Okay, so, if you're a fan or know anything about me, you know that I'm a crazy Doctor Who fan. And that's strange given that I'm American and only jumped onto Doctor Who exactly one year ago today, and already I can tell you the name of every actor that's played the eponymous character, in what order, and what episode they left in. I can even tell you the behind-the-scenes controversies behind Colin Baker's short-lived stint as the Doctor, the fact that Tom Baker later regretted turning down his chance to play the Doctor one last time in The Five Doctors, and the show's inception from Sydney Newman and Donald Wilson's collaboration to the creation of the theme song by Delia Derbyshire and Ron Grainer.
In short, I went my whole life hearing about this show, but only decided to take time out of my busy schedule to watch it once I found it on Netflix, and now...well, I've gone from zero to Whovian in the same way some cars go from zero sixty.
I'm a fantasy, horror, and sci-fi writer, been writing since I was thirteen years old, and I can honestly say that the ideas and energy that this series exudes are some of the most compelling, most contagious, that I've ever encountered in any series, be it book, TV, or movie.
And now we come to the bittersweet "regeneration," another Doctor down, and a new Doctor rises in his place. Who will he (she?) be? What sort of mysteries and secrets will the new Doctor reveal? What sort of personality will we have to play with here? Here are some notions I have as to what would make for a rather interesting and unique Doctor Who experience. Remember, this is just experimental thinking, one writer's playful notions.
1. The Doctor as played by...Peter Dinklage! I know, I know, this is a long shot considering he's very much committed to a schedule in filming Game of Thrones, but hear me out. We all know that the Doctor has already wasted a bit of energy in regenerating during the David Tennant run when he accidentally used it to regenerate a clone out of himself using a severed hand, and we know that he used up some more regeneration energy saving River at one point, so...what if, just what if the TARDIS doesn't have quite enough energy to make a fully-formed body, and only enough to regenerate a half-body? A dwarf. Hence, Peter Dinklage.
2. The Doctor as played by...John Hurt! Yes, after his appearance in the last episode, everyone is running wild with speculation as to who this person is. Well, my personal favorite theory is that this is a Doctor from between Eight (played by Paul McGann) and Nine (played by Christopher Eccelston). I like this idea, because it means that Nine was really Ten, and Ten was really Eleven, and the whole "fall of the Eleventh" indicates some hidden truth about what Ten (played by David Tennant) might've done, some hidden, dark secret to cover up for John Hurt's "missing" Doctor. Or, it could mean that Hurt is actually the Eighth Doctor when he got older, because we never got to see the regeneration from McGann to Eccleston. What this could mean is that, for at least a season, we just might get some PAST ADVENTURES with this forgotten Doctor.
3. The Doctor as played by...a woman! Personally, I don't like this idea as much as some others seem to, only because I don't know why the Time Lords would regenerate into another sex. But then again, why not? Doctor Who has always been a wonky show, and if the writers are on point (a show's life's blood is always about how good the writers are), then this could still be pulled off.
4. The companions - an argument for people NOT from our time. I think the showrunners should start to consider people from other times, as they once did with Jamie the Scotsman. Why not others from the past? For instance, the samurai, such as Miyamoto Musashi, who, as legend has it, disappeared for five key years as a young man, then suddenly emerged from the woods near his home village, and was the greatest swordsman that ever lived. Why? What happened during those five years Musashi was missing? Perhaps he went traveling with a Time Lord and gained vast experience in training while going about the universe and time, making him the most epic swordsman ever?
5. An argument for more alien companions. The show has already shown that fans adore such characters as Madame Vastra and Strax, so why not some badass alien who rarely speaks but is a steady companion to the Doctor, or better yet, an alien/machine assassin who claims to have already killed the Doctor in his future, but wishes to travel with the Doctor for a while because he's a retired assassin now and wishes to see what kind of man he killed (kills). Stuff like that. Just saying, doesn't have to be a human from our time.
6. An argument for more blokes as COMPETENT companions. It's happened before, a non-homosexual relationship between the Doctor and a dude (the aforementioned Jamie), just two pals who form strong bonds. I mean, c'mon guys, I know we all want to see stronger women on TV, but why in God's name do we HAVE to have a woman who wants to see the universe and all of time, but all the guys in the show are simpering cowards who kowtow to both women and the Doctor at every turn? Ever heard of a "bromance"?
So there it is, a list of ideas and theories that I think are interesting to consider when moving forward with Doctor Who. List some of your own suggestions below.
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