With Season 8 currently filming of the longtime beloved hit TV series Doctor Who, fans are anticipating a lot not only from the writers, but from the new Doctor, Peter Capaldi himself. According to co-star Tom Riley, "I think Peter's going to completely revitalize the show -- not that it needed revitalizing -- but he's going to bring something completely different to the Doctor. When you change a lead actor, everything's going to change, but you can rest assured he's going to absolutely smash it!"
Fears however are always abundant whenever change is present especially with a TV series like Doctor Who, where the lead actor can "regenerate", meaning physically change when the lead character either steps down or is let go. When a well loved actor who plays the main character is replaced by another actor can oftentimes lead to disaster in the form of poor ratings. Doctor Who however has been around long enough (for 50 years) and has changed so much so that its fans and viewers alike are more adept to change.
With this in mind, Doctor Who fans who were both heartbroken and excited to see the 11th Doctor, Matt Smith, relinquish his role to the much admired Peter Capaldi just last Christmas, are also now starting to wonder on whether Peter Capaldi can sustain the show. Fans have said that Peter Capaldi is too old for the role given that his predecessor Matt Smith was 26 years old when he took on the role as the Doctor back in 2009.
Most Doctor Who fans seem to forget that Peter Capaldi is the same age as William Hartnell when he took on the role of the 1st Doctor; 50 years later and people are still in awe at the famed TV show. Peter Capaldi won an Oscar for his role on Franz Kafka's 'It's a Wonderful Life' in 1995. His familiarity to Doctor Who is evidenced by his fan letter to the show when he was just 14 years old and his dream to star in a Doctor Who episode was fulfilled when he was cast as Caecilius back in 2008 from the Pompeii episode. With his background as a fan in check, Peter Capaldi may just be the best choice to be the 12th Doctor.
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