Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Special 2013, 'Movie-Length': Rory Kinnear Denies Role as Twelve in 2014's Season 8, Others Suggest Female Doctor
Ever since the current Doctor on BBC's legendary series Doctor Who, Matt Smith, announced his departure from the show after the 50 Anniversary and Christmas specials, fans have been anxious to hear any news on his replacement. Sure, we are all sad to see Smith go, but we have plenty to look forward to with the highly anticipated 50th anniversary special as well as his swansong, the 2013 Christmas special. Plus, a new Doctor is always exciting news, too! So far the frontrunner for the role is Skyfall actor Rory Kinnear, but he recently made a statement that might disappoint some Whovians.
"I don't know where it came from and how these things evolve. I haven't been and I am totally certain that I will not be asked to be the next Doctor Who. If I was an actor who was really longing to play Doctor Who, then this would be torturous, but it's a program I've never watched, so I don't even really know what it is."
He's not even a fan of one of Britain's most celebrated television shows in history? Looks like we dodged a bullet here, right Whovians?
So with Kinnear supposedly out of the running for Twelve, who would you like to see piloting the TARDIS in 2014? Some have been suggesting that the twelfth regeneration of the Doctor should be a female this time around!
Former Doctor Who companion and Torchwood star, John Barrowman, suggested season 8 should "give [a female lead] a whirl."
"The character of River Song (Alex Kingston) was so popular in the last part of the series and it [had] such an impact - why shouldn't we have a female Doctor?" he suggested.
Barrowman even offered a sensible way of going about casting a female Doctor, too: "If it doesn't work, she can always regenerate back to a man."
Despite the anticipation of the new Doctor being cast, we still have the next chapter in the Doctor Who series coming up in November: the 50th anniversary special. In a recent interview, showrunner Steven Moffat explained how long the special would be.
"I think you could call it movie-length, yeah," he said. "I mean, I'm saying that with a slight hint of vagueness because I don't know the finished running time. It's certainly well over an hour."
Moffat also got to talk a bit about the chemistry between current Doctor Matt Smith and his predecessor David Tennant (who reprises his role as Ten in the special):
"They're quite a fun pairing, I would say. There's a bit of the normal joshing of each other but they're both such enthusiastic Doctors. While they might be sort of competing slightly, they're both standing there saying, "Oh god, it's so cool, there's two of me!" So, it's very different. I think the other one that worked brilliantly was Jon Pertwee and Patrick Troughton. They were incredibly funny together. This is very different from that but it's a sublime double act."
He continued: "They really loved each other and had a huge laugh together. And of course they've been through this experience that only the two of them can talk about, really, in the modern world. They are the two people that have played that part at a time when the series is this big. They spent the entire time just sitting together talking animatedly."