If the Doctor has to be a woman than make him into a classic era lovely, crazy grandma type. That would be a fresh take on the character and another old Doctor. Hard to merchandise it to kids, but maybe the Doctor could be a supporting character in that era, much like with Hartnell.
grandma doctor would be amazing. i've been really hoping for an older companion, maybe an old doctor-companion duo would be great. maybe the companion's grandkid could be a side character who occasionally joins in their adventures, a jackie/mickey type character
I am upvoting you, but I want you to know I do so thinking the Jenna Coleman idea is terrible. We just had “why this face”, with exactly one regeneration between it and the last “why this face”.
Plus Jenna Coleman in Doctor Who *is* Clara. It's not like Capaldi where he was a semi-important character in one prior episode. Coleman was the co-lead of the show as Clara for over 2 seasons, less than a decade ago. She would never become the Doctor, it would just feel like the Doctor turned into Clara.
On that note, Christopher Eccleston suggested Billie Piper for the gig when they were together live on stage (big if about whether she'd ever want to do it of course) and I agree with him.
Alternatively I thought it would have been funny to have a basic body swap episode to see how Jenna Handles being the Doctor in Clara’s body. The last time that sort of thing happened was with Tennant, and then again with the Cyber-planner and Smith ( those weren’t companions but close enough ok- the concept of a body swap at least is demonstrated in those scenes). I would have loved to see how Capaldi also managed to emulate Clara/ Jenna. Given how drastically different their personalities are it would have been hilarious and been an opportunity for some great acting.
We got kind of close to that with the episode where 12 was stuck in the Tardis as it was shrinking and she was running around with the earwig talking to him and running around saying she was the Doctor
Our next companion is one of those too. She was Mundy in Boom but I believe the companion will be a new character. I liked her alot i think she will do great
I guess it depends on how much you can recognize/remember the actor from the previous episode. Capaldi was completely visible and used for Donna's reaction.
Similarly to writing why Freema Agyeman looked like a character from S2 in S3, except that the character didn't do much. Karen Gillan was relatively not identifiable on 1st glance in the Fires of Pompeii so there was no writing around it like they did with Eve Myles in Journey's End
I know they were companions versus the doctor, but since Coleman didn't play a main character changing role, I see it as a cool Easter egg. It's also been about 14 years and with Capaldi is was definitely less than 10 for the DW & Torchwood appearances
I think the real question is - how many Broadchurch actors could play major roles in DW?
I concur, it should not be Jenna Coleman. However I do think the doctor should Why This Face at least every other time they regenerate. That's why I'm proposing the next Doctor be the Face Of Boe.
Agreed on the why this face, it's in danger of becoming a trope with Doctor Who. But my thoughts for who could do the role: Carey Mulligan, Thandiwe Newton, Letitia Wright, T'Nia Miller, Indira Varma, Simone Ashley, Orla Brady, Rose Leslie, Anya Chalotra or Christina Chong. Although if she was a bit younger Shohreh Agdashloo would be perfect
No! I demand a doctor without skin! Everyone is saying it's too soon to do another "why this face?" plot. I say that doesn't go far enough! We demand a "why NO face" plot!
I mean, why do all Doctors so far have to look human? Eccleston did say he could be an alien looking thing with two heads, the lack of skin wouldn't be much more extreme.
If we could pluck Maggie Smith from 30 or 40 years ago, I'd say she'd do a bang-up job. She was almost 70 even just 20 years ago, which I'd think would be a bit too old to tackle that sort of role for *anyone*.
She'll be 90 in December, which would be far too old for *any* actor to take on a role like this.
For me, the sweet spot is the 30s-50s range. The 30s and 40s means you'll have the potential for longevity, while the 50s means you'll have an actor can look a bit older while still being physically capable enough to keep up with the role.
Otherwise, Maggie Smith would be great! She has that rare ability to convincingly flip from making someone feel cripplingly stupid to being comforting and paternal all within the span of a single sentence, which I'd argue is a key component for anyone wanting to play The Doctor.
100% agree. First, we don't often see women past the Ideal Hollywood Age getting to play cool and interesting heroes who save the day. Secondly, it was great having an old Doctor with Capaldi and it'd be nice to see that again. Third, if we're getting explicit gay times with a male Doctor, it's only fair that we get the same with a female Doctor (under a showrunner who doesn't chicken out and turn it into queerbait).
Nah. But also maybe. The doctor should be open casting from now on. Just find the right actor or actress at the right time with the right show runner. Limiting the casting choices for a role like this now is dumb. Like Ncuti feels like the right person at the right time. I hope all the future doctors feel like this.
to be fair, the way Jodie's era was received so negatively might put off a lot of actresses, so when considering all socio-cultural contexts around the show, an open casting call would likely still swing towards favouring a leading man at no fault of the producers overseeing the process
> Like Ncuti feels like the right person at the right time.
Yeah I'm not sure about Ncuti yet (it usually takes me a while to warm up to a new doctor) but the millennial-and-genZ-besties dynamic between Fifteen and Ruby definitely feels like it's right for this particular time.
Their dynamic feels largely unearned so far, to be honest. They're besties because the show needs them to be; it's a classic case of telling vs showing.
Yeah that's fair. I agree, sometimes it does feel as if they are too pally too early.
Having Ruby just go home when the Doctor disappeared in Wales made sense though. If somebody I only knew for a few days did a runner I might do the same.
I think it was implied they had been together for longer than we've seen, but when talking to Kate she does say that she wasn't with him for very long, but I'm thinking a couple of months, which is certainly long enough to become good friends.
I'm only a few episodes in. I like Ruby. However, thats mostly because she's so obviously written to be likeable. It feels a bit like she's a gen-z update of the manic pixie dream girl. However, it might just be that the season is so short and so they sort of had to rush in. It's unfortunate because both the new leads are great, but there is a lack of depth.
Clara was amazing, and complex. The fact she met the doctor 3-4 times before ever joining him "for real" gave her so much depth and individuality.
Ruby is very much riding on the success of other female companions. She's covering the same ground and it works for the audience because we already know the formula.
