The new Doctor Who has been revealed. Peter Capaldi was officially unveiled to replace exiting Doctor Matt Smith as the 12th incarnation of the time travelling humanoid alien on the live BBC special “Doctor Who Live: The Next Doctor” on Sunday night.

The 55-year-old Scottish actor will take over the iconic character from the 30-year-old Smith when the latter leaves the show at Christmas.

“Being asked to play the Doctor is an amazing privilege. Like the Doctor himself, I find myself in a state of utter terror and delight. I can’t wait to get started,” Capaldi said.

BBC viewers are already familiar with Capaldi. He also played a doctor, albeit a spin doctor, on the comedy series “The Thick of It” and its follow-up film “In The Loop” as Malcolm Tucker. Ironically, as fans have pointed out, he also played a W.H.O. doctor – World Health Organisation – in Brad Pitt’s “World War Z.”

Apart from being a long-time fan of the series, Capaldi has also appeared in the show before. In 2008, he played Caecilius, who encountered the 10th Doctor, David Tennant, in ancient Pompeii. He also starred in the spin-off show “Torchwood.”

Explaining the choice, Ben Stephenson of the BBC Drama Commissioning said, “We started thinking Peter Capaldi might be the right person to take on this iconic part a few months ago. But it was only when he did a secret audition at Steven’s [Moffat, lead writer and executive producer] house under the cover of darkness that we knew we had our man.

“He’s an extraordinarily talented actor who can seemingly turn his hand to anything. We can’t wait to premiere his unique take on the Doctor on Christmas Day and we are sure he’s going to become one of the all-time classic Doctors.”

Typical of every announcement of the new Doctor, fans are initially divided on the choice. There were speculations that BBC would go against the norm and pick a black actor or a woman Doctor, but as it happened, the British network stayed with a white man.

But what appears to be the prevalent issue is the new Doctor’s age. Smith was the youngest person to play the character when he took over the role in 2009, so it’s a bit surprising for some fans that the show chose an older actor.

“That new Doctor Who is so old he was in Dangerous Liaisons. How old is this man? Isn’t Doctor Who supposed to be somewhat young?” user LilEsBella tweeted.

“at least it’s someone older, you know, I liked, say, Damien Molony, but another young, hot british guy? I think his age will be good,” pajama person wrote on Twitter.

Nevertheless, even Smith is pleased with his successor.

“I just want to wish my successor all the best and say good luck and good on you for getting it,” the 11th Doctor said. “I know he’s a huge fan of the show and a really nice guy. The casting of it made me really excited. I think it’s a really canny choice.

“Good luck, man. It’s going to be a thrill.”

Related:
Eleventh Doctor Matt Smith Leaving Doctor Who [Read]

Announcement and interview:

Peter Capaldi as the 12th Doctor:

Matt Smith interview:

Matt Smith (11th Doctor) and David Tennant (10th Doctor):

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