Would you be interested in a female Dr Who? How about an older Dr? How about a non-white Dr Who?
I don’t think these would ever happen, just interested.
I think for a Dr to be successful he has to be an actor with good deal of personal charisma, elusive star quality. That’s why the Dr who came after Peter Davison failed (along with a lot of bad writing). I think being young, white, British and male helps, because of continuity, and where it’s made, of course.
Either could work - I think that they’d have to do some very good writing to realistically handle the Doctor regenerating as a female after being male (as far as we know) for so long. It would also be a big departure from the traditional formula, but that’s not necessarily bad.
Anything is possible. This new regeneration would really have to hit it off with the fans for it to succeed and I do think there is a lot of momentum with the Doctor being a white guy, moreso now that the last two of them have been this geekerific guy that has appeal to both genders. Or why don’t they spin off Jenny, the Doctor’s Daughter?
Steven Moffet’s first televised Doctor Who script ended with the 13th doctor being played by Joanna Lumley. (The doctor regenerated several times in that one.)
You have seen some of the people that have played the Doctor in the past, right?
IIRC Peter Davison, the fifth Doctor, was the first one not to be 40+. The very first was 58 (and frankly looked a LOT older) when he finished.
Can’t for the life of me remember the actor’s name, but when after one of the regenerations there was a black actor that got a lot of push in the press. The idea of it seemed fine with a lot of people.
Woman? Why not? Wouldn’t bother me, as long as she is less annoying than River Song.
Definitely not female. An older actor, about 50 like Pertwee, could work. So could a black Doctor.
I nominate Lenny Henry.
It would have to be a British actor. The only non-Brit that could do it is David Hyde Pierce, and he’s far too expensive for a BBC budget.
Idris Elba.
It’d be like having Ben Sisko as The Doctor.
I know the “original” Dr. Who series used older actors, but not “new-who”. I’m flexible. As long as the actor/actress has the charisma to carry off the part & make it his/her own, I’m good. Long live Who!
I wouldn’t like a female Doctor, I confess. It would probably be the one thing guaranteed to lose me. I like my Doctors male. However, a non-white doctor could work, provided the non whiteness was unimportant and not overly focused on. I don’t need to watch yet another show on race issues; I’ve seen plenty.
I can’t see Stephen Moffat bothering with any of that though. He sold Mat Smith and I was highly dubious. He even sold Amy to me and I am not crazy about her. I bet he could even get me to like a female Doctor, though it would take a lot.
I see your Idris Elba and raise youChiwetel Ejiofor.
Hopefully, it’d be like Saboo as The Doctor, not Moss.
Adrian Lester, according to this article. I can’t see it, though - he looks just a bit too young. Imagine this face but slightly older and he could easily play the role.
Of course, there’s already been one black doctor. Jon Pertwee. And there can’t be a female Doctor, because they’d have to rename the show Lady Doctor Who, which is silly.
It’s odd to think that the BBC might once have cast Hugh Laurie in the role - if the show had come back in the 1990s - but now he’s way out of their budget.
I would not be excited about a female doctor because I like to lust after my Doctors (Hello, David Tennant? YUM) but I am completely open to it and in fact expect to see it at any moment. The whole regeneration thing seems to be begging for it. Why not regenerate as some other alien, for that matter? Those lizard people, for example. Or the little warrior-spud clone guys? I’d be perfectly fine with a black doctor. Yes, a geeky-sexy black Doctor would be fantastic!
But, as I say, I want my Doctor young and attractive, so the warrior spud is out, for me, totally.
I could see an emergency merging of two characters bringing back a permanent Doctor Donna.
I’ve heard other people toss around the idea of a black Who, and Ejiofor always struck me as the perfect choice. Idris Elba would be great as the next James Bond. (Although I imagine that would kick up a huge shitstorm. I’ve heard people bitching that the current Felix Leiter is black, like whether Felix is black or white or purple with yellow stripes matters at all.)
I’d think it would look like a stupid jump the shark moment.
“Shake them up,” “go in a fresh new direction,” “proactive” ideas mostly end up terrible.
At first I thought you were talking about introducing a new Romana, which would be good.
Just stick with finding him good female or multi-ethnic companions and foes. Don’t mess with the basics.
According to Matt Smith’s entry in Wikipedia, another black guy who was able to get some traction for the role was Paterson Joseph. He was the bookies’ favorite, in fact. Becoming the Doctor wouldn’t have been his first time on the show, as he had already appeared alongside Christopher Eccleston’s Doctor.
I’ve thought for a while that a female doctor would be really cool. If ever there was a show that was due for a break in its traditional format…
On the other hand, I think the sort of cooky, befuddled doctor that has come into fashion with 10 and 11 would come off as the sort of “annoying little girl in a woman’s body” that everyone complains that Aaron Sorkin writes over and over again.
Meh, I’d hope that most of the audience would stay on board regardless of if the next doctor is male, female, black, white, or anything else, as long as they’re properly cast.
Ok, let me amend that. If the Tennant-Smith switch was any indication, a very large portion of the fanbase will gnash their teeth and wail no matter WHO plays the new doctor, but most of them will get over it and settle in with 12. 
That’s a good idea, I could definitely see him doing a good job.
I’d be fine with an older Doctor, and a black one, but I’m very cool to a female Doctor.
I can see a female Doctor working alright, but I fear that the moment they find a later regeneration who happens to be male, any regeneration into a male will be soon as a judgement on the female actress.
I appreciate the same could be said of a black Doctor and regenerating into a non-black one, but I think gender politics is more pronounced in this matter than race politics…