David Tennant Stands Down From "Doctor Who"

Dave Knott writes "After winning the outstanding drama performance prize at the British National Television Awards, David Tennant announced that he will be quitting the iconic role of The Doctor. Quoting Tennant: 'When Doctor Who returns in 2010 it won't be with me. Now don't make me cry. I love this part, and I love this show so much that if I don't take a deep breath and move on now I never will, and you'll be wheeling me out of the Tardis in my bath chair.' Tennant will appear in a Christmas special, titled The Next Doctor, before filming four more specials in January. After that, the search will be on for the actor to play the 11th incarnation of The Doctor."

Comments

We have a problem

[Selfbain]

In the old Tom Baker episodes, the 11th doctor shows up and tries to steal the lives of his former self.

Although, this could add a new twist to the show.

Re:We have a problem

[TheRaven64]

The Valeyard was created between the Doctor's 12th and final regenerations. It was not the 11th Doctor.

Re:We have a problem

[Anonymous Coward]

Coincidentally, Tom Baker also stepped down for similar reasons. Something he says he regrets to this day.

Re:We have a problem

[Goldberg's Pants]

Baker had been WAY more typecast though. Plus with the success of the show I'm fairly sure Tennant's career is on a far better trajectory.

And Tom Baker is an arse anyway. Refusing to appear with other Doctors at conventions etc... Always loved him, but given what I've read and heard recently, Baker was, and will always, an arse.

Sad Tennant is leaving. He has been a fantastic Doctor. Not as big a wrench to me though as my kids. I've had eight Doctor regenerations now when this one happens. My eldest has only seen Eccleston (but never had time to get attached) and my youngest has only ever known Tennant.

Re:We have a problem

[nine-times]

I'd say that the bigger problem is that David Tennant has been a good Doctor. I hope they can find an equally good replacement, but fear they won't.

Re:We have a problem

[Jeremy Erwin]

Colin Baker != Tom Baker.

Re:We have a problem

[VojakSvejk]

...also, it was Colin Baker, not Tom.

And yes, I am a nerd.

Even by slashdot standards.

Re:We have a problem

[Caduceus1]

It was the Colin Baker (6th) Doctor, not Tom, and the Valeyard wasn't the 11th Doctor. The wording was strange, but it was implied that it was his last, or 13th, incarnation. And since this is Doctor Who anyways, it is possible that particular incarnation will never come to be. Plus, if the ratings are there, the Doctor will obtain or be granted additional regenerations somehow, which has already been established as possible.

Re:We have a problem

[gd2shoe]

As I would expect. He's got something good going, I don't see why he should waste it by leaving. (Though I am glad they got rid of Catherine Tate.)

Re:We have a problem

[sesshomaru]

He could just do what the Master did on Trakken. I loved it when, in the 5 Doctors, John Pertwee's Doctor said, "Another regeneration?" and the Master said, "Not exactly."

Some people will say, "But the Doctor isn't that Evil," and I'll reply, "Now who's being naive?"

Re:We have a problem

[Falconhell]

Hugh Laurie would be a pretty good option I reckon.

Re:We have a problem

[Threni]

> Hugh Laurie would be a pretty good option I reckon.

Why - is there some compelling reason why a Doctor should be able to do a really bad American accent?

Re:We have a problem

[Anonymous Coward]

In the old Tom Baker episodes, the 11th doctor shows up and tries to steal the lives of his former self.

Although, this could add a new twist to the show.

No, He appears in The Trial Of a Time Lord; which is a Colin Baker (6th) serial. And it is a regeneration of himself that is between the 11th and 12th incarnations.

Now that is the kind of nerd I am.

Re:We have a problem

[ThoraX695]

However, the introduction of the last great Time War in the 2005 series by the Ninth Doctor gives current series writers more leeway between resolving issues between the original and current series. They still have to figure out how to give him more than 12 regenerations though...

Anyway, bravo to David Tennant!

Re:We have a problem

[Fractal Dice]

The Valeyard (from [i]Colin[/i] Baker's final season) could easily be explained away in a number of ways (eg: a regeneration of the parallel-doctor who regains a timelord essence and goes insane with jealousy because he's not the "real doctor"). It could even be one of those little things tossed in that never gets explained - left dangling for our imaginations.

As for the regeneration limit, not only has the master persisted beyond his limit by nefarious means, but in the Five Doctors, the time lords outright offered him a full set of new regenerations.

( besides, Doctor Who has never been a stickler for continuity ... most of the recurring villains have been permanently defeated at least twice ... for all we know, the Doctor might really be Rassilon )

Re:We have a problem

[Fluffeh]

With money to be made still, this will not stop :)

There will be a way to bring the doctor back. The budgets say so.

Re:We have a problem

[mabhatter654]

They could redo the episode by digitally inserting new actors and an alternate plot into the old footage like that other series did with the tribbles.

Re:We have a problem

[infonography]

Tom Baker hinted a few years ago that Eddie Izzard would be a future Doctor. I would like to see that he has talent. why now?

Re:We have a problem

[MindlessAutomata]

As an American he could've had me fooled (had I not known he was British and heard him before).

Re:We have a problem

[Legion_SB]

I'd kill to have Christopher Eccleston back. One season (err, "series", sorry) was just not enough, it's not fair.

3 seasons for David Tennant was a nice run.

But I'm most excited about Steven Moffat taking over the show as lead writer and executive producer. I loved his writing on Coupling, and I especially love the Doctor Who episodes he wrote these past seasons.

Re:We have a problem

[Askmum]

Sure they will. It's about time John Cleese becomes the Doctor.

Re:We have a problem

[91degrees]

But most importantly, it doesn't matter. The only people who are even going to notice are the fanboys and they'll just find another piece of continuity patching to solve the problem.

Re:We have a problem

[VShael]

In the old Tom Baker episodes, the 11th doctor shows up and tries to steal the lives of his former self.

Actually, it was Colin Baker. (Trial of Time Lord)
How did this possibly get marked informative? :)

Re:We have a problem

[MindKata]

"He's got something good going, I don't see why he should waste it by leaving."

I think in the acting world, they are now trying hard to avoid typecasting, so most of them try to leave before they have become mainly known for one role. Plus by leaving sooner than expected, they (hope to) leave on a career high, which they hope, will take them onto bigger projects. Only problem is, it often doesn't work like that, and their career just stalls. But for a few, they do go onto bigger things, but almost all actors dream of that big chance. But what usually happens, is their career move ends up more like the old saying, "the grass is greener on the other side". They think they are going onto something better, but end up with far less success. It happens a lot in acting.

I think he was a very good Doctor Who. But I just hope they don't make a catastrophic mistake and cast someone so out of place, just to be different to replace him. Given they cast Catherine (moans_all_the_irritating_time) Tate, then I think they could easily kill off the success of the show. I bet if it then fails, they will try to say (as usual), it was just time for the show to end, rather than simply being caused by extremely bad judgment, like they did with Catherine Tate.

Re:We have a problem

[Sebilrazen]

They still have to figure out how to give him more than 12 regenerations though...

Some how, they could explain it away as it being a function of being the last of the Time Lords. Similar to the way a cayman in captivity will only grow to a specific size, populations of certain rodents will only grow to fit the resources available, etc.; it could be inferred that to maintain - pardon the mythology merge - a Star Wars-like balance, there always needs to be a Time Lord, and him being the last has the (un)fortunate evolutionary impetus to continue regenerating.

Re:We have a problem

[AmiMoJo]

While Tennant had his moments, the fact that he basically seems to play himself most of the time prevented him from really making something of the role.

Re:We have a problem

[ThomsonsPier]

Bear in mind that Steven Moffat is now in charge and he has a much better grasp of how to develop a series than Russell T. Davies (not that I'm knocking the chap; he's done a good job).

The current favourite is, I believe, Paterson Joseph.

Re:We have a problem

[Spacelem]

There is some evidence that the Doctor is considerably older than he lets on (for example he knew Omega and Rassilon, some 2000 years ago). And it is mentioned (Tom Baker era, possibly by Romana?) that the 4th Doctor was really on his 11th or 12th incarnation. The Doctor isn't entirely open about his past, and he's a lot more powerful than he lets on.

Hence, the writers can do what they want and get away with it.

Re:We have a problem

[ErroneousBee]

The current favourite is, I believe, Paterson Joseph.

That's NumberWang!

Re:We have a problem

[Caduceus1]

Actually, there is nothing about him personally knowing either Omega or Rassilon prior to him encountering them during the series - they are legendary Time Lord figures.

And I don't remember any mention by Romana about his incarnations being that high.

There is some debate about some images shown in the episode "Brain of Morbius" which some believe to be images of earlier incarnations of the Doctor, but it is explicitly stated elsewhere that the 1st Doctor we know of is indeed the first (either in "The Three Doctors" or The "Five Doctors" I believe).

Re:We have a problem

[Anonymous Coward]

That was Colin Baker, the 6th Doctor, not our curly-headed scarf-wearing friend. The Valeyard shows up in the 1985-86 season of the original series.

And he was the 12th Doctor.

I'd love to see the new series bring this back up--the writers could do well with an evil future Doctor.