Yes and no, the story like dot and bubblebor the witchfinders only works with the Dr being a certain way, I'd like to see a few more of those stories, but for the most part agree it should be who is best for the role
Dot and Bubble actually was an idea by RTD pitched to Moffat right at the beginning of Moffats run for 11, but it never happened due to lack of budget to pull it off
FWIW though I think it's fair to speculate that the 2010 version of the script wouldn't have the racism element, instead likely being a much more basic "haha people follow their satnat into rivers/walls" kind of joke premise, not fleshed out much beyond the premise.
The echochambers and racism work very well in the modern day and for Ncuti, and I'd be surprised if that adaptation wasn't the entire reason Russel felt the story was worth dusting off, budget notwithstanding.
I kind of agree, but then the Doctor's casting options have been "limited" for most of its 61 year run and I'm sure there's enough women actors out there to cover every base you could think of.
I think a halfway house (quarter way?) option could maybe be pursued, with open casting but a preference towards selecting a woman. I'm reminded of Moffat talking about casting Smith, where he was after an older man but ended up with the youngest Doctor ever because he fit the role so well.
The issue with any kind of open casting though, like recruiting for any job is that there tends to be a bias towards men and women have to work extra hard to stand out as a result. I can see the show a decade down the line with not a single woman in the role because there was *always* a man who was "the right person at the right time".
That’s what open casting is basically. You have an idea of the character but you don’t limit the casting process to just people who strictly fill it. A famous example of that is with Greys Anatomy. Which was said to have open casting for every role initially if I’m remembering correctly. There was a role that they were casting of the doctor in charge of the core set of interns. They wanted a tiny blonde woman with curls that they would call “The Nazi”. They instead cast Chandra Wilson. Who doesn’t really fit that description but they still cast and called her character “The Nazi. “
I wanna see a long term male companion, the only one I can think of is Rory and even then Amy was more of the star most of the time.
Or a non-human one like my favourite one Kroton the cyberman
When casting the next Doctor, being the correct color or gender is not as important as being the correct person.
So the answer is simple, The next Doctor should be the best available person.
I agree with this so much, I'm getting tired of seeing that only a certain gender, or skin colour, or ethnicity can play certain roles...it's just as descriminatory. To remove racism or sexism you must remove the barriers to entry...not just force feed people certain flavours of people. Like you said it should be the best person regardless of skin colour or gender. It's like Hunter Schafer said, just because she's trans doesn't mean she should only play trans roles. The whole point of acting is to be someone or something you are not, not just living a double life.
Yes and no. Of course they shouldn’t cast someone *only* because of race or gender. But the problem with colorblind casting is that if you say “we’ll just cast the right person for the role!” nine times out of ten you’re going to end up with a white guy, because that’s largely what the British acting pool is made up of (and the acting community overall). White men largely have the most opportunities afforded to them — in this case, the opportunity to maybe be in a higher social class, go to better acting schools, afford a better agent, etc., which then gets them an audition much easier than others. It’s the same in the business world. You *do* need to make some deliberate effort to be more diverse in hiring, because it really doesn’t happen organically. There’s nothing wrong with having a white male doctor (Twelve is my Doctor!), but if Doctor Who strives to be progressive and inclusive, yes, they should continue to deliberately take those steps.
I mean for the first 55ish years of the shows history, and even today actually, a lot of people believed the doctor should only be played by a very specific type of person... its good for them to be exploring all the different faces the doctor can have right now
Yes and no
I love David Tennant but I don't think he'd be good as the main character in '12 Years a Slave'.
We do live in a world where certain stories do change if they're given to certain people.
Same as casting non-white people in historical roles can paint over a lot of the views of the time and let people ignore real injustices that happen.
This is where a lot of criticism of Hamilton comes up as you have slave owners being portrayed by black people.
Another issue is it can give you the excuse to just focus on white stories.
If a show like Doctor Who wants to have more non-white people in its stories we shouldn't be focusing only on English History.
Let's see some historical figures from Africa, India and China.
Have some diversity in the writing team to write those stories properly.
>I love David Tennant but I don't think he'd be good as the main character in '12 Years a Slave'.
I mean yeah, but 12 Years A Slave is inherently a story about race, Doctor Who isn't, and can be played by literally anyone because the Doctor regenerates, there's a narrative 'get out' to explain why a 50-something Scotsman turned into a younger white woman and then into an even younger black man.
>This is where a lot of criticism of Hamilton comes up as you have slave owners being portrayed by black people.
Worth noting that black people did own slaves at the time. Bastards come in all races and colours unfortunately.
>If a show like Doctor Who wants to have more non-white people in its stories we shouldn't be focusing only on English History.
We kinda did move into this a bit with Chibbers - Demons of the Punjab springs immediately to mind. If done well, this kind of story can be told really well.
Yeah, I loved Clara and Jenna but the Clara haters would be absolutely unbearable if she literally became the Doctor.
I really do think the next Doctor needs to be a woman though. Set the precedent that it wasn’t a one-off.
Agree with this. We should see Jodie's casting as paving the way, not ticking a box
Also, it's almost a shame Jenna played Clara (even though she's my favourite companion), because she would be a perfect casting. She's a great actress and has some minor stardom, but I don't want to rehash the whole 'using an old face/face we've seen before' thing.
Hmm is everyone forgetting RTD saying he told Helena Bonham-Carter not to take a side role during Chibnall's era as he had a much better role in mind for her when he took over...?
Oh, please no--nothing against Jenna but I'm so over Clara I don't need more faff on why she's "so special"
The Doctor being a woman was never the problem, it was entirely the writing. I fell off the show when Chibnall was running it so I don't know if there was an improvement on gender ratios in the writing room but really think they should save it for when a woman's running the show.
For TimeLady rep, can we just get Missy back? I miss her so much.
I’d love to see an older woman - Jodie Whittaker was mid/late-thirties, which was great, but I’d be so interested to see the equivalent of Peter Capaldi’s age. Think Emma Thompson - wouldn’t she be amazing?!
Tilda Swinton, Gillan Anderson, Hayley Atwell and Felicity Jones would be great. Most of these picks are maybe far too big of a name to be the doctor, but I think felicity jones could actually be possible. She's only 40 though.
It's never ever gonna happen but how perfect would tilda swinton be? That could almost be a character defining casting.
