Poll: New Doctor Who - what should they change?

[HellbirdIV]

I really think changing his gender would be silly. Time Lords have genders, y'know? They always regenerate as the same gender. Why the hell would the Doctor suddenly be female? Besides given the Ho-Yay Fanservice that NuWho has been piling on lately, I don't think making The Doctor female is going to lead anywhere good...

... I also think Time Lords have ethnicities locked to their regenerations as well? I don't actually know about that. But it would feel very forced to change his ethnicity - also, why the racism?

Why are blacks the go-to alternative for "acceptable" race changes? Would it really be too much to ask that the Doctor perhaps reflect the largest ethnic phenotype on the planet instead of one of the smaller ones?

Yes, I'm saying of you change the Doctor's ethnicity, he should be Chinese or Indian.

Anyway, I voted for older, because The Doctor should be going back to his roots with less sexy / flirtatious relations to his companions - too distracting, I think.

 

[DudeistBelieve]

The Doctor is cool. But what would be better is a Doctor you could fuck.

Same principal behind Batgirl. Everything you love about Batman, just sexy.

or than that, just do what we all really want and bring back David Tennant. I just love to see that fucker act. Maybe his human alterego and make him a companion?

 

[DudeistBelieve]

I really think changing his gender would be silly. Time Lords have genders, y'know? They always regenerate as the same gender. Why the hell would the Doctor suddenly be female? Besides given the Ho-Yay Fanservice that NuWho has been piling on lately, I don't think making The Doctor female is going to lead anywhere good...

... I also think Time Lords have ethnicities locked to their regenerations as well? I don't actually know about that. But it would feel very forced to change his ethnicity - also, why the racism?

Why are blacks the go-to alternative for "acceptable" race changes? Would it really be too much to ask that the Doctor perhaps reflect the largest ethnic phenotype on the planet instead of one of the smaller ones?

Yes, I'm saying of you change the Doctor's ethnicity, he should be Chinese or Indian.

Anyway, I voted for older, because The Doctor should be going back to his roots with less sexy / flirtatious relations to his companions - too distracting, I think.

the more ignorant side of my sense of humor only wants them to change the race if they're going to go full retard and be completely racist with it. Black Doctor puts spinners on the police box and holds his sonic screwdriver sideways... Mexican Doctor puts Hydralics on the Tardis....

Cause aside from that, changing the race isn't that big of a deal. He's just the doctor with a different look. Make the doctor female, however, then we can fuck the doctor and have it not be gay.

 

[Sonic Doctor]

I say, make the new Doctor older, but for the love that all that is holy, keep him white. There is absolutely no reason to changed what has been an established part of his character for the entirety of the show. The whole, "The Doctor can regenerate into anything", was a point made by the new series, and frankly, I think it was a joke(it was played as a joke when the 9th Doctor regenerated).

There will be hell to pay if they make him anything other than something along the lines of his canon established character, even more so if they change him to be a woman.

I've enjoyed the show so much more since they finally ditched the Ponds and got back to traditional Doctor Who style episodes. If they kowtow to the good for nothing Politically Correct crowd by changing his race and/or gender, then I will not be able to watch the show anymore. I guarantee if they break canon by doing that, they will lose a majority of the viewership, which will effectively kill the show, because without proper viewing numbers they just can't make the show anymore.

Matt smith was channeling the second doctor, when you see that guy in action it kinda makes you go "ohhhhhh." He's the smartest guy in the room, but he's for sure got a degree in clowning.

As I understand it, tennant was channeling number 4, arguably one of the best.

Whether you like the character or not, one of my favorite things about smith is that he was his own character. A lot of the stories suck, though, as was previously mentioned: there are some gems, but I found shows like "the beast below" and a whole slew of others to be too campy even for who.

I'd like to see the target audience kicked up from wide eyed 8 year old to 14 1\2.

That's about how I see it, except on a couple points. While I remember Tennant saying that the 4th was his favorite Doctor, I think he was channeling the 5th quite a bit. Think about that special he did with Peter Davison reprising his role as the 5th, with their two Tardis merging.
Tennant's Doctor makes points on how he is like the 5th, and mentions how "You know Doctor, you're my Doctor".

It's one of my favorite episodes and it isn't even a traditional full episode.

Now on what Smith's problem was: He had the Ponds as companions. The Ponds being almost the entire focus of the show for two and a half seasons really stunted Smith's development as The Doctor. Of course that is the fault of the writers, who also not to mention ruined of River Song's character and the absolute rubbish explanation on how she came to be.

