Doctor Who: Time for Change?

Earlier last week, Peter Capaldi almost off-handedly dropped the news that 2017 would be his last year as the Doctor on Doctor Who. 

Speculation on who the next Doctor should or might be is a topic that is never far from the thoughts of Doctor Who fans but it is a topic that gains a certain amount of urgency when the actual casting of a new Doctor is on the line. 

SO let's commence a fresh round of speculation with some input from a prior Doctor.  

David Tennant Thinks Olivia Colman Should Be the Next Doctor on Doctor Who

By Devon Ivie

Guessing who the next doctor on Doctor Who might be commences — we’ll miss you, Peter Capaldi, you had a great run — tenth Doctor David Tennant has decided to weigh in on whom he believes the next leading Time Lord should be. 

So don’t blink when we tell you he thinks his Broadchurch co-star Olivia Colman should be at the top of the list. Keep your eyes open! “Olivia would clearly be a magnificent choice,” Tennant told The World of One. “If you have the right people telling the right stories then it’s absolutely a possibility.” 

Colman recently won a Golden Globe for her performance in The Night Manager, and she’s starred in quite a few popular shows across the pond including Broadchurch, Peep Show, and Fleabag.

While it’s certainly a bit too early to expect the BBC to name an immediate Doctor replacement —  Capaldi’s last season hasn’t even yet begun airing — prominent British bookmakers have already begun putting odds on who will be cast in the role next. 

And apparently, they agree that it might be time for the first woman Doctor: Colman is currently topping the list by a decent margin of 8-1 odds, followed by Richard Ayoade, James Norton, Reece Shearsmith, and Ben Whishaw.

The idea of Olivia Colman as the Doctor is one that i put forth here on this blog last year.  

Doctor Who: My Crazy "Next Doctor" Theory

Sunday, March 20, 2016

Hi there, Whovians!  Dave-El with a new Sunday post about our favoriest TV show ever, Doctor Who. 

Today, I want to share a theory. I have absolutely NO basis in fact for this theory. I have read NOTHING, seen or heard NOTHING to give any credence to this theory. As far as I know, this theory has just bubbled fully formed in my unbalanced brain with zero input from any outside sources. 

It is a theory that centers around a much debated subject among Whovians, who will be the next Doctor? 

Peter Capaldi has hinted that his third go-round as the Doctor may be his last and what with the change over of producers from Steven Moffat to Chris Chibnall over the course of 2017 and 2018, it does seem like the timing might be right for such a change. Moffat started with a brand new Doctor when he took over the reins from Russell T Davies. 

Assuming such a change in Doctors is forthcoming, who might Chris Chibnall consider casting? 

Producers may have an idea of who they might want but they rely on casting directors who may have other ideas. Steven Moffat has said that he was considering an older Doctor when he took over the show but then someone brought in this punk kid still wet behind the ears from high school and voila, the legend of Matt Smith as the 11th Doctor was born. 

But sometimes producers do have some idea of actors they want to work with, perhaps because they've worked with them before. David Tennant certainly had an in with the Russell Davies team due to his portrayal of a young Casanova in a previous project for Davies. Back in the classic series, Peter Davison got the nod because John Nathan-Turner had worked with him on All Creatures Great and Small. 

So who might Chris Chibnall have rattling about his head as a possible Doctor? 

What little I know of Chris's work outside of this previous Doctor Who scripts is watching Broadchurch with my wife. So I started thinking about the cast of that show and began wondering, "Who would make a good Doctor?"   

A couple of people from Broadchurch are out. Sorry, David Tennant and Arthur Darvill. But as I think over the rest of the cast, I really didn't find anyone leaping out at me as a possibility to play the Doctor. 

Except one. 

Before I unveil this person, let me set the scene a bit. 

Steven Moffat has a full year to prep for his blow out final season as the top dog of Doctor Who and Moffat knows how to crank things up to 11. 

Chris Chibnall has to follow up this very popular and beloved producer who is going to have a kick ass final season and he's thinking, "I'm so screwed." Chris is facing a situation where no matter what he does, he's going to come up short or at least be perceived as such. So faced with the prospect of facing an uphill battle against the Moffat Myth and the strict attentions of Whovians waiting to see how Chibnall is going to follow this up, Chris may decide to go for broke and do something unprecedented. 

Something that Moffat has been preparing us for. 

A female Doctor. 

So let's go back to Broadchurch and suddenly a strong pick for the next Doctor becomes almost unavoidably obvious. 

Olivia Colman. 

As Detective Ellie Miller, Colman impressed me with her dramatic depth but leavened with flashes of humor, particularly in her interactions with Tennant's Alec Hardy. She displayed a range that would make her an ideal Doctor.