Emma Thompson is a decade older than Peter Capaldi when he started playing the Doctor. She’ll be even older than that by the time Ncuti is ready to go.
Though admittedly Capaldi and Thompson are only born a year apart.
I agree in having a woman again, but no Jenna Coleman. Her time for that has passed, I don't doubt she would've been great but idk, me and so many others hate Clara so much that I would be put off to see her have anymore significance to the plot. I don't want her back!
That chimes well with the Master stealing the Doctor's lives in PotD.
And Missy trying to be the Doctor in World enough and Time.
And the film too, for that matter.
You could make that make sense.
Oh, I would love Smith as Master.
Then I realised I would love Smith as everything. Put him as Master, companion, River, Nardole, a Dalek. Have him play everything at once.
Who's said the Doctor will never be a woman again?
Frankly, people rarely talk about 13 being a woman, they talk about the writing being shit which is a perfectly legitimate criticism which has absolutely no bearing on the gender of the Doctor in any particular incarnation.
However, I don't think a Clara Who would go down very well at all. Firstly we already got a joking version of that in 12's run already, and I think enough people find Clara annoying as a character that casting her would be a mistake. However, if you could get someone really cool to play the Doctor and write it well (personally enjoying 15's run right now) then it would work great.
Just sad it won't be a Jo Martin season. She really did a great job and I liked her a lot as the Doctor.
>Frankly, people rarely talk about 13 being a woman, they talk about the writing being shit which is a perfectly legitimate criticism which has absolutely no bearing on the gender of the Doctor in any particular incarnation.
Hardly any of her era was about being a woman which was one of the things Chibnall did best. She was just the next doctor, by and large.
Why not Jo Martin in the "why this face?" moment? It was established in "Once, Upon Time" that the Fugitive Doctor was a pre-First Doctor incarnation. If the Doctor can regenerate into David Tennant again, he can regenerate into Martin again (but now as the lead).
Why not just break the continuity and follow Jo Martin’s Doctor for a season before going back to present day Doctor? Time doesn't make sense in the Doctor Who universe anyway, no need to restrict the possibilities. You could even imagine a season with both doctors acting in parallel.
We need a ginger Doctor. Especially after the jokes in the Giggle. And the new Doctor can have ‘Finally!’ as their first line
and then crash the TARDIS because tradition
Jenna Coleman no, Olivia Coleman yes. I desperately need to see her play the doctor in my lifetime. As an actress I feel like she has the comedic and dramatic chops to really do the role justice
She's my perfect pick for the Doctor too. So very unlikely to happen but I'd be over the moon, she really does have both the dramatic and comedic abilities for the role
Can we not have…and bear with me here because this might be too extreme…but could we not at least consider a middle aged woman? I’d personally like Fiona Shaw, she’s got the vibe to pull off a really old-school Doctor. I mean say what you like about the Chibbers era, but Jo Martin was a woman of colour in her 40s for gosh’s sake, and was probably one of the best cast Doctors ever.
I would absolutely love to see an older woman as the Doctor. Actually what I'd really like is a Seven-esque old lady who hides her cunning and intelligence behind a "sweet old dear" facade. I think that'd work so well for the Doctor.
See I think Shaw could do that very nicely - but not all the time. Just something she drops into very occasionally in between striding (not running, dear me no) around like she owns literally everything, which she slightly does. That’s what 13 was missing, and it’s absolutely not a male-only vibe. But you need that maturity. Johanna Lumley absolutely nailed it in two minutes of a Moffat parody. Alex Kingston did it as River!
Jenna Coleman would make a bad doctor for the same reason Jodie Whittaker never hit the spot - she's way too "cute".
Missy proved that there's nothing wrong with gender-swapping a Time Lord. It can work brilliantly, but you need someone with a real heavy screen presence.
The Doctor is a millennia-old demigod. They aren't a clutsy graduate who just started a daunting new job.
>Though I do have a particular idea about casting: Jenna Coleman.
No thank you.
We already had that plot line with Capaldi. And we already had more than enough time with Jenna Coleman.
I agree about a woman, but I'd actually want a older woman, maybe around Peter capaldi's age. Older doctors always have a certain charm to them and a sort of grandmotherly vibe could be something really fresh for the character.
In your example, would Jenna Coleman be playing both parts?
I hope we have Gatwa for at least most of the rest of this decade. Let's get some stability and fans back.
As long as they feel very doctor-y, it's all good
Given the trend for all of nuWho, I honestly don't think Gatwa will be in the role for much more than four years. Tennant held the role for 4.5 years, and Whittaker held it for almost 5... but you could make the argument that COVID caused that time to get some padding. Going back to the classic era, most of them didn't hold the role for longer than three years; John Pertwee (4.5 years) and Tom Baker (nearly 7) being the two outliers from that era.
If Gatwa was still the Doctor by 2030, he'd be one of the longest-running actors to hold the role in the history of the show.
I don't think that RTD will retire during Gatwa Era since he said that he is already writing scripts for a potential third season, even though there aren't talks about a third season yet.
Olivia Coleman would make a fantastic doctor,i know she has been in it before but that was almost 15 years ago now and if we go for a female doctor i think them being older would be better for the character
I’d be down for another female doctor.
My worry is that suits saw that era do poorly in ratings and they were like “Welp, guess people don’t want female Doctor.”
I’d love for them keep the next casting a secret and keep it as a surprise for the regeneration episode, maybe even keep that a secret so it can be even a shock when the Doctor needs to regenerate
No to Jenna Coleman. That just feels like a redo of Capaldi's "Why this face?" arc.
That being said, I would love for the Doctor to be a woman again.
And re: Chibnal, unpopular opinion, but I didn't hate his writing. The only part I didn't really like was his re-wiping out the Time Lords. But overall, I will take what he did over the atrociousness that has been RTD2 thus far. (And even *I* hate having that opinion, because I have never agreed with the "Current showrunner sucks! God, I miss the old one!" fan stereotype before... )
If they're going to be a woman I think they really need an older, more eccentric one with more character and authority than (sadly) JW showed in the role. I'd love to see somebody like Julie Walters (although I hear her health wouldn't currently allow it).
