Doctor Who (33 page)

Authors: Alan Kistler

BOOK: Doctor Who

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The second half of the seventh season opened with “The Bells of St. John.” Now the Doctor meets the modern day Clara Oswald, a girl whose existence in multiple points of space and time seemed simply impossible. Clara helps the Doctor feel like his old self again, though he still wears a noticeably darker and more somber outfit than his early days. Unlike other companions, she expects the Doctor to work on her schedule. He has a time machine, so he is able to visit her on certain days when she is free, at which point they'll enjoy an adventure but then she must get back home and take care of her responsibilities.

After several adventures, including a journey through various parts of the TARDIS, the Doctor and Clara wind up on Trenzalore, a graveyard world
that he knows holds his own remains. He is not supposed to be here, as a person should not encounter his own death or dead body (although, two previous Steven Moffat episodes seemed to have the hero do just that).

Entering his own tomb, the Doctor sees dust on the floor and energy erupting from it, a manifestation of his own timeline. An old enemy enters the energy field, scattering himself across reality in an attempt to corrupt the Doctor's history. To save him, Clara follows, knowing she will likely die.

Copies of Clara fly across space and time, each not knowing their true origin, each driven to help and save the Doctor in some way. With clever camera tricks and editing, this episode, “The Name of the Doctor,” was able to provide appearances by all of the previous incarnations (although McGann's cameo is so quick that some viewers missed it, while others wondered why they didn't have him simply come in to film a short scene as Peter Davison had done for Children in Need).

The Doctor follows Clara, breaking several laws of time and finding her impossibly still alive in a strange limbo inhabited by all his different selves. Clara is startled to see one Doctor she doesn't recognize. The hero explains that his name is not important; calling himself the Doctor is a promise. This man before them is a version who broke the promise.

The figure turns, revealing actor John Hurt. And so ends the seventh season. Fans would have to wait months before seeing what mysteries unravel in the fiftieth anniversary special, which teams up Matt Smith with David Tennant and Billie Piper.

Along with this, Big Finish is releasing its own fiftieth anniversary audio drama special,
The Light at the End,
staring Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy, and Paul McGann. Joining them in the story are Louise Jameson as Leela, Sarah Sutton as Nyssa, Nicola Bryant as Peri, Sophie Aldred as Ace, India Fisher as Charley Pollard, and Geoffrey Beevers as the Master.

The Twelfth Doctor

By the end of 2012, Matt Smith's incarnation had become so ubiquitous that some speculated he would play the Doctor for many years to come, perhaps beating Tom Baker's record. Moffat said that he wouldn't mind if
Smith stayed for as long as the program remained on the air. In 2013, Moffat confirmed that he would stay with the program for at least another year, and Matt Smith indicated the same. But when the actor shaved off much of his hair in the early summer, rumors of his departure began swirling. On June 1, the BBC announced that that year's Christmas special would be Smith's final adventure as the Time Lord.

Speculation ran rampant about who would play the next Doctor. Arthur Darvill suggested Dame Helen Mirren, an idea that quickly gained support. On the ITV morning talk show
Daybreak,
Mirren said, “I'm not going to be the first female Doctor Who. No, no, no. Absolutely not, I absolutely wouldn't contemplate that . . . but I do think it's well over time to have a female Doctor Who. . . . I think a gay, black, female Doctor Who would be best of all.” John Barrowman agreed, telling
Daybreak,
“Give it a whirl. If it doesn't work, she can always regenerate.”

Online fan campaigns supported various actors, such asÂ Richard Ayoade, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Idris Elba, Stephen Fry, Miranda Hart, Eddie Izzard, Hugh Laurie, David Mitchell, Bill Nighy, Simon Pegg, Sue Perkins, and Sheridan Smith. Some fans argued that the Doctor should be played by someone who wasn't too famous. On August 14, 2013, Bill Nighy revealed to the
Daily Express
that he had been “approached” about the role of the Doctorâhe didn't say whenâbut turned it down because the role came with “too much baggage.”

After many weeks of speculation, BBC One announced the news during a special broadcast on Sunday, August 4. Before a live audience, award-winning Scottish actor and director Peter Capaldi was revealed as the next Doctor.

Born in Glasgow to a family with Irish and Italian roots, Capaldi showed an early interest in acting, putting on puppet shows in elementary school, performing as a member of the Antonine Players during his teens, and attending the Glasgow School of Art. While an art student, he was lead singer in Dreamboys, a punk band. The band's drummer was Craig Ferguson, who became a successful comedian and host of
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
on CBS. In addition to punk rock, Capaldi and Ferguson shared a love of
Doctor Who.
At age 15, Capaldi sent a letter to the
Radio Times,
which they published, praising its
Doctor Who
tenth anniversary
special issue, saying, “I hope that in 15 years time, in 1988, you will publish another Special to celebrate 25 years of wandering in time with the Doctor.”

