Fans fear the Time Lord may already be out of time
- Publication: The Times
- Date: 2013-08-06
- Author: Kat Lay
- Page: 7
- Language: English
Peter Capaldi's teenage daughter cried when she found out that her father had been chosen as the next Doctor Who.
His appointment was revealed in a live show watched by 6.1 million people on the BBC on Sunday evening. Cecily Capaldi, 16, said yesterday: "It's pretty amazing. I was crying when I found out."
Reaction online was more mixed. Internet Jokers created expletive-packed spoofs of the programme yesterday after the announcement that the Scottish actor would follow Matt Smith as the twelfth Doctor.
Clips of Capaldi playing Malcolm Tucker, the foul-mouthed spin doctor in The Thick of It, were edited with footage from Doctor Who and posted on YouTube.
One YouTube video blended images of the Cybermen with a soundtrack of Capaldi squawking: "Bend down, pick up any f***ing weapon you can and t*** the f***ery out of them."
Capaldi, 55, is a life-long Doctor Who fan. He will play the part alongside Jenna-Louise Coleman, who remains as Clara, the Doctor's companion.
He had spoken earlier of how upset his daughter had been when rumours online about who might get the Doctor Who role failed to mention her father. "I kept saying, 'Rise above it, rise above it'," he said.
He may want to keep her offline for a few days. Fans on social media and Doctor Who forums were debating yesterday whether Capaldi was too old for the part. Sababa Shahid wrote on Twitter: "No no no no Peter Capaldi is too old to be the new doctor!" On the Digital Spy Doctor Who forum, one user wrote: "I think he's at least 10 years too old to be cast in the role for today's audiences."
Capaldi's supporters fought back. One wrote: "[Steven] Moffat [the writer] should be applauded for going against the grain and fighting the trend of recent years and also not condescending to the ridiculous myth that children and young people cannot relate to older characters. It's nonsense."
Capaldi will not be the oldest Doctor, although he does have 25 years on his immediate predecessor. William Hartnell, the first Doctor, was also 55. Bookmakers suspended betting on Friday evening on who would become the Doctor after betting patterns in which Capaldi's odds tumbled to 5-6 "indicated that "the cat was out of the bag".
Quite how the secret leaked remains a mystery. William Hill said that the first bets appeared to have been placed in Yorkshire, but that there were also significant bets in shops in South London, where the biggest bet of £500 was placed at odds of 2-1. A spokesman said: "What can happen in situations like this is a few people may get wind of who is going to play the role, but the majority of betting will come from your average punter, following the money."
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- APA 6th ed.: Lay, Kat (2013-08-06). Fans fear the Time Lord may already be out of time. The Times p. 7.
- MLA 7th ed.: Lay, Kat. "Fans fear the Time Lord may already be out of time." The Times [add city] 2013-08-06, 7. Print.
- Chicago 15th ed.: Lay, Kat. "Fans fear the Time Lord may already be out of time." The Times, edition, sec., 2013-08-06
- Turabian: Lay, Kat. "Fans fear the Time Lord may already be out of time." The Times, 2013-08-06, section, 7 edition.
- Wikipedia (this article): <ref>{{cite news| title=Fans fear the Time Lord may already be out of time | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Fans_fear_the_Time_Lord_may_already_be_out_of_time | work=The Times | pages=7 | date=2013-08-06 | via=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=12 March 2025 }}</ref>
- Wikipedia (this page): <ref>{{cite web | title=Fans fear the Time Lord may already be out of time | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Fans_fear_the_Time_Lord_may_already_be_out_of_time | work=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=12 March 2025}}</ref>
