What does that mean exactly?
Well the very first doctor was an older man (William Hartnell), a well established and popular actor who brought not only gravitas and considerable talent to the role but a maturity and authority that few actors have succeeded in capturing since.Yes the likes of David Tennant and Matt Smith did a brilliant job, and for me personally rank among the best of the doctors, but they couldn't quite capture that air of authority in the same way.
As the fiftieth anniversary episode draws ever nearer the show has gone back to its roots, casting an older actor as the new doctor (Peter Capaldi is the same age as Hartnell was when he took on the role) in a move that gives clues as to the shows direction as Matt Smith bows out later this year.
What direction is that?
First off you don't get an oscar winning actor and not use his acting skills to full advantage. Capaldi excels in both comedic and darker roles. While best known for shows such as The Thick Of it he is perhaps best known to Doctor Who fans as the villainous Frobisher in Torchwood Children Of Earth, or of course as the father in the fires of pompeii episode.
His casting suggests the new doctor will continue to be comedic, as has been the way with many doctors, but that the series will explore his darker side more, a darker side that the upcoming anniversary episode is set to reveal as John Hurt takes on David Tennant and Matt Smith in what promises to be a 3D spectacular.
The show looks set to introduce a doctor with a little more depth, a doctor whose dark past returns to haunt him, and Capaldi has the acting chops needed to tread the fine line between dark and funny.
The casting of an older actor also signals another change in direction. Successive doctors have seen the show become more a kids show than a family show. What's the difference?
Well at various points in its history the show has been family oriented, having elements that appeal to both kids and adults alike, this gradually changed, particularly in more recent years, to appeal primarily to younger viewers but the casting of the new doctor suggests that the show will explore slightly more grown up aspects of the character, such as his guilt over past actions or his darker alien nature, and that, while still a kids programme, it will return to being a little more family oriented.
The casting of Peter Capaldi also shows that the role is a serious one able to attract even more established actors, and that the show has a definite future with the BBC. Of course the casting of an internationally recognised oscar winning talent such as Capaldi will no doubt help the series attract more viewers outside the UK in markets such as the USA where some still see it as simply a kids tv show.
Peter Capaldi could be just what the doctor ordered. But only time....or a timelord....will tell.