Re:We have a problem

[Anonymous Coward]

In 1986 I got to speak to John-Nathan Turner for a bit and ask him a couple of questions.

(At the time, I was 8.)

The first question out of my mouth was "what will you do after the Doctor uses up all 12 regenerations?"

His reponse: "oh, we'll find a way to keep him going."

Always trust the writers.

JNT was a really nice person, even to all the people who lined up to talk to him. Shame that he's long gone now.

Re:We have a problem

[Anonymous Coward]

nah, Doctor may well be the Other

The implication was that the Other had been genetically reincarnated as the Doctor, although how much of the Other is in the Doctor and how much he remembers of his past life, if at all, is unclear.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Other_(Doctor_Who)

Re:We have a problem

[MrNiceguy_KS]

I'd kill to have Christopher Eccleston back. One season (err, "series", sorry) was just not enough, it's not fair.

I *so* agree with you. Tennant did a really good job, but Eccleston was the best Doctor. (Yes, I do think he was better than Baker.) He had the perfect irreverent cheerfulness in nearly all dire situations, yet could rage against the Daleks like nobody's business. I always took it as the Doctor is usually just along for the ride and a few interesting puzzles, but he recognizes a real threat when he sees it.

Re:We have a problem

[Megane]

Only Brits think he has a bad American accent. However, it was months before this particular American realized that not only was he British, he was the same actor who appeared in Blackadder.

Re:We have a problem

[VShael]

There was a throw-away slip-of-the-tongue line in Remeberence of the Daleks, when discussing the Hand of Omega. The Doctor says "And didn't we have trouble with the prototype..." to which Ace replies "we?"

This again, tied into the Cartmel Masterplan, which was the link the Doctor to the mythical "Other" who was a compatriot of Omega and Rassilon.

Re:We have a problem

[SDF-7]

Easy enough -- absorbing the time vortex (via Rose) from the heart of the TARDIS could easily have restarted the entire regeneration cycle. (The Master planned to regenerate similarly by drawing power from the Eye of Harmony via the Sash of Rassilon in "The Deadly Assassin" after all). They don't even need the Doctor to realize that it happened... just go to regeneration 14 when its time and have him figure it out then.

Re:We have a problem

[dwye]

> Why - is there some compelling reason why a Doctor should be able to do a really bad American accent?

Maybe because none of the others could do a decent one (we will ignore that "American accent" is like saying "European accent" - compare Boston Irish like Ted Kennedy to Boston Brahmin [no good examples left in politics, but there WERE when I was growing up] to Willie Nelson to Surfer-speak/ValleyGirl to William F. Buckley to the "customers at Pants'N'At" on the WDVE-FM Pittsburgh drive-time radio skit)?

That WOULD leave Laurie out, since he does a decent, if non-specific, one, which really surprised me. Most British actors consider themselves to have succeeded when they do a (bad) Southern accent, or a ridiculous attempt at NY/NJ accent, and stop at that. Olivier stunk every time he tried, for instance. We won't talk about Bennie Hill.

Re:We have a problem

[bugnuts]

I'd love to see Samuel L. Jackson do the role for a season or two ...

Snakes on a TARDIS!

Re:We have a problem

[Skye16]

Question: Since you typed "favorite" with a u, I'm going to assume you're not from America and have probably seen Paterson Joseph acting before. Tell me: can he do humor well?

My favorite part about David was the way he pulled off humor. Christopher did well as well, in a goofy "my god he's got gigantic ears!" sort of way, but David was amazing at it. How would you judge Paterson?

Re:We have a problem

[Skye16]

The sad part is the Pants'n'at skit is not far from the truth. You should hear some of the dudes call in to DVE requesting songs sometime. I realize we Pittsburghers are known for saying "Dahn" instead of "down", but sometimes it seems like people are doing it just to be as outrageous as possible.

Coming from Western PA, I've NEVER heard accents quite like that before. I thought Pants'n'at was over the top, but it really, really is not. Some people actually sound like that.

(Me? I've just got "jagger bushes" instead of briar/thorn bushes, though a lot of my family still says "rouf" or "roum" instead of roof or room - crazy, eh?)

Re:We have a problem

[Threni]

> we will ignore that "American accent" is like saying "European accent"

Irrelevant, given my use of an indefinite article.

Re:We have a problem

[gd2shoe]

Her moaning wasn't the only problem. She was just too dense and shallow for my liking. She made a good foil, but that was about it.

I sort of hope they reintroduce Sally Sparrow, though I won't hold my breath. As long as they don't foul up the casting of the Doctor, I expect to enjoy the show.

Re:We have a problem

[Anonymous Coward]

Hear, hear. He needn't even change out of his current character.

Re:We have a problem

[gd2shoe]

Addendum: my points were admittedly more directed at the writing than the actress. Still, if that was the most effective way they could find to use her, then it was time for her to leave. For further evidence, refer to your typecasting point. If I were her, I'd be screaming to get out of there. David Tennant, on the other hand, (my opinion) shouldn't be so scared of it. There is always need for a comedic lead actor.

Re:We have a problem

[Anonymous Coward]

There was a bunch on interviews on the DVD for one of the Tom Baker episodes, forget which one. Basically, all his co-workers said "Tom was an ass". Then Tom came on and said "I was an ass". So at least he was an self conscious ass.

Re:We have a problem

[Provos]

It was "The Five Doctors."

He states, "I was the first... the original, you might say!"

Re:We have a problem

[dwye]

> > we will ignore that "American accent" is like saying "European accent"
>
> Irrelevant, given my use of an indefinite article.

In that case, given that Hugh Laurie supposedly comes from Oxford, he likely would do a bang-on Boston Brahmin accent, since that is supposedly quite close to Oxfordian.

Re:We have a problem

[dwye]

> I've NEVER heard accents quite like that before.

I heard that stiff an accent from a couple substitute teachers, growing up. It took me two days to figure out what one meant when she said "Rid up your desks, then get your wraps." Thank god she didn't tell us to warshup, first :-)

Re:We have a problem

[ThomsonsPier]

He is very dry. If you'd like an example, try to track down Neverwhere, the BBC series based on the Neil Gaiman book. Paterson Joseph played the Marquis de Carabas and put a lot of people in mind of The Doctor (not any specific Doctor, just The Doctor in general).

From a cross section of Green Wing, his work with Mitchell and Webb (he was also in Hyperdrive, an SF comedy with Nick Frost, but I haven't seen that) and his straight acting roles, I'd say he's more qualified than most. He'd probably be a mite less exuberant, possibly slightly sinister, than Tenant's Doctor, but he easily has the range to play it however he likes.

Continuity

[Anonymous Coward]

Isn't the Doctor out of regenerations now?

Re:Continuity

[KasperMeerts]

No, they can regenerate 12 times. So we can still switch actors until the Thirteenth doctor, where they will have to invent a way to give him new "lives". The Master succeeded in this before he died permanently.

Re:Continuity

[Eudial]

Isn't the Doctor out of regenerations now?

Con-ti-nu-ity? What is this strange and alien concept? And what does it have to do with Doctor Who?

He's been out of generations for quite a while, if you count the fact that the serial "The Brain of Morbius" indicates that he's had several regenerations before the first doctor.

Re:Continuity

[otopico]

This was sidestepped by some Dr Who by saying the regeneration limit was artificial and the actual process of regenerating has more to do with the mind than the body. Some high energy being what not. But the catch is the person must not desire the change or their desire for it prevents it.

Yeah, Dr who people are odd, but it is science fiction so they can do pretty much whatever they want.

Re:Continuity

[BorgAssimilator]

The Master succeeded in this before he died permanently.

Which was really sad. However, The Master has been able to "come back to life" before, so fingers crossed.

Honestly, I'd be willing to pretend the last 4 seasons didn't really happen, so that they could be redone "correctly" (with no time war, etc).

Re:Continuity

[tuffy]

Yet "the Three Doctors" establishes that the first Doctor is, in fact, the first. The dating of UNIT stories is also impossible to pin down (an alternative 1970s? the 1980s?) not to mention the mess caused by the TV movie's "half-human" line. Even the Daleks' origins differ wildly between what's established in their original story versus what came much later in "Genesis of the Daleks."

Continuity has never been one of Doctor Who's strong points since the show is often self-contradictory.

Re:Continuity

[nine-times]

Yeah, Dr who people are odd, but it is science fiction so they can do pretty much whatever they want

I remember reading an interview recently of someone... I think it was the head writer of the current show... saying something to the effect of, "You can't have continuity errors when you're writing a scifi show about time travel, because no matter how crazy it gets, you can always come up with a crazy explanation."

I'm paraphrasing.

Re:Continuity

[gd2shoe]

I love Dr Who, but please don't call it science fiction.

Re:Continuity

[sesshomaru]

However, The Master has been able to "come back to life" before, so fingers crossed.

I wouldn't worry about that, they deliberately included that scene with his ring being taken at the end so they can bring him back if they want.

Of course, I can remember the Master being burned away in a fire till he was completely gone with nothing left, and coming back in a later episode.

He responded to the Doctor's "WTF?" (echoing those of us in the audience) with, "Come now Doctor, you know I'm indestructible."

