The Doctor - Who Will Be Next

Of course all Doctor Who fans out there knows that Peter Capaldi will be leaving the show here after Series 10:



He was not my one of my favorite Doctors, but I do think he gave the part a decent shot and of course only had Moffat's writing for the show to work with, heh. I mean come on, Sonic Sunglasses? And the new Sonic Screwdriver looks like a huge blue cucumber.......

So there's be much speculation as to who the next Doctor will be, and the speculation goes back to well before Capaldi announced he would be leaving the show, including a female Doctor.

For a while, there had been a lot of speculation on Tom Ellis playing the part:



Rumors of this came about after BBC's Newsnight showed a montage of all the Doctors, then ended it with this image here:



That image is from a scene from the TV show Lucifer, in which Tom Ellis places Lucifer Morningstar, the devil himself.

Having watched Lucifer, I can say that Tom Ellis acting is much, much better than it was in Merlin:



There was also the fact that Lucifer had a 3 month hiatus mid season with no explanation, making many to speculate that Ellis was at the BBC possibly screen testing for Doctor Who.

While I can certainly see Ellis playing the Doctor (he has a wide range of facial expressions that really help setting the mood from intense dark looking to straight up goofy / delight), it really doesn't make sense that he would be available for casting since Lucifer has been contracted by Fox for a 3rd season, and I can't see them giving up an actor and killing a successful show for it.

Right now, the rumor mill has shifted to another actor, Kris Marshall:



In fact, it looks like about half the news tabloids over in the UK are utterly convinced he will indeed be the next Doctor, all though true to form, BBC will neither confirm nor deny anything.

My own opinion is that it's completely more than possible, since I've never really known any of the actors that well that have been picked to play the Doctor, with the exception of Capaldi, and that was because he was in a previous Doctor Who episode as a Roman noble, and also from Torchwood: Children Of Earth:





Since his announcement of leaving, I've pondered who would be our next Doctor. Here's my list of actors I think would make great Doctors:

Martin Freeman:


Always loved Martin Freeman in every role he's ever done. He does such a good job in making each character he's ever played as very believable and real......even Bilbo Baggins.

Simon Pegg:


There's something about Pegg.........I think not only would he love to play the Doctor, but he's been in the series before as the evil Editor:



Wouldn't be the first time a actor who's been on the show before returns again.

Benedict Cumberbatch:



Comberbatch has been a fan favorite for playing the Doctor forever. Lots of fans out there would love to see him in the role. While I like Cumberbatch myself, considering he's now achieved superstardom with his role of Doctor Strange, I'm not sure if he'd be able to play the Doctor now due to time constraints with movie making. Still, I think he'd make for a very interesting Doctor.

Robert Carlyle:


I've always thought that Carlyle (known for his roles on Once Upon A Time and Stargate Universe) would make a interesting Doctor. Mostly it was his role as Dr. Rush from SGU that got me to thinking of him as the Doctor.

As a side note: American Actors playing the Doctor.

That's something that I just don't see. The Doctor has always had some sort of British accent.....and so do most from Gallifrey it seems, heh. I also just can't seem to think of an current American actor that could have pulled the role off.......except for two.

Sadly, neither of them are with us anymore:

Gene Wilder and Robin Williams:



Of course Wilder would have been much too old for the role now even if he still was alive. But to me both of these actors could have pulled it off in my opinion.



So: What are all of your thoughts out there? Have any of your own favorites? Any new rumors?

Let us know!

Oh man!
Martin Freeman and Benjamin Cumberbatch, back together after doing Sherlock Holmes.
That would be Awesome!

Great choices you got there.

Edit: and I do wish to see them both. Benjamin as the Doctor and Martin as Penn.... Clara, bonnie. The Help😆

a reply to: eriktheawful

I think Tim Ellis is enjoying his role as Lucifer too much to give it up, and it's confirmed to return in the fall for a new season.

It's not uncommon for a tv series to take a mid-season hiatus.. they do it for most of the bigger shows on AMC for example

I'd really like to have seen Cumberbatch do it, but being wrapped up in the Marvel Universe kills any hope of that. If Idris Elba wasn't working on The Tower, I'd say he had a good shot, but again, another project takes out a good contender. If you listen to interviews with Capaldi, you can tell he was just getting bored with it and wanted to move on.
The next?......The best hopeful I've seen is Freeman. As far as I know, he's not busy, so let's hope he goes for it.

I read recently that Eddie Izard has been mooted for the role too and he said he'd love to play it. That would be fun!

Rainbows
Jane

Probably a ginger.
Maybe a woman.

A female redhead would not be surprising.

a reply to: eriktheawful

I would vote Kris Marshall or Martin Freeman. I just hope that Capaldi hasn't "Top Geared" the brand. He's been utterly awful, or maybe its the writers, but considering the dire straits BBC finds itself in having ruined Top Gear, anything OTHER than Cumberbatch would be a lift up for Dr. Who. And just my humble opinion, but to my eye Cumberbatch would kill the series altogether. But that's just me......I don't like Cumberbatche's over the top acting style at all.

