Doctor Who?

 

Yes, the wait is over and the world of nerd/geek/pop culture is abuzz today with the news that Scottish actor Peter Capaldi will be the 12th Doctor on Doctor Who.  And you know what?  Reading the reaction around the interwebs, people don't seem to be that pissed off about it.   Some people I think were still hoping that they'd throw dow with a curveball and use a non-white or even a female actor in the role but one constant buzz about the latest casting has been that they wanted to go older.   And Peter Capaldi fits the bill.

 

Some are hoping that this will shift Doctor Who back to a more hardcore, less whimsical tone (though I admit this brief reaction could also be complete satire)  as all the world knows, Doctor Who is a children's show, technically speaking though it's hard to see how you can maintain that when your fanbase is most definately not children.   While I agree that there have been some rather twee and whimsical moments of late, it's not completely lost the plot.   But an occasional burst of PG-13ishness couldn't hurt, I don't think.

 

The Beeb and The Guardian have further reactions here but I think that this is an intriguing choice for Doctor Who--  I'll admit I've absented myself from all things Whovian for awhile now but I'm feeling the old familiar itch to maybe get back into and go on a Netflix binge.  Problem is that there are so many shows that I need to watch, start watching or finish watching.  (I'm currently working my way through Numb3rs right now.)  But these announcements always give me the old itch to get the DVDs out again and watch some David Tennant episodes.  Maybe I'll do that...

 

(Just tangentially:  I'm not opposed to non-white actors of either gender taking on this role.  It'd be refreshing to see- with this role and with James Bond.  But I can also understand why they picked who they picked--  they went suuuuuuuuuuper young with Matt Smith- he was younger than even me and I think that was seen as a somewhat risky move, which has paid off quite nicely as it turns out but I think they wanted- and I'm just engaged in pure guesswork here- a return to a more familiar Doctor Who.  Older, maybe slightly prickly when provoked with an odd personality to boot.  This seems like a return to that.  But I guess we'll see for sure.)

 

Random Postscript:  Apparently Peter Capaldi played a W.H.O Doctor in World War Z.  Not sure if that's an internet untruth or not but if it's for real it's a weirdass coincidence.   Must be fate.