Doctor Who Live: The Next Doctor (2013 TV Special) User Reviews (4)

Oh Good" Old Scottish Dudes " Are Fashionable Again

[Theo Robertson · 6/10 · 10 December 2013]

It says something about the cultural impact that a show like this is truly event television . We're going to find out who the next Doctor is via a peak time one off show on a Sunday night . As Christopher Eccleston would exclaim " Fantastic " . There might be a downside to this however and that is when DOCTOR WHO was the most popular show on British television at the end of the Tennant era we didn't get the same type of hype probably because Matt Smith wasn't a household name in his own household . If you're holding a peak time show that that insinuates that you're not going to be wheeling out a totally unknown jobbing actor as the twelfth Doctor . I'm guessing that only leaves a small handful ofcandidates ?

This show could have easily been five minutes long but is padded out by talking heads mainly of minor BBC personalities who aren't facing any court cases in the foreseeable future . The second biggest cheer of the night went to some prancing dancing queen from STRICTLY COME DANCING who announced that " No matter what the Doctor should be British " Yes I'm sure that if we had the choice between Morgan Freeman and Paterson Joseph the only choice would be the British Equity member -duh . Thankfully we didn't get any fans dressed up as a Sontaran battle fleet commander embarrassing the entire gene pool of humanity by giving their esoteric , fidistic opinions on how each and every episode is greater than the last and the only criticism is that there's not enough gay role models or humour in the show - double duh So the moment had been prepared for and the most obvious choice one Peter Capaldi walks out on stage which led to a lot of criticism on the IMDb message boards that " he's too old " , or " too ugly " or " too Scottish " which hopefully means the more shallow Americanised voice of fandom will be departing internet fandom to pursue what ever glossy nonsense that may interest them . The only downside that is that Steven " One trick pony " Moffat is staying as the boss of the show and while we're gaining an " old Scottish Dude " as The Doctor it's about time another " old Scottish dude " left the show

This review was written by Theo Robertson an old Scottish dude who is very ugly . Old ugly Scottish dudes are cool at last

Just tell us

[studioAT · 1/10 · 6 October 2016]

Remember the days when there just used to be a press release telling you who the next Doctor would be? Ah, it was a simpler time. Now it seems that there is enough fuss around the show for there to be a programme dedicated for the next actor walking onto a stage and saying "yes, I've signed the contract, I'll be playing him".

Bless her, Zoe Ball tries to keep this exciting, but what's the point? Yes, it's nice to hear some old cast members (and it's always the same ones who turn up for this sort of thing) talking about their memories of the show and what qualities they think the person playing the Doctor should have, but come on - do we really need this? It's Peter Capaldi playing the part. There we go, I've told you. Did we really need the string it out so long?!

The Next Doctor: Understandably a bit of a hyperbolic love-in and focused on the modern era but quite entertaining

[bob the moo · 8 December 2013]

I must admit that I watched this show after I already knew the subject of the reveal and, to be honest, it was my pleasure about the choice that made me decide to watch this. The show was live and hosted by an excitable Zoe Ball who breathlessly ushered in clips of talking heads and a few guests in the studios to fill the first 20 minutes before spending the remainder chatting with the new Doctor. In terms of content it is decent enough although it must be fairly obvious that the focus is not going to be on people's memories of William Hartnell; no, this is the new era and while the show does have a history, it is not one the current makers want to be a slave to, so they generally focus on recent years.

This is the case here and although we get the odd mention (and one appearance) of former Doctors, the focus is on Matt Smith leaving and who the replacement will be. As such it is entertainingly high energy but mostly about noise and hype – which is something that could be directed at the show as a whole recently. Ball stokes up the crowd while Smith appears in a few recorded interviews where he hardly looks at the camera and seems awkward. The hyperbolic approach continues with the appearance of the new Doctor in the style of a contestant on Stars in their Eyes and then ends the show in an X-Factor-esque shower of confetti.

I can understand why the show is this way and Ball did a decent job to keep it moving and upbeat, but really the question is not who the new Doctor will be, but will the show make the most of whomever it is? The announcement offered me hope that maybe they wanted someone a bit older and more substantial – but this is not the same as the writers changing the show to meet that person on their ground. We'll see but I look forward to finding out.

Good idea and I can see why fans would appreciate it

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 10 July 2017]

"Doctor Who Live: The Next Doctor" is a half-hour television special from 2013, so this one will have its 5th anniversary next year. The title already gives away that this mix of documentary and talk show presented the new lead actor for the famously long-running Doctor Who franchise. Host was Zoë Ball and she was probably the least bearable feature here with how we went shamelessly over the top in delivering superlatives all the time like the internet is all crazy about what's happening or how mega and super excited everybody was. The interviewees and videos they showed were fairly decent I would say. Overall, despite not being a Doctor Who fan at all, i can see the appeal and a special for the announcement is a bit of a good idea I guess. Capaldi eventually was a bit of a surprise maybe because of his advanced age compared to previous doctors' ages when they took over. But if you have the chance to get such a successful artist, who is also an Oscar winner, why not grab it. I like Capaldi I guess. All in all a thumbs-up and I think 30 minutes was also the right choice. A previous announcement show went longer and I don't think one hour is necessary. So eventually, the prolific writer and also the director of this special made everything right. Thumbs up.