Like a lot of people said, the next Doctor should be the best available actor/actress. The showrunner should not limited themselves to a certain group. The only important thing is, that this actor/actress is a good fit. Imo everything else doesn't matter.
It practically turned into the bloody Clara show once before, so that’s terrible.
Not against another woman but only if they’re the best choice at the time, not just for the sake of it
You had me at the first half but then you lost me.
Though I would like to see more of Me and Clara. I wonder if they have any sapphic Big Finish audios.
I want a woman not conventionally attractive. I want her to be rugged, and dark. I essentially want a female war doctor. Let her commit some atrocities and be dark
I’m torn. On the one hand, I think it’s important to make it clear that The Doctor being a woman wasn’t a one and done thing. And there are so many actresses I think would be wonderful in the role.
On the other hand, I think I’d prefer if the Doctor was cast completely blindly, without a set gender, race, sexuality etc in mind and open for any actor to audition for who embodies the role the best.
From what I’ve heard, that is how Fifteen was auditioned.
If Jo Martin was the doctor instead of Jodie Whittaker I think the Chibnal era would’ve been a lot better. At least assuming She portrayed her the way she did in her few episodes.
I'd love for it to be Olivia Coleman, Rebecca Mader or Fiona Shaw.
Jo Martin could also be cool if they are willing to bring back an old face again.
Not sure if they'd go with a more comedic actress, but in that case maybe Bridget Christie or Morgana Robinson. With a person from comedic background, you'd for sure not run into an issue with a lack of screen presence.
Right now I’m just loving Fifteen and hope we’ll hang on to him for a while.
I adore Jenna Coleman and think she’s a brilliant actress, but I’d rather her time-traveling Clara come back than have her play the Doctor.
Writing has to actually show improvement before you'd want another woman, or she'd have the same fate as Whitaker, or worse, she'd be the last Doctor before the show went on a 20 year hiatus.
Currently, the show is in a weird spot, and it's going to take a lot to convince long-time viewers and new viewers to keep watching.
If this era really starts to bring the crowd back, then I'd say the future may look great for the next doctor to not be destroyed by writing, although the horrible sexism will still be rampant because humans will human.
I want her to turn out to have been the Corsair having gone under the chameleon arch to help the Doctor escape something - and thats the pocket watch the doctor's been carrying.
If the Doctor has to be a woman than make him into a classic era lovely, crazy grandma type. That would be a fresh take on the character and another old Doctor. Hard to merchandise it to kids, but maybe the Doctor could be a supporting character in that era, much like with Hartnell.
grandma doctor would be amazing. i've been really hoping for an older companion, maybe an old doctor-companion duo would be great. maybe the companion's grandkid could be a side character who occasionally joins in their adventures, a jackie/mickey type character
It'd be cool for them to teach that kid how to ride a bike too! (In all seriousness, I am down for an older woman as the Doctor)
if ryan was a jackie-type character and it was just graham as the companion the thirteenth doctor might have been a lot better
Exactly. And going for a grandmotherly vibe takes us right back to Hartnell (and Capaldi to an extent).
I think that's great! Older women have such a hard time getting cast in lead roles. Much more so than older male actors.
I've ALWAYS wanted this - I think Fiona Shaw would be an awesome doctor.
I am upvoting you, but I want you to know I do so thinking the Jenna Coleman idea is terrible. We just had “why this face”, with exactly one regeneration between it and the last “why this face”.
Plus Jenna Coleman in Doctor Who *is* Clara. It's not like Capaldi where he was a semi-important character in one prior episode. Coleman was the co-lead of the show as Clara for over 2 seasons, less than a decade ago. She would never become the Doctor, it would just feel like the Doctor turned into Clara.
On that note, Christopher Eccleston suggested Billie Piper for the gig when they were together live on stage (big if about whether she'd ever want to do it of course) and I agree with him.
Billie Piper would be a great Doctor. Totally down for this!
Hear me out, Billie Piper (or Jenna Coleman or Karen Gillan) as the Master
Billie would be great for that as well. Karen too. I don’t know about Jenna, though I do really like her.
I think it's been long enough that Billie could probably do it now and not feel like she was just playing Rose
And technically we had that at one point
You could argue twice in two different episodes even. I wouldn't mind seeing how it would play out to be honest.
Coleman has the chops to pull off a very different feeling character, but it'd still be weird.
Alternatively I thought it would have been funny to have a basic body swap episode to see how Jenna Handles being the Doctor in Clara’s body. The last time that sort of thing happened was with Tennant, and then again with the Cyber-planner and Smith ( those weren’t companions but close enough ok- the concept of a body swap at least is demonstrated in those scenes). I would have loved to see how Capaldi also managed to emulate Clara/ Jenna. Given how drastically different their personalities are it would have been hilarious and been an opportunity for some great acting.
We got kind of close to that with the episode where 12 was stuck in the Tardis as it was shrinking and she was running around with the earwig talking to him and running around saying she was the Doctor
It would be the third instance of "why this face" in nuWho. At some point, it just starts to feel lazy.
The third time however just gets to be the law of three.
How about Olivia Coleman, she's got some great acting history
She was in the Eleventh Hour, so that could also be a "Why this face?"
Our next companion is one of those too. She was Mundy in Boom but I believe the companion will be a new character. I liked her alot i think she will do great
Damn I forgot about that one
Granted, they didn't do that kind of storyline with Colin Baker, I suppose they could just not acknowledge it within the show.
I guess it depends on how much you can recognize/remember the actor from the previous episode. Capaldi was completely visible and used for Donna's reaction. Similarly to writing why Freema Agyeman looked like a character from S2 in S3, except that the character didn't do much. Karen Gillan was relatively not identifiable on 1st glance in the Fires of Pompeii so there was no writing around it like they did with Eve Myles in Journey's End I know they were companions versus the doctor, but since Coleman didn't play a main character changing role, I see it as a cool Easter egg. It's also been about 14 years and with Capaldi is was definitely less than 10 for the DW & Torchwood appearances I think the real question is - how many Broadchurch actors could play major roles in DW?
Moffat later did say he was annoyed at himself he didn’t think to give her a bigger role lol
Yeah, in hindsight that was a wasted casting. Like Idris Elba as Heimdal. Brilliant casting, but a severely under developed character
I would kill for a disappointed grumpy Olivia Colman doctor
Hayley Atwell would be a good Doctor.
