My Thoughts on the New Doctor (Doctor Who)

I just got back from watching the big reveal of the new Doctor. I wasn't planning on watching it since I don't have TV beyond Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon, but I happened to find myself at my cousin's house (a new Whovian convert--she's on season 2) talking about the big 2pm reveal, well, at 2pm. So we decided to turn it on. I'm not sure who most of those people were talking about Doctor Who, but after much impatience on my part, the reveal was made. Moffat's comments about how it would change things had me worried they were going to choose a woman, so I let out a huge relieved sigh when Peter Capaldi was announced.

I haven't seen him beyond the episode of Doctor Who he was in, but I can say so far that I like the look of him. I don't mind the thought of an older Doctor. In fact, I quite like it.

Like it, I say? But...but...how will he run? How can there be running with a 55 year old man as the Doctor??

Image courtesy of...well, everywhere on Tumblr.

I'm not a classic Who fan, so I can't be like other people and remind the internet of the older Doctors from days past who got around just fine. But I can say that I don't think 55 is too old to be able to run around and have adventures. I don't think that's going to change. Mark Harmon is 62, but I happen to think Leroy Jethro Gibbs is one of the biggest badasses on TV right now.



But how can he flirt with Clara when he is old enough to be her grandfather??

Image courtesy of...Tumblr. Seriously, how do you figure out where it originates on there?

I'm a big fan of the whole Clara story. I really am. And yes, I am one of those who thinks there were romantic undertones to the Clara and Eleven relationship. But...I don't want those undertones to become overtones. One of the compelling things about the Doctor is that he is an alien who has lived for over 1000 years, but living, in some ways, as though he were human. He's above us but trying to stay with us at the same time. Most of the time that is through his companions. He has a big heart, but because he is different from us and might live for 1000 years more, he can't exactly give it away. He can't act on his feelings. He never did with Rose. He barely did with River, and she was probably the closest to an equal he's had in his life in quite some time. So I don't think Clara should be the exception to this rule, but I don't want the dynamic of their relationship to change just because he's got an older face now.

So let me get this straight, internet...You think I'm old enough to have a 26 year old granddaughter?
(Image courtesy of leedsstudent.org)

Do I think that is going to be any different with an older Doctor? No. There was an obvious age gap between Rose and Nine, but she still flirted with him just fine. And she was nineteen. Clara's supposed to be, what, twenty six? Ish? Hardly young enough for it to be in pedophile territory. Hell, not even young enough to be his granddaughter. And more over, Clara has a better understanding of what it means to be the Doctor than any other companion. She hasn't just been with him through her lifetime, she's seen him throughout his own too. So I doubt she's going to see him regenerate and go "Zermahgod, you are like, so old. Eew." With everything she's been through with the Doctor, I think she's going to still look at him and see him, just with another face.

So, in summary, I'm sure it will be fine. I've seen lots of posts on the internet at large saying he's too old, he's not cute enough, Doctor Who is going to loose the American demographic (really?), Doctor Who is going to loose the younger demographic (again, really?), etc.

This comes as no shocker, but I think people are jumping to conclusions. The internet gives us a voice to gripe about anything, and by golly we are determined to create things to gripe about because of it. But in reality, real fans will keep watching. I didn't think I'd keep watching beyond David Tennant, but Matt Smith ended up winning me over. Clearly, he won most fans over or the show would be in a lot of trouble instead of as huge as it is throughout the world. I think Peter Capaldi will do the same.

So to all the fuss on the internet about the casting choice of the new Doctor, I say:

Image courtesy of morwenvaidt on DeviantArt