26 replies on “Matt Smith to leave Doctor Who at year’s end”

  1. You know, I wasn’t really sure about Smith initially but his character kind of grew on me. While I still think that Tenant was better, Smith has done well. I think that’s due a large part to the strong performances by the other leads and recurring cast.

    That said, I’m looking forward to seeing who ends up taking over. I’m expecting the BBC to play cagey on it, though, and “try” to keep it secret until “the big reveal” probably at Christmas.

  2. It is canon that a timelord can take on the appearance of someone who already exists:
    Romana regenerating into the image of Princess Astra

    I vote
    JOHN BARROWMAN as the new Doctor!!! :)

    • I wouldn’t mind a darker Doctor again.
      After all, he has suffered quite a few losses…

      • We are around the era of the Valeyard in the Doctor’s own timeline (and there has been some speculation that Hurt might be the Valeyard).

        • That would be bizarre, though, because the Valeyard is from the future relative to Matt Smith, but Smith seemed to be familiar with Hurt’s actions. If Hurt is the Valeyard, it implies that the Doctor became the Valeyard, then became the Doctor again, then in the future will become the Valeyard again (as seen in the 1980s), which just gives me a headache.

        • (Edit to the above, but I don’t feel like abusing my edit button) This assumes they’re not just re-casting the Valeyard. (I interpret the Valeyard as a specific incarnation of the Doctor, i.e. “the guy with the funny robes from the 80s”). Have they ever recast a role, aside from the obvious regenerating Time Lords?

  3. I don’t watch Dr. Who (yet), but the best idea I’ve heard so far is for Emma Watson to be the new Doctor. I’d be on board for that.

    • The idea of a female Doctor has been tossed about since the end of the Tom Baker era (I think we’ve even had a non-canonical female incarnation in a charity special), but I don’t see the BBC doing that. Personally, though, I think it would be an interesting idea.

      • I was all for a female or minority Doctor too. Then someone pointed out it can cause problems in the writing when the Doctor travels back in time and needs to take charge. Such problems are fine as isolated incidents, but it can limit the long term storytelling. It would be great to see in a “we are progressive today” sense, but could be a problem in the “we are going to go to a less progressive era now” sense.

        • Creative writing, a strong actress, and a dash of Joan of Arc can skirt around that (pun intended). And with someone like Emma Watson, there are some that say she looks boyish anyhow. There are plenty of strong take-charge women throughout history, I’m sure they could make that work.

        • The Doctor is CONSTANTLY traveling to places where nobody should be listening to him regardless of his apparent gender. His authority is derived from how necessary it is to the plot.

        • I’m not concerned about the authority part, Doctor Who has never been strong on the realism part, all it needs is him/her to come in assert authority and have everyone acquiesce as usual. My bigger concern is just how well the character of the doctor would carry to another gender, I can’t really think of any examples of the character type in television or a film and I don’t know if they’d know how to make it work. On the one hand it would be cool for them to break new ground, on the other hand breaking new ground is risky.

          • I know it’s not really a 1:1 comparison, but as far as a being switching/regenerating bodies and genders there are a few examples in Sci-Fi:
            * Goa’uld/Tok’ra on Stargate
            * Dax on DS9
            * Sam on Quantum Leap (arguably)
            * Not sci-fi, but M on bond has been both
            * Many other examples of characters that were Men in books but made Women in film (e.g. Starship Troopers, Maj. Anderson in the upcoming Ender’s Game has one, lots of others)

            And that’s not counting times when characters did it on their own or through some plot mechanism (e.g. the main character in Steel Beach by John Varley, Ranma 1/2, etc).

            I’m not saying they should definitely go that way, but people seem to immediately dismiss the idea when it could prove to be pretty good, though it would take some decent writing.

      • The non-canonical female doctor was played by Joanna Lumley for about 3 minutes, and was hilarious. Completely different take on the sonic screwdriver. If you haven’t watched The Curse of Fatal Death, you should. It also stars Rowan Atkinson as The Doctor, and Hugh Grant as The Doctor, and Julia Sawalha as the companion.

        • Oh come on, what are the odds of… **looks around living room** OK so there’s a TARDIS on one of the shelves. And some daleks. And a sonic screwdriver. And that Doctor Who Disappearing TARDIS mug in the kitchen.

          On and I did do this series back in 2010…

          OK yeah that’ll happen. But it’s totally worth it!

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