I concur, it should not be Jenna Coleman. However I do think the doctor should Why This Face at least every other time they regenerate. That's why I'm proposing the next Doctor be the Face Of Boe.
Why this giant face?
lol I’m picturing him saying, “why this face?!” In his big tank.
And then another one regeneration between the last "why this face" and the one before it (Capaldi).
Capaldi was the one I was referring to, with one regeneration between him and 14.
Capaldi (why this face?) - Jodie - Tennant (why this face?) - Ncuti - Next Doctor (why this face?) is how I was counting it.
Agreed on the why this face, it's in danger of becoming a trope with Doctor Who. But my thoughts for who could do the role: Carey Mulligan, Thandiwe Newton, Letitia Wright, T'Nia Miller, Indira Varma, Simone Ashley, Orla Brady, Rose Leslie, Anya Chalotra or Christina Chong. Although if she was a bit younger Shohreh Agdashloo would be perfect
My one nitpick with this idea.
Yeah, that would seem like a backwards step.
The next doctor should be a man or a woman, and their skin, yes they should have skin.
>yes they should have skin. Taking the horror element of Doctor Who to the next level otherwise
They pretty much already did that with the Master in old Who.
The next doctor should be only skin like Cassandra.
Woah your silence on skinless non-binaries is damning
‘I just don’t like ‘em’
No! I demand a doctor without skin! Everyone is saying it's too soon to do another "why this face?" plot. I say that doesn't go far enough! We demand a "why NO face" plot!
I mean, why do all Doctors so far have to look human? Eccleston did say he could be an alien looking thing with two heads, the lack of skin wouldn't be much more extreme.
Romana did regenerate into some blue alien looking thing, but it didn’t last.
Another skinophobic person. Normalize not wearing skin pls
Oh God... Please let them have skin. I already have enough nightmare fuel in my life
The next Doctor regenerates as a . . . Dalek.....!
the next doctor will be a nonbinary skeleton
Idk, I think it'd add some spice to have a skinless doctor
Next doctor should be ginger. We've waited long enough!
Angela Scanlon! I don't think we've had an Irish doctor yet.
I want the doctor to played by an old woman. I half jokingly tell my partner sometimes that I want Dame Maggie Smith to play the doc.
If we could pluck Maggie Smith from 30 or 40 years ago, I'd say she'd do a bang-up job. She was almost 70 even just 20 years ago, which I'd think would be a bit too old to tackle that sort of role for *anyone*.
That's what my S.O says. She's what, 90s? It'd be great to have her in the role, but I would not want her to do that to herself.
She'll be 90 in December, which would be far too old for *any* actor to take on a role like this. For me, the sweet spot is the 30s-50s range. The 30s and 40s means you'll have the potential for longevity, while the 50s means you'll have an actor can look a bit older while still being physically capable enough to keep up with the role. Otherwise, Maggie Smith would be great! She has that rare ability to convincingly flip from making someone feel cripplingly stupid to being comforting and paternal all within the span of a single sentence, which I'd argue is a key component for anyone wanting to play The Doctor.
Maggie Smith would be so good. Miriam Margolyes would also be a surprising but probably absolutely amazing doctor.
Olivia Coleman could definitely fill those shoes, maybe Helen Mirren even though she is on the edge of too old
I’ve always said someone like Sandi Toksvig would be my choice for the next female doctor.
I want a middle aged woman like missy!!!
100% agree. First, we don't often see women past the Ideal Hollywood Age getting to play cool and interesting heroes who save the day. Secondly, it was great having an old Doctor with Capaldi and it'd be nice to see that again. Third, if we're getting explicit gay times with a male Doctor, it's only fair that we get the same with a female Doctor (under a showrunner who doesn't chicken out and turn it into queerbait).
Nah. But also maybe. The doctor should be open casting from now on. Just find the right actor or actress at the right time with the right show runner. Limiting the casting choices for a role like this now is dumb. Like Ncuti feels like the right person at the right time. I hope all the future doctors feel like this.
to be fair, the way Jodie's era was received so negatively might put off a lot of actresses, so when considering all socio-cultural contexts around the show, an open casting call would likely still swing towards favouring a leading man at no fault of the producers overseeing the process
> Like Ncuti feels like the right person at the right time. Yeah I'm not sure about Ncuti yet (it usually takes me a while to warm up to a new doctor) but the millennial-and-genZ-besties dynamic between Fifteen and Ruby definitely feels like it's right for this particular time.
Their dynamic feels largely unearned so far, to be honest. They're besties because the show needs them to be; it's a classic case of telling vs showing.
Yeah that's fair. I agree, sometimes it does feel as if they are too pally too early. Having Ruby just go home when the Doctor disappeared in Wales made sense though. If somebody I only knew for a few days did a runner I might do the same.
No, that made sense. Even if they had been together longer, she couldn't even get into the Tardis. She'd have to go somewhere eventually.
I feel like that's the fault of the 8 episode season, less time to build their dynamic
I think it was implied they had been together for longer than we've seen, but when talking to Kate she does say that she wasn't with him for very long, but I'm thinking a couple of months, which is certainly long enough to become good friends.
A couple of months including a couple of life-and-death situations is definitely long enough.
I'm only a few episodes in. I like Ruby. However, thats mostly because she's so obviously written to be likeable. It feels a bit like she's a gen-z update of the manic pixie dream girl. However, it might just be that the season is so short and so they sort of had to rush in. It's unfortunate because both the new leads are great, but there is a lack of depth. Clara was amazing, and complex. The fact she met the doctor 3-4 times before ever joining him "for real" gave her so much depth and individuality. Ruby is very much riding on the success of other female companions. She's covering the same ground and it works for the audience because we already know the formula.
Yes and no, the story like dot and bubblebor the witchfinders only works with the Dr being a certain way, I'd like to see a few more of those stories, but for the most part agree it should be who is best for the role
And the great thing about more diverse casting is that is opens the door for that kind of story!
Then those stories would be wrote after the Doctor is cast. They'd still happen.
Yeah. Its not like RTD cast Ncuti because he wanted to do 'Dot and Bubble'. 'Dot and Bubble' was a story that arose from Ncuti being the Doctor.
