I'd like to see Peter Capaldi stay on for one series. Or maybe regenerate roughly midway through Chris Chibnall's 1st or 2nd season.

That'd sure break the so-called "pattern".

There's no particular reason for what happened before to happen again. Essentially each handover is a separate event and each time it comes down to the preferences of the individuals involved. Since the individuals involved are different each time the choices can be different.

For now only Chris Chibnall knows whether he wants a clean sheet like the handover from RTD to SM or whether he prefers to keep with the same Doctor for a period.

Similarly, for now, only Peter Capaldi knows whether wants to go on or whether he'd prefer to bow out with SM.

As for who they might cast as a new Doctor (whenever that might be), I think it's pointless speculation at this stage. I don't care as long as whoever it is is a damn fine actor.

I would love Capaldi to stay on for a fourth series after 2017, because:

a). I love his interpretation of the Doctor and think he's a wonderful actor who has enriched and enhanced the show

b). I'm fascinated to think how Chris Chibnall would write for the 12th Doctor and how the character would be developed

c). I'm fed up with the formulaic reasoning that suggests that there must be a new doctor if there's a new showrunner, and that 3 series is standard.

HOWEVER.... this article this morning (albeit from the Daily Mirror) suggests that Capaldi will be leaving in 2017.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/p...or-who-7245477

Personally, I believe the choice should be with Chibnall and Capaldi. Chris Chibnall may really want to write for Peter Capaldi's doctor, who knows...

It'd be interesting to see how a Doctor changes under a different showrunner. If you wanted to keep mirroring the original regenerations would you not need someone a little younger than Peter Capaldi? I'd like to see someone like Richard Coyle or Stephen Mangan have a go, or maybe Jack Davenport?

For me, while I really like Capaldi as an actor, I'm not really enjoying him in Who... whether it's the production style as a whole, I don't really know.

As for replacements, well, I wouldn't want to hazzard at guess at what Chibnall may be looking for.

But if it were me, there are a few actors that I could imagine doing something interesting with the Role.

Young Britsh Actor: Tom Stourton (Wasted last series as Lofty) Is it just me who thinks he is outstanding as the idiot manchild Dan in 'Siblings'-genuinely a quirky performer, but in a totally different way from Matt Smith

Non Traditional American: Leslie Jordan... nuff said!!!!

Middle Aged Actor: Jason Merrels Really underestimated actor, mainly judged in the past by his looks. Really could develop in a similar style as Paul McGann has in the BF audios

Non WASP actor: Navin Chowdry... rarely given a chance to spread his wings, but always seems to impress me in what he's in

Female Actor: Think someone genuinely eccentric could be quite easily accepted, once the fanboys begin to realise what she could bring to the role. Someone like Frances De La Tour could have easily made the Doctor fascinating in the 80s if they'd gone down the road. Maybe she still could.... she's great value in Vicious and Big School

I hope Capaldi will stay on for at least 1 year under Chibnall.

Those hoping for a female Doctor should also hope for this because there's no way the BBC is going to bring in a new show runner, change the tone, and cast a female Doctor all at the same time. It's just too many risks to take at once. So if Capaldi is going to finish after series 10 then it's highly unlikely to be a female Doctor.

Having thought about it for a bit, I'm going to say someone I doubt anyone else would pick and go for Richard Harrington from Hinterland/Y Gwyll.

He's not too young, not too old, the girls seem to soon over him (at least my wife does whenever he's on tv) and best of all he lives locally, so there'd be none of this "stuck in Cardiff" nonsense.

After over 10 years of producing it, I think it's about time for a Welsh Doctor.

Looking at the odds its the usual names, Tovey, Ayoade etc, I'd like to see a woman but know it could kill it..... http://www.whollwin.com/next-dr-who.php

Maybe I'm a pessimist but I only like a handful of names. Russell Tovey I know almost became the 11th Doctor over a recommendation by RTD but I really can't see him as the Doctor. Names like Richard Madden and Ben Wishaw are also difficult to be enthusiastic over when it comes to Doctor Who.

I really don't think that there should be a 'too young' or 'too old' when it comes to the Doctor (within reason of course.). It certainly shouldn't be a role that's limited to any age range, that's the magic of regeneration. Matt Smith to Peter Capaldi and everything in between. I like the variety.

So do I, but the rumours are that audience testing is showing a disconnect from Capaldi for some reason, and while I adored Matt's Doctor and thought he carried off the "old man in a young man's body" thing quite well I fear that if we go back to someone that young now and the ratings do rebound, that they'll start believing that the Doctor always has to mid 20's.

I was just saying that I hope we get someone that's closer to a MGann (36) / Eccleston(41) / Tennant (34) age when cast than the early to mid 20's bracket.

It's also not an easy role to take on as it's a lot of hard work and a long shooting schedule. Peter's coped remarkably well but he definitely does a lot fewer stunts then the previous 2 did (hanging out the Tardis etc) whether that's a 12 characterization thing or accommodating an older actor I'm not sure.

But if the fore mentioned audience survey point to wanting a more "action" Doctor then we're going to get someone younger, but I just hope they don't go too young to accomplish that.

Ah OK. Yeah I get what you mean. I just think it would be a shame if Capaldi is blamed by the BBC and the audience for what might well be a script/tone issue.

When Capaldi was cast, it gave me hope that any naysayers would be proved wrong who think that Doctor Who (the show and main character) has to be one way. It would be such a shame if that doesn't happen. One of the things I like about the show is change.

It's one of the reasons why I hope Capaldo stays on with Chibnall. See how audiences take to him without the burden of Moffat's long winded arcs, which seemed to put a lot of people off.

