By Jair Martinez
The time has come once more—the time of the Doctor. The incredibly popular British TV show, Doctor Who, is getting a new lead actor but he will still be playing the same character…it’s complicated. Any Doctor Who fan, or a Whovian as they prefer to be called, knows exactly how this works. This change of lead actor is what makes this show exciting, unique, original, and able to last so long as this show has been on air since 1963, 54 years, with no reboots.
The reason why Doctor Who gets a new lead actor every couple of seasons is because the Doctor is from a species called Time Lords which have the ability to regenerate when they are about to die. The thing with this process is that his whole body changes both physically and mentally which is why different actors are able to play the same character.
After three amazing seasons it is time for Peter Capaldi, the thirteenth incarnation of the Doctor, to pass on the mantle to yet another actor. This is a very touchy subject due to the fact that the Doctor Who fandom is massive and the producers of the show have to keep them satisfied. Especially with a huge change like this they have to make sure that the actor can live up to 54 years of awesomeness, but not to worry because so far the fandom has not been disappointed…yet.
There has been a theory amongst Doctor Who fans which suggest that the next incarnation of the Doctor might be a woman. This would be a massive change to the show due to the fact that so far every incarnation of the Doctor has been a male. A local Whovian, Abryanna Rodriguez, commented, “well I would love it if the next Doctor could be a dark, strong, and passionate woman. I feel like this is something that we have waited long enough to see in this show, not only that but I believe that she would bring a lot of exciting things to the show.” One of the reasons as to why Whovians believe this is because the Doctor and his companion usually have some chemistry between them and recently the newest companion, Bill, played by Pearl Mackie, is the first gay companion in the history of Doctor Who. This lead for some fans to speculate that the next incarnation of the Doctor will be a woman which will allow the Doctor and the Companion to have some chemistry between them. Whether this is the case or not the new Doctor Who companion Pearl Mackie has definitely revolutionized the Sci-Fi institution.
According to local Whovians, they would like to see a darker more adventurous Doctor but with a kind heart as all Doctors have had. Not only this but better written stories, new characters whether they are villains or friends with the Doctor, and more exciting action scenes. As Marcos Chino, a Whovian at Tustin High School said, “Personally, I would like the next Doctor to come with better action scenes and more moments including the TARDIS” (The TARDIS is the Doctor’s spaceship which can travel in both time and space. TARDIS stands for Time And Relative Dimension In Space).
For now we will have to wait until the end of this season to find out who the next Doctor will be, but no matter who it ends up being I am sure that we would all end of loving him/her as we always do. If you are into sci-fi, drama, comedies, and action and you still haven’t seen this show, what are you doing? Go watch this show! It will be worth your time but be careful, you will become addicted to this show.