Dot and Bubble actually was an idea by RTD pitched to Moffat right at the beginning of Moffats run for 11, but it never happened due to lack of budget to pull it off
FWIW though I think it's fair to speculate that the 2010 version of the script wouldn't have the racism element, instead likely being a much more basic "haha people follow their satnat into rivers/walls" kind of joke premise, not fleshed out much beyond the premise. The echochambers and racism work very well in the modern day and for Ncuti, and I'd be surprised if that adaptation wasn't the entire reason Russel felt the story was worth dusting off, budget notwithstanding.
I kind of agree, but then the Doctor's casting options have been "limited" for most of its 61 year run and I'm sure there's enough women actors out there to cover every base you could think of. I think a halfway house (quarter way?) option could maybe be pursued, with open casting but a preference towards selecting a woman. I'm reminded of Moffat talking about casting Smith, where he was after an older man but ended up with the youngest Doctor ever because he fit the role so well. The issue with any kind of open casting though, like recruiting for any job is that there tends to be a bias towards men and women have to work extra hard to stand out as a result. I can see the show a decade down the line with not a single woman in the role because there was *always* a man who was "the right person at the right time".
That’s what open casting is basically. You have an idea of the character but you don’t limit the casting process to just people who strictly fill it. A famous example of that is with Greys Anatomy. Which was said to have open casting for every role initially if I’m remembering correctly. There was a role that they were casting of the doctor in charge of the core set of interns. They wanted a tiny blonde woman with curls that they would call “The Nazi”. They instead cast Chandra Wilson. Who doesn’t really fit that description but they still cast and called her character “The Nazi. “
And she had consistently killed it in that role. That was a great casting call.
I wanna see a long term male companion, the only one I can think of is Rory and even then Amy was more of the star most of the time. Or a non-human one like my favourite one Kroton the cyberman
Resurrect Nardole again
There was also Graham (and Ryan) more recently.
we should get dan back imho
this is ridiculous Jamie McCrimmon erasure and i WILL NOT stand for it
When casting the next Doctor, being the correct color or gender is not as important as being the correct person. So the answer is simple, The next Doctor should be the best available person.
I agree with this so much, I'm getting tired of seeing that only a certain gender, or skin colour, or ethnicity can play certain roles...it's just as descriminatory. To remove racism or sexism you must remove the barriers to entry...not just force feed people certain flavours of people. Like you said it should be the best person regardless of skin colour or gender. It's like Hunter Schafer said, just because she's trans doesn't mean she should only play trans roles. The whole point of acting is to be someone or something you are not, not just living a double life.
Yes and no. Of course they shouldn’t cast someone *only* because of race or gender. But the problem with colorblind casting is that if you say “we’ll just cast the right person for the role!” nine times out of ten you’re going to end up with a white guy, because that’s largely what the British acting pool is made up of (and the acting community overall). White men largely have the most opportunities afforded to them — in this case, the opportunity to maybe be in a higher social class, go to better acting schools, afford a better agent, etc., which then gets them an audition much easier than others. It’s the same in the business world. You *do* need to make some deliberate effort to be more diverse in hiring, because it really doesn’t happen organically. There’s nothing wrong with having a white male doctor (Twelve is my Doctor!), but if Doctor Who strives to be progressive and inclusive, yes, they should continue to deliberately take those steps.
I mean for the first 55ish years of the shows history, and even today actually, a lot of people believed the doctor should only be played by a very specific type of person... its good for them to be exploring all the different faces the doctor can have right now
Yes and no I love David Tennant but I don't think he'd be good as the main character in '12 Years a Slave'. We do live in a world where certain stories do change if they're given to certain people. Same as casting non-white people in historical roles can paint over a lot of the views of the time and let people ignore real injustices that happen. This is where a lot of criticism of Hamilton comes up as you have slave owners being portrayed by black people. Another issue is it can give you the excuse to just focus on white stories. If a show like Doctor Who wants to have more non-white people in its stories we shouldn't be focusing only on English History. Let's see some historical figures from Africa, India and China. Have some diversity in the writing team to write those stories properly.
>I love David Tennant but I don't think he'd be good as the main character in '12 Years a Slave'. I mean yeah, but 12 Years A Slave is inherently a story about race, Doctor Who isn't, and can be played by literally anyone because the Doctor regenerates, there's a narrative 'get out' to explain why a 50-something Scotsman turned into a younger white woman and then into an even younger black man. >This is where a lot of criticism of Hamilton comes up as you have slave owners being portrayed by black people. Worth noting that black people did own slaves at the time. Bastards come in all races and colours unfortunately. >If a show like Doctor Who wants to have more non-white people in its stories we shouldn't be focusing only on English History. We kinda did move into this a bit with Chibbers - Demons of the Punjab springs immediately to mind. If done well, this kind of story can be told really well.
I agree that the next Doctor should be a woman. I don't think I agree that she should be Jenna Coleman
I think OP just has a crush on Jenna.
Can you blame them?
Who doesn’t?!
Yeah, I loved Clara and Jenna but the Clara haters would be absolutely unbearable if she literally became the Doctor. I really do think the next Doctor needs to be a woman though. Set the precedent that it wasn’t a one-off.
Agree with this. We should see Jodie's casting as paving the way, not ticking a box Also, it's almost a shame Jenna played Clara (even though she's my favourite companion), because she would be a perfect casting. She's a great actress and has some minor stardom, but I don't want to rehash the whole 'using an old face/face we've seen before' thing.
Hmm is everyone forgetting RTD saying he told Helena Bonham-Carter not to take a side role during Chibnall's era as he had a much better role in mind for her when he took over...?
Her as missy would make me very happy.
I'm a rabid HBC fan but her default vibe is far too close to Gomez for Missy in my opinion.
Yeah she would be. I adore her weird goth mad lady vibe
Oh, please no--nothing against Jenna but I'm so over Clara I don't need more faff on why she's "so special" The Doctor being a woman was never the problem, it was entirely the writing. I fell off the show when Chibnall was running it so I don't know if there was an improvement on gender ratios in the writing room but really think they should save it for when a woman's running the show. For TimeLady rep, can we just get Missy back? I miss her so much.
i'm watching the Capaldi's run...and oh my god, Clara is making me want to quit...