Really I've seen mostly everyone saying theyy don't watch it as much but its not Capaldi they think its his character and how his stories are written. So yeah I think you're right with that last bit or maybe for Series 10 Chibnall can write 1 or 2 things test out the waters a bit?

Bertie Carvel would be my choice.

I thought his performance as Jonathan Strange was very Doctor-ish.

The trouble is, for much of the casual audience, they don't know anything about production issues and new show runners taking over from old show runners. All they know is what they see on screen, and if they see it's still Capaldi, who they already associate with a period they haven't been enjoying (as the drop in ratings suggests), then they won't bother to tune in because to them, nothing will have changed.

That's why I feel Chibnall's first series should be with a new doctor. Chibnall's new start could potentially be a chance for the show to be mainstream popular once again, with all those who turned off for Moffat suddenly liking the show again. Keeping Capaldi though, would mean that many of those people who might like Chibnalls new era wouldn't give it that chance in the first place.

I feel that Capaldi is a great actor, and it is through no fault of his that his era is proving less popular, but for the good of the show and it's popularity, I think Chibnall should start with someone new.

As a fan himself, I feel if Capaldi thought his stepping down would help the show, he'd probably do so voluntarily. The show has always been bigger than one actor, and there is no point in not giving the show it's best chance to regenerate itself, just because it feels a little awkward to tell Capaldi .

Ah, David Tennant! How soon they forget!

I understand what you're saying, I just think it would be a shame if Capaldi was 'blamed' for an issue that viewers had with the writing. I worry that we would be locked in to the same sort of Doctor, one after the other from here on with not much variety. I can see the people who make these decisions blaming it on an 'older Doctor' rather than a decline in the writing, the wrong tone or just general Who fatigue. We would never get an older Doctor again and that would be such a shame. Not because I think that the Doctor should be older, but it's a role that any actor could bring something to. It makes regeneration more exciting to me.

Of course he could very well stay on with Chibnall and this worrying will be for bugger all.

So some of the people on here insist he was a heart throb, and now others are suggesting he was playing it all camp, which is almost the complete opposite end of the spectrum. Funny how opinions can differ so much.

I just think he was and is a brilliant actor personally.

Well Let me start by saying that David Tennant was only 7 years younger than Eccleston was when they each took the role, and Matt Smith and David Tennant have more of an age gap between them than Eccleston and Tennant do and there was a similar age gap of how old Tennant and smith were when they took the role (6 years) as the age gap of taking the role between Eccleston and Tennant,. Also it's not as though RTD and Moffat confered on their choice of doctors, and it is for these reasons I feel that when it comes to those people who claim there was some sort of precedent established with Tennant, I feel it is very much just in their heads.

Each showrunner chooses an actor on there acting merit. Moffat has told the story of how he went into casting for the 11th doctor, he was intending to choose an older actor but within a short space of time he had cast Matt Smith because he was so wowed with his acting. That just goes to show that despite whatever preconceptions the showrunner may think they have themselves even, at the end of the day, they are always going to pick the best person available for the job, regardless of age.

He was only mildly camp, and only in small bursts. Not quite the full Frankie Howerd.

Not everyone agrees that the quality of the writing has been an issue, you know. I'd hate for that to become the default assumption that everyone's supposed to acknowledge or implicitly agree with.

Sure, some superficial people will "blame" the distinct drop in viewing figures for season 9 on the "older" Doctor. They would be wrong though. There are a few contributing factors which have been discussed ad nauseam around here. Despite the drop, the viewing figures are still very good.

Peter Capaldi's version of the Doctor is fine and he's an excellent actor. They just got the tone of him wrong in season 8 (at times too harsh and dis-likable) and they got the tone of season 9 wrong as well (too gloomy because of the departure of Clara). They put season 9 on at too late a time. In both Peter Capaldi's seasons so far there have been some truly excellent episodes and some dodgy ones, in common with most, if not all, seasons.

My prediction: When it moves to spring in 2017 at a reasonable hour and still with Peter Capaldi and Stephen Moffat, the viewing figures will be up on season 9.

After that? It's anybody's guess, but I hope Peter Capaldi stays on for at least half a season.

I would usually agree that the casual audience don't know or care much about what goes on behind the scenes but I think it's slightly different in the case of Moffat leaving. It made the headlines of several of the papers, apparently it was trending on twitter for a while and I saw it in the most popular section of the BBC news website on the day. I think Moffat and RTD before him achieved celebratory status almost as much as the lead actors so people do notice when they leave.

Next series is already being billed as Moffat's last and I don't suppose he will go out quietly, as neither did RTD. And the series following it will be billed as Chibnall's debut series so I'm fairly certain that people will notice the difference.

If Tennant had carried on for Moffat's first series. I would have still seen it as a slight re-invention of the show, with everything else around him being new. New branding, theme tune, intro, TARDIS interior & exterior, companions, style etc (even new Daleks for a while). I don't see the lead actor as also needing to be new to add to that.

i suppose I just have my cynical head on a bit too much with this show. I hear/read all of the rumours and it makes me think about how they had Capaldi playing guitar, wearing sunglasses and donning hoodies (all very suddenly). I should just ignore rumours really and wait until something is confirmed.

My overall impression is that he gave Francis a run for his money pretty much from Day One, but I will rewatch his stories over the next couple of months and report back. In my mind, I hear DT and FH utter the words "the lost moon of Poosh", and I cannot tell the difference between them.

My perception of that was it was all to make him seem more fun and laid back rather than to make him seem young.

My thoughts exactly

Why? I want him gone. Can't stand him.