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***SPOILER'S AHEAD***

A new Doctor has been found and, now, has finally been revealed. After much speculation as to who would replace Matt Smith in the iconic role, famed Scottish actor Peter Capaldi was revealed on Doctor Who Live: The Next Doctor as the next actor to become the Doctor. Should fans be excited to have an older Doctor?

Capaldi, who starred in the spin-off series’ Torchwood: Children of Men, was actually on the short list of actors many thought might fill the role. In the UK, he’s most famously known as the star of the long-running comedy series The Thicke of It, which is in the vein of HBO’s Veep. Arrested Development creator Mitch Hurtiwtz was at one time enlisted to create an American adaptation.


Of course, fans aren’t likely going to have issue with a well-known comedic actor stepping in to the legendary role; it’ll likely be his age. Capaldi, who is 55, isn’t the oldest actor the play the Doctor but… not by much. William Hartnell, who played the First Doctor at age 55, is still the oldest actor to play the character, besting Capaldi by just a few months. But will the switch from Matt Smith, the youngest actor to play the role, to Capaldi appease the series’ ever growing fanbase?

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Although a few might think it’s odd to have an older actor step in to the role of the Doctor – especially with its young audience – there are more than enough reasons to be excited about what’s to come, and what Capaldi can bring to the role. With the younger Smith, grand adventures of exploration is what best fits the character. Sure, Smith can deliver a dramatic monologue like the best of them, but the overall series was at its best when he was able to take advantage of his youthful exuberance.

With Capaldi stepping in to the role, Moffat will be able to make the Doctor more introspective, more aware of his actions. And since age equals experience, audiences are more likely to believe it, thus allowing Moffat to more earnestly explore the weighted past of everyone’s favorite Time Lord without having to worry about writing “run, you clever boy” all too often. And after this season, perhaps a change will be good for the series overall.

In Doctor Who season 7, though it had quite a few fantastic, standalone episodes, the overall story-arc was weak, and the use of editing tricked audiences into believing that answers to long-standing questions were going to come in the next episode (and they never did). So while some may not yet be on board with Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor, everyone should be excited about the fact that Moffat and Co. have a new muse, allowing them to take the character in many new directions that they previously couldn’t.

Still, fans of Smith have the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary and the Doctor Who Christmas Special left, allowing everyone some time to get used to the fact that he will no longer be on the series. And though no one really knows what to expect from the upcoming, final adventures with the Doctor, Moffat surely won’t disappoint.

Doctor Who returns for its 50th Anniversary Special on November 23

Source: http://screenrant.com/doctor-who-season-8-peter-capaldi-12/ (http://screenrant.com/doctor-who-season-8-peter-capaldi-12/)

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For two months, Doctor Who fans waited, occupying their time in the lush fields of speculation and debate, while wondering who the next Doctor would be – and whether that choice should and would be the first Doctor of a different race or a different gender.

In the end, Peter Capaldi was the choice. An eminently talented 55 year old Scottish actor who, physically, has a lot in common with his 11 predecessors. Despite his appearance, and despite the fact that it is quite hard to emphatically judge such things, it seems as though the choice of Capaldi has been received with a solid amount of goodwill, but that doesn’t mean that the debate about the feasibility of a female Doctor has gone quiet. Now Steven Moffat is weighing in on why he decided not to pick a woman as the last of the Time Lords this time around.


Here’s the Doctor Who showrunner from an interview earlier today.

"“It didn’t feel right to me, right now. I didn’t feel enough people wanted it [...] Oddly enough most people who said they were dead against it – and I know I’ll get into trouble for saying this – were women [...] [They were] saying, ‘No, no, don’t make him a woman!’”"

Living in the internet bubble universe makes it easy to recount, one by one, erudite arguments in favor of a female Doctor – and the throngs of people, including Dame Helen Mirren, who wanted it to happen. While it’s unclear where exactly Moffat was getting his info, he must not have heard a deafening buzz coming from those who were hoping for a female Doctor. Maybe Moffat, and the BBC, needed to see overwhelming support to feel as if such a profound shift would be well-received.

Is that fair? Some will say yes, that Moffat has a responsibility to keep the show alive and to mitigate risk, but to others, breaking ground is never easy and rarely popular. How ever you come down on Moffat’s remarks and his reasons for not choosing a female time lord, though, it’s worth noting that this debate has never made as much headway as it did this time around – maybe next round we’ll actually see the TARDIS fly right through that glass ceiling.

Source: http://screenrant.com/female-12-doctor-who-steven-moffat/ (http://screenrant.com/female-12-doctor-who-steven-moffat/)