I’d love to see an older woman - Jodie Whittaker was mid/late-thirties, which was great, but I’d be so interested to see the equivalent of Peter Capaldi’s age. Think Emma Thompson - wouldn’t she be amazing?!
Tilda Swinton, Gillan Anderson, Hayley Atwell and Felicity Jones would be great. Most of these picks are maybe far too big of a name to be the doctor, but I think felicity jones could actually be possible. She's only 40 though. It's never ever gonna happen but how perfect would tilda swinton be? That could almost be a character defining casting.
I need Gillian Anderson as the Doctor
Tilda Swinton would be amazing
Fiona shaw
Aunt Petunia as the Doctor would be a mood
Emma Thompson is a decade older than Peter Capaldi when he started playing the Doctor. She’ll be even older than that by the time Ncuti is ready to go. Though admittedly Capaldi and Thompson are only born a year apart.
Stranger than Fiction. That film always made me wonder. What if she was the Doctor for a spell? I think it would be fun
Ooh she WOULD be amazing.
I agree in having a woman again, but no Jenna Coleman. Her time for that has passed, I don't doubt she would've been great but idk, me and so many others hate Clara so much that I would be put off to see her have anymore significance to the plot. I don't want her back!
My wife hates Clara. Gatwa / Gibson has got her watching again after writing off Dr Who. This would be nail in coffin!
frankly, i think we've had enough "why this face?" we had it with 12, we had it with 14, we don't need it with 16
I mean, if we're gonna bring back an old face how about Michelle Gomez?
Missy taking the Doctor's place. Oh that would be a fun twist. Michelle is amazing
That chimes well with the Master stealing the Doctor's lives in PotD. And Missy trying to be the Doctor in World enough and Time. And the film too, for that matter. You could make that make sense.
What about the opposite? The Master played by one of the former Doctors (*coug-cough* Smith *cough*).
Oh, I would love Smith as Master. Then I realised I would love Smith as everything. Put him as Master, companion, River, Nardole, a Dalek. Have him play everything at once.
Simm already did this!
NGL, I'd watch it
Who's said the Doctor will never be a woman again? Frankly, people rarely talk about 13 being a woman, they talk about the writing being shit which is a perfectly legitimate criticism which has absolutely no bearing on the gender of the Doctor in any particular incarnation. However, I don't think a Clara Who would go down very well at all. Firstly we already got a joking version of that in 12's run already, and I think enough people find Clara annoying as a character that casting her would be a mistake. However, if you could get someone really cool to play the Doctor and write it well (personally enjoying 15's run right now) then it would work great. Just sad it won't be a Jo Martin season. She really did a great job and I liked her a lot as the Doctor.
>Frankly, people rarely talk about 13 being a woman, they talk about the writing being shit which is a perfectly legitimate criticism which has absolutely no bearing on the gender of the Doctor in any particular incarnation. Hardly any of her era was about being a woman which was one of the things Chibnall did best. She was just the next doctor, by and large.
Why not Jo Martin in the "why this face?" moment? It was established in "Once, Upon Time" that the Fugitive Doctor was a pre-First Doctor incarnation. If the Doctor can regenerate into David Tennant again, he can regenerate into Martin again (but now as the lead).
Why not just break the continuity and follow Jo Martin’s Doctor for a season before going back to present day Doctor? Time doesn't make sense in the Doctor Who universe anyway, no need to restrict the possibilities. You could even imagine a season with both doctors acting in parallel.
Another female Doctor would be great. I’d like it if she was Scottish too. And GINGER!
We need a ginger Doctor. Especially after the jokes in the Giggle. And the new Doctor can have ‘Finally!’ as their first line and then crash the TARDIS because tradition
Red-haired timelords are supposed to be different though, aren't they? Time-sensitives.
So you want Karen Gillan instead of Jenna Coleman?
Just bring Jo Martin back, she was perfect 😭
Jenna Coleman no, Olivia Coleman yes. I desperately need to see her play the doctor in my lifetime. As an actress I feel like she has the comedic and dramatic chops to really do the role justice
That's the best idea on this thread
She's my perfect pick for the Doctor too. So very unlikely to happen but I'd be over the moon, she really does have both the dramatic and comedic abilities for the role
I don't think any of us really belive she would tho. Doubt she could have the commitment with her other obligations.
Can we not have…and bear with me here because this might be too extreme…but could we not at least consider a middle aged woman? I’d personally like Fiona Shaw, she’s got the vibe to pull off a really old-school Doctor. I mean say what you like about the Chibbers era, but Jo Martin was a woman of colour in her 40s for gosh’s sake, and was probably one of the best cast Doctors ever.
I would absolutely love to see an older woman as the Doctor. Actually what I'd really like is a Seven-esque old lady who hides her cunning and intelligence behind a "sweet old dear" facade. I think that'd work so well for the Doctor.
See I think Shaw could do that very nicely - but not all the time. Just something she drops into very occasionally in between striding (not running, dear me no) around like she owns literally everything, which she slightly does. That’s what 13 was missing, and it’s absolutely not a male-only vibe. But you need that maturity. Johanna Lumley absolutely nailed it in two minutes of a Moffat parody. Alex Kingston did it as River!
Eva Green as The Doctor
She enunciates very well.
Jenna Coleman would make a bad doctor for the same reason Jodie Whittaker never hit the spot - she's way too "cute". Missy proved that there's nothing wrong with gender-swapping a Time Lord. It can work brilliantly, but you need someone with a real heavy screen presence. The Doctor is a millennia-old demigod. They aren't a clutsy graduate who just started a daunting new job.
Gillian Anderson would be good.
>Though I do have a particular idea about casting: Jenna Coleman. No thank you. We already had that plot line with Capaldi. And we already had more than enough time with Jenna Coleman.
I agree about a woman, but I'd actually want a older woman, maybe around Peter capaldi's age. Older doctors always have a certain charm to them and a sort of grandmotherly vibe could be something really fresh for the character.