In the 1980s, Capaldi worked steadily in film and television. He earned awards for his portrayal of Malcolm Tucker in the BBC Four comedy program
The Thick of It
and its follow-up
In the Loop.
In 1995, he directed
Franz Kafka's It's a Wonderful Life
,
which earned the Academy Award for Live Action Short Film. In the 2013 film
World War Z,
Capaldi played a doctor from the World Health Organization, prophetically credited as “W.H.O. Doctor.”

Over the years, Capaldi and Ferguson maintained their love for the show and enjoyed the relaunch. Ferguson even performed a
Doctor Whoâ
themed musical act on his show on November 16, 2010, that summarized the program's philosophy as “intellect and romance over brute force and cynicism.” Unable to clear rights to use the
Doctor Who
theme music, CBS didn't air the segment, but it was released online and became popular with Whovians. Capaldi himself had been no stranger to the Whoniverse, though. In 2008, he played Caecilius in “The Fires of Pompeii,” and in 2009 he played John Frobisher in
Torchwood: Children of Earth.

When news broke that Capaldi had been cast, some wondered if the 55-year-old actor was too old to play the role since audiences were used to younger actors playing the Doctor. But William Hartnell was also 55 when he began as the First Doctor, a fitting echo.

Immediately following the announcement, Peter Capaldi came out on stage before a cheering audience and answered questions. He revealed that he had been filming a BBC adaptation of
The Three Musketeers
and his phone was off when execs tried to call him with the good news. Capaldi later called his agent, who greeted him, “Hello, Doctor.” Concerning the secrecy of his casting, he smiled and said, “For a while, I couldn't tell my daughter, who would be looking on the Internet and discovering that people were saying so-and-so should be Doctor Who . . . and she was getting rather upset that they never mentioned me. I said,
Just rise above it, darling. Rise above it.
” During the interview, via pre-taped footage, Matt Smith wished Capaldi well and called him a “canny choice” for the role.

While many were happy to know at last who the Twelfth Doctor would be, some questioned if the BBC hadn't missed an opportunity finally to cast
the hero as a woman or person of color or both. Neil Gaiman commented that a black actor he knew had been approached during the search for the Tenth or Eleventh Doctor but had turned it down. Many speculated that the writer meant Paterson Joseph, who had starred in Gaiman's BBC miniseries
Neverwhere
and appeared in the Ninth Doctor's final two episodes. But Joseph had commented years before that while there had been “a chance” he could have been the Doctor, he wasn't offered the role or else he would have accepted.

Along with those who criticized the casting, others have suggested that the program has run its course again and should take a few years' rest until another forward-thinking relaunch can reignite it. But as Paul McGann said, “There's no reason for this show ever to stop. It's bigger than all of us, and it's just too much fun. You can do anything with it. Isn't that fantastic?”

Capaldi also believes the show can continue forever. During his live interview on BBC One, he said, “The real reason, the big reason that
Doctor Who
is still with us is because of every single viewer who ever turned on to watch this show at any ageâat any time in its history and in their historyâand who took it into their heart. Because
Doctor Who
belongs to all of us.
Everyone
made
Doctor Who.
”

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

It is impossible to write a book like this on your own. Brandi Bowles is a ninja agent and invaluable help. James Jayo and Lynn Zelem are great professionals whose care and patience made this better. Bryan Q. Miller, Travis Langley, Lisa McMullan, Sterling Gates, Hilary Thomas, Kiri Callaghan, Jessica Mills, Jennifer Ewing, Bonnie Burton, Jenna Busch, Chase Masterson, Paul Simpson, and Jill Pantozzi all lent good aid, advice, and insight.

I cannot express enough how helpful Paul Spragg was in helping this book come into existence and connecting me to the wonderful people at Big Finish who have expanded the Whoniverse in fantastic ways.

I am grateful to Philip Hinchcliffe, Louise Jameson, Neve McIntosh, Dan Abnett, Simon Guerrier, Lisa Bowerman, Paul Cornell, Gary Russell, Peter Purves, Frazer Hines, Karen Gillan, Arthur Darvill, Nicholas Briggs, Daphne Ashbrook, India Fisher, Grant Imahara, and Jane Espenson for taking the time to chat with me.

Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy, Paul McGann, and Matt Smith are all just as wonderful as you hope they would be. Over the years, they've all been kind enough to chat with me. Sometimes it was only for a few minutes, always it was interesting and I am thankful. They are all the Doctor and always will be.

INDEX

An italic page number indicates that only an epigraph or photo caption is referenced.

Abnett, Dan,
33
,
57
,
75
,
86

on Time Lords,
130
,
133

Absorbaloff (creature),
237

Ace (companion),
175â76
,
177
,
178
,
179
,
180
,
184
,
190