Re:Continuity

[OrangeCowHide]

The 12 regeneration limit was added in as an arbitrary plot point to give a impetus to a single character in a specific episode. With a single stroke of the pen a Time Lord could only regenerate 12 times. This is fiction, as a result, with a single stroke of the pen the limitation could be removed. We knew the Doctor's real name for 8 years, before it was removed as easily as it was put in.

The deified Robert Holmes had a bit of tendency to demystify the Doctor, which is a bit of a shame. Of course, he never expected people would be talking about Doctor Who 45 years after it started (note: Robert Holmes not only created the 12 regeneration limit, he also wrote the majority of the episode which implied the Tom Baker Doctor is the 8th or 9th Doctor).

Re:Continuity

[MichaelSmith]

I love Dr Who, but please don't call it science fiction.

I think some episodes qualify as SF in isolation. It is more of a short story collection loosely connected by fantasy.

Re:Continuity

[Nazlfrag]

I must insist on misunderstanding you. What are you saying - that this is a documentary? Are you from LINDA?

Re:Continuity

[Nazlfrag]

You've almost got it. The real reason though, that continuity has never been one of Doctor Who's strong points is that time travel itself is often self-contradictory.

Re:Continuity

[Anonymous Coward]

Wow, a show about time travel having continuity issues. Who'da thunk it...

Re:Continuity

[Anonymous Coward]

If I recall, the regeneration limit imposed by the Time Lords. Now that they're gone he is free to go beyond twelve.

Re:Continuity

[RiotingPacifist]

as any good fan will tell you, the films are not canonical.

Re:Continuity

[IntlHarvester]

No. The "real" reason is that it was a long running show for children and nobody gave a shit.

Other franchises like Star Trek and Star Wars have continuity departments and even they can't get it right 100% of the time.

Re:Continuity

[chartreuse]

as any good fan will tell you, the films are not canonical.

...Except the TV movie, the only appearance of the Eighth Doctor. He's portrayed in the notebook in Human Nature.

Re:Continuity

[Your.Master]

Other franchises like Star Trek and Star Wars have continuity departments and even they can't get it right 100% of the time.

Or like...3% of the time.

Re:Continuity

[VShael]

The Brain of Morbius faces have long been debated in fandom. Some say it was a trick (artifically created memories by the Doctor), and some say it was previously unknown pre-Hartnell incarnations.
Some say that they were the incarnations of "The Other", from the Cartmel Masterplan.

The truth is, we just don't know.

Re:Continuity

[Anonymous Coward]

Why? Is it fact?

Re:Continuity

[PhilHibbs]

I wouldn't worry about that, they deliberately included that scene with his ring being taken at the end so they can bring him back if they want.

Lovely little homage to Flash Gordon there, I think.

Re:Continuity

[sesshomaru]

I'm going to have the Flash Gordon theme in my head for the rest of the day now.... Happy Halloween.

Re:Continuity

[Zephyn]

I'd sooner expect a show about time travel to have causality issues.

Re:Continuity

[Pranadevil2k]

Snob much? Admittedly Doctor Who barely has even the thinnest grounding in modern day science holding it up, but it's still science fiction. Until you can prove to me that time traveling aliens don't exist, anyway. Good luck with that :)

Re:Continuity

[isorox]

No, they can regenerate 12 times. So we can still switch actors until the Thirteenth doctor, where they will have to invent a way to give him new "lives". The Master succeeded in this before he died permanently.

We've seen 9 regenerations on screen, and had one implied (McGann->Eccleston). The next regeneration will be the penultimate one then, even assuming Hartnell was the first incarnation.

Re:Continuity

[wootcat]

Why assume it was only showing incarnations of the Doctor? It was a mind battle between Morbius and the Doctor. The most-accepted explanation at the time (going by early 80's Dr. Who conventions) was that the unknown faces were those of Morbius's previous regenerations.

Re:Continuity

[citylivin]

Perhaps you should watch some old dr who episodes instead of this kind of dreamy new stuff. How is it not science fiction? How is it different than babylon 5 or any other made up universe with fictional characters doing siencey things. Was timecop not science fiction as well in your mind? How about demoltion man? You can have adventure science fiction you know.

Is hitchhikers guide science fiction? Thats probably the closest literary parallel. Whimsical adventures through out space and time.

 

Re:Continuity

[HTH NE1]

We've seen 9 regenerations on screen, and had one implied (McGann->Eccleston).

Your count is wrong. There are ten actors in the canonical role. There were seven regeneration scenes (no scene between 6 and 7 (Colin Baker->Sylvester McCoy) except for after the fact for a convention, nor one between 8 and 9 for the McGann->Eccleston regeneration).

Or are you counting the abbreviated regeneration of Tennant to Tennant and producing another Tennant from the severed hand? We'll have to wait and see if that counts (if it does, then Jenny's counts against her as well).

Re:Continuity

[Rennt]

Honestly, I'd be willing to pretend the last 4 seasons didn't really happen, so that they could be redone "correctly" (with no time war, etc).

Really? I thought the Time War was a great plot device. It cleverly tied many of the classic show's threads together while signifying the fact that the current reality was in many ways different from the old series. I loved the fact that the Time Lords now never existed, and how ultimately futile their sacrifice was. It lays the foundation for a much darker Doctor - even if this was rarely portrayed convincingly by Tennent, he was just too damn chipper

Re:Continuity

[Anomalyst]

Other franchises like Star Trek and Star Wars have continuity departments and even they can't get it right 100% of the time.

Or like...3% of the time.

or as Spock would estimate "one to the tenth power" percent.

Re:Continuity

[Anonymous Coward]

you will be exterminated, exterminated

Re:Continuity

[Eudial]

You've almost got it. The real reason though, that continuity has never been one of Doctor Who's strong points is that time travel itself is often self-contradictory.

Actually, time travel is what saves continuity. Any change in time is bound to have effects in the future, so it's at least feasible that all that meddling in time can allow for one thing to be true in one episode, and another contradictory thing true in another.

Re:Continuity

[Eli Gottlieb]

At what point did we know The Doctor's real name?

Re:Continuity

[OrangeCowHide]

In The Armageddon Factor (1979) an old friend of the Doctor referred to him as Theta Sigma. For all intents and purposes, this was his real name. In The Happiness Patrol (1988) The doctor said (paraphrase) My old college nickname was Theta Sigma (and now we are back to not knowing his real name as it was just a nickname).

Re:Continuity

[isorox]

Or are you counting the abbreviated regeneration of Tennant to Tennant and producing another Tennant from the severed hand?

Yes, it was a regeneration, specifically said so on screen

We'll have to wait and see if that counts (if it does, then Jenny's counts against her as well).

Why? That was a clone

Re:Continuity

[MikeBabcock]

Science fiction is fiction. Tractor beams and replicators don't exist either, but Star Trek is still Sci Fi.

Time travelling aliens may never exist, but that alone doesn't make it pure fantasy.

Wasn't the 1st doctor

[Marxist Hacker 42]

Incredibly old? As in grandfather status in human terms, white hair and beard?

Re:Wasn't the 1st doctor

[KasperMeerts]

So? When a Doctor dies, be it from old age or as always in the series in a violent way, they regenerate again to another form, presumably much younger. The second Doctor looked 30 years younger than the first.

Re:Wasn't the 1st doctor

[Goldberg's Pants]

Not always younger. Or at least that's not part of the canon, but it does seem to go that way. (At least until you get up around Baker/McCoy).

If I remember my lore, the only non-death regen was Troughton/Pertwee where the regen was forced on the Doctor by the Timelords. May be remembering that wrong though.

Just hope RTD has no say in the casting given that fuckwit has said he wanted to cast JK Rowling AND Price Charles in the show.

God bless you for getting the show back on the air Russell, but you are a fucking moron. "Midnight" was awesome. Take the rest of your lame scripts with you and shove them up your arse. (And you'd probably enjoy you big gay ball of Welshness.)

Re:Wasn't the 1st doctor

[sesshomaru]

Hmmm... ok, that was before the concept of Regeneration was introduced, and in fact they said that the Timelords "changed his appearance" as a sort of punishment. (They also exiled him to the Earth, his Tardis wouldn't work.)

What if that was true? It wasn't a Regeneration, and so he has an extra one.

Or, and I think this is also perfectly valid Dr. Who canon, they could just have the magic blue Regeneration fairy show up and tap him with her interspacial quantum time energy wand (otherwise known as the magic Regeneration reset wand).

Re:Wasn't the 1st doctor

[Goldberg's Pants]

*spoilery if you've not seen season 3 of the new Who. (AKA the 2007 season.))

Troughton to Pertwee was before my time so I don't remember. Could be that the documentary I saw it in engaged in revisionism and referred to it as a regeneration.

I don't know why people keep going on about how he only has X number of regens left. This is a science fiction show. It would take a mere ONE scene to set up more.

Plus with the Timelords gone in the Time War (one of Russell T's only good ideas I think), was it ever stated it was a HARD rule that he only had that many, and it was sort of voluntary. (Like The Master choosing not to regenerate last season.) As in he could do it that much, and if he did more he'd be spanked by the Timelords?

If THAT was the case it's even easier. "Fuck 'em, they're dead" BOOM! Infinite lives.

