The 13th Doctor: S/he ain't here yet.

[Notwisconsin]

So who and what do you want to see in/as the next Doctor? A young Man? An old Man? A woman? a nine-year old kid?  What kind of personality do you want. A giggly girl? a crotchety creep? Peter Davidson redux?

until we find out, when we'll discuss that person ad nausium, have at it speculating.

Edited March 28, 2017 by Notwisconsin

[azshadowwalker]

If it's an old dude, I just hope they avoid the ridiculous attempts to make him "cool" in stereotypical TV ways. 

I would like a woman, but I can only imagine how shitty the treatment of the actress would be. I don't want a real human being subjected to the things I believe she would encounter. 

[Llywela]

If they cast a woman, I don't trust them not to make it a gimmick - in the same way that turning the Master into a woman has never really been anything more than a gimmick.

I dunno, because we don't know yet what Chibnall's showrunning style will be like, and I'm thoroughly burned out on Moffat's, so it's hard to predict. I imagine he'll probably go for a safe, middle-of-the-road option again, because that's tried and tested. To be honest, I'm more interested in what the style of Chibnall's show will be, rather than who he casts as the Doctor! And I'm still really disappointed that we won't get to see Capaldi's Doctor under a new showrunner, to see what a different writer makes of him (also still disappointed in the same for Smith!)

[smorbie]

I hope it's not a woman.  I know he can regenerate as anyone, but still, I like to think of him as a man.

[Lokiberry]

The odds on favorites, at the moment, are Kris Marshall and Phoebe Waller Bridge. I didn't think I'd seen either of them in anything until I remembered PWB's role in Broadchurch S2. She didn't make a big impression on me.

If Broadchurch is anything to go by, Chibnall is no Moffat when it comes to handling female characters. They are as complicated and flawed as the men. They're allowed to be unlikable and screw up, and pick themselves up and carry on. Hopefully the era of Magic Girl/Mary Sues will come to and end, and we'll get to see real, fully realized women as the Doctor and/or the companions.

Haley Atwell would be a fantastic Doctor. She's strong, quirky and charismatic. She also brings genre street cred. I know she'd be up for this, and the same can't be said for some of the names I've seen bandied about.

My other Secret Never Gonna Happen Pick is Arthur Darvill. I know that being a companion almost certainly eliminates him (but, hey I've heard people suggesting Billie Piper!) but he's just so talented and I love him so much.

[April Bloodgate]

I'd love to see a woman and/or person of color. I haven't seen Idris Elba do much comedy/lighter things, but he would be a dream. Gemma Chan too. If it has to be another white man, Arthur Darvill or Colin Morgan would be great.

[Lokiberry]

Colin Morgan would be so perfect.

[Mabinogia]

I would LOVE if Arthur Darvill were the Doctor. They already made it canon that he sometimes takes the face of people he's met, Capaldi, so it wouldn't be totally out of left field.

I just can't get on the Haley Atwell love train. I know many people adore her, she just leaves me cold. I would probably watch to see how a female does, but I think I would be disengaged from her cycle.

If Billie Piper ever comes back I'm gone. I just absolutely loathe her for no real reason. I just can't with her.

2 hours ago, Lokiberry said:

If Broadchurch is anything to go by, Chibnall is no Moffat when it comes to handling female characters. They are as complicated and flawed as the men. They're allowed to be unlikable and screw up, and pick themselves up and carry on. Hopefully the era of Magic Girl/Mary Sues will come to and end, and we'll get to see real, fully realized women as the Doctor and/or the companions.

This I agree with, and it has me excited. I think Chibnall will do a good job of ending the Mary Sue cycle this show seems stuck in. I also think he could make a female doctor believable in a way Moffat NEVER could. I would love to see a Doctor/Companion relationship that is more like Hardy and Miller than any of the companion relationships other than Donna, who was the closest to a Hardy/Miller dynamic.

I'm more curious about what kind of Doctor we will get. I'm personally more of a fan of the crazy, reckless type than the emo, mopey type. I tend to like the show best when they are running around having a good time with some emotional moments than when he's pining away over Rose or River or whoever "got away" last. And I would also prefer no romantic anything between him and any human, companion or otherwise.

[hnygrl]

I want a nobody. Someone we've all never heard of, and have to do an IMDB search to see what he's even been in. A "name" doctor would never BE the Doctor. he'd be whatever character he's famous for, playing the Doctor.

