# The Doctor Is Out (Doctor Who, That Is) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 31, 2005, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-doctor-is-out-doctor-who-that-is/297055 "2005-03-31T06:18:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2005, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-doctor-is-out-doctor-who-that-is/297055/1 "2005-03-31T06:18:12Z")
[Christopher Eccleston has quit as Doctor Who.](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4395849.stm) > [@](#): > > Eccleston, whose first appearance as the ninth Time Lord attracted around 10 million viewers, feared being typecast. > > Talks are taking place to replace him with Casanova star David Tennant. > > A second series of the new Doctor Who, which will again be written by Russell T Davies and produced by BBC Wales, has already been commissioned. > > Billie Piper, who plays Dr Who’s assistant Rose, is expected to star again. ---
**Author:** ![BobNewby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19b73/32.png) [@BobNewby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobNewby)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2005, 8:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-doctor-is-out-doctor-who-that-is/297055/2 "2005-03-31T08:54:02Z")
What a gimp. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2005, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-doctor-is-out-doctor-who-that-is/297055/3 "2005-03-31T09:59:35Z")
This is very disappointing to quit only after one season. Especially since he’s been received so well. Just doing a second season would not have caused him to be typecast, especially if he deliberately set out afterward to fight against that. However, he has said that the 9 months he spent shooting the 13 episodes didn’t exactly thrill him, so I think that’s a big contributing factor. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2005, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-doctor-is-out-doctor-who-that-is/297055/4 "2005-03-31T10:14:21Z")
Well, it did pretty much typecast previous incumbents, Tom Baker especially, so I can see why he wouldn’t want to stick around forever: one season seems a bit quick, though - how many regenerations are Time Lords allowed, anyway? ---
**Author:** ![One\_And\_Only\_Wanderers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/838e76/32.png) [@One\_And\_Only\_Wanderers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/One_And_Only_Wanderers)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2005, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-doctor-is-out-doctor-who-that-is/297055/5 "2005-03-31T10:33:56Z")
12 I believe, though if it becomes necessary i’m sure they’ll come up with some fancy way to allow more ---
**Author:** ![AngelicGemma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/439d5e/32.png) [@AngelicGemma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AngelicGemma)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2005, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-doctor-is-out-doctor-who-that-is/297055/6 "2005-03-31T10:41:50Z")
He didn’t last very long, which is a shame. He makes a good Doctor Who. ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2005, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-doctor-is-out-doctor-who-that-is/297055/7 "2005-03-31T13:07:18Z")
> [@Case Sensitive](#): > > Well, it did pretty much typecast previous incumbents, Tom Baker especially, so I can see why he wouldn’t want to stick around forever: one season seems a bit quick, though - how many regenerations are Time Lords allowed, anyway? This really sucks - Tom Baker did it for 7 years and continues to get work; he does lots of theatre (which Eccleston supposedly loves), so I can’t fathom his decision. Unless – one tip might be his fear of the rabid Who fans at conventions (which he stated he wouldn’t do.) ---
**Author:** ![Scott\_Plaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Scott\_Plaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scott_Plaid)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2005, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-doctor-is-out-doctor-who-that-is/297055/8 "2005-03-31T13:37:05Z")
Bad news: this sucks and uses up one of his regenerations. Good news: Just as the master bypassed the 12 lives or less line, so does the doctor, according to the books, and fanboys now seem to be producing the show. ---
**Author:** ![ricksummon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ricksummon/32/3333_2.png) [@ricksummon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricksummon)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2005, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-doctor-is-out-doctor-who-that-is/297055/9 "2005-03-31T14:25:38Z")
Heh. I knew this guy wasn’t Doctor material as soon as I saw his haircut. A Doctor has to have some kind of distinctive hairstyle (and I don’t just mean Tom Baker – check out Patrick Troughton’s Beatle haircut). If Christopher can’t even be bothered to wear a wig over his shaved head, then I say good riddance. ---
**Author:** ![Futile\_Gesture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f05b48/32.png) [@Futile\_Gesture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Futile_Gesture)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2005, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-doctor-is-out-doctor-who-that-is/297055/10 "2005-03-31T17:13:03Z")
Bugger. Chris has shown himself to be a feeble regeneration. They just don’t make 'em like version #4 any more. There goes BBC’s Dr Who doll sales for this Christmas. ---
**Author:** ![Lips\_Obsession](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bbce88/32.png) [@Lips\_Obsession](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lips_Obsession)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2005, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-doctor-is-out-doctor-who-that-is/297055/11 "2005-03-31T19:34:11Z")
I was disappointed to hear this news as well. After all, interviews I’ve heard suggest he actually campaigned for the role. I wonder if he knew he only wanted to do one season then? Would they have cast him if they’d known that? As for 12 regenerations, didn’t the Time Lords offer the Master a completely new cycle of regenerations in “The Five Doctors” for assisting the Doctor? If they have that power, I’m sure something could be figured out to get the Doctor more regenerations… However, I must state that I’d prefer that the regenerations last at minimum 3 seasons… ---