Given the ridiculous revisionism and retarded crap RTD engaged in, seriously, it's not like this is a particular hard situation for Moff (or whoever is in charge then) to rectify.

Re:Wasn't the 1st doctor

[sesshomaru]

I'm pretty sure that it was later retconned into a forced regeneration, but I remember it differently. Of course, I was an exitable child back then, so I can't entirely trust my memories of the event.

Re:Wasn't the 1st doctor

[hal2814]

I'm a big fan of Spearhead from Space (first 3rd Doctor story) and I have seen the War Games (last 2nd Doctor story) quite a few times. While the Timelords never officially called it a regeneration in the War Games, in Spearhead the Doctor faces the same physical problems he always does post-regeneration. (When I say "always," I don't include 1st to 2nd as I've never seen that regeneration.) I think it's very safe to assume that what happened to the Doctor is indeed a regeneration.

"Or, and I think this is also perfectly valid Dr. Who canon, they could just have the magic blue Regeneration fairy show up and tap him with her interspacial quantum time energy wand (otherwise known as the magic Regeneration reset wand)."

No, they'll just use the Time War as an excuse. That's the standard method of dodging continuity issues with the previous series. Besides, any real Doctor Who fan will point out that there is no official Doctor Who canon. I personally don't think he really needs one. He goes about time and space changing things all the time. There are bound to be parts that don't add up when viewed linearly from the Doctor's perspective.

Re:Wasn't the 1st doctor

[Anonymous Monkey]

No, it's the wand of Rassilon.

Re:Wasn't the 1st doctor

[HTH NE1]

If the Time Lords can bring back The Master after he was sucked into the Eye of Harmony....

Didn't they have two or three contradicting reasons for the destruction of Atlantis already?

Re:Wasn't the 1st doctor

[Eli Gottlieb]

Actually I rather liked "Bad Wolf" and "Parting of the Ways". RTD's finales actually worked with the Eccleston Doctor.

Re:Wasn't the 1st doctor

[Goldberg's Pants]

hehehe And I wasn't even a fetus. I think I was about two years from my "release date" when Troughton became Pertwee.

Patrick Stewart

[fangorious]

I know he was slated to play the Meddling Monk, but maybe he can take over as the Dr himself instead.

Re:Patrick Stewart

[dalurka]

He is truly a great actor and he would surely be a great doctor..
But my head would explode and it would be unwatchable for me...just as x-men...
I keep seeing Jean-Luc :(

Re:Patrick Stewart

[nurb432]

While he's a great actor, I don't think his personality would work. He's not 'aloof' enough.

Now, Ben Browder is just enough 'out of it' for it to work. ( except he's not british of course.. )

Re:Patrick Stewart

[Goldberg's Pants]

I read that the BBC can't cast anyone over 40 due to insurance reasons.

Don't know if there's any truth to that.

Re:Patrick Stewart

[fangorious]

Not aloof enough? Don't you know he's seen everything? He's seen it all!

Re:Patrick Stewart

[mr100percent]

I dunno, the doctor is sorta jovial and flippant, while Patrick Stewart plays more serious parts.

Think of it this way, Patrick Stewart can play the doctor about as well as he could play James Bond. I didn't like the Roger Moore humor too much

Re:Patrick Stewart

[Redfeather]

Ben Browder? Perhaps. Although he'd be a better Jack Harkness than Doctor. Now Alec Newman, on the other hand. Who's more aloof than Paul fracking Muad'Dib?

Re:Patrick Stewart

[Anonymous Coward]

Patrick Stewart? No way. How about Rowan Atkinson? Or Sean Connery? They'd make excellent Doctors. Even Mel Gibson would be better than Patrick Stewart. Robert Picardo should be chosen way before Patrick Stewart.

Re:Patrick Stewart

[Anonymous Coward]

Ben Browder? Perhaps. Although he'd be a better Jack Harkness than Doctor. Now Alec Newman, on the other hand. Who's more aloof than Paul fracking Muad'Dib?

I think that the best Doctor would be Seth Rogen.

Re:Patrick Stewart

[DragonTHC]

I thought he was going to play the doctor?

Re:Patrick Stewart

[Artifakt]

Actually, Rowan Atkinson has been The Doctor before - Google: "Dr. Who and the Curse of Fatal Death" for details.
(It should all count, dammit. There have thus been at least 14 reincarnations through Tennant, including Joanna Lumley and Hugh Grant. Throw them out, and what's your justification for including McCoy? Plus tossing Lumley is sexist.).

Re:Patrick Stewart

[transwarp]

Robert Picardo should be chosen way before Patrick Stewart.

I'm confused...is this about the Doctor, or the Doctor?

Re:Patrick Stewart

[ynohoo]

maybe it is time for a female Doctor? I like the potential...

Re:Patrick Stewart

[sesshomaru]

Now, Ben Browder is just enough 'out of it' for it to work. ( except he's not british of course.. )

He could use his "evil Peacekeeper captain" accent for the whole series, which I know isn't British... but hey, I'd watch.

Re:Patrick Stewart

[Yvan256]

The doctor: you want me to play what?
BBC: we want you to play Doctor Who.
The doctor: I'm sorry I haven't picked a name for myself yet.
BBC: No, we want you to play Doctor Who.
The doctor: Doctor Who?
BBC: That's right.
The doctor: Well, tell me the name already! ... etc.

Re:Patrick Stewart

[WCLPeter]

maybe it is time for a female Doctor? I like the potential...

Particularly if they bring back Jenny somehow. "You're my dad, but now you're my mum?"

Me, I'm still hoping that they figure out a way for the Doctor to break to the time locks on the Time War so that they can do another Five Doctors episode with the remaining Doctor's still living.

Re:Patrick Stewart

[mabhatter654]

I like Robert Picardo for the part, once you stop type-casting him into artificial, robotic, stiff roles he does pretty well.

Re:Patrick Stewart

[mabhatter654]

we can now "state the nature of the medial emergency" then he can take the Tardis back in time thru the gate to keep it from happening!

Re:Patrick Stewart

[Anonymous Coward]

Romana went through 4 or 5 try out bodies before she regenerated into Lalla Ward. Maybe female regenerations don't count in the regeneration limit?

Re:Patrick Stewart

[AmiMoJo]

Don't worry, the Daily Mail campaign to prevent him being female or gay has already started...

Re:Patrick Stewart

[uncledrax]

Me, I'm still hoping that they figure out a way for the Doctor to break to the time locks on the Time War so that they can do another Five Doctors episode with the remaining Doctor's still living.

First rule of DrWho^H^H^H^H^H Sci-Fi: If it needs to be done. we'll do it. then just make an excuse to smooth it over alittle.

Aside from that, the Time lock has technically already been broken by Dalek Caan, so we know it's possible. They could make it easy as 'The Lock has already been broken'; or what I would enjoy; is a series of epi's during the timewar; sorta like when T.Baker crossed into E-Space and they had a few E-Space epis.

Re:Patrick Stewart

[Anonymous Coward]

(Reference to Patrick Stewart's appearance on Extras, for those who don't get it.)

Re:Patrick Stewart

[tehcyder]

Plus tossing Lumley is sexist

Sounds like fun though.

Re:Patrick Stewart

[WCLPeter]

True, so true.

Although Dalek Caan (Khan?) went insane by going into the Time Locked timestream. Since he broke the lock would that make everyone else okay to enter, or would they also go insane. Either way, it *would* make for some good story telling.

Heck, I'd love to see Old Cybermen go up against New Cybermen. Or the Doctor to run into some of his other companions.

Re:Patrick Stewart

[rbergstrom]

I get fits of uncontrollable laughter when Patrick Stewart sings "I like big butts" in that one American Dad episode... I'm still wondering exactly how they got him for that part.

Re:Patrick Stewart

[Eli Gottlieb]

Actually I agree with you on Alec Newman. He's already had experience at playing a Time Lord!

Re:Patrick Stewart

[Anonymous Coward]

Lalla Ward (Romana) tells a story where she was once shared a lift with Patrick Stewart. His comment to her was along the lines of "SciFi? I don't know how you can bear it." Apparently they've yet to cross paths again so she can ask him how all that Shakespearian stuff is working out for him.

Re:Patrick Stewart

[Redfeather]

It doesn't get much more aloof than sacrificing yourself and your family for the greater good.

Re:Patrick Stewart

[igb]

Stewart's too deep in stage at the moment. He did Anthony and Cleopatra (which I didn't see) and The Tempest (which I did) at the RSC a couple of seasons ago, to wide acclaim. He then did Macbeth with Chichester Festival (which was stunning) which transferred to London and then New York. This season he was Claudius to Tennant's Hamlet at the RSC and will shortly be starting the London transfer. The fuss was about Teannat, who was indeed very good, but Stewart (and Penny Downie, and Oliver Ford-Davis) provided the backbone of the production. Next year he's touring Godot with Ian McKellan, and has talked about spending the next ten years making up for lost stage time. He has to be lining up for a Lear, for example.

ian

Interview with David Tennant

[BorgAssimilator]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7698200.stm

It's an interview with David Tennant about his thoughts of the show and him leaving. The best thing I saw in this article was the fact that Davies was leaving, hopefully paving the way for better episodes..... (but that's just my opinion).

