The next doctor is… Peter Capaldi!
The 55-year-old Scottish actor, is best known for his angry tirades as spin-doctor Malcolm Tucker in TV series ‘The Thick Of It.’ He has also won an Oscar for short film “Franz Kafka’s It’s a Wonderful Life,” which he wrote and directed.
11th Doctor Matt Smith will appear just two more times in the series. Once donning a bowtie alongside 10th Doctor David Tennant in the Doctor Who 50th anniversary special, and for one final time in the annual Doctor Who Christmas Special before hanging up his fez.
Capaldi is no stranger to ‘Who.’ He has been a life-long fan of the series, having written a letter about Dcotor Who to the Radio Times when he was just 15-year old. He also appeared as a minor character in the ‘Fires of Pompeii’ episode, and as a major character in Doctor Who spin-off series ‘Torchwood.’
“It’s so wonderful not to keep this secret any longer,” Capaldi said in the live television event announcing his role as the 12th Doctor.
Speaking about the process of casting the new Doctor, showrunner Steven Moffat said: “We all had an idea, the same idea, so we got our hopeful #12 round to my house, made a video, showed it around, and everyone just said ‘oh yes!’ That’s the doctor.”
Capaldi was the odds-on favorite for the role, with British Bookmakers offering 5/6 odds that he will be the next doctor following a leak just days before he was announced as the doctor.
Capaldi, 55, will be the oldest Doctor to take on the role since the series was revived in 2005. Matt Smith was also the youngest Doctor in the series’ history, having been just 26 when he was first cast. Stephen Hawking revealed himself to be a fan of older Doctors; citing that the first Doctor William Hartnell‘s age, “gave him an air of authority the younger doctors lacked.”
Matt Smith announced he will be stepping down from the role earlier this year to focus on other projects. Speaking about the role, Smith said: “I’ll miss playing a character who can bounce from A-Z and be the smartest in the room, and the silliest in the room… What a character. There are no other parts like this.”
Doctor Who returns for a 90-minute 50th Anniversary Special on November 23, 2013. The show will be simulcast around the world at 7pm in the UK (2pm EST / 11am PST).
