Twelve Reasons To Love Twelve

Guest contributor Greg House shares his list.

I make no secret of my Doctor Who past. I loved the classic series long before the show returned. Being one of the last generations to grow up with Classic Who (UKTV Gold as a child) I didn’t think ‘New Who’ would ever be able to live up to my standards. But all of that changed the day Peter Capaldi took over…

First off, I love New Who, it’s certainly got me more excited than any other show I can remember, but David Tennant and Matt Smith could never live up to my favourite Doctors Patrick Troughton and Jon Pertwee. It took Capaldi two episodes to become my joint favourite with those two, so here’s my twelve reasons to love Peter Capaldi…

1. No Frills, just 100% Rebel Time Lord

There’s none of the playing around, Capaldi means business. We saw his eyebrows for a total of two seconds on the 23rd November 2013 50th Special and that alone set the tone for his Doctor, so ‘shut up, shuttity up’ because he’s a no nonsense Doctor.

2. He left a lot of his socialising behind in his last regeneration

Matt Smith was the social Doctor, it was fun to watch him interact with people and aliens of all colours and creeds, but Capaldi seems to want to be more antisocial. He seems to prefer thrill seeking, going to the end of the universe or jumping down a great black hole in the moon to staying and having a conversation. Watch him, he’ll delete you from his memory before he’s even left…

3. He has (Arguably) the best TARDIS we’ve ever seen

When we first saw this new TARIDS, I was in love, utterly smitten. It’s beautiful, a brilliant mergence of new and old, but back then it was blue and cold, it was a darker place. The first time we see Matt Smith he’s sat down seemingly on the floor or stairs reading a book in silence. Capaldi made it more homely, we still have all the awesome controls that inspire imagination, but there’s comfy chairs, candles, books, the place looks more loved than ever before and I think it suits him down to the ground.

4. He’s a Moff Doc!

Some might argue this is a bad thing, I would argue it’s a brilliant thing because it means his character is subject to constant change, the universe changes everyone, especially the Doctor. It’s nice that it’s finally reflected in the show, he has personality changes, he has costume changes and it means that Capaldi’s Doctor isn’t left enough time to get stale, he’s constantly being renewed and refreshed. Comparing his appearance in Last Christmas to Deep Breath or Into the Dalek shows this quite well

5. As an actor, Capaldi shines right through

Part of the fun of the 10th Doctor was his looks, he was a good looking man and despite knowing it, he didn’t really know how to respond when his looks ended him in awkward situations, often with royalty. 11 relied a lot on his goofy funny nature, both of these assets set them in stone as superb Doctors. Capaldi relies almost totally on his superb acting skills, this has shown itself by a certain detachment from humanity, he’s more alien than he’s been in a long while and it really shows.

6. He’s got his thrill-seeking spark back

Many Doctors had grown tired of the universe believing they’d seen it all (Until they came across something that made them exclaim “Impossible!”) after Matt Smith’s Doctor avoided death in Series 6 he had his flare for life back, which was dulled once more when he arrived on Trenzalore. He stopped caring about the universe and it’s beauty, instead settling to care for the beauty of the humans on Trenzalore he’d dedicated the rest of his life to keeping safe. After being given his new lease of life though, he’s once more out there looking for all the thrills the universe can offer, he’s pushing the boundary of his knowledge further than ever, but it’s good to see him with that renewed vitality.

7. He has one of the coolest themes of any Doctor

I thought “I am the Doctor” would never be beaten, but come on, you can’t not love the crazy rock and roll theme of Capaldi’s theme “A Good Man?” dotted and sampled throughout the eighth series, it really gets you excited!

8. His new personality allows for greater stories

Who’d ever think we’d see a Doctor who refuses to help as he did in “Kill the Moon”. This Doctor is dangerous and unpredictable, ever so slightly grumpy and 100% brilliant. This opens up new challenges to people, the Doctor isn’t guaranteed to help, you need to tickle his interest if you want his help. Obviously he’s not going to sit by and watch monsters take over the world, but he’s less helpful than other Doctors, he won’t just jump into action because you ask him to.

9. There are questions piling up again…

Who is Gus? Why are so many robots trying to find this promised land? Why does the Doctor have the same face? Okay these questions aren’t as prominent as “Why are there cracks everywhere” and “Who killed the Doctor?” but they’re neat little appetisers for what’s to come, even if these questions are never answered it allows for great fan fiction or speculation for possible future stories.

10. With Capaldi, we see a return to the much loved (And hated) cliff-hanger

Cliff hangers, we can’t not love them, but we also can’t not hate them! There’s no worse feeling than right after the cliff hanger when you’re thinking, seven days. 160 hours. 10’080 minutes. 604’00 Seconds before we get to continue this epic story. It’s almost like someone hitting pause half way through a movie and telling you that you’re not allowed to watch the rest until next week, it drives you mad, but it cannot be denied it is effective. I love a good cliff hanger, it usually has the effect of making me watch part 1 repeatedly to compensate, so I’m more than happy to see a return of these in Capaldi’s future!

11. He has (Arguably) One of the most awesome costumes ever!

So it’s really simple, we saw the press release before Series 8 and we all thought he looked epic. Then we see the variations of his costume, such as in Listen, or in Last Christmas. His costume like Matt Smith’s is evolving and it looks set to carry on evolving in Series 9. It’s simple, practical and makes him look cool as anything. The Magician and his magic blue cabinet, what’s not to love?

12. Peter Capaldi himself, is one of the nicest men you could ever meet.

All of the Doctors have been played by fantastic actors who are lovely people, just a few weeks ago I had the pleasure of meeting Colin Baker and he is just as wonderful in person as you think, Peter Capaldi was in the news several times for doing something really nice, recording messages for fans, just melting the hearts of everyone before he’d even stepped out of the TARDIS in Matt Smith’s clothes. That alone in my mind, sets him in stone as a truly wonderful man, and a mighty fine Doctor.