And if fans were worried that a female Doctor would be portrayed by some young fashion model, Colman has an unconventional style that belies that concern. I could see Olivia in a style echoing the 10th Doctor.

And yes, I know OIivia Colman has already been on Doctor Who in The Eleventh Hour. Well, being on DW before didn't stop Peter Capaldi, did it? 

Anyway, that's my crazy "next Doctor" theory. Not saying it's original. It's a big world out there and who am I to presume this idea hasn't crossed anyone else's mind? But the pieces are there and I wouldn't be surprised if events take a turn in the general direction I'm imagining. 

Over on bleeding cool.com, Rich Johnston weighed in on the idea of Olivia Colman as the Doctor.   

Olivia Colman Now The Bookie’s Favourite To Be The New Doctor Who 

Yesterday, we reported on the bookmaker William Hill’s odds on who will be playing the next Doctor Who. And how Ben Whishaw was their 6/1 favourite. At the time Olivia Colman was 20/1.

We then wrote an article setting out a case why Colman could be a favourite.

Well, it appears that someone read it.

William Hill have now made her their favourite to take the role, on 8/1 odds while Ben Whishaw has crashed down to 12/1.

This is the first time a bookmaker has ever made a female actor the odds on favourite to be the next Doctor.

But also, coming in at 14/1, is a new entry, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, of Crashing, Fleabag and the upcoming Killing Eve.

Well, that would be rather fun as well, wouldn’t it?

Here ate the current odds in full.

8/1

Olivia Colman

10/1

James Norton

Reece Shearsmith

Richard Ayoade

12/1

Ben Whishaw

Jason Flemyng

Rory Kinnear

14/1

Phoebe Waller-Bridge

16/1

Andrew Scott

Ben Daniels

Chris Addison

David Harewood

Robert Carlyle

Rupert Grint

20/1

Adrian Lester

Alexander Vlahos

Daniel Kaluuya

Domhnall Gleeson

Hayley Atwell

Russell Tovey

Sheridan Smith

Stephen Fry

Vicky McClure

25/1

David Morrissey

David Tennant

David Walliams

Gemma Arterton

Helena Bonham Carter

Idris Elba

James Purefoy

Lara Pulver

Rhys Ifans

Steve Pemberton

Suranne Jones

Tom Hiddleston

33/1

Alan Davies

Alexandra Roach

Benedict Cumberbatch

Billie Piper

Catherine Tate

Eddie Redmayne

Michelle Dockery

Paterson Joseph

Tilda Swinton

40/1

Christopher Eccleston

James Corden

Philip Glenister

50/1

Martin Freeman

66/1

Daniel Craig

At any rate, it would seem that any such speculation on the next Doctor is more than a bit pre-mature.  

It's Going to Be a Long Time Before We Hear About Peter Capaldi's Doctor Who Replacement
by James Whitbrook

Earlier this week, Peter Capaldi confirmed that he would be departing Doctor Who at the end of 2017—and instantaneously, media outlets across the world began pondering just who will step in the TARDIS next. But if you’re excited to here about a Post-Moffat, Post-Capaldi Who right now... you’re gonna have to wait.

Amidst the frenzied speculation and bookmakers odds flinging around the internet this week, the Radio Times reports what while Capaldi’s decision to leave Doctor Who has been known for a while inside the BBC, the process of finding his successor has yet to begin—and won’t be beginning for at least several more months. This is mainly because the search for the thirteenth Doctor will only get away when incoming showrunner Chris Chibnall is ready to begin laying out the plans for his first season on the show, which is currently expected to air in Autumn 2018.
That process won’t begin at least until the middle of this year, according to the Radio Times, as Chibnall is still hard at work putting the finishing touches on the third and final season of his popular crime drama Broadchurch. 

Chibnall told Radio Times he expects to take a short break after finishing Broadchurch before he starts preparing Doctor Who’s eleventh season—partially because of the hectic nature of moving from managing one big show to another, but also to give Capaldi and Moffat the chance to finish production of their final season of Who without the specter of their replacements hanging over them. 

So while there’s the closest thing to a hard date on when we’ll see the next Doctor in action—they’ll be a part of Capaldi’s regeneration scene in the 2017 Christmas special, presumably—it’s going to be a good few months before we hear anything official about who’ll be playing the new Doctor, and then an even longer wait for season 11. Although I guess Doctor Who fans are getting pretty good at waiting for things at this point.

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By the way, sorry for all the cutting and pasting from the works of others. I'm still dealing with a broken arm which makes typing my own material exceedingly difficult. I'm hoping for a more complete recovery soon in the weeks to come as I very much miss having this forum.  

As always, remember to be good to one another.