I'm not ready for a woman yet. In this political climate, I too don't trust the powers that Be NOT to turn a female Doctor into a Cliche (*cough* MISSY *cough*)

If 'she' is any indication (I can't STAND that character), they're gonna royally fuck it up.

Maybe in...not the one after this, but the one after the one after this one we'll be ready for a female Doctor.

Too much politics and Feminism, and Girl Power and crap out there for a female Doctor to be anything but annoyingly embarrassing for the fanbase.

[rur]

2 hours ago, Lokiberry said:

(but, hey I've heard people suggesting Billie Piper!) 

Oh, Good God, no. Just no.

[sugarbaker design]

24 minutes ago, Mabinogia said:

I'm personally more of a fan of the crazy, reckless type than the emo, mopey type. I tend to like the show best when they are running around having a good time with some emotional moments than when he's pining away over Rose or River or whoever "got away" last. And I would also prefer no romantic anything between him and any human, companion or otherwise.

Word!  Adventure, not soap opera.

[doesntworkonwood]

I hope they go for someone relatively unknown. It would be nice for them to come without baggage. 

I'm actually looking forward to the 'Chibnall Era'. Hopefully there can be a bit of a change to the show, I'd like it to me more 'friendly' if you know what I mean, and also less focused on #StrongButSexyFemaleCharacter AKA the only women that Moffat is capable of writing. Hopefully the next doctor can bring about more of a sense of fun and wonder. My favourite scenes are when The Doctor and the companion get to explore the alien planet/historic landscape. Hopefully more of the budget will be spent on decking out the scenery and cool prosthetics rather than the big explosions Moffat was fond of. 

As an example of such scenes:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXNBe5AxZc0

[Mabinogia]

Great example doesntworkonwood. I loved Donna's wonderment at it all. And how happy the Doctor was to show it to her. I like that, the lightness the awe, the fun. I do like the smaller idea of a human experiencing all of this wonder that is the vast universe without having to be the most important girl ever to have lived. I know we sort of got there with Donna but for like 5 minutes and it was more because of who she is as a person, her personality and her growth in her time with the Doctor.

Moffitt was obessed with making each companion progressively more important to the universe and the show which diminished the Doctor, IMO. I want to see a strong, powerful, all knowing, all doing Doctor again, with a normal, "unimportant" companion who experiences these extraordinary things NOT because they were destined for it, but just because the Doctor happened to stumble upon them at the right time.

The fun. Bring back the fun and the wonder and the awe.

[cardigirl]

23 hours ago, doesntworkonwood said:

Hopefully more of the budget will be spent on decking out the scenery and cool prosthetics rather than the big explosions Moffat was fond of. 

Cool prosthetics, as in the Daleks (basically an upsidedown bin with a plunger for an arm)?  Or maybe Aunt and Uncle of The Doctor's Wife? (I loved them.) 

One thing Doctor Who was always about, to me, was the camp of the "villians."  When my dad and brothers watched the first run of the Doctor, I could not get into the stories at all because the villians didn't scare me much.  I like the turn the reboot has taken. 

[clack]

I'm tired of Moffat's "comedy" transformations -- you know, where the whole first episode is devoted to the new Doctor's wacky behavior.

Give over the first 5 minutes to the Doctor getting used to his new body, and then get on with the story.

[Mabinogia]

yeah, you'd think after doing it a dozen times the Doctor would kind of check himself out in the mirror, move a few limbs around and get on with his life. It's not that big a deal. Now, if he transformed into a Sontaran I'd get the wacky behavior. There would be a learning curve in becoming Mr. Potato head, but yet another human male with two arms, two legs, eyes, nose etc all where they've been before. Yawn.

[staveDarsky]

I doubt Phoebe will take it. She's in talks to write a second series of Fleabag and also show-running something in the US. Billie's already said no, so no worries there. Anyone with young kids won't be able to be away from the family that long.

One concern about Chibnall -- adding too many characters and leaving too many possibilities open. Series 2 and 3 of Broadchurch have been overwhelming in the number of red herrings.

