Who knew? Bookies suspended betting on Capaldi as new Doctor
- Publication: Daily Mail
- Date: 2013-08-05
- Author: Laura Cox
- Page: 5
- Language: English
HE is best known for playing a foulmouthed spin doctor. Now Peter Capaldi has become one who travels in time and space.
Capaldi, the bullying Malcolm Tucker in political satire The Thick Of It, was last night unveiled as the 12th actor to play the lead role in Doctor Who.
The Scottish star had been the odds-on favourite to become the next inhabitant of the Tardis, and it appears the result may have been known three days ago, when a flurry of bets led to bookmakers suspending betting on him and lowering his odds from 40-1 to 5-6. They now stand to lose around £100,000.
Joe Crilly, a spokesman for William Hill, said: 'We have seen people trying to back Peter Capaldi as much as possible at every price available.'
That raised questions last night about whether someone at the BBC had leaked the name - despite the corporation going to great lengths to keep the identity of the new Time Lord a secret in an operation it had codenamed
But while 55-year-old Capaldi was favourite to win with punters, others were not so enthralled by the decision.
His official unveiling during a live programme on BBC1 led many on Twitter to ask if he is too old to play the role. The actor is the same age as William Hartnell was when he became the first Doctor in 1963.
Some users on the social networking site described his announcement as 'exciting' and 'perfect', but others were more critical - one wrote: 'Peter Capaldi is not attractive because he's old', while another posted: 'I'm not watching Doctor Who any more. Peter Capaldi is too old.'
Some 400 Doctor Who fans, some dressed as their favourite characters, were in the audience last night to see the announcement. Capaldi, who appeared in a 2008 episode of the series alongside tenth Doctor David Tennant, told presenter Zoe Ball of his excitement at taking on the role. 'It's so wonderful not to keep this secret any longer,' he said. Tor a while I couldn't tell my daughter who kept on looking on the Internet and kept seeing people saying so and so should be the Doctor and she got rather upset.
'But it has been absolutely fantastic in its own way, so many wonderful things have been happening. It was quite hard because even though I'm a lifelong Doctor Who fan, I haven't played Doctor Who since I was nine in the playground. I downloaded old scripts from the internet and read those.'
Capaldi will appear briefly in a Christmas special as the current Doctor, played by Matt Smith, leaves, and his first series will be broadcast late next year. Speaking in a pre-recorded video, Smith said: 'I know what's coming and he's gonna have a blast.' The live unveiling came after weeks of speculation about who would be the next Doctor. Suggestions included Harry Potter star Rupert Grint, James Bond actors Ben Whishaw and Rory Kinnear, and Homeland actor Damian Lewis.
Caption: Out of this world: A fan in Tardis outfit
Caption: In costume: Fans dress as the tenth Doctor and Rose
Comic: It wasn't easy. They had to find someone prepared to work weekends.
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- APA 6th ed.: Cox, Laura (2013-08-05). Who knew? Bookies suspended betting on Capaldi as new Doctor. Daily Mail p. 5.
- MLA 7th ed.: Cox, Laura. "Who knew? Bookies suspended betting on Capaldi as new Doctor." Daily Mail [add city] 2013-08-05, 5. Print.
- Chicago 15th ed.: Cox, Laura. "Who knew? Bookies suspended betting on Capaldi as new Doctor." Daily Mail, edition, sec., 2013-08-05
- Turabian: Cox, Laura. "Who knew? Bookies suspended betting on Capaldi as new Doctor." Daily Mail, 2013-08-05, section, 5 edition.
- Wikipedia (this article): <ref>{{cite news| title=Who knew? Bookies suspended betting on Capaldi as new Doctor | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Who_knew%3F_Bookies_suspended_betting_on_Capaldi_as_new_Doctor | work=Daily Mail | pages=5 | date=2013-08-05 | via=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=23 April 2024 }}</ref>
- Wikipedia (this page): <ref>{{cite web | title=Who knew? Bookies suspended betting on Capaldi as new Doctor | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Who_knew%3F_Bookies_suspended_betting_on_Capaldi_as_new_Doctor | work=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=23 April 2024}}</ref>
