And The Next Doctor Is..........

So, the 12th/13th Doctor has been announced as the one and only Peter Capaldi! You have to hand it to Moffat and his team. For the last few months, well ever since Matt Smith announced his imminent departure from the show, they've been fanning the flames of rumour regarding possible choices for the new Doctor. A black Doctor seemed likely at one point with David Harewood and Idris Elba considered front runners for a while. In fact Harewood was considered a front runner right up until last nights big reveal! We also had a woman Doctor being rumoured with Miranda Hart and Dame Helen Mirren being championed by many a twitter user. Of course, the old names were also in the 'frame' with Russell Tovey (very nearly a David Tennent replacement), Benedict Cumberbatch (wanted for every role in the world ever) and Martin Freeman (one of my top choices) all being mentioned. Then we had the obvious choices, people such as Rory Kinnear, Andrew Scott, Stephen Mannagan, etc. In the end though Moffat went for his one and only choice of Capaldi.

Capaldi in 'The Fires of Pompei

     Now, Peter Capaldi is probably best known for his role as potty mouth Malcom Tucker in political satire The Thick Of It although Whovians will also recognise him for a previous appearance in the show! Back in David Tennents last full season he went to Pompei and Capaldi played Caecilius, the father of the family the Doctor saves at the end. Of course this isn't the first time an extra has gone on to play a lead part in the show. Colin Baker was in a 1983 episode before becoming the 6th Doctor a year later and both Freema Agyeman (Martha Jones) and Karen Gillian (Amy Pond) appeared in the show as different characters before landing the assistant gig. Infact Gillian actually appeared in Capaldis Pompei episode! It is therefore not unheard of for this to happen.

     As far as Peter Capaldi's twelth Doctor goes, what can we expect? Well I think it's safe to say that we can expect a different kind of Doctor. Capaldi is an amazingly versatile actor as his body of work suggests. He's also an older Doctor, the same age as William Hartnel when he got the part. I championed an older Doctor because I think it's what the show needed. It hails back to the original vision for The Doctor and I'm convinced that Capaldi will do a great job. Of course, with the ghost of Malcom Tucker still hovering we could get a few interesting encounters between The Doctor and his enemies. I can just imagine The Doctor telling an army of Daleks to f$%& themselves! On a serious note though, sure Capaldi's not as good looking as Andrew Scott or with the star quality of Idris Elba but at least he's not Miranda Hart!