Our team react to the Peter Capaldi Doctor Who casting news.
August 23rd 2014 marks the day in which Peter Capaldi takes the TARDIS controls. A diversion from the actors who have recently preceded him in the role, Capaldi was 55 when cast, not conventionally handsome and known as a reliable character actor before landing the role as the infamous Malcolm Tucker in The Thick of It.
To younger fans who have grown up with David Tennant and Matt Smith, Capaldi is a risk; to older fans well versed in the eras of Doctor Who‘s long past, he’s a perfect choice. This is in sharp contrast with the mood four years ago when the ridiculously youthful Matt Smith was seen as a very surprising choice to older fans.
Today is the moment of truth. How long with Peter Capaldi take to convince us he is the Doctor? Ten minutes? Ten episodes? At this point, we just don’t know.
What we do know, however, is that we are excited. The following collection of thoughts come from some of Kasterborous’ most prolific contributors over the years. Even those that aren’t quite sure are excited, and you should be too. Because tonight, it begins. Again!
James McLean
Doctor Who thrives on change and contrast – a Doctor Who doesn’t care what people think, as Capaldi has alluded himself, is exciting. Same time, harking back to the Colin Baker era, a good actor can be screwed if their version of the Doctor has an abrasive contrast to the previous that isn’t handled with careful consideration. I’m sure the show has learned from that mistake, and will give Capaldi what Colin failed to get – the support of a strong script and thought-out characterisation.
Being someone who is conscious of ageism in the industry, which can stem from the audiences lack of tolerance for older actors and actresses, I’m hoping Capaldi will lead the way to a greater acceptance for mature actor; that they can be fun and cool – like me, really. He’s Capaldi, not Capoldy. See what I did there, tabloids?
Gareth Kavanagh
Peter Capaldi cost me £500 last year as I bet the farm on Sam Troughton (moving the betting indexes heavily in the process). As he was revealed, I couldn’t help but be disappointed but this melancholy was fleeting. I’m massively excited by this casting. Once more, we have a real heavyweight in the role. Gravitas, peril, danger. That’s what he’ll bring. Not only will he be the smartest man in the room, but he’ll be the last candle in the dark.
If I’m right about him, he’ll give Tom Baker a run for his money as the greatest man to play the role and that’s something I didn’t EVER think I’d be saying.
Indomitable.
Brian A. Terranova
The day the Peter Capaldi Doctor Who casting was announced I was very excited, which I am sad to say was a feeling I had lost the last three series. I loved the direction with an older Doctor, it just felt right. I was interested again, renewed, almost like my excitement for the show itself had been regenerated as well.
My hopes for the Twelfth Doctor are simple, bring the show back to what it was, enjoyable, fun, dark at times, grand adventures and with much less focus on sexual themes and much more on the dangers they face and the friendships they make.
There have been many things leading up to his run that have inspired me but the thing that got me the most was his notebook. Filled with pictures of the show’s past, reminders of who the character was and what he loved about him, the show and his companions. Notes to himself to make this show the best it could be. This man cares about this show as much as we do.
Christian Cawley
So, it’s my turn. On the whole, I echo the comments of my team. This Peter Capaldi Doctor Who casting is incredibly exciting, and caught my imagination from the moment it was announced 12 months ago.
For me, Capaldi is as big a name with as big a reputation (if not bigger) than Christopher Eccleston when he was cast. Back in 2004, the news of the recently announced revival was met with derision in many quarters until Eccleston’s name was attached. All of a sudden, people knew the producers were serious, and I get a feeling of that here. Series 1 is also one of my favourite of the show’s 50 years, too, a run where it seems that got almost everything right.
Can that happen again in 2014? I don’t know, but I suspect not. Rather, I’m expecting a run of episodes that allow Peter Capaldi to embrace the Time Lord side of his nature that he has entertained since the 1960s. Remember, he’s one of us, more so than David Tennant.
Ultimately, this is an exciting, brave new era for Doctor Who. Capaldi will nail it.
That’s what we think – but what about you? What did you think of Peter Capaldi’s Doctor Who?
Just 1 hour to go and we are preparing ourselves 🙂
Just watched Deep Breath – is it too premature to say that Capaldi is my favourite Dr??
Seriously though, I hope the pace of this episode is reflected in the whole series – definitely less sporadic with some really satisfying one to one dialogue – the cafe scene with the Dr and Clara – and the scene with the Dr and the tramp were very refreshing. Some brilliantly insightful one liners…. I adore the ‘scottish’ explanation too – a Dr that NEEDS to complain?. Two questions/predictions – does his ‘adoption’ of the face of Maximus suggest he NEEDS to remember he is a father? Is ‘Missy’ a deliberately suggestive name? ‘Mistress’ being a female derivitive of ‘Master?’. Moffat said that the Master was more or less resolved by Russel T Davies – technically, the Master in female form would no longer be the Master in name? The Mistress????hmmm???
Missed the cutoff apparently but here were my thoughts going into the premiere yesterday:
The prospect of Capaldi frightens me. I know that Doctor Who has a long history before the Smith era, and God willing, will have many successful years to come, but my heart belongs to the Smith-Moffat era. It’s not that I don’t like Capaldi; matter of fact, I loved him in the Fires of Pompeii and Torchwood. What little we’ve seen of him as the Doctor has been entertaining, but I have some reservations. My hope is that Capaldi bring the darkness we’ve been teased about now for months, but still manages to be the Doctor. I desperately hope that the pendulum doesn’t swing so far in the other way that it stifles the momentum that Doctor Who has been gaining globally over the last couple of years. Above all, I hope that the moment of realization that Capaldi is the Doctor happens quickly, and that it happens tonight!