Capaldi Leaving Doctor Who

[Starkers]

They're not going to let it rest. The fandom for Who, like Trek and Star Wars, has traditionally been predominantly male. In the case of Who, especially when the show came back in 2005, older middle aged males. Then Tennant comes along, and soon there are the Tennant fan girls. And there's a *lot* of them. It's the first time I've ever seen a fandom once thought of as almost exclusively the domain for nerdy men get overrun by the ladies. Enough to make the BBC take notice.

Smith had a crap ton of fan girls here in the States. Seems like I recall seeing more fan girls when it came to Who, especially when they were showing the stuff on the big screen, than guys. Also, keep in mind, that most fans who discovered Who through the newer iteration are more familiar with the Doctor being younger. The only reason we had an older Doctor was because of Moffat and his nostalgia for Classic Who. Like it or not, I don't think we'll be seeing an older Doctor like Capaldi again.

For myself, I'm less concerned with the Doctor's age these days, than I am with the quality of stories.

I'm a bloke in his forties and Matt's pretty much my favourite Doctor so I have no objections to a younger actor (and I think about the only thing we can really count on right now is that 13 will be a younger actor than Capaldi) or a POC or a woman, or a WOC, so long as they can pull off the role.

I'm not surprised Capaldi is leaving. It makes sense on a lot of levels, and I do wonder whether it genuinely was his decision. He's not my favourite Doctor but he's probably closer to the top than the bottom of the list so I will miss him. Seems odd to get sad when we still have 1/3 of his tenure unseen at the moment though. Here's hoping both he and Moffat go out on a high.

 

[Starkers]

Looks like we're getting a third consecutive regeneration at Christmas...

Second. 10-11 was New Years Day

 

[The Lensman]

I agree about the quality of stories, though. Things got to the point where I'd miss an episode here and there, and it didn't matter. I didn't even bother watching the Christmas show.

Hell, I missed all of last season and it didn't matter. I pretty much know how it ends, and it just re-enforces my dislike of Clara. She really should've gone out in "Last Christmas".

 

[FreddyE]

I can't divulge my source, unfortunately. It was something I was told directly by someone in a position to know. The reasons given were that Capaldi found the filming grueling and unpleasant. That's really all I can say. Sorry.

This somehow sound like its "Ecclestone all over again"...mentioning the filming beeing unpleasant...

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

Capaldi was pretty high on wanting to stay a month ago. I wonder if he's being pushed out so they can get on with their younger Doctor plan.

 

[Starkers]

Who knows, maybe he had a chat with Chibnall and they realised they weren't on the same page, maybe potential other jobs have come up that he wanted to take, hell maybe Hurt's death was a salient reminder that he's on Earth for a finite amount of time. He did say he's never stayed in a job for any great length of time, even his dream job might grow wearying after a while

 

[StCoop]

This somehow sound like its "Eccleston all over again"...mentioning the filming being unpleasant...

Well the series was certainly physically unpleasant for Capaldi, since he ended up having to have keyhole surgery on his knee and walked with a cane for months as a result of it! Which was (very belatedly) mentioned as one of the reasons for no series this year.

 

[Jedman67]

I haven't seen Series 9 yet (aside from the Christmas Special). I did thoroughly enjoy Capaldi in S7 & 8, although he had his fair share of lemons. I think the biggest problem was Moffats writing was getting too clever and tired and it just stopped working. It's a shame, as his episodes during RTD's direction were some of the best.

 

[Lonemagpie]

This somehow sound like its "Ecclestone all over again"...mentioning the filming beeing unpleasant...

He means physically- he buggered his knee a couple of years ago, and there's a lot of running involved in the show...

 

[Jedman67]

He means physically- he buggered his knee a couple of years ago, and there's a lot of running involved in the show...

Could have tweaked the format to be more brainy and less active, but oh well.

 

[Hey Missy]

^ There's actually been far less running and hopping around for Capaldi than Smith and Tennant. "Listen" was probably the first episode in the entirety of NuWho with more talking than action, which worked.

Re: Clara... I still don't get the hate for her. The absolute WORST companion title goes to Rose - petty, jealous, dumps her mom and Mickey and even personally insults them - and the show praises her for it. Clara gets called out on her shit all the time; the Doctor warned her that if she tries to copy him and "be the Doctor" she would end up getting killed (and she does).

