Regeneration Speculation
Regeneration Speculation: What will the 12th Doctor Bring?
By Piper Potts
As geeks and nerds, we don’t usually adapt well to change. When our childhood cartoons are made into live actions films with little respect to the original characters and content, we protest. When our favorite superheroes are “re-envisioned” with different actors, we riot. When costumes we know stitch by stitch are re-imagined, we create an uproar. When shows are cancelled before their time, we petition.
As you can imagine, the announcement of the twelfth Doctor brought a flood of emotions. We have become very attached to each re-incarnation of the Doctor. However, the announcement of the twelfth Doctor brought a new moment of hesitation apart from our usual tears of saying goodbye, and it’s worth examining the concerns fans have.
When David Tennant as the tenth Doctor regenerated into the current eleventh Doctor portrayed by Matt Smith, many of us took a step back. Some needed to re-evaluate, some needed to grieve, many of us cried. Needless to say, few of us made the transition easily.
Many of us grieved because Tennant burrowed deeply into our hearts during his 52 episode reign. We watched him on the screen for five long, wonderful years. We would miss his whimsy, his humor, his frequent use of the word “allons-y,” and yes, his attractive nerdy good looks that made many of hearts pitter patter. During Matt Smith’s premiere we all held our breath, and slowly exhaled as we began to see many of the qualities that made Tennant’s Doctor so lovable reflected in Smith’s portrayal. However, now that Smith’s time is coming to a close we all wait to see who the new Doctor will be.
Would the next Doctor finally break the color mold of being a Caucasian male? Perhaps the gender mold will be broken. How old will he or she be? With almost ten years between Eccleston and Tennant, and roughly another ten between Tennant and Smith, Doctor Who fans have wildly speculated how young the twelfth Doctor is going to be. At this rate the twelfth Doctor would be in their teens! However, when it was announced on August 4, 2013 that the new Doctor would be Peter Capaldi, many fans responded with opened mouths of disbelief.
Capaldi is well known amongst the British audience as Malcolm Tucker in the show The Thick of It, which later spawned a movie In the Loop. Being almost twenty five years Smith’s senior, fans were skeptical of the decision. Capaldi appears to be a departure from the Doctor we have known and loved since the show’s return in 2005. When we see Capaldi on screen he is usually brash, abrasive, angry, dry in his sense of humor, and even dark. If Capaldi is Moffat’s vision of the twelfth Doctor, does this mean the Doctor is about to venture down a dark path?
Fans have also joined in the outcry that Capaldi has already been in both Doctor Who and Torchwood, playing two different characters. In a series that goes back and forth in time and space, and is linked to the same world as Torchwood, how can one actor play three different roles?
Another area that might face a major change is the cosplay arena. Both Tennant and Smith’s young and fashionable faces leant themselves easily to a younger cosplay crowd, including an especially high androgynous and cross-play audience, where females would portray both of these men. Will the twelfth Doctor be as flexible to the costuming world?
Lastly, one has to wonder how this is going to change merchandise. So much of the Doctor Who merchandise is stamped with images David Tennant and Matt Smith. From t-shirts to belts, action figures to pins, the previous two Doctors have their image on everything! I’m not advocating this line of thought, but it is highly unlikely young teenage girls who have become smitten with Tennant and Smith will hang up posters and calendars with Capaldi’s image. This also has me wondering if the romance angle that so many fans swoon over between the Doctor and his young companions will take a hit as well, or exist at all in the new season. Perhaps it is time for a change, and Capaldi’s Doctor will be more paternal.
As a fan of the show I understand the give and take of being a Whovian. We will always have to part with our beloved companions and Doctors, and it will always feel too soon. However, we have to remember that while the Doctor’s physique changes, the passion and soul at the heart(s) of the Doctor will not. What should change the personality of the mad man in the box shouldn’t be the face, but rather the experiences and journeys he goes on, and something tells me we are going to begin a hell of a journey. However, Whovians are passionate and dedicated fans, and many of us look forward to the journey that awaits us, no matter how skeptical we are.
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- Piper Potts
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October 24 2013