Well they tend to favor the unknowns, so nobody too high profile, but someone who has been in a few things.

The theme for this season has been social justice. Seriously, every episode has been preachy on some level. They got a gay, black woman as a companion though so I dont expect any of those three..so, most likely a white guy.

(sidenote: I...dont hate Bill. She's growing on me, but they need to do some better writing. You cant make her brave on one episode and a moronic wimp on the next)

I think Tennant was perhaps the best Doctor, but I also quite enjoyed Smith. Smith was the oldest doctor (in the youngest body). He played a doddering, hand wringing neurotic old man trapped in a young body quite well. Capaldi has been trying to play a sort of recapture the youth midlife crisis character. If they go into that much detail, then I think the next doc will be someone in the middle of the two. late 30s/early 40s.

Its hard to really pinpoint because Doc Who has turned into a bit of a dumpster fire as far as who they are aiming the show at. I wouldn't be surprised if they simply benched the series for about 5 years and re-rebooted it. Moffat was suggesting this and although its BBCs prerogative, that might end up being the plan.

As it looks more and more like most are saying it's going to be Marshall, I'll have to sit down and watch some of his stuff as I've never seen him before.

What will happen with the series: Moffat is leaving. Lot of people applauding that, but I won't be too hard on him. He did agree to take over writing for the show when Davies left, and he has given us some good stuff, Sherlock and Torchwood.

Oh....and he is not afraid at poking fun at himself. A BBC video done just before the 50th anniversary special had him in his office playing with Doctor Who dolls.

So Series 11 is going to be head up by Chris Chibnall. So a new head writer, new doctor, and also looks like a new companion possibly, no telling what to expect.

i secretly hope they just throw out a bunch of names and then hit us with a curve ball. like the doctor's daughter (regenerated, of course), or someone completely random...but with fantastic credentials. if carlyle got it, i'd absolutely have to stop watching. something about him gives me the "chester" vibe. gross. i could live with simon pegg, but he'll be starting star trek soon enough. i don't see how he'd take on two major projects. plus, unfortunately, i don't see him having the staying power. i think if they went random, somebody with no real previous acting roles, it'd hold attention much longer. i read that they want to go back to someone a bit younger and spontaneous to gain more viewers. i wouldn't even mind a female, as long as it wasn't judi dench or tilda swinton. i need the disconnect from previous realities.

all that being said, i'm going to miss bill. i groaned at the thought of her when i saw the previews. she seemed really blah...and i didn't think they'd be a good fit. but so far, she's my favorite companion (even of the older series). i can't think of who they'd get to follow that up.

a reply to: eriktheawful
Of course Tom Ellis has previous experience in dealing with female companions;

a reply to: SaturnFX

Ugh! Really?

I am so tired of this trend of having characters whose main purpose is to check boxes and then trying to write a story and personality around that.

Can't we just go back to the days when we wrote characters and if they happened to check some boxes in the process, it was all good?

a reply to: eriktheawful

If they could afford him Rowen Atkinson would make a great return to the Silvester McCoy style of humor, imagine him facing down the Dalek's with a new companion called Baldric (suspect time team need's him too much though).

Some great idea's in your suggestion's though.

originally posted by: PolyCottonBlend
all that being said, i'm going to miss bill. i groaned at the thought of her when i saw the previews. she seemed really blah...and i didn't think they'd be a good fit. but so far, she's my favorite companion (even of the older series). i can't think of who they'd get to follow that up.

When the Doctor changes, it doesn't follow at all that the current companion will get dropped at the same time. In fact that hasn't been the norm. The more standard story-line is that the companion/s provide the continuity and express our puzzlement in coping with the Doctor's new form.

a reply to: DISRAELI

While that's true, the other truth is: Mackie's contract is only for Series 10. No word on if she'll be able to continue with the new Doctor in season 11.

They did that with Moffat when he took over the show: new Doctor with no companion, until the end of the first episode.

Could be BBC is going to let Chibnall do the same thing: Brand new Doctor and a new companion.

We won't know until it happens.......or someone leaks something.

originally posted by: Bluntone22
Probably a ginger.
Maybe a woman.

A female redhead would not be surprising.

You're right!
Meg Turney.😚😙😗😘😍
Meg Turney is a Cosplayer, and a BIG Dr. Who fan.

Orrrrrrrr...

Chris O'Dowd from the IT Crowd-good actor and has a 'Doctorish' quality.

a reply to: DISRAELI

I know that. but most of what I've read says that she will leave with Capaldi, Moffat, and Gomez so they can start fresh.
of course, time will tell.

a reply to: LABTECH767

Love that!!!
Smiley Rainbows
Jane

I somewhat liked the idea of Idris but I don't think he's really Doctor material.

Miranda Hart would be good, if not as Doctor, maybe a quirky companion.

Side note- Isn't Rowan Atkinson dead?

I did love his humorous sketch he did of Doctor Who and The Master.