Who should play the 12th Doctor?

[Alan]

Whoever it is, I do hope we get a proper announcement of the identity of the next Doctor some time soonish. I'd hate for them to try to keep it secret until Christmas, and of course you can guarantee it would be leaked. Then you would have all the annoyance of trying to avoid spoilers.

Oh, I fully expect an announcement long before the Christmas special. It'd be good if they could save it until after the anniversary movie...but I doubt that will happen.

No one thinking it'll be Hurt?

I don't think it will be him.

[SGalisa]

No one thinking it'll be Hurt?

I can't see any romantic relationship continuing between Clara and the Doctor if John Hurt ends up being a permanent Doctor fixture. That'd be more like a grandpa relationship instead.
I'd prefer John Hurt and Matt Smith's Doctor characters fight each other out, and the ultimate end results in a regeneration of a new guy more fitting to Clara remaining as a companion, if that be the situation. Otherwise, the bond would seem more like the Doctors of "classic" DW, instead (a grandpa or older father-like figure).

Gosh, imagine the rewrites that Moffat has to work around now for season 8..?

[cosmichobo]

Oh god - and who says Clara and 11 need a romantic relationship?!

Best companion of the new series - Donna.

Second best - Martha, cos even tho she wanted him, he never saw her...

[Alan]

Oh god - and who says Clara and 11 need a romantic relationship?!

Best companion of the new series - Donna.

Second best - Martha, cos even tho she wanted him, he never saw her...

You forgot the words: In My Humble Opinion.

[Ian-S]

Whoever it is, I do hope we get a proper announcement of the identity of the next Doctor some time soonish. I'd hate for them to try to keep it secret until Christmas, and of course you can guarantee it would be leaked. Then you would have all the annoyance of trying to avoid spoilers.

The wonderful thing is, in this day and age, they don't even need to cast the replacement until a few weeks before the Christmas episode is and not even have to film it until very late. If the regeneration scene follows a conventional schedule, then the entire screen time for the new Doctor amounts to only a few seconds.

I would really love it if they did NOT announce it, and kept it so secret that the first anybody knows is when it's aired.

But what with out gutter press, never gonna happen.

Oh and no female Doctor either, that would mean they'd have to get rid of Clara as the companion should then be a male.

[murrinholi]

I liked Tapping in SG1, but watching her in Supernatural this year, I was really cold on her... Felt like she couldn't act her way out of a cardboard box... And as far fetched as Supernatural has become, it's no excuse for poor acting...

She was awful in the few clips I have seen of supernatural. But I watched her in Motive and WOW she was great in that.

[Crazedwraith]

Oh and no female Doctor either, that would mean they'd have to get rid of Clara as the companion should then be a male.

again. Why? Why do you think this? There's no logical reason the doctor and the companion can't both be women.

Or hey, they could have Clara and another companion who's a guy. There's no law there has to be just one. Even in new who it had Rose and Jack at the same time (briefly) and of course the Ponds.

[Gen. Chris]

Why?

What difference would it really make? What is it about the character of the Doctor that is inherently masculine?

I mean fine, I agree the writers could easily get it wrong. (ooh, she a woman now and therefore emotional, blah, blah.) But if they just wrote the same Doctor Who adventures they always have it should matter a bit who they cast in the role. Man, woman, black, white, anything.

The only real reservation I would have is that it should be a british actor fo a british show, made in britain.

By that same token, why does it HAVE to be a British actor? Surely there are several lifelong fans of Doctor Who in America that might be more than capable at playing the part and pulling off the accent and his eccentricities. The producers will never know since they seem to exclusively audition British actors.

I'm not saying that a female could NOT play the Doctor exceptionally well. Far from it. I just honestly feel it would mess with the dynamic of the show for me. If the Doctor had been alternating genders throughout the shows history, fine. But to have 13 Doctors and only one be a female would just be weird.

[Crazedwraith]

By that same token, why does it HAVE to be a British actor? Surely there are several lifelong fans of Doctor Who in America that might be more than capable at playing the part and pulling off the accent and his eccentricities. The producers will never know since they seem to exclusively audition British actors.

It's a British show. Paid for by the license fee. The BBC should have a commitment to keep that money in the British economy and give those opportunities to British people and talent. That's what it's there for. IMO.

I'm sure there are american actors out there that are capable of being The Doctor. I'm not sure any of them would really want to move to the UK anyway, lol.

I'm not saying that a female could NOT play the Doctor exceptionally well. Far from it. I just honestly feel it would mess with the dynamic of the show for me. If the Doctor had been alternating genders throughout the shows history, fine. But to have 13 Doctors and only one be a female would just be weird.

Of course. And if there's anything Doctor Who is not. It's weird.

There is precedent in the form of the Corsair, that just one incarnation of a Time Lord could a different sex.

Anyway, I'm not saying they should set out to cast a woman in the role. But hey why not write out a gender neutral description of the doctor's twelve personality. And circulate it as a casting call and see who turns up?

I fully expect they will actually pick, a young white male for the next doctor as a safe choice.