Seriously, from what I've seen of the last half of Series 7, Smith's Doctor's character has grown tenfold in impact, much more personality.

 

[Divine Miss Bee]

it would be interesting to see a female doctor, but i doubt that time-lord gender-bending is a thing. though i heard billie piper's supposed to be back for a couple of episodes this next season, and watching rose react to the man she loved becoming a woman would be hilarious to me, considering how bad she freaked out after the first regeneration. (personally, if i saw myself as christopher eccleston's girlfriend and he turned physically into david tennant, my ovaries would explode a little (eccleston's hot, tennant is hotter).) but i think that exploration of gender roles in sci-fi, or how gender relates to attraction and to personality, isn't really a part of the show right now, and there may not be a way to put that in seamlessly without turning it into pandering (or worse: lesbian fanservice). so as interesting as it would be to see it, it will likely never have a life outside of fanfic. but we can dream!

now, changing the doctor's race would be an interesting way to go, but that's another thing that i don't know if it's technically possible for time lords. if he's born as the alien equivalent of a white male, is it a genetic possibility for his people to regenerate into the alien equivalent of a different race? come to think of it, do they HAVE other time lord "races" the way humans do? i don't recall ever seeing a non-white time lord or any reference to one, though that could be a human limitation on the part of the times and the writers and not one that's supposed to be canon for that universe. the idea of a whole planet of only one racial group triggers my "something is wrong here" alarm, but that's probably a very human-centric way to think of an alien species.

as for changing his age, i like the younger doctors personally because the role can be pretty physically demanding. the idea of regeneration keeping the doctor of an age that he can physically do all that he needs to to keep the universe safe makes sense to me. i always interpreted the age of the first doctor as his having lived long enough to age naturally without regenerating, and the job has gotten progressively more dangerous as time goes on so he keeps dying and regenerating while he's still relatively young.

but of course, all of this is relying on past doctors and the inference that the writers will leave the doctor's straight white male status as is. it's science fiction, and they've certainly pulled weirder stuff out of their collective ass before than a gender or race swap for the doctor would be, so anything's possible. i doubt we'rethere, so i'll just assume they won't step further outside the box than maybe making him ginger this time.

this turned out longer than i wanted. tl;dr: i think the most realistic 12th doctor choice will be another SWM actor, but it would be very interesting if the writers expanded the time lord canon to stop restricting it to white male actors, but they probably won't. even in the occupy age, checking your privilege isn't fashionable enough yet.

 

[Sonic Doctor]

Change the show runner. Show's sucked since Steven Moffatt got the top job (which I always felt was a real shame since Matt Smith could have far outshone David Tennant if he'd had better stories)

I completely disagree. I think it's exactly the other way around. Moffat is a fantastic writer and the show has never been better since he took over. I hope he stays around because the worst episode he has written has been at least twice as good as Davies best.

I disagree with your disagreeing. =P

Explanation why in two words: The Ponds

Deeper explanation:

I'd take Davies's Series 3 ending of The Doctor getting powered up by the collective psychic energy of the inhabitants of Earth to defeat The Master(totally believable by Doctor Who story standards), over Moffat's ludicrous Series 5 ending of stupid ordinary Amy bringing The Doctor back with a wish and a tear drop(utter fairy tale bullshit, and not even the properly explained and believable kind by Doctor Who story standards).

The show is called "Doctor Who", not "The Ponds Travel through Time and Space with their quirky Alien Friend".
Just about all the episodes from the start of Series 5 to the halfway point of Series 7, were absolute rubbish, because they focused so much on The Ponds that they became the main characters while The Doctor effectively became a supporting cast member.

Seriously, the best thing Moffat did was finally axe off the Ponds and go back to the traditional style. With the second half of Series 7 they've gone back to the proper traditional Doctor Who story telling(which is for the most part, the style that Davies used), which is awesome. While there was focus on the mystery that was Clara, she didn't make up the main part of the show, The Doctor was finally given back his main character status and got the majority of the screen time(as he always should).

Moffat over played the Ponds so much, it actually got me to stop watching the show a few episodes before the mid season finale final Pond episode. That overplaying is also what ruined the River Song story arch. She should not have been their daughter. No time-baby bullshit. She should have been a female Time Lord from his past that he didn't recognize because she had a new face.

The only reason I started watching again is because I knew the greatness that is David Tennant would be back for the 50th anniversary and that I finally found out they ditched the Ponds.(Which could have been done better. Instead of the Angels sending them back in time, they should have had them, or some other enemy of The Doctor, physically kill them on screen, that way we know they are purely and truly dead for good and can't be brought back by any means. I know it is harsh, but they were the scourge of the show.)

