That's right people, this latest review will be about Doctor Who - more specifically, the positive/negative reactions to the newly announced twelfth version of the Doctor, Peter Capaldi. You see, this is the second day in a row since Peter Capaldi was announced as the 12th Doctor that the newspapers (here in England at least) have gone on about him being "too old to play the Doctor" - or at least reporting about other people (mostly on Twitter, I've noticed in the reports) complaining of it. So I thought I'd break down the information, put up my own opinions and see if we can shed some light on the apparent issue.
Lets start with taking a look at some of the quoted comments from Doctor Who fans on Twitter: "Needed to be someone younger and more attractive to keep Dr Who relevant.", "I love him! So glad they've cast an older gentleman, although the fangirls are probably throwing fits about not having a young pretty boy to squee over.', and "Very very disappointed! The Doctor meant to be someone young, both matt and David were very cute and funny doctors, and now they give us an old guy, no offence to the new guy he may be an amazing actor but he just doesn't fit the part."
So it's safe to say that there are some very mixed and opposite opinions, though for the benefit of this post I'm going to focus on the negative ones (as they've been getting more publicity and focus in the newspapers). But does Peter Capaldi differ in any major way from any of the other Timelords that came before him? Is he older? Less or more known as an actor? Is he less talented? Less attractive? These are just some of the things I've seen mentioned as reasons for why he should or shouldn't be the 12th Doctor. So lets take a moment to look at some of the facts:
- Peter Capaldi is only 55 years of age. That's only 15 years older than Christopher Eccleston was when he took up the mantle of the 9th Doctor (I believe he was 40/41 at the time?).
- But lets not forget that the VERY first Doctor, William Hartnell, was also 55 when he took the role! And both Patrick Troughton (the 2nd Doctor) and Jon Pertwee (the 3rd Doctor) weren't exactly young either.
- He's one of the most talented actors of his generation, having acted varying roles as well ashaving won both Oscars and Baftas in his career.
- He's British.
This knowledge when compared to the majority of the negative comments I've seen on Twitter about Peter Capaldi, leads me to one conclusion: that perhaps those who are being negative about his age are fans of "New Who" and not "Classic Who". That would explain why they seem so unwilling to accept the oldest Doctor since the show was relaunched back in 2005. However, considering that Matt Smith was slated in much the same way (albeit for the opposite reasons) when he was first announced as the 11th Doctor (that he was too young and too unknown as an actor) I have another theory to tie into this. I think it may simply be a case of Peter Capaldi not being Matt Smith, just as I think the original issues with Matt Smith was that he wasn't David Tennant.
Speaking from my experiences with Doctor Who, Christopher Eccleston became my favourite Doctor the moment the first episode of the relaunch finished. He was arrogant. He seemed like a bit of an angry soldier at times. He was clever. He was an establish and brilliant actor. He was simply fantastic! And when Tennant came along I found that I still preferred Eccleston, but loved how Tennant changed the character. This is a repeated process for Doctor Who fans every time there is a regeneration, and when Tennant regenerated into Smith I was blown away. That energetic madman was perfect. Smith is now my preferred Doctor because of the way he played him. He was a genius one moment but then a complete child the next, and it was that eccentric behaviour that resonated with me.
But that's the point, with each new Doctor there is a new personality and new story-lines that are purposely written to fit with that. It's all about character development, and this can be seen with previous Doctors as well. Nine made the transition from a lonely soldier to a lover. Ten made the transition from a lover to a fallen God. Eleven made the transition from a fallen God to a madman in a box...but how will Eleven's story end, and how will that resonate with the Twelfth Doctor? There's still too much we don't know! What will he wear? What will be his catch-phase word? How will he play the Doctor? What story-lines will they write for Twelve? We won't OBJECTIVELY be able to judge how well Peter Capaldi plays the Twelfth Doctor until next year, when we're at least a few episodes into his first season in the role.
I guess what I'm saying is people have been FAR too quick to judge him without proper reason, and yes, before anyone says or thinks it, the reasons that have been used so far are atrociously bad reasons. I mean seriously, too old? Let me finish with this fact, perhaps the most important fact from a "Canon" perspective; the Doctor is (believed to be - as he often doesn't really seem to know his own age) over 1,200 years old - if anything Peter Capaldi is too young to play the Doctor.
Think about that people!
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