Im really looking forward to a "dark doctor" with Capaldi, not soft or cuddly...the hidden side of a hero perhaps.
What do others think?

As long as they don't alienate the audience with Capaldi then it will be fine. The main reason the sixth Doctor was not well received is they went too far in changing the character and made him too aggresive/unlikeable. If they want a darker Doctor then you want something more like Eccleston's interpretation

The erratic Doctor was but a small part of the utter disaster called The Twin Dilemma, surely the worst Who story every made. Add to this the fact that it was stupidly shown at the end of a season, leaving the general public, and fans, with the best part of year to think that Colin Baker would always be like that. The poor guy never stood a chance. If his first story had been any good then things would have been very different.

'Dark' means a lot of different things to different people - which did you have in mind?
A more withdrawn, less bubbly Doctor? One who's less optimistic about people? One with hidden secrets and pain? One who has a nasty temper? One who will happily lie to people to get what he wants? One who assumes authority and won't allow anyone to get in his way? One who is comfortable executing villains?

We've had measures of all these things over the past few years, which ones do people find most interesting?

Maybe the weird Doctor


Clara- Doctor, you're weird
The Doctor-I've been called all sorts but weird?
Clara- You're acting weird, are you alright?
The Doctor-Just having a moment
Clara- I understand, moments soon pass

Dark is fine, providing he remains a likeable champion, otherwise we have another Colin Baker problem.

I'm guessing, more ruthless maybe, a bit like early Hartnell?

I really think the show needs a lift. The Matt Smith era was often joyless, bogged down with darkness, predictions of death, actual death, heartbreak and sacrifice. It felt as though the Doctor had become too old and was tired of life and (to be honest) I began to tire of the Doctor's life too.

The Doctor's basically at stage one again - the beginning of an entire new regeneration cycle. I am hoping for someone who will embrace the adventure and actually have some fun again.

Dark is so last year.

oh i don't know, i think you can have a ruthless acerbic hero without ruining the fun. It doesn't need to be continuous, and the stories need not be dark.

Yes, we don't need him starting out being unpleasant and unlikeable. As you say Colin Baker never recovered from his horrific debut and though he improved a lot as time went on, people just don't see that.

Not only that, you know the Tennant fanboys and girls are just waiting for an excuse to give him a good kicking(metaphorically speaking) plus those who hate the idea of an older Doctor.

I think Capaldi has to pull it off from the start and if he is a bit Darker, there just needs to be a balance with the humour. Whatever people think of McCoy's Doctor, he got that spot on.

I guess my comments are as much a reflection of the tone of the show as a whole as much as Matt's Doctor.

Acerbic would be good as long as the script is sharp, witty and funny. A dark story every now and again would be fine too.

But a darker Doctor with an even darker tone to the show would be quite depressing. I think the show as a whole is feeling very tired. Its needs fun and brightness and silliness and adventure again.

just don't throw in the Ronald McDonald wig and unicycle and things will be fine lol

Ronald McDonald? Now that would be dark lol

I'd agree.

Dark is fine if you've got a man who is clearly affected by his experiences on Trenzalore and having spent nearly half his existence there. That could be interesting.

But if they make him so he just comes across as mean for the sake of it or lacks the spirit of adventure (instead falling into hubris) then that's not right for me. I think Capaldi had a very weak intro in comparison to Tennant and Smith and you need to be really rooting for him by the end of episode 1. I hope they don't make the mistake of changing him too much.

TV has enough moody, dark 'heroes' already thanks!

I get he might need a bit of time to adjust. However if it too dark it will put people off. Do we reallly want to see Clara scared of him and what he does ?. Plus hasn't he allways been warned about being too dark by his companions ?. Back at Demons Run River managed to snap him out of it by giving him a pep talk and revealing the truth of her identity. Amy later reminded him about being good and better then Jex in TCM. Maybe Clara can do the same for 12. Yes he occasionally has bad moments but she brings him back from the edge. Roll on August 23rd!.

Oh, yeah! That would be, as the Ninth Doctor said, 'Fantastic!'. He could be all nice with Clara, but show his darker side to everyone else.

I think he is going to have a bit of a darker side, but nothing too drastic. The DW production team don't want viewers to be too shocked and leave before the series is up.