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‘Doctor Who’ Could Cast A Female Doctor Sometime In the Near Future

By Inquisitr Staff
Published on: 03:22 PST, Jul 26, 2016

Doctor Who could cast a female Doctor sometime in the near future. Several rumors surrounding Season 10 of the long-running BBC science-fiction TV series have surfaced, including a rumor that this is the last season for the current doctor, Peter Capaldi. Previous Doctor Who cast members haven’t confirmed that this is the last season for Capaldi as the 12th Doctor, but they have said that it’s now time for a female Doctor to take over the Tardis after 53 years of male Doctors.

Steven Moffat, the producer of Doctor Who since 2005, also agrees that he would like to see a female Doctor take over the role sometime in the “near future.” The International Business Times even quotes previous Doctor Who actor Matt Smith as saying that he thinks a lady Doctor could be close. Smith filled the shoes of the Doctor as the 11th incarnation from 2010 until 2013. As a fan favorite, Smith says that he’s not returning to Doctor Who as the Doctor despite recent rumors, but he went on the say that he thinks a lady has a chance of playing the 13th Time Lord.

In a recent web chat interview with the Guardian, Smith said that he thinks a lady Doctor would be fun.

“So practice, practice, practice. And talk really fast. And think really fast. And be really brave. And mad. And silly. And good luck maybe it will be you!”

Smith, 33, moved on from his Doctor Who character at the end of 2013 with the “Christmas Special,” but he is remembered by Steven Moffat and loyal Doctor Who followers as a youthful, energetic, friendly, and childlike Doctor, even though the Doctor is supposed to be a “centuries-old alien” from the planet Gallifrey. Moffat reportedly set out to find a middle-aged lead actor to play the 11th Doctor, but according to BBC in a 2009 interview with Moffat published on Wired, the 11th Doctor was instead cast as an “old man trapped in a young man’s body.”

“Smith, who was announced as the 11th incarnation of the Doctor in January 2009, is the youngest person to play the character in the British television series.”

Capaldi, 58, took over as a much older Doctor in 2014, starting with Season 8, even though “he didn’t think he would get it.” Now, there are rumors that he may want to leave after Season 10. The Doctor Who fan blog Doctor Who Watch on FanSided says that while Capaldi has thought about leaving, he hasn’t yet made a decision, because he reportedly hasn’t yet tired of his role as the 12th Doctor. However, Doctor Who fans, fellow cast members, and even executive producers are already trying to replace Capaldi with a female as the 13th Doctor.

After turning down an opportunity to audition for the role of the Doctor in 1995, Capaldi — a Doctor Who fan since his own childhood — finally has his dream role, and Doctor Who Watch wonders why he would want to leave it so soon.

“Capaldi will be entering his third season on the show, and none of the previous Doctors of the revival have lasted beyond that third go around.”

The “revival” mentioned on Doctor Who Watch is the “further adventures of the time traveling alien adventurer and his companions,” as described by IMDb in 2005, starting with Christopher Eccleston as Doctor number nine after BBC took nearly 10 years off from production.

Rumors have also been swirling that a new producer will take over after the upcoming Season 10, and health issues may prevent Peter Capaldi from doing further seasons of the Doctor Who reboot. The University Herald shared that BBC will let Chris Chibnall take over for Steven Moffat as Doctor Who executive producer for Season 11 and would then ultimately get to decide if the new 13th Doctor will be a female character if Capaldi does decide to leave after Season 10.

The new season of Doctor Who is set to premiere sometime in 2017, and the cast is currently filming for the second episode of Season 10 in Valencia, Spain. CarterMatt also reports that a Doctor Who “Christmas Special” will air at the end of 2016 to bridge the unusually long gap between Season 9 and Season 10.

[Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images]

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