**Author:** ![DataZak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ea666f/32.png) [@DataZak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DataZak)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2005, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-doctor-is-out-doctor-who-that-is/297055/12 "2005-03-31T23:50:20Z")
Eddie Izzard’s a possible replacement? YES, PLEASE! [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4395849.stm](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4395849.stm) ---
**Author:** ![SlyFrog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@SlyFrog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlyFrog)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2005, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-doctor-is-out-doctor-who-that-is/297055/13 "2005-04-01T00:13:10Z")
Psssh. All they need to do is set up a warp core bubble, and then emit a tachyon pulse into the center of a recently formed Warbleson anomaly, go back in time and make it so this putative Doctor . . . oh wait, wrong show. Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![Nonsuch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonsuch/32/2922_2.png) [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2005, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-doctor-is-out-doctor-who-that-is/297055/14 "2005-04-01T00:59:09Z")
I only saw the one episode, but dammit, I like this guy! The program will lose a lot of momentum going into its second season with a brand new Doctor. ---
**Author:** ![ricksummon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ricksummon/32/3333_2.png) [@ricksummon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricksummon)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2005, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-doctor-is-out-doctor-who-that-is/297055/15 "2005-04-01T04:05:01Z")
I figured out how they can salvage this. At the end of the first season, Paul McGann appears. It seems that the 8th Doctor did not regenerate yet, and the person that’s been impersonating the Doctor for the entire season is really – **THE VALEYARD!** (a.k.a. the New Adventures’ worst nightmare.) ---
**Author:** ![Lips\_Obsession](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bbce88/32.png) [@Lips\_Obsession](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lips_Obsession)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2005, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-doctor-is-out-doctor-who-that-is/297055/16 "2005-04-01T20:16:34Z")
I don’t know if it’s just me, or what, but it seems ever since I heard that the New Doctor is quitting, I’m just not as excited anymore as I was. It’s like it’s taken all the fun out of it… Am I alone in feelling like this? ---
**Author:** ![Nonsuch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonsuch/32/2922_2.png) [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2005, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-doctor-is-out-doctor-who-that-is/297055/17 "2005-04-01T20:19:05Z")
> [@Lips\_Obsession](#): > > I don’t know if it’s just me, or what, but it seems ever since I heard that the New Doctor is quitting, I’m just not as excited anymore as I was. It’s like it’s taken all the fun out of it… > > Am I alone in feelling like this? I think I know what you mean. Everything involved in the show’s comeback seemed to be going so well, and now **this**. It’s a setback that makes me concerned about the show’s prospects right when I had stopped being concerned about them. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2005, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-doctor-is-out-doctor-who-that-is/297055/18 "2005-04-02T03:42:04Z")
> [@Lips\_Obsession](#): > > Am I alone in feelling like this? No, you aren’t. Watching the rest of the episodesn will be less fun knowing he’s quit already. Why couldn’t he have waited a few more weeks at least. As for a replacement, the doctor should be 1. highly intelligent 2. eccentric 3. strange 4. a funny little man. Don’t you think that \*David Hyde Pierce \* would be ideal? Never gonna happen, though. He’s too expensive. ---
**Author:** ![LifeOnWry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/96bed5/32.png) [@LifeOnWry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LifeOnWry)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2005, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-doctor-is-out-doctor-who-that-is/297055/19 "2005-04-02T04:58:23Z")
> [@DataZak](#): > > Eddie Izzard’s a possible replacement? YES, PLEASE! > > [BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Eccleston quits Doctor Who role](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4395849.stm) I kinda doubt that. That rumor’s been flying around for some time. Apparently, Tom Baker once mentioned that he thought Izzard would be good for the role, and the press got wind of it and printed it as though it was a _fait accompli_. Izzard said no one ever mentioned it to him. This was before Eccleston was announced, though, so maybe now they will approach Eddie. I do know Eddie’s shooting a pilot for a new FX series. ---
**Author:** ![hazel-rah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/73ab20/32.png) [@hazel-rah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hazel-rah)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2005, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-doctor-is-out-doctor-who-that-is/297055/20 "2005-04-02T07:32:49Z")
> [@](#): > > Don’t you think that David Hyde Pierce would be ideal? He’s not British. Disqualified with extreme prejudice. Also, at 5’11" he’s not that little either. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-doctor-is-out-doctor-who-that-is/297055.md?page=2)