Re:Interview with David Tennant

[sunami]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7698200.stm

It's an interview with David Tennant about his thoughts of the show and him leaving. The best thing I saw in this article was the fact that Davies was leaving, hopefully paving the way for better episodes..... (but that's just my opinion).

And Steve Moffat is picking up the reigns of main writer, the man who, in my opinion, has made the best episodes of the revived series.

Re:Interview with David Tennant

[TheRaven64]

The best thing I saw in this article was the fact that Davies was leaving, hopefully paving the way for better episodes

Not so much that Davies is leaving as that Moffat is taking over. He's the author of pretty much all of the best episodes since it came back.

Re:Interview with David Tennant

[rhyder128k]

Agreed. I'm a fan of Davies other work but I don't like what he's done with Dr Who. The endless soppy moments and the fixation on present day earth are the reasons that I stopped watching.

Re:Interview with David Tennant

[Goldberg's Pants]

Davies leaving is an awesome thing. The man has written ONE decent script for the new show. ("Midnight").

I will never forgive him for his meddling with the "Gay Daleks on Broadway" one from season 3, and the fucking farting Slitheen.

Re:Interview with David Tennant

[BorgAssimilator]

All of the things he wrote were the same if you stop and think about it. Always some massive problem with no way of fixing it, then one little thing happens and all the enemies go bye-bye.

Also, the "fat babbies" episode (S04E01)? wtf? Did that even have a plot?

Re:Interview with David Tennant

[Anonymous Coward]

Which episodes did he write ?

Was 'Blink' one of them ?

Re:Interview with David Tennant

[Anonymous Coward]

I agree, midnight was a great episode. The problem with Davies is he gets heat magazine readers watching. Gaping plotholes, pointless running around, high concept drama leading to lazy deus ex machina and all topped with lashings of overly-sentimental cheese. It's awful, but let's be realistic. If all that goes, the idiots stop watching and the budget gets slashed.

I actually only watched a few episodes of new who, blink and midnight included. I rewatched an unearthly child the other year and the dead planet story which was screened shortly after Verity Lambert died, these really show "new who" for the embarrasment it is.

Re:Interview with David Tennant

[PieSquared]

Blink was probably my favorite episode, so I guess I might as well find out for you...

From wikipedia:

"Blink" is the tenth episode of the third series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was first broadcast on 9 June 2006, and is the only episode in the 2007 series written by Steven Moffat.

Re:Interview with David Tennant

[deniable]

Yes to Blink. He also wrote The Empty Child. Mummy...

Pretty much all of the really creepy episodes are his.

Re:Interview with David Tennant

[Anonymous Coward]

And Steve Moffat is picking up the reigns of main writer

REINS. You pick up REINS. They're how you control a horse, or a team pulling a carriage.
  A king doesn't find his rule-over-his-subjects lying around on the ground! "Oh, that's where I left it! No wonder nobody would obey me."

  A king reigns in his lifetime. You rein in a horse who's running out of control.

  Thank you, this has been The Grammar Nazi Corner, here on /. Brought to you by a generous endowment from the World Nitpickers Society.

Re:Interview with David Tennant

[sapphire wyvern]

Yep. "Blink", "The Empty Child" and "The Doctor Dances", "The Girl in the Fireplace", "Silence in the Library" and "Forest of the Dead" (hey, who turned out the lights?). In other words, every single one of the best stories in the new Doctor Who (while Russell T Davies is sadly over-represented in the "worst stories" category, although he's not responsible for all of them).

Also, he wrote much of "Press Gang" and quite a few "Coupling" episodes, as well as a recent adaptation of "Jekyll" that was awesome. He's one of my favourite television writers in fact. I am looking forward to the next season *so much*.

Re:Interview with David Tennant

[Artifakt]

Spoiler:

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V

Look at the last episodes of new season 4. The Daleks are incredibly powerful, and there's a certain Deus Ex quality to the near regeneration that turns out not to be, and to the ending. But still, the 'good guys' are constantly trying some trick or other, many of which cause real problems for the Daleks even if they don't eliminate the whole menace. At one point, the Daleks think they have killed Jack, and of course, he gets better, (but that's no surprise to the regular viewers). The Daleks keep thinking they have won various small victories such as capturing various companions, and many times the audience knows immediately they really haven't. By the second half, various of the Daleks enemies have managed to sumggle in dimension hopping devices, powerful explosives, big guns, various communicators, and a supposedly destroyed TARDIS, and the audience gets to see half a dozen setbacks for the Daleks in process. It actually looks pretty likely that at least some of this will come together into a final, successful plan.
        In the end, it's a heavily bootstrapped Donna to the rescue, which is only obvious in retrospect from a few clues in previous episodes, but still, all through the two shows, the Doctor's whole side is proactive, and every single former companion, (and even some of the Torchwood cast that have never actually met the Doctor) demonstrates how they have been preparing advance contingency plans for just such crises as this one. That's really pretty rare in TV, where the heros usually just react to the more proactive villians until the last little bit of the show.

Re:Interview with David Tennant

[AJWM]

"Blink" took the Hugo Award (voted by science fiction fans registered for Worldcon) this year for "Best Dramatic Presentation - Short Form". In 2007 that award went to the Dr. Who episode "The Girl in the Fireplace", also by Steven Moffat, and the year before that to "The Empty Child", again by Steven Moffat.

Not a bad track record.

Re:Interview with David Tennant

[actor_au]

He wrote all of Press Gang and Coupling. A lot of British shows tend to have a single writer or fixed small writing team, its why their TV-show runs can be so short, because one guy pumping out scripts can become hard to keep up.
J. Michael Straczynski's writing on Babylon Five(he wrote much of season 1 and all of seasons 2-5 with the exception of one episode) is one of the few times anyones ever written full hour long 21-23 episode seasons solo.

Moffat also wrote Time Crash(the Fifth and Tenth Doctor cross-over charity special last year) and The Curse of the Fatal Death(another charity special with Richard E Grant, Rowan Atkinson, Jim Broadbent ,Hugh Grant, Joanna Lumely all playing the Doctor), I've had a man-crush on him since I watched Press Gang.

RTD did write some horrible episodes(Gridlock, Last of the Timelords(not horrible until the end), the last two Christmas Episodes, , ), , I think his problem was that he had great ideas for huge arcs but didn't believe in the little details that lead up to the later important big picture. His humour has been good, not brilliant, but he's been funny at times and Midnight and Turn Left were two brilliant episodes that I felt will really cement him as a good Who writer looking back (although I sometimes think that Turn Left was only really strong because the actors in it just hit their roles perfectly with a level of intensity that really hit the script for six), also in previous seasons Love & Monsters and to a smaller degree Boomtown(the whole boogie board thing was stupid but it was an interesting look at the doctor facing up to his responsibilities) were pretty good as well.

Re:Interview with David Tennant

[mabhatter654]

what happens, when it reigns on reining, grammar nazi, while they rain in the lolcats?...

If a grammar nazi dies on the internet from an aneurysm reading slashdot and doesn't post before he goes, does an lolcat die?

Re:Interview with David Tennant

[Anonymous Coward]

I just died from an aneurysm, you insensitive clod!

Re:Interview with David Tennant

[Anonymous Coward]

Ooh, ooh! "I'm so fancy and what not!" Why don't you just say "my head asplode" like the rest of us?

Re:Interview with David Tennant

[Anonymous Coward]

Don't ask me, I'm dead now! Have a little respect for the deceased!

Re:Interview with David Tennant

[aadvancedGIR]

That's by far the best news I read in the sad last couple of mounthes.

Re:Interview with David Tennant

[Anonymous Coward]

I liked the impossible planet (two episodes actually). Who was the writer?

Re:Interview with David Tennant

[VShael]

J. Michael Straczynski's writing on Babylon Five(he wrote much of season 1 and all of seasons 2-5 with the exception of one episode) is one of the few times anyones ever written full hour long 21-23 episode seasons solo.

Nope, sorry. He didn't. Season 2 had several writers. Seasons 3 and 4 were pure Joe.
Season 5 had one script by Neil Gaiman.

Re:Interview with David Tennant

[Anonymous Coward]

"Blink" took the Hugo Award (voted by science fiction fans registered for Worldcon) this year for "Best Dramatic Presentation - Short Form".

I always thought Carey Mulligan (Sally Sparrow) would make an awesome companion.

Re:Interview with David Tennant

[Sockatume]

I think that Davies can write good episodes when he's not engaging with world-endangering, continuity-throttling superheroic peril. Certainly Midnight was one of the strongest episodes of the last season, and it was an archetypal "bottle episode". So I hope that he comes back to write a little, as long as they keep him away from the main continuity.

Re:Interview with David Tennant

[Janeshat]

Coupling, written by Moffat, is one of my favorite comedy sitcoms of all time. If you are an american like me, and missed this wonderful show go find it and see it! Sure it is a little different from writing for Dr. Who but good writing is good writing. I think Moffat will do a great job as long as he gets some good actors and a decent budjet to pull it off. After the writing, money is everything for a good sci-fi. I love Joss Wheedon too, but he is always crippled by a low budjet from the studios. Then when he fights it he ends up getting his show cancelled.

