On Sunday, August 4th, DOCTOR WHO fans from around the world tuned in to their local BBC stations to find out who the new Doctor would be, and while I don’t think Peter Capaldi (WORLD WAR Z) was what the majority of them were expecting, I do think he is a great choice for the role. Capaldi has had a long acting career and has spent the majority of it working in television, he even has previous appearances on TORCHWOOD and DOCTOR WHO. With a lifetime of experience to draw from, I think he will be a fun alternative to the young actors who have played The Doctor since the show relaunched.
As with any major announcement to a popular franchise, the social networks have been buzzing with supporters and dissenters since the news broke. The most woefully lamentable comments are about his age and appearance, as many people have tweeted, tumbled, or otherwise shared their annoyance that he is not young and attractive. People, if all you want is eye candy there is more than enough on the internet to get your fill, it is not necessary that a TV show provide it for you. The other major point of contention is that once again The Doctor is being played by a straight white male as opposed to a woman, a person of different ethnicity, a person of different sexual orientation, or any combination thereof. This can certainly be a touchy issue, but there are a few aspects of it I want to address. Firstly, I think that a woman Doctor is a very interesting idea and could go over very well with the right actress and the right person helming the show, but I am not sure who that actress would be, and I don’t think Steven Moffat is the right man at the helm for that. As far as sexual orientation goes, I don’t really understand what that has to do with acting talent. I have seen actors and actresses of various sexual orientations play characters who had a different sexual orientation and I have never felt like it was an issue. I don’t care who a performer is romantically involved with, I care about how well they can act. As far as casting a person of a different ethnicity, I don’t think the world has a right to chime in on this one, because, even though it now has a global following, it is a British TV show, and as such, I feel that only that country has a right to make the call on ethnicity, and as that country is 85% white, I don’t feel I have a right to be upset when they cast another white actor in the role.
Whatever your take is on the casting of the new Doctor, I am sure we will all be eagerly watching to see how he makes his debut. Capaldi certainly has some big shoes to fill as Matt Smith steps down, and I’m eager to see his take on this classic character.
