You never know. He played Malcolm Tucker for eight years.

Maybe this is why the BBC have committed to Doctor Who until 2020 - because Peter has to.

Not sure he would go on that long but I certainly expect him to pass 3 series in the role.

And Brian Minchin's comments about the Doctor and Clara being really tight in season 9 is a great sign too.

It reminds me of the way the 6th Doctor's relationship with Peri was allowed to become less argumentative and more warm by the beginning of the Trial of a Timelord season. ANOTHER year of the two them bickering would have gotten quite dull, and it was nice to see them acting like close friends.

I hope that is the case for season 9. All this nonsense about the 12th Doctor pushing Clara to the extreme during season 8 made her less likable and him seem mean. They need to be best mates, and there needs to be warmth in their relationship.

I don't think I'll really get to know the 12th Doctor until I've seen him have a genuinely positive relationship with his companion.

....How much of series 8 did you miss?

It ain't gonna happen. Don't even consider it as a possibility. No actor is going to surpass Tom's record, no matter how much of a fan they are of the character/role/show etc.

I wouldn't say 'never'. You'd only need someone with the determination of Tom Baker.

I would. Look, be glad if Peter does four full series because beyond that, I wouldn't hold my breath.

None if it. And, to be fair, its my favourite season since RTD/Tennant left.

But I didn't enjoy the dynamic between the 12th Doctor and Clara.

I actually found them quite tiresome; he was challenging her/"pushing her to her limits" whilst she was doubting him, deceiving him and trying to decide whether to stop seeing him.

For me, it was all leaning towards the negative and it felt very old and tired. Its the main reason I was so surprised when they kept Clara on - it really felt like her time with the Doctor was done.

That's why Minchin's comments are reassuring. Whilst I'm not pleased Clara has stayed on, at least it sounds like her relationship with the Doctor will be more positive in season 9.

Who knows. I imagine behind the scenes these sorts of conversations have been had already as part of this longer term plan they've been discussing for the next few years.

Personally I would be happy for Capaldi to stay on as long as he wants especially if he is on the sort of form shown in S8. One imagines he will only improve the longer he plays the role so yes. Here's to a Capaldi future.

As for Tennant and Smith I think they both went at about the right times but for different reasons. Tennant seemed to have hit peak Ten in S4 and while still very watchable his performances were starting to feel a bit tired and paint by numbers. Smith on the other hand I think had a lot more to offer the role but had been written into a corner and I don't think they knew what to do with him anymore so he needed to go for the shot in the arm of S8 to occur. A shame for him. Always a sense of missed opportunities for Eleven despite now good Smith was/is throughout.

Oh and as for the Clara/Doctor dynamic in S8 I found it brilliant at times and certainly something fresh. Didn't quite work as well as it couldve due to some bizarre writing choices-the build up of Claras rage in Kill the Moon and dismissal of the Doctor was forgotten about within seconds of the next episode apart from a couple of lazy lines in the script- but still very good. What I found tired was the smug and self satisfied Super Best Pals routine that was established in S2 and has to varying degrees blighted the show. See also Doctor/Donna and the Eleven/River mutual backslapathon. Yeah they didn't quite pull off the tension and conflict but they tried. Which is why I find it hard to be enthusiastic about the reported return to the old style next season. I think Ten years in we need something more. A third companion would help. Something. Just please not thirteen episodes of them enjoying themselves.

I think your comments are reflective of the huge chasm between what Doctor Who fans on this forum enjoy and what viewers more generally enjoy.

Do you consider your own views in the same light or have you got a special hotline to General Consensus that no one else has?

I just look at the polls. There are lots of them and they tend to say the same. David Tennant's still the public's favourite Doctor and Billie Piper's their favourite companion (I was a bit miffed she beat my personal favourite, Sarah Jane, but there you go). Donna and River are up there too. In fact, River seems to be more well-liked than Amy!

I always thought incumbents held an advantage when it comes to popularity, but David left the role six years ago and Billie nine years ago so they appear to show that's not the case.

Based on Season 8 I'm just not sure that - in nine years time - we would see a Radio Times readers poll (completed by tens of thousands of viewers) which shows that Doctor 12 is their favourite Doctor and Clara is their favourite companion.

But I guess we'll see how things go after season 9!

I see no reason why he should.

Peter Capaldi should be around until at least the 75th Anniversary.

He would probably look just like William Hartnell at that point.

I expect he will. It's a hugely demanding schedule - though his age and point in life might dictate him staying a bit longer. Personally I think DT stayed too long, and Smith not long enough. Never happy!

Both men were 55 when they first played the part. Peter was 56 when his first full episode went out.

I do genuinely believe that 55 is a very different age now to 1963. People are fitter and do live longer.

Poor old William Hartnell often struggled to remember his lines but Capaldi is in no way an old man.

Although, as well, Hartnell acted the part older - he wore the wig to help emphasise that. And it's interesting cos sometimes he just acts without any flubs or goofs (the "goodbye" speech, the Massacre speech, etc.). I think, also, his illness slowly but sure consumed him over his time on the show and beyond.

When they announced Capaldi, I imagined him maybe only doing two years and then bowing out along with Moffatt but it's not looking especially likely that'll happen at this point. Even if it's a dream role for Capaldi, I can imagine him not wanting to do it forever and he'll have to deal with a change in showrunner eventually as I imagine Moffatt will want to leave at some point.

You imagined hed stay for only 2 series? Why is that?

I was going to say "that would be a novel experience - a Doctor in the series for less time than his companion" and then I remembered Eccleston and Piper.

Not just those speeches, when he played the Abbot in the Massacre there's no sign of the Billy fluffs we know and love. It's a fine performance. Which implies to me that the stuttering and hmmm-ing and getting Chatterton's name wrong was far more deliberate than is frequently assumed.

However, although Hartnell was obviously playing older than his years, and his memory was indeed causing him problems by the time he left, his general health clearly was nothing like that of Capaldi, who's positively fizzing with energy!

At the time it didn't seem that likely that Moffatt would want to do the entire three series and some specials thing with another Doctor and Capaldi had already built up a decent career and was a wee bit older than the previous Doctors. I thought they might have contracted him to do two years with Capaldi and Moffatt both leaving at the end.

Certainly doesn't seem likely now, doesn't look like either are planning are planning to leave imminently. Thinking about it, Series 8 would probably have been different if they'd planned such a short run for Capaldi - it would have probably been more like Series 2 with little focus on the regeneration after it had happened, instead of the repeated references to the Eleventh Doctor and the re-development of the Doctor's relationship with Clara that we got.