[MasySyma]

I'm not saying that a female could NOT play the Doctor exceptionally well. Far from it. I just honestly feel it would mess with the dynamic of the show for me. If the Doctor had been alternating genders throughout the shows history, fine. But to have 13 Doctors and only one be a female would just be weird.

This is part of my issue as well. If the Doctor routinely changed genders like he does hair, no problem would exist, but since he can't even get being ginger right, this level of change warrants careful thought.

Also, before the Doctor should be a woman, the new series needs to have a platonic male companion not there to keep his girlfriend company. The men of New Who are as problematically depicted as the women. Mickey wanted to win back Rose; Jack had a crush on 9. Rory traveled to keep tabs on Amy at first. While the Doctor seems to attract lots of impossible, convoluted, insert adjective of choice, young women to himself and the Tardis in order to save the universe, he has not found a man worth traveling with by himself for more than a handful of episodes for at least seven years.

I don't want the Doctor romancing his companions, so I don't care about their gender or orientation. Or his for that matter, but I also see a female Doctor as a potential lightning rod for constant debates reflecting the world's gender issues. If she gets as much as action as 10 and 11 have, some critics will call her a slut. If she is like 9, critics will question whether or not she is frigid. It is difficult enough to find a show capable of consistently creating a strong, independent female character who does not trade on but can own her sexuality. Who has never been that show. It won't start now.

A poorly written female Doctor could do more to increase gender stereotyping than the fun of seeing her would be worth.

[DigiFluid]

No one thinking it'll be Hurt?

I don't think it will be him.

Neither do I, but it would be nice. I really want to see an older actor in the role again. It's all well and good to see a younger actor 'playing old' well, but actors who have been around for a long time have a presence to them that I find lacking in younger actors. I don't mean that as a criticism of Smith or anything, it's just something that seems to come with age.

Personally I think Hurt has just the right sort of gravitas for that.

[Chaka's_Mum]

In some ways, I feel that having the Doctor regenerate as a female would be odd, given that the female Timelords we've met who've regenerated (Romana and River Song) retained their gender as the Doctor has. While it's never been suggested that regeneration either does, or doesn't, cause a Timelord to change sex (Matt's "I'm a girl!!!" notwithstanding), the only time the Doctor did this was in the spoof episode (though the concept of Joanna Lumley as the Doctor was actually surprisingly appealing).

My biggest wish for the next Doctor is that they are a really skilled actor who knows how far to push it. David Tennant set the bar for me amongst the 'revived series' Doctors, and Matt did a surprisingly good job of following him given his relative youth. The Doctor is a difficult role to pull off convincingly simply because of who/what he is. He has a slightly barmy, anarchic streak countered by an aged, jaded existence that has seen, and done, terrible things. For an actor, getting that balance right, and making the role their own as they do it, is IMO probably one of the toughest challenges in Television Drama.

In some ways, Matt strayed a little bit too deep into the 'barmy' territory at times, but a slew of relatively weak episodes in the run just finished (except for The Crimson Horror, which was awesome) probably didn't help him there, as he can pull off the high emotion and darkness of 'the oncoming storm' when the writing is up to it and lets him.

I'd also prefer an older actor this time around. If they keep on getting younger, sooner or later, the TARDIS is going to be piloted by an embryo! Similarly, my preferred choice would be the currently unknown 'Anonymous McUntil The Regeneration Happens'. Which is definitely a fantasy - no tabloid is ever gonna keep that golden nugget quiet.

I'd love to see David Morrissey play the Doctor for real - he showed he could do a darned good job in The Next Doctor. Unfortunately, that's probably also going to mean he won't!

[Crazedwraith]

While it's never been suggested that regeneration either does, or doesn't, cause a Timelord to change sex (Matt's "I'm a girl!!!" notwithstanding), the only time the Doctor did this was in the spoof episode (though the concept of Joanna Lumley as the Doctor was actually surprisingly appealing).

Actually there has been.

'The Corsair had this tattoo on every body, even that time he was a woman' - 'The Doctor's Wife'

edit: Found the exact quote here

The Doctor: There aren't! No Time Lords left anywhere in the Universe. But the Universe isn't where we're going. {he tosses it to Amy} See that snake. The mark of The Corsair. Fantastic bloke. He had that snake as a tattoo in every regeneration. Didn't feel like himself unless he had that tattoo. Or herself a couple of times. Oo hoo! She was a bad girl!

[Tristen1]

I have found out the hard way that I am no judge at all on who is the best choice for the Doctor. When Matt was interviewed after the announcement he was to play Eleven I thought he looked really strange and thought the Doctor should be an older man. The minute I started watching The Eleventh Hour, I fell for him like a ton of bricks !! So, I dunno.

I hope that the Team carries on chosing the best as they have done for many years. Content to leave it to them. However, as the role takes up eight months in a year, it kind of rules out anyone famous because of the amount of money the Beeb would have to pay them. Also, they would need a commitment of about two years minimum. The abrupt departure of Eccleston (for whatever good reason) darned nearly finished the Series. It crashed the toy market and the Series never really recovered that incredible momentum it had during the first season of the return.

[Crazedwraith]

... what? I hadn't about the revival nearly ending then at all.

Also, there's a big difference between a big change after the first series. And now, Doctor Who is firmly established as being back.