[call me ishmael]

I like Kris Marshall on Death in Paradise but he is too.much like a mix of Matt Smith and Peter Davison.  I'd like a woman but doubt they will go there.  But what I'd really like is not having everything being about the end of the universe as we know it.  I realize classic who was limited by budgets but you didn't have the feeling that THE MOST IMPORTANT PERSON IN THE WORLD had arrived when Doctor Who walked in a room.

[Llywela]

26 minutes ago, call me ishmael said:

But what I'd really like is not having everything being about the end of the universe as we know it.  I realize classic who was limited by budgets but you didn't have the feeling that THE MOST IMPORTANT PERSON IN THE WORLD had arrived when Doctor Who walked in a room.

Yes. This.

I don't really care much who they cast. To me what is critical is the writing. There has been a lot of sameyness between the last three Doctors in a row - I want them to be brave enough now to give us a Doctor with a completely different personality, which hasn't really happened since Tennant. For all that Twelve in his grouchiness is supposed to be very different to the childlike Eleven, they are written to be more alike than dissimilar, with all the manic fast-talking and the scampering around and the frankly OOC inability to understand human emotion, etc - and the manic fast-talking was something that followed onto Eleven from Ten. I'd like to see them brave enough to show that the Doctor actually can be very different - in the same sort of way that Two was nothing like One, and Three was nothing like Two, and so on.

[darkestboy]

Who I Want: a 30-40 something non white male actor.

Who We'll Get: Probably a 30-40 something male actor, ethnicity could go either way though.

Edited April 5, 2017 by darkestboy

[azshadowwalker]

On 4/5/2017 at 7:26 AM, darkestboy said:

Who I Want: a 30-40 something non white male actor.

Who We'll Get: Probably a 30-40 something male actor, ethnicity could go either way though.

See, I wonder why a non-white actor is an acceptable change  (have we ever seen anyone of color from Gallifrey?), but female isn't. I personally don't have a problem with either change, but I don't know why female causes so much outrage in the fanbase. (Not suggesting you have a problem with it, just jumping off from your post.)

[Lokiberry]

The Gallifreyan General regenerated from a white man to a Black woman in Hell Bent.

[darkestboy]

I just prefer the character as male and I don't think you have to change a character's gender in order to make a show more inclusive or female friendly.

I also just don't see Chibnall going there either to be honest, or the BBC in spite of what they might say on the matter.

[Mabinogia]

I don't care what color/sex/whatever the doctor is, so long as the personality works well for the storylines they want to do but what I would hate to see is them make the Doctor a minority, racially or in gender, just to serve some PC agenda. Do it if it makes sense, or if the actor you get is so good that it warrants a change, but don't do it just to get media buzz.

I will say that personally I like the Doctor male and attractive because I'm a shallow female and like to ogle him and imagine myself as his companion travelling through time and space. Now, my version of attractive is rather broad. In order of hotness I'd go Tennant, Capaldi, Eccelston...that's it. Matt Smith is very unappealing to me though I know he's swoon-worthy to many. We each have our own tastes. I know mine are weird. haha

Edited April 7, 2017 by Mabinogia

[festivus]

58 minutes ago, Mabinogia said:

I don't care what color/sex/whatever the doctor is, so long as the personality works well for the storylines they want to do but what I would hate to see is them make the Doctor a minority, racially or in gender, just to serve some PC agenda. Do it if it makes sense, or if the actor you get is so good that it warrants a change, but don't do it just to get media buzz.

Totally agree. The person they cast just needs to be able to be the Doctor. I think they will probably go with a relatively unknown person although I wouldn't mind seeing Olivia Colman or Iwan Rheon in the role. But then again, Peter Capaldi was fairly well known, so who knows?

 

58 minutes ago, Mabinogia said:

I will say that personally I like the Doctor male and attractive because I'm a shallow female and like to ogle him and imagine myself as his companion travelling through time and space. Now, my version of attractive is rather broad. In order of hotness I'd go Tennant, Capaldi, Eccelston...that's it. Matt Smith is very unappealing to me though I know he's swoon-worthy to many. We each have our own tastes. I know mine are weird. haha

I like your list, except I put McGann at the beginning of mine. That man is still hotter than the asphalt in hell.

I think Matt Smith is a cutie but too young for me to swoon for. I loved his doctor though. 

