Peter Capaldi announced this evening that he will be
leaving Doctor Whoafter the 2017 Xmas special. The announcement doesn't come entirely as a surprise considering head writer Steven Moffat will be leaving at that point too, but quite frankly I'm gutted. I like the Tenth & Eleventh Doctors a lot but I'm so much more heartbroken about Capaldi leaving than I was when David Tennant & Matt Smith left. Capaldi is one of the best actors to have ever played the Doctor. As great as they all are, very few of the previous actors who have played the Doctor could have delivered the anti-war speech from
The Zygon Inversion quite as effectively as Capaldi. Also, he always brought the best out of his co-star Jenna Coleman in a way that Matt Smith never could. His finest hour however remains
Heaven Sent, an episode he carries completely by himself, sharing the screen only with a faceless memory of his companion Clara and a relentless, silent monster.
Of course, amidst all the sadness there's the excitement surrounding who will play the 13th Doctor! I was initially against the idea of a woman playing the part (typical fanboy, hates change) but I've recently come around to the possibility. I'm not the most knowledgeable person when it comes to British actors working today, but I've got a few ideas about who I'd like to see in the TARDIS. Here are a few of my suggestions. They're all great actors, some of them are unlikely to be interested in the part, while others have been happy to appear in
Doctor Who on previous occasions. A few of them are Welsh, as it's about time we were represented in the pantheon of Who actors.
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| Rhys Ifans |
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| Paterson Joseph |
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| Kathy Burke |
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| Colin Salmon |
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| Sophie Okonedo |
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| Luke Evans |
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| Hayley Atwell |
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| Sean Pertwee |
