Doctor Fourteen - let the rampant speculation begin

[Catsmate]

So, Hugh Grant?

[drinkplentyofmalk]

One silver lining to social media is that celebrities can personally dispel "theyre the next Doctor!" rumours so fast that the rumour mill can't even keep up.

I feel like we're really going to be waiting a long time until the Doctor announcement... but I suppose given we're going to be waiting a much longer time until we're actually sitting down for the first episode of RTD2 I can't really complain - it'd be nice if they could somehow actually keep it a surprise until the regeneration, but I suppose announcing it beforehand will really drive viewers to the special itself.

[olegrand]

Well, apparently, the rampant speculation is not that rampant...

Personally, I'd love to see Adrian Lester or Paterson Joseph (remember him as the Marquis in "Neverwhere"?) as a new Doctor... but on the other hand, I think they should probably go for another female Doctor now that a precedent has been set (if only to avoid pointless controversies about reverting to type etc.). Helen Mirren would have made a fantastic Doctor... but they'll probably go for someone younger. Neve McIntosh, without her Silurian makeup, would be a very interesting choice - those eyes...

[Catsmate]

Neve McIntosh is being mentioned....

[grinch]

Personally, I’d be up for some new up and coming actor/actress in the role than anyone established. I always tend to roll my eyes in any case when the usual suspects are mentioned such as Richard Ayoade and so forth

It’ll probably be another woman in the role if only so the BBC can (as olegrand puts it) avoid any potential backlash from the likes of Twitter. As someone who has not been a fan of Whittaker or Chibnall in the slightest, I’m hoping this incarnation will make for a fresh direction. Although I’m admittedly rather reticent considering it appears to be same creative crew from 2006. Feels like we might be treading old ground at this point. But now I’m just rambling.

[misterharry]

Apr 1, 2022 15:55:34 GMT Catsmate said:

Neve McIntosh is being mentioned....

I suspect only because somebody on the Gallifrey Base forum suggested she would make a good Doctor only a few days ago. The tabloids have history in trawling the forums for stories.

[Catsmate]

Apr 1, 2022 19:11:29 GMT misterharry said:

Apr 1, 2022 15:55:34 GMT Catsmate said:

Neve McIntosh is being mentioned....

I suspect only because somebody on the Gallifrey Base forum suggested she would make a good Doctor only a few days ago. The tabloids have history in trawling the forums for stories.

Very probably, I remember Baker I's trolling...

[drinkplentyofmalk]

It would be fairly strange in terms of optics if they immediately switched from Whittaker to a man; even if there were dozens of factors in casting him, there's no way it wouldn't communicate an inadvertent 'oh, casting a woman was a mistake.'

Just like how following Chibnall's generally unpopular showrunning (and Moffat's equally divisive showrunning) with bringing back the guy who helmed the programme over a decade ago carries a 'oh, Chibnall's era is deeply disliked, we desperately need the show to be just like it was ages ago when everyone loved it!' message. (Of course, there was surely countless other factors to RTD returning, if that one was even considered.) Awkward, that.

Just as awkward as the fact that this era has been consistently overshadowed by expanded universe material focusing on Russell's Doctors; the first big cross-media event in TLV, both of his Doctors doing Big Finish, the new series novels and 13s Titan comic run both being replaced by short story collections focusing on the entirety of the show, the exciting community Lockdown events exclusively focusing on previous eras... oh, and the fact that I'm almost certain that 13 has had more stories in which she teams up with Tennant's Doctor than actual solo stories at this point. (To be a bit hyperbolic, but not by much.)

What? Me, someone who really enjoys the 13th Doctor and her companions whenever they're written by literally anyone else than their creator, annoyed that her era hasn't been allowed the chance to breathe because everyone else shares my opinion on his writing, so we've gotten absolutely no 13th Doctor content except for his own scripts? Whatever gave you that impression?

Oh yeah, the actual topic; I'd bet my life savings it'll be a relatively unknown actor that most of us have never heard of, unconnected from Russel's past projects and almost certainly not a gigantic household name. Actually, were any of the Doctors gigantically famous prior to their casting? Is it just Davison, Capaldi and Whittaker who fit into that category?

[imajica]

Mar 22, 2022 21:50:49 GMT drinkplentyofmalk said:

RTD2

Love it.

Well, the usual big names are out - Hugh Grant, Idris Elba, Ruth Wilson... Personally, I'd rather like Paterson Joseph in the role, or Matt Berry (but then I really do want to see What We Do In The TARDIS, if only for Comic Relief next year). But if Derry Girls can get Liam Neeson, then who knows what influence RTD2 can wield...

[ninjaconor]

Out of the likely suspects, I think Ruth Wilson would be great in the role. I think they need it to be another woman so that the whole female Doctor thing doesn't look like a failed experiment.

A friend of mine, years ago, came up with a brilliant idea that they should cast Dylan Moran as The Doctor and have him play it exactly like a more heroic Bernard Black. I would also be onboard for that!