Edited April 7, 2017 by festivus

[Mabinogia]

14 minutes ago, festivus said:

I wouldn't mind seeing Olivia Colman or Iwan Rheon in the role

Oooh, I really like both those options. I would really like someone unknown, or at least not terribly well known, but Olivia or Iwan would be very good. Iwan in particular would bring a very different energy to the Doctor. He has great intensity. Olivia is just plain awesome!

[Enigma X]

Since, @festivus brought up McGann. It reminded me that I would not mind seeing McGann in the role again.

I have not enjoyed Doctor Who since Smith departed. Even then, I mainly tuned in then because I liked Smith and his companions and not the writing. 

Edited April 7, 2017 by Enigma X

[festivus]

23 minutes ago, Enigma X said:

Since, @festivus brought up McGann. It reminded me that I would not mind seeing McGann in the role again.

I sure do wish they would find a way to get the 8th doctor on the screen again. Maybe just a couple of specials or something. If they can have 10, 11 and War Doctor together, surely they could find a way to bring 8 back. I think he and 12 would be great together. I dream about seeing him again playing the Doctor. 

Edited April 7, 2017 by festivus

[DJG1122]

A while back I heard that Kris Marshall might be 13 so I watched Death In Paradise to see how he acted. Recently I heard Luke Treadaway might be 13 so I watched Fortitude. I also heard Sacha Dhawan might be 13 but haven't watched anything he is in yet. So far, either Kris Marshall or Luke Treadaway could play the Dr. What do other Whovians think? 

[Lokiberry]

2 hours ago, DJG1122 said:

A while back I heard that Kris Marshall might be 13 so I watched Death In Paradise to see how he acted. Recently I heard Luke Treadaway might be 13 so I watched Fortitude. I also heard Sacha Dhawan might be 13 but haven't watched anything he is in yet. So far, either Kris Marshall or Luke Treadaway could play the Dr. What do other Whovians think? 

Luke Treadaway's twin brother, Harry was in Penny Dreadful. I guess if they hire one for the Doctor, they can use the other for the Master.

[NeenerNeener]

I nurtured a hope that Peter Wingfield would someday be The Doctor, but it died when I read that he quit acting and went back to finish med school a few years ago.

[RobertDeSneero]

If we had three years of a female Doctor who was completely sexless and never had a hint of a romantic relationship, would that bother people who are rooting for a woman to be cast?

[Lokiberry]

7 hours ago, RobertDeSneero said:

If we had three years of a female Doctor who was completely sexless and never had a hint of a romantic relationship, would that bother people who are rooting for a woman to be cast?

The Doctor doesn't need to be in a romantic relationship, but considering how romanticized the other Doctors have been in NuWho, I would side-eye them pretty hard if there weren't at least some mild flirting. It would come off to me as them not being fully committed to a gender change.

[Joe]

10 hours ago, RobertDeSneero said:

If we had three years of a female Doctor who was completely sexless and never had a hint of a romantic relationship, would that bother people who are rooting for a woman to be cast?

You mean like the first seven? I actually prefer that vibe to the romance angle of McGann onward. And it did work for 26 years. I'd be fine with it.

[Bruinsfan]

Ditto here. I like my Doctors older, (grand)parental toward companions, and crotchety. If I get those qualities I'm good regardless of the actor's gender or race. I'd settle for comfortably adult and acerbic as long as they can sell me on the Doctor's brilliance.

The one possible candidate I've seen named that I absolutely do not want is Richard Madden. I don't think my viewership of the show can take wanting to pin the Doctor against the nearest wall and hump him in every scene.

[feverfew]

I like to fancy the Doctor just a little bit. But attraction is such a weird and subjective thing: I never, ever fancied David Tennant in that role ("Jarvis Cocker in space", thank you, Dead Ringers) and would put Eccleston, then McGann, then Arthur Darvil in my top three of NuWho men. So *shrugs*.

I don't know how I'll feel about a female Doctor - in a way the character feels inherently male, if that makes sense? It would have to be some very clever writing; as well as a very brave actress.

Edited May 30, 2017 by feverfew

[call me ishmael]

I have absolutely no problem with a female Doctor.  But since Hayley Atwell just took herself out of the running I am in mourning.

[LoneHaranguer]

2 hours ago, feverfew said:

I don't know how I'll feel about a female Doctor - in a way the character feels inherently male, if that makes sense?

