Peter Capaldi is to be the Twelfth Doctor

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 25^th Christmas Special before assuming the full time in 2014.