Not Ben Whishaw, sorry. It's Peter Capaldi.
Honestly, I wasn't too surprised. I knew he was a favorite for the role. Though honestly I don't even think his name was even out there being speculated about till like a week or two ago.
People are complaining about him being older. He's 55 (the same age as my dad, actually), but honestly he doesn't look that old. He's aged well I think. (As has Peter Davison, I noticed...he was interviewed on the special yesterday). Plus, c'mon, it's not like we haven't had older Doctors before; all the Classic Who Doctors except Davison and McGann were older guys. As far as I can tell, the people who are complaining about his age are the people who are big fans of Matt Smith and were thus hoping for a young Twelfth Doctor. My favorite Doctor, as I said before, is David Tennant, so I think that's probably why I'm more OK with the idea of an older Doctor (not to mention I've been watching the Doctors Revisited specials and thus have familiarity with Classic Who).
As for Capaldi himself...I say, give the guy a chance. I didn't want to give Matt much of a chance at first, but I did, and he eventually grew on me. Same with Eccelston...after watching Series 1 I didn't like Nine at all, but in retrospect I realize he had some really great scenes, and now I'm looking forward to seeing Eccelston in Thor: The Dark World later this year (he's playing some evil Dark Elf Lord though, so I doubt you'll recognize him).
I'm glad they interviewed Capaldi right after the announcement. I think that was very smart, because it gave us a chance to get a feel for him right away. And once it came out that he's a huge fan of the show and has been since he was a kid, he automatically became much more favorable to me. Because that aspect is part of what I like about David too. (And Steven Moffat for that matter). He seems like a very nice guy, not afraid to admit his failings (I mean, he admitted to having his phone ON SILENT when he got the call saying he got the part!). And that story Matt told about Capaldi coming up to him after "The Eleventh Hour" first aired to tell him how great it was...I think that's just awesome that he did that. Only a fan would do that.
And now that his daughter knows (Capaldi said he wasn't allowed to tell her before), she must be thrilled. The way I imagine Georgia Moffet (Peter Davison's daughter, and now David's wife) must be.
Interestingly, they cast somebody who's been in Doctor Who before. I did not expect that at all. Capaldi played Caecilius in "The Fires of Pompeii," the second episode of Series 4. He also played John Frobisher in Torchwood. Will have to look for him in both those roles. (I'm also intrigued to see him as Cardinal Richilieu in the new BBC production of The Three Musketeers...I've liked Richilieu [an actual historical person] in other movies).
So, even though I don't know anything about him, and have never seen any of his other stuff, something about Capaldi feels right to me. Since he's a huge fan of the show, and has been since he was a kid, I feel he will do the role justice. Also, if the GI was correct in the Series 7 finale, and The Doctor is getting darker, then you need someone who can play dark. And Capaldi can do that - he's playing Cardinal Richilieu, as I mentioned above, and that's typically a very dark and sinister role. Plus, after a couple younger, more childish Doctors (cause, let's face it, Ten was pretty childish too, though nowhere near as much as Eleven is/was), it'll be kinda nice to see a more "mature" Doctor again, I suppose.
So, anyway, before you just dismiss him, just give this guy a chance. I'm going to!
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