I think the Doctor has often been in settings where he shows an ability to take control of the room that wouldn't be as plausible for a female (or extraordinarly young male) character. You'd likely see more stories where the Doctor is ignored or underestimated.

[Mabinogia]

1 hour ago, LoneHaranguer said:

I think the Doctor has often been in settings where he shows an ability to take control of the room that wouldn't be as plausible for a female (or extraordinarly young male) character. You'd likely see more stories where the Doctor is ignored or underestimated.

That is why I found Eleven laughable. To me he always came across like a little boy playing at being a grown up and I found it nearly impossible that anyone would defer to him. I would not want another twenty-something Doctor. If Alex Kingston hadn't been River, and though I personally don't care for her, I could see her as the Doctor. She's got a strong presence and I could easily see her commanding a room.

[hnygrl]

1 hour ago, Mabinogia said:

If Alex Kingston hadn't been River, and though I personally don't care for her, I could see her as the Doctor. She's got a strong presence and I could easily see her commanding a room.

This is by far the only female name mentioned that I would fully and wholeheartedly approve of as the Doctor. Alex Kingston would have been a kick-ass Doctor.

[Bruinsfan]

A decade ago I would have loved Pauline Collins in the role, but I think she's a bit past the age now—she's seemed worryingly frail and whispery in recent appearances.

[LyleDelp]

I want fun and serious at the same time. Which is why I vote for Stephen Mangan, if it's at all possible. See him in Dirk Gently, then see him in Houdini and Doyle. God he's good. And funny. And sexy. And smart.

Agree about Alex Kingston. She's the only woman I have no problem envisioning in the role. Don't see it happening, though, not with her being in so many eps in iconic role.

[NeenerNeener]

According to Gizmodo the next Doctor has been cast, but they didn't say who. Since the article went on to discuss how Moffett always picks male actors because they're the first thing that pops into his head, chances are very good that #13 is also male.

[smorbie]

On 3/30/2017 at 1:26 PM, Mabinogia said:

I would LOVE if Arthur Darvill were the Doctor. They already made it canon that he sometimes takes the face of people he's met, Capaldi, so it wouldn't be totally out of left field.

This, this, this!  I loved Rory so much.  We know he has the charm and the humor.

[MissLucas]

Darvill would be a great choice but since he's confirmed for the next season of Legends of Tomorrow I don't see that happening.

[hnygrl]

Finally figured out what it us about Missy that irritates me to death. 

Moriarty. She's basically Moriarty. Same character, same characteristics, just she's FEMALE instead of EFFEMINATE. She's what Moriarty would be with a sex change. (or should I be PC and say "gender reassignment surgery?")

[HauntedBathroom]

The Mastrer's always been conceived  as the Moriarty to the Doctor's Holmes.

[Lokiberry]

4 hours ago, MissLucas said:

Darvill would be a great choice but since he's confirmed for the next season of Legends of Tomorrow I don't see that happening.

That's what they SAY, but let's look at the clues. LoT's filming should started in July, AD's play in London won't end until July 22. He will be in Wales for a convention Aug 8 & 9; current rumor is that even though filming for the Christmas special will start in late July, the 13th Doctor regeneration scenes won't take place unil August. Current rumor is that filming for the eleventh series will begin in October (the 9th to be exact), AD will be in in the UK doing a concert to promote his album on the 8th. A lot of the stuff about exactly when Doctor Who is filming is still rumor, but there's been a picture building for awhile for when things are going to happen.

As for Rip Hunter and LoT, they've said he'll be back next season, but they haven't said he'll be a regular. He won't be on the Waverider with the rest of the crew. He could set up the "Time Bureau" and rap up his story lines in a few episodes filmed in August and September.

I know this is all ridiculous speculation, and I'm prepared to have my heart ripped from my chest and brutally stomped on, but until then I'm going to enjoy being a crazy conspiracy theorist. :)

Edited June 12, 2017 by Lokiberry

[MissLucas]

Well I love some crazy conspiracy but I'm afraid I'm too much of a realist here. It's not so much the scheduling issues that I think work against Darvill but more the simple fact that he's already on a sci-fi show playing a time traveler. They might not be in direct competition (like Marvel and DC) but there's still too much overlap.

[smorbie]

You all are probably right.  It's too much of a dream for him to come back as the Doctor, just as it was too much to hope for a Smith reprise.  But it is an awfully nice thought.:)