Re:Interview with David Tennant

[Skye16]

Blink was freaky shit. I had planned for months afterward to get a crying angel with its hands over its eyes so I could strategically place it directly outside the bathroom door when my fiancee was in the shower.

I still think it's one of the greatest evil plans of all time (including any of the Master's diabolical plots), but I just don't have the energy to do it.

If I could pull it off though, it'd be worth the months of no sex. Everytime I thought of it until the day I died, I'd probably be stuck roffling.

(Unless she got me back, then I'd be locked in a closet with the lights on for all eternity)

Re:Interview with David Tennant

[AgentSmith]

Ooh, ooh! "I'm so fancy and what not!" Why don't you just say "my head asplode" like the rest of us?

So Moe, what do you call a garage?

Re:Interview with David Tennant

[mattycole]

My car-hold.

Re:Interview with David Tennant

[actor_au]

I didn't know that. I thought it was everything after Season 1, cheers for the update.

Re:Interview with David Tennant

[MikeBabcock]

J. Michael Straczynski's writing on Babylon Five(he wrote much of season 1 and all of seasons 2-5 with the exception of one episode) is one of the few times anyones ever written full hour long 21-23 episode seasons solo.

And the plot arcs and interconnections as well as the consistency of characters has had no equal since in serial writing.

Babylon 5 deserves a good HD remaster with fresh CGI, it was filmed with that in mind even (wide screen, quality film).

PS, watching Babylon 5 is good for your understanding of the difference between 'rogue' and 'evil' in the military/government ;-)

New direction

[Anonymous Coward]

I love Tennant but this could be a good thing - current show runner Russell T Davies is leaving at exactly the same time, so not only will there but a new Doctor, but also a new guiding hand on the show.

It would be nice if we could have the Doctor actually leaving Earth for more than 1-2 episodes a season again. Less soppy romance with companions swooning over him couldn't hurt, either.

Re:New direction

[Anonymous Coward]

I agree. Tennant was alright but way too "starry-eyed" for my tastes. They should get a more bad-ass doctor this time. Like.. maybe Samuel L. Jackson. Yeah! Royale w/ cheese, M**F***r.

Daniel Craig

[Anonymous Coward]

Daniel Craig to provide a muscular reinterpretation of Doctor Who.

"After playing another British icon who keeps reincarnating himself and playing with gadgets I feel eminently qualified for the role of the Doctor."

When asked if his time machine would continue to be a TARDIS Craig replied "No, Omega".

~ allrite

We need an older character to play the doctor.

[Anonymous Coward]

The old doctor who was all about a kindly gradfather/father figure giving wise advice to his young companions. Now we have a doctor who is obviously young, being disrespected by an obnoxious older companion. And nowadays the sum of his intellect is contained in his hacking his way, mcgyver-style, out of every situation.

TOM BAKER AND JON PERTWEE RULE!

Re:We need an older character to play the doctor.

[Anonymous Coward]

Bullcrap.

Doctor Who has never been as successful as it is at this point in time. There are millions upon millions of young fans out there who have only ever known David Tennant, or perhaps Christopher Eccleston. All they know is a younger Doctor.

Russell T Davies expressed the opinion that the Doctor would probably only go to "younger" (i.e between 30 and 40 years old) because of the demands of making the show - he believes older actors would find it too much to cope with. (And before anyone brings up Pertwee, or Troughton or Hartnell, making the show is radically different to how it was in their eras. Jon Pertwee certainly paid a physical toll from his time on the show.)

There are many, many talented young-ish actors in the UK who, like David Tennant, are well enough known that the role of the Doctor could push them onto the A-List. I'd suggest looking at people Steven Moffat's worked with in the past, and that the casting might come from there. It worked for RTD after all!

Re:We need an older character to play the doctor.

[Anonymous Coward]

One of the tags is "Patrick Stewart", but I imagine I'd have trouble watching that without thinking "Captain Picard". If they were to try an older actor (instead of a newcomer, which I find more likely) I'd say it's too bad Ian Holm is nearing 80 - he has the perfect persona, including the capability to play the darker side (enigmatic and guarded), as well as the lighter side (quirky and compassionate), yielding a combination of the best of Troughton, Baker, and Davison. They probably couldn't afford him, anyway.

- T

Re:We need an older character to play the doctor.

[Anonymous Coward]

William Hartnell was a kindly grandfather/father figure, but he's pretty much the only one.

Patrick Troughton was hardly kindly, nor was Jon Pertwee.

Tom Baker wasn't even very old (he may have felt old to some of us when we were younger) and his defining characteristic as the Doctor was eccentricity. He was mostly aloof and unpredictable toward most companions, except of course Romana.

Peter Davison was perhaps the most "normal" Doctor until then, he was merely a tad aloof.

Then we had Colin Baker, who actually pretty much made the Doctor into an arrogant asshole.

Perhaps Sylvester McCoy could be considered a father-figure like Doctor as well, I'm not sure (I haven't watched those episodes in a while).

In any case, the character of the Doctor changes with each regeneration. This, I think, is a good thing. What the next one will be like...who knows. The only thing I hope they change compared to the Eccleston/Tennant variants is to avoid such overtly romantic attachments between the Doctor and his companions. It should be the exception rather than the rule.

The MacGyver-style problem solving has also always been part of Doctor Who. IMHO it's a good thing.

Re:We need an older character to play the doctor.

[MikeBabcock]

Although it would be highly entertaining to offend the Star Trek crowd by having Dr Who meet up with some Enterprise-looking starship looking like Q.

I know I have the key here somewhere

[TornCityVenz]

Where does one go to try out for the part?

Re:I know I have the key here somewhere

[Anonymous Coward]

Where does one go to try out for the part?

Just borrow a video camera for your audition tape your parent's basement will do just fine.

This reminds me

[Anonymous Coward]

There are some shows that you watch from time to time just to see your favorite actor/actress and you actually grow fond of that.
Definitely Dr. Who ain't one of them.

Life on marzzzzzz

[Shanoyu]

That last master (Sims) would make a great doctor. Plus there's history of time lords regenerating into people they've seen before. At least Romana did.

Re:Life on marzzzzzz

[ThomsonsPier]

Simm. Simm, for goodness' sake; Simm!

It never ceases to infuriate me when someone claiming to have appreciated an artist's work can't even get their ^$(^ing name right.

Rant aside, I agree. I doubt that he'd do it, though. There would be some interesting character scenes to be had were he to meet as The Doctor people he'd pissed off as The Master. I'm becoming rather tired, however, of seeing the same faces in every BBC programme. Can we have some new talent please (note: talent, not Freema Agyeman)?

Re:Life on marzzzzzz

[Rennt]

Couldn't agree more. The first time I saw his manic portrayal of the Master I remember thinking "now THAT is a Timelord!"

The next Doctor should be ...

[Anonymous Coward]

It's time for the Doctor to go in a different direction. Tennant and Eccleston are both young, both relatively average-sized, both white males. The white male thing is an established part of the Doctor's identity; the male I think has to stay (based on everything that's been seen of Time Lord regenerations in the show's history); the white may be more flexible. I'll come back to that.

The age can be changed, of course - other doctors have been significantly older. After these two, I think it's time; not for an old doctor, but perhaps someone with a bit more maturity. I also think it would be nice to find someone with the physical stature and powerful presence that Tom Baker brought to the role. That's been missing in every Doctor since. The chosen actor should, of course, have a demonstrated ability with both comedic and dramatic roles.

So, let's see. Middle-aged, powerfully built, intelligent, charismatic, funny but with a serious side, male but not necessarily white.

The next Doctor should be Lenny Henry.

Re:The next Doctor should be ...

[Anonymous Coward]

That'd work if he played it serious and brooding. The minute he opens his huge yammering gob and emits that irritating laugh, the entire universe will fold in on itself. That'd be about 10 minutes into his first episode.

Re:The next Doctor should be ...

[schon]

So, let's see. Middle-aged, powerfully built, intelligent, charismatic, funny but with a serious side, male but not necessarily white.

Jeremy Clarkson! :)

Re:The next Doctor should be ...

[deniable]

Mr. Dawn French? I can see that going off the rails in so many cool ways. Actually, ISTR that the Doctor can 'try out' different looks after a regeneration. It could be fun to have an episode of different possibilities just to play with the audience.

Let's see; Lenny Henry, Rik Mayal, Simon Pegg...

Re:The next Doctor should be ...

[Rosy At Random]

Or how about Ainsley Harriot?

OK, no.

But, seriously:

Jeremy Paxman
Desmond Morris
- for the serious presence

Bill Bailey
- for the comedy

Bruce Campbell
- for the sheer awesomeness

Chris Morris
- for my favourite of the lot

Re:The next Doctor should be ...

[Anonymous Coward]

Bill Nighy.

However, I'm expecting it to be James Nesbitt, based on Nesbit's prior connection to Steve Moffat (They worked together for "Jeckyll", who (i believe) will be the producer replacing RTD.

Re:The next Doctor should be ...

[mabhatter654]

Mos Def?

Re:The next Doctor should be ...

[mabhatter654]

Somebody like Zoe Deschanel would make a great partner but you'd need a strong older actor to balance it and scripts that went for "fantastic" as opposed to "dramatic".

