The announcement is coming people. I mean, it's tomorrow and in less than twenty four hours we'll know the identity of the next Doctor. The BBC plans a special for Sunday August 4 which will not only be a retrospective of the half-century of Doctor Who, but will also unveil the actor or actress who has been cast in the role of the Twelfth Doctor. At San Diego Comic Con a few weeks ago, Steven Moffat joked that he was currently writing the script for the Christmas Episode, in which the Doctor will regenerate, and that he wasn't on the page in which he killed the Doctor... yet. It's reported that the casting process for Twelve has been underway and was given code-name Whodini.
According to a press release from the BBC, with breaking news on Thursday from Bleeding Cool, the special will air on Sunday, but recent updates included an updated webite. Hopefully there will be no information leaks as to the identity of the new Doctor in the next 23 hours. At SDCC, Moffat threatened to discontinue any Comic Con exclusives if the trailer for the 50th Anniversary special was leaked online. Doctor Who fans for the most part have been pretty great about that sort of thing, considering Season 7.2 shipped early, allowing buyers the ability to see "The Name of the Doctor" before it aired.
But who will be the person to take over for Matt Smith when he makes his departure in December? Since the debut of Doctor Who in 1963, eleven men have officially portrayed The Doctor, with a host of others who have filled the role unofficially and alternatively on television, in audio books, and on stage. I, for one, was shocked to see that they were making this announcement more than four months before the Christmas Special is to air, but I'm super excited for Sunday.
People have asked me my opinion on the subject. I had tweeted previously that I had a post planned with a list and I started out with about twenty potential Doctors. This included Rupert Grint and Simon Pegg, which I have seen show up on the lists of others. I also had initially considered Matthew Lewis and Henry Cavill as well, but I quickly realized that I was going to have to make some decisions and narrow my picks down. There has been a lot of interest in Dame Helen Mirren as well. But here are my top twelve potential Doctors. My thoughts after the break!
