HUGE Doctor Who news coming tonight! [Spoilers]

[Morrus]

Radio Times has this to say:

The new Doctor could be handed the keys to the TARDIS as early as next month, BBC sources have confirmed - with insiders suggesting Matt Smith’s replacement needs to be announced before the Doctor Who Christmas special begins filming next month.


The Twelfth Doctor is expected to first appear on screen at the end of the Christmas special, following the regeneration of Matt Smith’s Doctor.


It would be virtually impossible to keep the identity of the new doctor a secret even if the entire set went into lockdown during filming of the Christmas special, a BBC source told RadioTimes.com.


“The search has begun in earnest and is active now,” the source said, adding that the BBC has not ruled out hiring a woman to replace Matt Smith.


The decision will be made by a small team of BBC executives and kept under wraps. It will be decided by showrunner Steven Moffat, Danny Cohen, the BBC’s new head of television, controller of drama commissioning Ben Stephenson, casting director Andy Pryor and the show’s incoming executive producer Brian Minchin.


The new series, expected to be 12 episodes long, begins filming in the autumn.


A special marking the show’s fiftieth anniversary on 23 November 2013 has already been shot.


Smith announced this weekend that he is to leave the show at the end of this year after four years playing the Time Lord.


The 30-year-old actor said working on the show had been "the most brilliant experience".


Smith, who took over from David Tennant, was the youngest actor to play the role.


A BBC source also moved to squash speculation that showrunner Steven Moffat could also be calling it a day, insisting that he has signed up for at least another year.


In his statement on Smith’s departure, Moffat said: "Great actors always know when it's time for the curtain call, so this Christmas prepare for your hearts to break as we say goodbye to number 11. Thank you Matt - bow ties were never cooler."


Whoever takes the role, one actor considered to be one of the favourites in the early betting has already ruled himself out. Episodes and Green Wing star Stephen Mangan tweeted: “I see I’m 14/1 to be the new Doctor. Don’t waste your money.”

 

[Herschel]

Mangan would have been interesting, though I felt he was a bit young to be playing Dirk Gently and probably also to play The Doctor. Smith pulled off the "oldness" better than I would have imagined though so who's to say Mangan wouldn't have.

 

[sabrinathecat]

Dirk Gently was a badly recycled City of Death mixed with Shada.
The Master was offered more regenerations because he was inhabiting a Traken body (Tremas, father of Nyssa) rather than his original Timelord body.

Rule of 12 regenerations was repeated several times since first mentioned in THe Deadly Assassin, including during Trial of a Timelord. Has also been mentioned often in the Big Finish Audio Dramas, which have been a source of many New Who plots.

 

[Raunalyn]

Rule of 12 regenerations was repeated several times since first mentioned in THe Deadly Assassin, including during Trial of a Timelord. Has also been mentioned often in the Big Finish Audio Dramas, which have been a source of many New Who plots.

Not entirely sure that applies to The Doctor anymore, though. Think about it...he's now stepped into his own timestream, and he's met Dr. Hurt (John Hurt). If John Hurt is an incarnation of The Doctor (and all evidence points to "Yes"), then that means that Smith is the 12th doctor, doesn't it?

 

[Mark CMG]

They need a grittier, charnal Doctor like Ray Stevenson. He could be the undead 13th Doctor of death, the Time Lich.

 

[Herschel]

What would almost be fun is to see Clara be the central figure for a couple of episodes, having adventures with Smith, Tennant and McGann interspersed with insertions of other Doctors.

Carol Ann Ford and her kids (Grandkids?) might also be interesting to see make an appearance (though doubtful for the 50th)

 

[sabrinathecat]

Not entirely sure that applies to The Doctor anymore, though. Think about it...he's now stepped into his own timestream, and he's met Dr. Hurt (John Hurt). If John Hurt is an incarnation of The Doctor (and all evidence points to "Yes"), then that means that Smith is the 12th doctor, doesn't it?

yeah, I'm about a season behind, so I don't know what you're talking about.
They should get Michal Jayston for the 13th.

Or they can just claim that River Song gave him her 9 remaining regenerations, and he only used 1 to return to life. (what a horrible episode that was)

 

[Herschel]

I was not a fan of "Lets Kill Hitler" upon first watching but have to say it has really grown on me. The line about where River was going stands as one of the best ever.

 

[Mark CMG]

Does this seem legit?

http://www.geeksaresexy.net/2013/06...-the-12th-doctor-who-pic/#jHKVTwkvCFtcbAZj.01

 

[delericho]

It would be trivially easy for the show to handwave away the "twelve regenerations" thing. Indeed, they could simply ignore it and move on - the new series seems to be free to use anything from the old continuity it likes while simultaneously discarding anything it doesn't like.

But my question is this: why on Earth would they want to?

There's huge dramatic potential inherent in the Doctor nearing his last regeneration - amongst other things, he knows that at some point he's going to become the Valeyard, someone he really doesn't want to be. But there's other stories there - how does he face his impending death? What if, confronted with the horrors of the "lost incarnation", or the atrocities perpetrated by the Valeyard, or whatever, the 'last' Doctor decides he doesn't want to go on, and starts actively seeking his death? Conversely, what if that 'last' Doctor decides he does want to go on - what to lengths will he go to acquire a new regeneration cycle?

There's got to be a story there, and it's something they've never really done before (which, after 50 years, is saying something). IMO, they would be mad to just handwave it away or ignore it - far better to tell the story.