be in the middle of episode 9 and suddenly BAM REGENERATION and a new Doctor we were completely unprepared for. We knew about Capaldi something like a year and a half before he became the Doctor.

I know that they can't keep it a secret -- it would be leaked as soon as they started filming, and besides they need to build buzz for ratings purposes -- but wouldn't it be great?

[On the topic at hand, I've never understood the animosity towards Moffat. I've enjoyed every season of NuWho (some more than others) and have never expected it to be more than it is.]
posted by Ben Trismegistus at 12:54 PM on February 1, 2017 [1 favorite]

The issue is that it was more than it is now under Davies.
posted by uberchet at 1:17 PM on February 1, 2017

A spontaneous regeneration that happens when the Doctor is not at any imminent risk has always been my dream regeneration scenario.
posted by plastic_animals at 2:33 PM on February 1, 2017 [1 favorite]

The issue is that it was more than it is now under Davies.

Anyone who says that with a straight face needs to be strapped down, Clockwork Orange style, for a marathon viewing of Fear Her, Daleks in Manhattan, Voyage of the Damned, The Unicorn and the Wasp, Last of the Time Lords, and The End of Time. RTD's version of the show was just as bombastic, problematic, and riddled with plot holes. And both of the modern eras have their moments of brilliance, as well.
posted by webmutant at 12:31 AM on February 2, 2017 [1 favorite]

My vote is for David Mitchell as the Doctor in full evil vicar mode, with Robert Webb and Olivia Coleman as a pair of companions who for some reason think they're on a game show.
posted by qxntpqbbbqxl at 1:34 AM on February 2, 2017 [1 favorite]

The correct answer came to me just now - Dylan Moran.
posted by Lucinda at 4:11 AM on February 2, 2017

"Anyone who says that with a straight face needs to be strapped down, "

How about nah? Good riddance to Moffatt. Seriously.
posted by uberchet at 7:02 AM on February 2, 2017

I did think RTD's understanding of how time travel works made dramatic sense. The focus on fixed points in time that couldn't be messed with, and the paradoxes that had extreme consequences when you tried messing with them, led to stories that largely made sense (we'll just forget about Tinkerbell Jesus Doctor, won't we?). The Moff, on the other hand, gives out paradoxes like candy. Everything is always solved by creating impossible loops and convenient red buttons that rewrite history. To me, all these bootstrap paradoxes are very dramatically unsatisfying. Particularly because I've come to expect them ALL THE DAMN TIME. If Moffat were half as clever as he thinks he is, he could come up with more than one plot resolution.

So, yeah, on balance, both have had their flaws as showrunners, but Moffat has really worn out his welcome on multiple fronts. Chibnall may do some terrible things, but one hopes at least they will be different terrible things.
posted by rikschell at 10:45 AM on February 2, 2017 [1 favorite]

Doctor Who: Billie Piper says it's time to cast a woman.

David Tennant Thinks Olivia Colman Should Be the Next Doctor on Doctor Who.
posted by plastic_animals at 11:05 AM on February 2, 2017