 

[StCoop]

Clara gets called out on her shit all the time; the Doctor warned her that if she tries to copy him and "be the Doctor" she would end up getting killed (and she does).

It didn't stick though. Just like most of the other major deaths in Moffat's time.

In fact for being like the Doctor she gets rewarded with her own TARDIS and Companion.

 

[The Wormhole]

Shit, I take one day off and forget to check out the Doctor Who forum and all this goes down? Watched pot never boils, I guess.

But yeah, I'll echo the sentiment that this is disappointing but not surprising. I just want something clarified, everything I'm looking at right now says Capaldi is done at the end of the season. Does that mean the finale is his regeneration, or the Christmas special. I'm assuming Christmas, as that would make the most sense what with that being Moffat's bow, it wouldn't make much sense for the episode to introduce a new Doctor that the Moff won't even be responsible for. Hell, for all we know, Moffat might even allow Chibnall to write the post-regeneration scene with the new Doctor just as RTD allowed Moffat to write the Matt Smith scene in TEOT.

 

[DarthPipes]

When I was at NYCC, Alex Kingston mentioned Capaldi getting in a limo after filming at 6 and being driven three hours to make a public appearance before making a three-hour trip back. Being the Doctor is demanding for an actor, not just in terms of filming but in the demands it makes on your time. I'm not surprised that Capaldi is deciding to move on.

 

[Lonemagpie]

The Xmas Special is, as is becoming standard, the regeneration story.

 

[Emperor-Tiberius]

A silly standard. Why can't the X-Mas special just be an X-Mas special? It kinda made sense for Time of the Doctor, as it was off the heels of the 50th anniversary and was saddled together as part of that celebration. This is just gimmick.

 

[Romulan_spy]

We know each doctor puts their own mark on their regeneration story. Some are sad, some are philosophical. I wonder what kind of regeneration Capaldi's will be. I feel like Capaldi's regeneration won't be over sentimental since his doctor seems to shy away from that. From the episode "the magician's apprentice" when the doctor thought he was dying, he decided to goof around in medieval England. Perhaps, his regeneration will be similar. I hope we see Clara make an appearance to say goodbye.

 

[Emperor-Tiberius]

The Doctor has had, by now, two farewell tours (in Eleven's case, maybe even centuries-long) and even spent a near eternity in Christmas Town as an old man, probably even pondering at his adventures as a "younger" man. I think he himself has had enough of moping and brooding on death by now, so I would like 12's exit not to be this dark and sorrowful.

 

[Romulan_spy]

The Doctor has had, by now, two farewell tours (in Eleven's case, maybe even centuries-long) and even spent a near eternity in Christmas Town as an old man, probably even pondering at his adventures as a "younger" man. I think he himself has had enough of moping and brooding on death by now, so I would like 12's exit not to be this dark and sorrowful.

Agreed. Which is why I think Capaldi's doctor will not do the moppy, sentimental regeneration. If he has time to prepare, I think it will be more like his extravaganza in "The Magician's Apprentice". He'll want to party, timelord style. Of course, there is the possibility that his regeneration will be sudden in which case, he will only get to say a few words before it happens.

 

[Timewalker]

Re: Clara... I still don't get the hate for her. The absolute WORST companion title goes to Rose - petty, jealous, dumps her mom and Mickey and even personally insults them - and the show praises her for it. Clara gets called out on her shit all the time; the Doctor warned her that if she tries to copy him and "be the Doctor" she would end up getting killed (and she does).

Yeah, I found Rose pretty unlikable, too.

It didn't stick though. Just like most of the other major deaths in Moffat's time.

If they'd just left her as Dalek-Clara, that would have been fine by me. It would have been a suitably tragic thing, for a human consciousness to be trapped in a killing machine, and on with the search for a better companion.

In fact for being like the Doctor she gets rewarded with her own TARDIS and Companion.

And immortality for both of them, since Me can't die and Clara can only be permanently dead if she returns to the alley.

We know each doctor puts their own mark on their regeneration story. Some are sad, some are philosophical. I wonder what kind of regeneration Capaldi's will be. I feel like Capaldi's regeneration won't be over sentimental since his doctor seems to shy away from that. From the episode "the magician's apprentice" when the doctor thought he was dying, he decided to goof around in medieval England. Perhaps, his regeneration will be similar. I hope we see Clara make an appearance to say goodbye.

Gah. Only if her next action is to return to the alley where she was supposed to die and finishes the job.