In case you missed the news, Matt Smith has announced the he is departing Doctor Who at the end of the year. While not everyone is going to agree, for me this is amazing news. It provides an opportunity to fix a program that has been in decline for a few years now. Unfortunately the biggest problem, show runner Stephen Moffat appears to be staying but a new Doctor provides considerable opportunity to change.
Before I start, I should admit that the BBC will likely cast another (relative) unknown. However, there are several more interesting possibilities: First there are some far fetched, but explainable, scenarios where David Tenant could return. I won’t lay them all out because the post would be long and it would turn into fan fiction.
There are also some people who’ve been considered before who could be interesting.
First, there is Benedict Cumberbatch who has been surrounded by Doctor Who rumors since before Smith took over. It’s probably a long shot at this point. After his roles in Sherlock and Star Trek Into Darkness he is probably a bit too in demand to take on a long term commitment to the show. If it can be done though the BBC should bend over backward to make it happen.
Possibly the most realistic possibility, now that House has wrapped up, is Hugh Laurie. Rumors about Laurie and Doctor Who have have circulated before but the talk seems a bit louder this time.
If neither of those can happen, Rowan Atkinson would make a very different Doctor than we’ve seen recently but he’s been talked about before for the role (for a few decades now) . He’s actually played the role before, sort of, and he would probably still be interested.
Of course, if the BBC really wants their flagship show (in North America anyway) to get back on track they could replace the show runner. Moffat has talked about Doctor Who as a dark fairy tale but has failed to deliver. If that is what the BBC wants there is one person, other than Tim Burton, who consistently delivers on dark fairy tales.