Re:The next Doctor should be ...

[XDirtypunkX]

I second that. Imagine Clarkson drifting the TARDIS around the moon, landing on E and then kicking an alien in the face! I think I just came!

Re:The next Doctor should be ...

[Blakey Rat]

I'm sorry, but did you SEE "The Happening?"

She's got weirdly compelling eyes, but Zooey Deschanel can't act her way out of a paper bag. Or she can't act her way out of a shitty M. Night Shyamalan flick, which frankly is a much worse thing to be trapped in than a paper bag.

Re:The next Doctor should be ...

[mabhatter654]

but she was perfect in HHGTG

Hugh Laurie

[Enderandrew]

It probably won't happen, but I'd love Hugh Laurie to play the new doctor.

Re:Hugh Laurie

[Thiez]

> Docter, what must we do?
> Dunno, but it's not lupus!

Re:Hugh Laurie

[hal2814]

I don't think Laurie could pull off the British accent. Zach Braff's was waaay better.

Re:Hugh Laurie

[Enderandrew]

I think it would be great if we were Doctor House and the THE Doctor at the same time.

If you haven't read his book, you should. The man is pretty clever. And check out some of his out British shows such as "A Bit of Fry and Laurie". He can certainly do a bit of comedy if needed.

Re:Hugh Laurie

[schon]

I don't think Laurie could pull off the British accent.

Umm, is my sarcasm detector broken, or are you completely unaware of Hugh Laurie's work outside of "House"?

Re:Hugh Laurie

[the-amazing-blob]

For those of you confused by the parent here, Laurie was born in Oxford, so he certainly has an appropriate accent. He's just quite good with an American accent for House, MD.

Re:Hugh Laurie

[MichaelSmith]

Hmmm thats a thought. Definitely time for an older Doctor.

Re:Hugh Laurie

[hal2814]

For those of you confused by the joke...

Re:Hugh Laurie

[Your.Master]

Errr...is House not comedy? Have I been watching it for entirely different reasons than everybody else?

House is hilarious. The plots are flimsy and the drama contrived, which is not atypical for a comedy.

Re:Hugh Laurie

[Killjoy_NL]

I also love Laurie for his work on Blackadder, but that's just me ;)

Re:Hugh Laurie

[Anonymous Coward]

Naw..not Hugh Laurie.
I'd like to see the guy that played Wolverine as the Doctor, though.

Re:Hugh Laurie

[prelelat]

it's not just you it's 90% comedy. His sarcasim and tricks are what keep me coming back.

Bloody hilarious. I love how he got the job on the show as being "American"

Re:Hugh Laurie

[Anonymous Monkey]

Hugh Laurie as the Doctor. Patric Stewart as the Master.

Re:Hugh Laurie

[MikeBabcock]

Sorry, you're killing me here :-)

I'd love to see Hugh as the Doctor, but I don't want House to end either.

Probably will be James Nesbitt.

[Anonymous Coward]

Steven Moffat is taking over the writing and has a history of using actors he knows and likes.

Not that there would be anything wrong with that. He was brilliant in Jekyll.

The Doctor's Regenerations

[nordaim]

Time Lords were limited, I believe by Rassilon, to 12 regeneration cycles, allowing for a possible total of 13 Doctors. However, in one of the early seasons, this limit is removed from the Doctor and it is not clear whether or not it was ever reapplied.

But, with characters such as Captain Jack or Jenny (the Doctor's clone-daughter), it would be easy enough to write it out so the show can go on forever.

I am still hoping the 13th doctor is evil.

Re:The Doctor's Regenerations

[VShael]

However, in one of the early seasons, this limit is removed from the Doctor and it is not clear whether or not it was ever reapplied.

In the best wikipedia tradition.... citation?

When the regenerations are over

[pembo13]

I'm curious what they will do then. Would be messed up to have to end there.

Re:When the regenerations are over

[the-amazing-blob]

By this point, the Time Lords will have returned (through some highly confusing and mildly self-contradictory explanation of Time-Locks), and they'll grant the Doctor more regenerations.

Mod UP, Correct

[Anonymous Coward]

Beat me to it.

Although, I thought the 11th Dr. was a Peter Davidson episode. Although I may have that confused with something about 2 versions of the Brigadier meeting and causing some type of energy-smenergy thing that saved the day.

But anyhow, the Valeyard wasn't the 11st Dr. mentioned in the OP.

Re:Mod UP, Correct

[VShael]

Indeed. You're thinking of Mawdryn Undead.

Intriguingly...

[denzacar]

I just went to Facebook to copy/paste this news to a friend of mine who is a dedicated Wholigan.
And one of those annoying ads tried to inform me about "Work in Britain - Find well paid work in the UK using the largest job search engine." etc. etc.

A joke made by David Tennant:

[NoobixCube]

I think he mentioned in one of his stage appearances (jokingly) that they'd replace him with Daniel Radcliffe (famous for playing Harry Potter). Ever since then I've been taunting my brother with the idea, and he will be very pissed off if Daniel Radcliffe is the next doctor. I'm actually still on the fence on that, though. I think he wouldn't make a bad doctor, but he is still a little young for the role. With the right acting, though, youth can just vanish. If he does it right, his age wouldn't be a problem, and with a couple of exceptions, the Doctor has been getting younger-looking with each regeneration.

Re:A joke made by David Tennant:

[Anonymous Coward]

So, what, the next doctor after him will be an infant?

Re:A joke made by David Tennant:

[BarneyL]

In his interview here Tennant claims his choice for the next doctor is Wee Jimmy Krankie.
I'm sure a woman who has spent the whole of here entertainment career pretending to be her husband's son would go down just great. (Hey if Fry can be his own grandfather why can't Doctor Who get in on the action).
I guess if we can't have the Krankies then I'd settle for Alan Rickman as second best though...

Re:A joke made by David Tennant:

[NoobixCube]

Ooo, Alan Rickman. I didn't even think of him. He'd definitely make a good Doctor. Whenever I think of him, though, I remember his role in Dogma more than anything else.

One word:

[Anonymous Coward]

Gambon.

Anne Robinson for the Doctor!

[SEE]

No, wait, Scott Bakula!

No! Arnold Schwarzenegger, of course!

Oh, oh, how about a CGI Doctor provided by Lucasfilm!

Re:Anne Robinson for the Doctor!

[LMacG]

> Oh, oh, how about a CGI Doctor provided by Lucasfilm!

Meesa no think that's a good idea.

The best new Doctor would be...

[The Rizz]

Don Warrington. He has a sense of presence that would be excellent for the next Doctor.

Ray Stevenson

[Bullfish]

would make a great doctor, as anyone who has seen Rome would attest. And it would be great to have a doctor who wasn't as physical deficient as many of doctors

Next doctor

[Anonymous Coward]

There's a lot of terrible suggestions for the next doctor. Simm would be good, but I can't see them using him for some reason.

What Doctor Who really needs is Philip Glenister.

NOOOO

[Aphoxema]

Why?! Why do you leave us, David Tennant?! He was my favorite... Oh well! I'd love to see Simon Pegg but he was already an antagonist in another Doctor Who episode. Which isn't necessarily stopping anything...

Re:NOOOO

[DigitalSorceress]

Simon Pegg is one of my favorites... and I agree, having been a one-episode baddie does not really put him out of the running.

Re:NOOOO

[Anonymous Coward]

but he was already an antagonist in another Doctor Who episode. Which isn't necessarily stopping anything...

Yep. Colin Baker appears in a 5th doctor story (Arc of Infinity, maybe?) and IIRC, he kills him off. Then he later on becomes the 6th doctor himself.

So Simon Pegg isn't exactly out of the running on those merits :)

Re:NOOOO

[Aphoxema]

I'm not all that into English media but Simon Pegg really sticks in my mind with Shaun of The Dead and Hot Fuzz, when I saw him in that one episode of Doctor Who it just really made my day.

Philip Glenister for Doctor!

[Telvin_3d]

I know this will be one of a million posts where people post their dream Doctor, but what the hell.

I would be more than overjoyed if Philip Glenister was the next Docotor. He won't be familiar to most of us outside of the UK but he should be. For those who are interested, he is best known for his role as DCI Gene Hunt in Life on Mars. I think he is perfect for a lot of reasons. First, he is physically very different than any recent doctor. Older, larger frame, physicly more imposing. Second, he has the balls out charisma to take over a room just by standing there quietly. Third, and most importantly, he is a hell of an actor with a powerful and subtle control of his emotional range.

I think that the most important thing in finding the next Doctor will be making the character unique. The one thing guaranteed to fail is trying to continue Tennant's Doctor instead of carving out a mind space for a new one.

new actors

[Anonymous Coward]

David Hewlett was dreaming of the job... They could make him a Canadian...
Patrick Stewart? DREAM ON... I'm amazed he's even going to be a guest star.
John Simm? Suuure. Isn't he a pretty famous actor already? He'd last one season before he got bored or wanted too much money and move on to other things.

Re:new actors

[jameskojiro]

David Hewlett would make an excellent Doctor, he has a bit of eccentricity and he will be needing work soon!

He can play the nerdy role and he can do humor pretty good, just watch "A Dog's Breakfast". He is pretty much one of the better characters of Stargate Atlantis.