 

[Sixcess]

Sorry to the OP for the triple post, but I feel the need to call this out one more time. The show has had female companions throughout pretty much its entire run, and that remains true for the New Who. While the Classic Who may have done more with this, the New Who has simply ignored gender politics from the start.

Then why bother?

Such a drastic change would infuriate many long term fans and casual viewers, and if they did so then sidestepped the issues raised by it they'd not gain any plaudits from the people who are clamouring for a female Doctor, because they would accuse the BBC of missing the opportunity to make a statement or at least do something interesting. It's a lose/lose situation.

They can do what they like in spin-offs like Torchwood, but Doctor Who is simply too big and too mainstream to be that experimental. Want a female Doctor? Wait for the show to get cancelled - again - and then revived in another few years. The next revival can cast a female Doctor to make a big splash and forge a distinct identity for itself.

But right now I think the BBC has far more to lose from doing this than they have to gain.

 

[Alleged_Alec]

I want Brian Blessed to be the new Doctor.

 

[Joshimodo]

Put even 10% of the revenue into the show, actually bring the SFX and CGI up to scratch.

Kill (or fire, I guess) half of the writers, hire some people who can write tension and frivolity properly.

Better directors for less hammy actors.

Change the formula a little, give it some more of a "point" (though not too much).




Changing the lead to a female role would be interesting, but mostly to watch all the female Whovians cry into their TARDIS pillows.

 

[HellbirdIV]

but of course, all of this is relying on past doctors and the inference that the writers will leave the doctor's straight white male status as is.

I don't believe for a second that the Doctor was ever "straight". He seems pretty comfortable getting emotionally attached to, and physically intimate with, people of any gender - or species.

They can do what they like in spin-offs like Torchwood, but Doctor Who is simply too big and too mainstream to be that experimental. Want a female Doctor? Wait for the show to get cancelled - again - and then revived in another few years. The next revival can cast a female Doctor to make a big splash and forge a distinct identity for itself.

I don't even understand why the Doctor has to be the one made female. The novelty would wear off very quickly. What's wrong with having a female lead who isn't the Doctor? ... or has a crush on him?

... I guess what I'm saying is that I want Donna back.

 

[SamFancyPants252]

Make him Joseph Gilgun

An edgy, offensive Doctor with a heart of gold!

 

[Lazy Kitty]

Wasn't John Hurt gonna be the new Doctor?
Or are you talking about whoever becomes the Doctor after him?

 

[Me55enger]

My vote goes to either Eddie Izzard, Hugh Laurie or Paterson Joseph.

 

[Bat Vader]

Even though he is in his mid 70's I think they should try and get Christopher Lloyd to play the next Doctor. I could see him having a lot of fun with the character and also I think it would be a good homage to the Back to The Future movies and a good nod to everyone that loves Doctor Who and the Back to The Future Movies too.

I suppose if they can't get Lloyd they could try and get Morgan Freeman instead because I also think Morgan Freeman would make a great Doctor.

 

[Mr Dizazta]

Can we get another man of action kind of Doctor like Jon Pertwee?

 

[Smithburg]

Change the show runner. Show's sucked since Steven Moffatt got the top job (which I always felt was a real shame since Matt Smith could have far outshone David Tennant if he'd had better stories)

I'd agree with this - while being completely baffled by it, since during the RTD days, Moffat's scripts were uniformly the best. I was totally expecting him to take it over and make it awesome, and instead it's been a total mess. I can scarcely watch it, although I keep hanging in there.

I wonder if Gatiss might do a better job, but I'm nervous that the same thing would happen.

Captcha: "let go". I know, captcha, I know, but I keep hoping.

I don't know why people seem to hate him so much, I love his stories. Especially the way he ties everything together throughout the season.

 

[Jason Rayes]

Ian McKellen? Billy Connelly? Definitely someone older this time I think.

 

[JediMB]

Change the show runner, make him a her (All male doctors so far. Would be interesting to see a female one for once), and make the new doctor a little less hyperactive. Matt Smith often put a bit too much energy into his doctor character to me.

I agree with all of these things.

Especially changing the show runner. Moffat can bite my shiny metal posterior.

 

[spookydom]

If they insist on the younger vibe I think the Boy Joe Gilgun from Misfits would be a good fit http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0318543/

I want somebody older this time but Moffat has to go soon. He has written a few gems but he isn't knocking it out the park by any stretch of the Imagination. All the arcs and specials have been pretty low par in my opinion.