Sometimes they have made that statement too loudly, though. "The Twin Dilemma" is basically an exercise in the new guy saying 'That chap in the Cricket whites? What a loser!', as per: Sometimes I think a little... affirmation that this is indeed the same guy can be good. The opposite situation, taken to extremes as above, leads to a bad taste in the mouth.
First of all, let me say this is the worst possible way to spoil anything up. Second, whinning about Smith for a frickin' cameo just seems too much to me. Calm the fuck down. OK, with that out of the way... I kinda like this. I like that the Doctor, before his regeneration, wanted to make her feel at ease with his future self. It reminds me of Nine trying to ease Rose in the change to Ten. That said.. I'm not sure its gonna be a good idea to have a past Doctor basically going "don't worry kids, I may look like a doddery old grandpa, but I'm still me!". On the one hand, I understand Moffat's doing it for the younger audience to stay tuned for this new Doctor, but it does seem out of the ordinary. I mean, we didn't have Jon Pertwee or David Tennant reaffirming their audiences to stay tuned for this new Doctor, did we? Anyway, while I like it as an idea, I guess we'll have to wait and see how it'll play out.
I have no worries that this will just be a very short cameo. It's not going to affect the story much one way or the other. If you like Smith (like me), you'll probably think it's cool. If you don't like Smith, well, it probably lasts less than a minute and the rest of the episode and Capaldi will stand or fall based on its own merits. Worries about the "affirmation" aspect are just over blown. Mr Awe
Maybe not for those two, but they did do the same basic thing in Troughton's first episode, by having the image of Hartnell stare back at him in the mirror for a couple seconds: http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/classic/photonovels/power/one/18.shtml If they could do it all the way back then, I don't see the harm in a quick little reassuring phone call from Smith today.
If this is true then it might explain why the exterior phone on the TARDIS was off the hook near the end of The Time of the Doctor.
Well, if that's all you've seen of him, then you have seen a tiny sample of Capaldi's work. Even in trash he's been the saving grace, in good stuff he can outshine people who're as good or better than him. If you can, check out The Cricklewood Greats. Brilliant funny spoof tribute to classic horror (etc) movies.
I enjoyed Capalid's performances on Torchwood and Doctor Who and I'm willing to see just how good he is as the Doctor.
Cool. Knowing how seldom his regenerations go anything like he'd wish, he might have taken this precaution against his inability to Keep that promise to Remember. I'm not sure This Doctor even knows he's The Doctor at this point, and he may not believe a recording telling him so. Eleven could ask Clara to stay on and look after Twelve awhile until his memories return - though it could be an interesting knife-twist if they never did, except in a fuzzy, second-hand way.
Capaldi is clearly a good actor. My only concern just comes down to the fact that in a lot of things I've seen him in he's come across slightly creepy, but that may just be down to the roles themsevles, and would the fact 12 was a little creepy really be that bad a thing? It would certainly be a little different.
It would certainly hearken back to Hartnell, who was, especially when the series began and the character wasn't defined, a cantankerous asshole. I don't want to use the term "anti-hero" because it doesn't really fit, but he was certainly like a wizard in old fairy tales, distant and arbitrary. It's been pointed out that he doesn't start behaving in a Doctor-ish manner (doing good things just because he can) until "The Sensorites," and reading the first volume of TARDIS Eruditorum recently I was struck by how impotent the first Doctor in the face of his enemies in comparison to later Doctors. If Capaldi wants to play that -- a cantankerous asshole who doesn't always win -- I'm right there. However, will Moffat write that? I'm not so sure.
I would say to anyone who's only used to grumpy/creepy Capaldi to try to track him down in The Crow Road, as the hero's Uncle Rory. A very sweet, laid-back, slightly hippyish role.
I saw him on the Vicar of Dibley recently as "The hottest man in the world" who Dawn's character is head over heals for.