The Doctor Dies ... Long Live the Doctor

You had to know I was going to write about Doctor Who today.  Matt Smith revealed himself to be as big a liar as Steven Moffat and announced that he will be leaving the series, not after the 8th season as he hinted, but at the end of the current season.  We will have two more episodes with Matt as the Doctor; the 50th Anniversary episode in November and the Christmas episode this year.  He will have played the role for 46 episodes.  Not bad, but it feels like is wasn't long enough.

The episodes since Clara's introduction as the new companion have been uneven, but that is the fault of the writing, and not of Matt.  He has, as always, been a fantastic Doctor, moving between incredibly energetic and spastic to tear-jerking to "don't mess with me" serious.  In this second half of season 7 (or season 7.2 as they like to call it), I think his best performances have been in the "ghost" story "Hide" and the split-personality acting job in "Nightmare in Silver".  In all of the episodes, I have found myself loving the character he created, and wishing he went on forever. 

As he started out in "The 11th Hour", we discovered the taste sensation of "fish fingers and custard", the fashion statement of bow ties (and later fezzes and Stetsons) being cool, and how he just couldn't seem to figure out how to arrive on time.  That is, until the fire engine ladder burst through the hospital window and the Doctor crawled in to save Amy and Rory.  That was timing!

When Matt took over the role, I remember a lot of folks saying that he could never fill David Tennant's shoes.  Fortunately, Matt seems to have very big feet.  In any case, I told my fellow "Whovians" to give him a chance, and that every new Doctor grows into the role.  Matt didn't grow into the role; the role adapted to him!  He took the character, jutted out his chin, and dared the writers to keep up with his energy, which they did.  Matt Smith proved to be charismatic, photogenic, and a mix of emotions that could leave you laughing or cheering, as he dared a sky full of aliens to challenge him, telling them to "let someone else go first".

There have been many great incarnations of the Doctor.  Somehow, Matt has zoomed to the top of my list, even above David Tennant and Tom Baker.  (I know some who will accuse me of blasphemy with that David comment.)  I still love "Asylum of the Daleks", where he first met the "souffle girl" Oswin (later to be found to be Clara herself), and you can't watch his reaction to the idea of "dinosaurs ... on a spaceship!" without smiling.

Will I miss Matt Smith as the Doctor?  Absolutely.  Do I trust that the next actor to play the Doctor will be a lot of fun?  Certainly.  Do I have my opinions as to what Mr. Moffat should look for in a Doctor?  Of course.  Will I make my opinions known here?  What do you think?

1)  Do NOT ... repeat DO NOT, regenerate the Doctor as a woman.  That just would not work in so many ways.  The Doctor is male.  That is his gender.  It affects his relationships with his companions and it has never been stated that Time Lords can change gender when they regenerate.  Leave the Doctor as male.  That's the way it is.

2)  Don't change his color.  I'm not saying this as a racist, but I feel as though if they do this now, it is catering, and not for choosing the best actor.  The best actor for the role may very well be black, and if that's the case, go for it.  Don't just do it for the sake of doing it, though.  This leads me to my next request...

3)  Make him ginger.  Let's just get this over with.  The Doctor has wanted to be a red-head for a long time.  Do it.  Find us a good red-headed actor (there are lots of them out there), and give the Doctor the thrill of his many lifetimes.  It would be fun, though, if he looked in the mirror, decided he didn't like the red hair, and willed it a different color before the regeneration was complete.  You could just put the final choice in a red wig to start, and then let his natural hair color be the continuing color.

4)  Let me be the Doctor.  OK.  That was just selfish.  But I would absolutely love it.

5)  Don't go too old.  (Or too young.)  Matt was the youngest actor to ever play the role.  Don't go any younger, or it gets a bit silly.  But don't go William Hartnell old, either.  Maybe someone in his late 30s.  (Or me.  I'm a bit old, but I can play it younger.  Mr. Moffat?  Hello?)

6)  Don't wait forever to start season 8.  You need to hit the ground running, and not make the fans wait too long for the new Doctor to start.  Allow too much speculation and you could hurt the show.  Get your actor, and get filming.  Then, get it back on the air.  You make us wait too long.

7)  You ruined my hope of a Doctor Who / Sherlock crossover, which would have been great.  I would have loved to see the Doctor and Sherlock working together and Watson and Clara working together.  Still, you can make it happen with the next Doctor.  Do it, Mr. Moffat.

I will miss Matt Smith.  He was a great Doctor, and he never embarrassed the show with bad behavior off the set.  You will reign as the best Doctor to me ... for the foreseeable future.  You know how time goes, though.  With all of the wibbly-wobblyness, you never can tell who will be my favorite a year from now.  But that's Doctor Who for you.