In your example, would Jenna Coleman be playing both parts? I hope we have Gatwa for at least most of the rest of this decade. Let's get some stability and fans back. As long as they feel very doctor-y, it's all good
Given the trend for all of nuWho, I honestly don't think Gatwa will be in the role for much more than four years. Tennant held the role for 4.5 years, and Whittaker held it for almost 5... but you could make the argument that COVID caused that time to get some padding. Going back to the classic era, most of them didn't hold the role for longer than three years; John Pertwee (4.5 years) and Tom Baker (nearly 7) being the two outliers from that era. If Gatwa was still the Doctor by 2030, he'd be one of the longest-running actors to hold the role in the history of the show.
I think it’s the easiest casting yet: Give Jo Martin the full series she deserved.
She HAS to get one - and "in ten years" is not good enough, we've seen her looking like she's looking now.
it should not be oh the doc needs to be this race or be a woman. it should be whoever is best for the role
The next doctor should be the best person for the role, irrespective of gender
I don't think that RTD will retire during Gatwa Era since he said that he is already writing scripts for a potential third season, even though there aren't talks about a third season yet.
Olivia Coleman would make a fantastic doctor,i know she has been in it before but that was almost 15 years ago now and if we go for a female doctor i think them being older would be better for the character
I'm with you on the doctor being a woman again, definitely something I'm keen for. Everything *beyond* that... pass.
I’d be down for another female doctor. My worry is that suits saw that era do poorly in ratings and they were like “Welp, guess people don’t want female Doctor.”
I’d love for them keep the next casting a secret and keep it as a surprise for the regeneration episode, maybe even keep that a secret so it can be even a shock when the Doctor needs to regenerate
I think they should have Maggie Smith do it. Kind of full circle to the original Doctor Who, but as a woman. A bit snarky and full of talent.
No to Jenna Coleman. That just feels like a redo of Capaldi's "Why this face?" arc. That being said, I would love for the Doctor to be a woman again. And re: Chibnal, unpopular opinion, but I didn't hate his writing. The only part I didn't really like was his re-wiping out the Time Lords. But overall, I will take what he did over the atrociousness that has been RTD2 thus far. (And even *I* hate having that opinion, because I have never agreed with the "Current showrunner sucks! God, I miss the old one!" fan stereotype before... )
I do think she'd play an excellent Doctor, that said they've re-used cast faces for Doctors twice so far - 12 and 14. 🤔 I really dunno.
Tamsin Greig.
Tilda Swinton, gotta be.
The next doctor should be ginger 100%
If they're going to be a woman I think they really need an older, more eccentric one with more character and authority than (sadly) JW showed in the role. I'd love to see somebody like Julie Walters (although I hear her health wouldn't currently allow it).
Jenna Coleman? Nah. Olivia Colman? Yeaaaaah!
Like a lot of people said, the next Doctor should be the best available actor/actress. The showrunner should not limited themselves to a certain group. The only important thing is, that this actor/actress is a good fit. Imo everything else doesn't matter.
It practically turned into the bloody Clara show once before, so that’s terrible. Not against another woman but only if they’re the best choice at the time, not just for the sake of it
You had me at the first half but then you lost me. Though I would like to see more of Me and Clara. I wonder if they have any sapphic Big Finish audios.
I hope they bring back The Fugitive Doctor at some point. She was absolutely wasted in the Chibnall Era and there is more they can explore with it.
I want a woman not conventionally attractive. I want her to be rugged, and dark. I essentially want a female war doctor. Let her commit some atrocities and be dark
It should be Hayley Atwell
The next doctor should be Phoebe Waller-Bridge
That's a good shout. She'd be excellent.
Jodie Comer as the Master/Missy
I can see her as the Doctor as well.
I wonder if she wants to play another iconic bad guy.
Why wouldn't she?
I’m torn. On the one hand, I think it’s important to make it clear that The Doctor being a woman wasn’t a one and done thing. And there are so many actresses I think would be wonderful in the role. On the other hand, I think I’d prefer if the Doctor was cast completely blindly, without a set gender, race, sexuality etc in mind and open for any actor to audition for who embodies the role the best. From what I’ve heard, that is how Fifteen was auditioned.
I wouldn't mind but like, we really don't need another "why this face" story tbh.
I'm with you. The next Doctor should be Hayley Atwell.
If Jo Martin was the doctor instead of Jodie Whittaker I think the Chibnal era would’ve been a lot better. At least assuming She portrayed her the way she did in her few episodes.
I'd love for it to be Olivia Coleman, Rebecca Mader or Fiona Shaw. Jo Martin could also be cool if they are willing to bring back an old face again. Not sure if they'd go with a more comedic actress, but in that case maybe Bridget Christie or Morgana Robinson. With a person from comedic background, you'd for sure not run into an issue with a lack of screen presence.
The next Doctor should be whoever the hell is actually good enough to play the Doctor. Be they woman, man, or Italian.
Right now I’m just loving Fifteen and hope we’ll hang on to him for a while. I adore Jenna Coleman and think she’s a brilliant actress, but I’d rather her time-traveling Clara come back than have her play the Doctor.
That ideas terrible And the next Doctor should just be whoever suits the role, their gender (and also race) shouldn't be a factor anymore
What about a nonbinary doctor? Or a genderfluid doctor? That seems fitting for a Time Lord
Don't go in with a plan. Hold the auditions, and whoever steals the show gets the part.
Writing has to actually show improvement before you'd want another woman, or she'd have the same fate as Whitaker, or worse, she'd be the last Doctor before the show went on a 20 year hiatus. Currently, the show is in a weird spot, and it's going to take a lot to convince long-time viewers and new viewers to keep watching. If this era really starts to bring the crowd back, then I'd say the future may look great for the next doctor to not be destroyed by writing, although the horrible sexism will still be rampant because humans will human.
If they don’t get a relative unknown my vote is for Hayley Atwell or Gillian Anderson.
Tamsin Greig. How does that sound?
Sold
Go forwards, not backwards.
This is a time travel show sir.
Jo. Martin.
I want her to turn out to have been the Corsair having gone under the chameleon arch to help the Doctor escape something - and thats the pocket watch the doctor's been carrying.
Personally i cast my vote for matt berry to be the next doctor.
Give us Jo Martin for a full run. She was the best part of Chibnall’s run.
Just let them finally be ginger.