The bookmakers were right and at last we know the name of
the actor who will take on the twelfth incarnation of the Doctor. His name is
Peter Capaldi, a veteran actor of both TV and movies and now one of the oldest
actors to play the traveling Time Lord.
Scottish born Capaldi first movie was 1983’s Local Hero,
which then followed with roles in Lair of the White Worm and Dangerous Liaisons.
He would go onto to various roles on British Television and in the theater. In 2005
he began playing political spin doctor Malcolm Tucker on the BBC sitcom The
Thick of It, which ran until 2012. He won a BAFTA Award for Best Performance in
a Comedy Role and two British Comedy Awards for his performances. During down
periods between The Thick of It, Capaldi also appeared in The Hour, Skins,
Midsomer Murders and Doctor Who –where he played Caecilius in 2008 David
Tennant Tenth Doctor episode, The Fires of Pompeii. A year later he would appear in the Doctor
Who spin-off show Torchwood, playing civil servant John Frobisher in Torchwood:
Children of Earth.
His casting as the Twelfth Doctor indicates a new direction
for the fifty year-old franchise, considering since Tom Baker’s fourth Doctor,
each actor seemed to getting younger and younger. It also indicated that the
BBC is not afraid of the odd idea that older people will not appeal to the
youth market –though I would suspect that the series (finally) might introduce
a good male companion, some young and attractive to do the action work for the
Doctor.
But Capaldi is a strong actor, with the capable gravitas the
series will need following the successful run of outgoing Doctor, Matt Smith. Still,
the longevity of the series is predicated on its ability to reboot itself every
few years and despite some stumbles in the 1980s that eventually lead to its
16-year hiatus, it has successfully survived and thrived despite that since its
return in 2005, three actors have played the Doctor.
He’ll debut as the Doctor sometime in the December 25th
Christmas Special before assuming the full time in 2014.
