Doctor Who: Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor

The wait is over: BBC has announced in a live event that Peter Capaldi will star as the 12th Doctor in its hit sci-fi series Doctor Who.

Capaldi, a 55-year-old actor from Glasgow, will replace Matt Smith as the time-traveling Doctor. "It's wonderful not to keep this secret any longer," Capaldi said, "but it's been so fantastic ... For a while I couldn't tell my daughter who would be looking on the Internet and discovering that people have been saying so-and-so should be Doctor Who and she was getting rather upset that they never mentioned me."

Playing the Doctor will actually not be Capaldi's first time starring in the series. In 2008, he played Roman merchant Caecilius who escaped the eruption of Mount Vesuvius thanks to intervention by the Doctor in The Fires of Pompeii episode.

Peter Capaldi as Lucius Caecilius Iucundus - via TARDIS Data Core

Lead writer and executive producer Steve Moffat, praised Capaldi as "One of the most talented actors of his generation [who is] about to play the best part on television."

Some Doctor Who fans, however, question why the current regeneration breaks the seemingly "ever younger" regeneration of the Doctor.

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What do you think of the choice of Peter Capaldi as the 12th Doctor?

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It will be quite a change from the foul mouthed spin doctor of the Thick of It. But he could use one of my favorite insults again: "he is so dense that light bends around him". The rest maybe less useful because if they start beeping it out some alien might think he speaks in morse.

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I enthusiastically agree with the age issue. The worship of youth by the entertainment industry is excessive (e.g. the 2009 Star Trek movie).

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I'm sure he'll manage to bring Craig along for a part ...

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I am actually relieved to see the Doctor getting an older regeneration. The Doctor was rapidly approaching puberty from the wrong direction. Surely, in our greying world, a mature man is easier to relate to. And Mr. Capaldi is a charming actor. I have admired him since I first saw him in Local Hero back when he was younger than Matt Smith. I have high hopes that he will bring a refreshing wit and elegance to the Doctor. I very much hope he will be allowed to keep the accent. Trust me, oh BBC, that Scottish burr makes American ladies weak at the knees.
But yes, he needs a scarf or something like.

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