The Stargate Franchise keeps stealing actors from other sci-fi shows, time for them to give back. :)

Suggestions ... for the next one

[billlion]

I'd like to see Alan Davis in the role. That would be funny.

Re:Suggestions ... for the next one

[chappel]

I heard someone mention Eddy Izzard - now THAT would be funny. "Tea and cake or DEATH!!"

any reason why he must do an English accent?

[ChunderDownunder]

The Doctor is alien - Tennant, for example, is Scottish. From the 'making of' episodes following each Who episode, his native accent is quite contrasted.
For that matter, how come all the aliens speak the Queen's English, given the show is filmed in Wales?
Try this for the regeneration episode... Explain as a plot device, in trek terms, that the Universal Translator is broken. Which is why when landing all the 'native' dialogue is subtitled into English from a language that sounds remarkably to viewers' ears like Welsh! The doctor regenerates but can initially only speak this alien language. Consequently, we have a new doctor with a non-English accent:
Ioan Gruffudd, no stranger to scifi through Fantastic4.

Re:any reason why he must do an English accent?

[WeeLad]

Rose Tyler: If you are an alien how come you sound like you're from the North? The Doctor: Lots of planets have a north!

Re:any reason why he must do an English accent?

[HTH NE1]

The doctor regenerates but can initially only speak this alien language. Consequently, we have a new doctor with a non-English accent

Canon counter-example: Sylvester McCoy regenerated to Paul McGann in an American setting, but did not adopt an American accent.

Colin not Tom

[Roger W Moore]

It was a Colin Baker episode not a Tom Baker one.

4 specials?

[warlorddagaz]

David Tennant has been a great doctor, definately.

However, I really wish he'd quit a year earlier, so that they could do a proper series instead of 4 specials - they had a great chance at the end of last series to get rid of him, and didn't take it.

What about Alex Kingston?

[rarel]

Not as the new Doctor obviously, but her character River Song definitely knew the Doctor in his 10th incarnation, and they appeared to have quite a significant backstory together... He even gave her his sonic screwdriver!

I hope they keep this in mind in the last four/five specials. I would hate to see this discarded as a simple side story after such a buildup.

Jonathan Ross

[slashmojo]

I hear Jonathan Ross is out of work for a while.. he would be a good doctor and Russell Brand could be his trusty 'female' sidekick.. they can travel through space and time making obscene calls to old Davros.

Or they could go back in time and not get themselves fired, thereby sparing us (and davros) the pain of doctor woss.

Good riddance

[dugeen]

Yeah, push off, Tennant, you gurning Gordon Brittas lookalike, and take New Who and its chips/mobile phone/slapper campery with you.

Re:Good riddance

[databeast]

Damnn, Nostalgia havent seen Barry as Brittas in YEARS.. great little show, that was.

Robbie Coltrane for Dr Who!

[Anonymous Coward]

That's all I'm saying.

sad day in the tardis

[P1]

Sorry to see him leave. I'll wrap myself in my Doctor Who scarf and be sad for a while. He's done a great job as The Doctor.

SUPER HANS for Doctor

[Zeromous]

Not sure who the actor's name is, but Peep Show shows what the Doctor might be like with a vicious crack addiction.

Flippant, silly, secretive and bizarrely intelligent in surprising ways, I think Super Hans would be perfect!

"Science Fiction"

[Tetsujin]

Perhaps you should watch some old dr who episodes instead of this kind of dreamy new stuff. How is it not science fiction? How is it different than babylon 5 or any other made up universe with fictional characters doing siencey things.

Babylon 5 was notable for a certain grounding in real physics - mainly rotational "gravity" and inertial flight - when they bothered to represent it that way. Of course, this was limited to the Earth technology, mostly. And there were certain other realistic assertions that go against the usual patterns in science fiction TV - no "universal translators", no interspecies breeding, etc. But that was about it.

Think - when did anybody in Babylon 5 ever do anything "sciencey"? The show was all about interpersonal intrigue, political maneuvering, war, racism, a few monsters, and encounters with alien races so old that the usual grounding in credible reality needn't apply.

Calling shows like B5, Star Trek, or Dr. Who "science fiction" is the easiest way to get the point across that they are contemporary or futuristic fantasy. To me, though, it's distinct from "real" science fiction, which is characterized by scientific speculation as a major theme. Sci-fi fantasy shows often have some scientific grounding (or sometimes, just technobabble) but most of the time it's just "whatever we can do to tell the story we want to tell."

Re:"Science Fiction"

[MBGMorden]

Here's a little thought that I'll leave you with:

Given that popular usage is that defines the terms we use, if what 99% of the world calls science fiction doesn't meet your definition, then may it's your definition that's wrong.

Re:"Science Fiction"

[Tetsujin]

Given that popular usage is that (which) defines the terms we use, if what 99% of the world calls science fiction doesn't meet your definition, then may(be) it's your definition that's wrong.

"Majority rule" is a lousy way to determine what's correct.

"Science fiction" is made of exactly two words, both of which are well-defined on their own. That being the case I think it's fair to at least make a distinction between "science fiction" that does meaningfully represent the combination of those two concepts, and "science fiction" that doesn't.

But the point here isn't to tell people they can't call Dr. Who or B5 "sci-fi" - it's more that I sympathize with people who feel it shouldn't be considered sci-fi, because the stories aren't really about science fiction themes - and because I feel like "real sci-fi" (or "hard sci-fi") is a valuable concept, that's been largely forgotten.

Re:"Science Fiction"

[schon]

The show was all about interpersonal intrigue, political maneuvering, war, racism, a few monsters, and encounters with alien races

Funny - I thought it was all about really, really bad acting and crappy CGI.

Re:"Science Fiction"

[Tetsujin]

The show was all about interpersonal intrigue, political maneuvering, war, racism, a few monsters, and encounters with alien races

Funny - I thought it was all about really, really bad acting and crappy CGI.

You're only half-right there - they didn't have the budget to make their crappy CGI a central theme :D

Screw it

[Anonymous Coward]

I stopped watching when they replaced Eccleston with Tennant. Fuck those idiots. I WILL not watch a show that has such fickle casting. When you replace the lead actor, the show becomes very different. Don't those TV producing fuckwads know that viewers get attached to specific actors as specific characters? So by changing so frequently, there is no attachment, hence no motivation to continue watching when the show already isn't stellar.

The Beastmaster

[jrothwell97]

I hear Bill Gates has a lot of time on his hands now...

Agreed, 110% - he's going to be TOUGH to replace!

[Anonymous Coward]

Agreed, 110% - Mr. D. Tennant was an EXCELLENT Doctor...

I.E.-> The right amount of good looks for the screen (no, I am not a homosexual, I just tell it how it is on this note), wit, livelyness!

*A nearly Tom Baker like "zaniness" (IF not moreso))...

The man kept it entertaining!

Christopher Eccleston, before Mr. T., was good too, but, I have to give Mr. T. the "nod" out of them both...

In fact, it's hard for me to decide, personally, if Tom Baker OR Mr. T. was "the best doctor"!

(They're my fav. TYPE of Dr. is why - A bit nuts, smart, & cool all @ once).

Mr. John Pertwee was great too, but, too "fatherly/patronizing" for my tastes vs. Mr. Baker & Mr. Tennant.

A lot of what I felt helped Mr. T. do so well though, is the IRREPLACEABLE Rose Tyler (Billie Piper, she's UNTOUCHABLE imo, as one of The Good Doctor's companions) & also the writing in many shows!

My favs from "the 21st century" latest series? Well - The Girl in the FirePlace, Doomsday & DALEK (though a C. Eccleston episode) ranked as some of my favs. with this latest 21st century rendition of The Doctor...

Anyhow - it's a shame to see the guy go, but, it may be in his best interests as far as his career so he does not get "typecast" as "the doctor only" & also there is 1 sad fact in this life: NOTHING GOOD STAYS OR LASTS FOREVER! Not even the Doctor...

APK

P.S.=> Heh, I truly liked this series, SO MUCH, that I even created a pretty neat (both aesthetically AND more importantly, TECHNICALLY) screensaver for fans of the show in fact (because I like the C. Eccleston, Billie Piper, David Tennant, Freema Agyeman "run" of this series so much):

http://www.doctorwhodaily.com/community/index.php?s=a5a0f8ce97ac54a7099babf3ff963078&showtopic=386

If you like this series? Enjoy it... the mods/admins & others @ that Dr. Who forums certainly did! apk

For someone who has never seen a single episode

[unassimilatible]

And who has Netflix's instant streaming (which offers Dr. Who episodes), where should I start? This series has been going for so long, it's almost overwhelming to catch up.

Where should one start with the modern series so he won't be lost?

What. . ??

[Fantastic Lad]

I cannot believe I missed this news!

Tennant was amazing. I'd have loved to have seen Moffat write for him some more, but hey. . . I was also really annoyed when Christopher Eccleston was replaced, but Tennant was perfect, both as the Doctor and as the natural progression from Eccleston's edgy just-survived-the-time-war Doctor to happy and bouncy in-love-with-life Doctor.

I hope Moffat lives up to his past work and hope his casting is as spot on for the new guy.

-FL