What would your next doctor be like?

bradyle

When Matt Smith finishes his run what kid of doctor would you like to see replace him? Do you have any actor you think would be great? Or just a general personality you'd like?


Personally I'd maybe like a more serious older Doctor who as maybe a bit sarcastic or something. I'd also like it if we could have no romantic relationship between him and his companion...possibly maybe just the Doctor and a male companion (assuming my new doctor isn't gay obviously)

Any one else have any ideas?

cython

bradyle wrote: »

When Matt Smith finishes his run what kid of doctor would you like to see replace him? Do you have any actor you think would be great? Or just a general personality you'd like?


Personally I'd maybe like a more serious older Doctor who as maybe a bit sarcastic or something. I'd also like it if we could have no romantic relationship between him and his companion...possibly maybe just the Doctor and a male companion (assuming my new doctor isn't gay obviously)

Any one else have any ideas?

:pac:

BuffyBot

Less sad-to-happy/manic/zany that we've seen in 10 to 11. Older, more aloof, a little more manipulative/cunning. Still the Doctor, but spikier.

pixelburp

Well iirc it was already confirmed that Smith would be back for series 8 at least, so we've a bit to go before this question can be talked about in earnest!

As a hypothetical, well I dunno; sarcasm is very tricky & it's a fine line between being sarcastic yet likeable, and sarcastic and obnoxious. Lest we forget - Colin Baker's 6th Doctor tried that angle & it was a total disaster; that was the era that really killed the show, not McCoy's. I do think the series in general has got enough mileage out of the whole "Lonely God" motif - three Doctors in fact - so it's time to try another approach.

To me, one of the failings of series 7 has been the lack of a proper arc & maybe this is why some people have felt uncertain about the episodes so far. It was a deliberate approach by Moffat, to have each story standalone, and perhaps what this season has lacked was a coherent arc & purpose to keep things moving forward. Ok, the mystery of Clara is there but it's less of an evolving narrative & more a background enigma (so far anyway)

Maybe if the Doc regenerated he could be given some broader purpose again, something to fight or reach for, and so it could shape his personality appropriately, whilst making for a conveniently compelling arc for the audience. In fact, perhaps if they looked at the Pertwee era and grounded the show for a few years that could help shape a rougher, less approachable version of the Doc; similar to Pertwee, whose tetchiness was partly due to being trapped on Earth, helping UNIT fight off the latest alien invasion of the Home Countries. Moffat has already played with this format a little; the Victorian stories with Madam Vastra is similar in style; a group of comrades surrounding the Doctor's exile on Earth...

As for actor, considering Smith himself was picked from relative obscurity, and Tennant was far form a household name at the start of his run, it's fair to say we won't see someone as well-known as Hugh Laurie get the job.

Mr.Saturn

Pixelburp hit on a good point there. If you want any indication of who may be in the running for the role of 12, start scowering for theatre rundowns in the Guardian, or standout performances from one-off drama-series. Both Smith and Tennant were both considered to actor's actors; leftfield choices, but anybody who ever worked with them could see why it made sense.

Eccleston comes from a similar cloth too, but he'd long since been established as a very credible, versatile performer by the time his Who run came up.

I'd almost nominate James Nesbitt, based soley on his turn as the eponymous nasty in the Moffat-penned Jekyll. I could see him do brilliant things with The Doctor's mania and tenderness. I also get Doctor-flashbacks when watching Kyle McLachlan's Dale Cooper on Twin Peaks. Obviously, I'm just running with what I'd find funny or cool, instead anything remotely plausible.

And to go completely off topic, I'd also dig an adventure with The Doctor and Oscar Wilde. Dorian Grey seems like a story that just screams for a Who re-do. Given that Stephen Fry has hovered on the periphery of Nu-Who since its inception, I couldn't see a better way of squeezing him in than having him reprise his role as Wilde.

FloatingVoter

I wouldn't mind seeing Jack Dee as the Doctor - a permanently grumpy 900 year old dossing around time and space looking for something else to give out about. Only bothers with humans because they're marginally less annoying than piles.

Morag

A woman.

I'd love to see Helen Mirren as the Dr.

stevenmu

bradyle wrote: »

Personally I'd maybe like a more serious older Doctor who as maybe a bit sarcastic or something. I'd also like it if we could have no romantic relationship between him and his companion...possibly maybe just the Doctor and a male companion (assuming my new doctor isn't gay obviously)

BuffyBot wrote: »

Less sad-to-happy/manic/zany that we've seen in 10 to 11. Older, more aloof, a little more manipulative/cunning. Still the Doctor, but spikier.

It seems that you are both describing John Noble

Mr.Saturn

I'm thinking more along the lines of Walter White.



'I'm the one who knocks........four times'.

Sleepy

I think Stephen Fry would make a great doctor. Be nice to see a move away from romantic ties with the companions and with Fry's way with words, he'd certainly sound like someone with the wisdom of a millenia old time-traveller. I could picture him reviving the jelly baby addiction too

pixelburp

Hugh Laurie? John Noble? Bryan Cranston? Good lord people, what's with ye all going for the psychos and sociopaths?

bradyle

I've decided we should have an Irish actor...if we can do James Bond we can definately do the Doctor

Top votes are

• Gabriel Byrne
• Cilian Murphy
• Stuart Townsend

Some of these may have been picked more for their prettyness than their actual suitability...but whatever

I think Stephen Fry would make an excellent Villain actually. One of those that is so sure what they're doing is right and refuses to see the Doctors point of view

pixelburp

For a while he was rumoured to be in the running for Doctor #10, but someone like Paterson Joseph could be good; he has a varied CV with both dramatic, thespian and comedic roles, so he'd be perfect for the varying tone of Who. He's not too famous either so his name wouldn't overpower the show (which would be a problem with many of the above names) & he has enough charisma to be a leading man. He kinnnda played a Doctor'esque figure in the (otherwise awful) TV adaptation of Neverwhere.

Flexibility is the key facet I think; the ability to switch between fun and intense in the space of line of dialogue. That's what I admire most about Smith; he's like a chameleon, with fantastic comic timing, yet in an instant can become this brooding, alien being.

Stephen Fry could be interesting, but considering he can't act, I'd consider that a disability