back to article Who's to be the next Dr Who? Sherlock beats Maurice - says you

It's the question on every geek's lips. Who's going to be the next Time Lord? Well, wonder no more, because The Register's readers have made their minds up. You've decided that Benedict Cumberbatch should be regenerated as the next Doctor Who when Matt Smith leaves at the end of the year. We asked our readers who they thought …

COMMENTS

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  1. Winkypop Silver badge
    Thumb Up

    If it's not Sue Perkins

    I can go with Tilda Swinton.

    1. LarsG
      Meh

      Re: If it's not Sue Perkins

      Needs a political edge to it.

      What about John Prescot for comedy value.

      Or

      Harriet Harman for PC correctness.

      Or

      Nick Clegg for Eco correctness

      Or

      Ed Miliband to represent the disabled

      Or

      David Cameron because he will need a new job in 2015.

    2. NightFox

      Re: If it's not Sue Perkins

      Phew, for a minute there I was getting Sue Perkins confused with Su Pollard - with visions of every episode ending on a doleful but resigned Doctor mourning that "all she wanted was to be a Yellow Coat"

  2. graeme leggett Silver badge

    Cumberbatch would be bonkers to accept if it was offered to him

    He's getting high profile work in big films. Can do a serious turn in Sherlock every so often and take up other "proper" drama work on stage or the box.

    or he could tie himself down to two or three years of admittedly regular employment which restricts his options and possibly leading to typecasting.

    On the other hand it would be another instance of familial relations appearing in the programme for the fans to note. (his mum appearing in Image of the Fendahl a long while ago)

    1. Danny 14

      Re: Cumberbatch would be bonkers to accept if it was offered to him

      agreed, career wise I would guess he should turn it down. Small "mini series" such as sherlock would keep his options open. A 3 year deal for dr who when he is currently at a peak would be foolish IMHO.

      1. John 62
        Holmes

        Re: Cumberbatch would be bonkers to accept if it was offered to him

        More worryingly, he might not have time for Cabin Pressure on Radio 4.

    2. Brewster's Angle Grinder Silver badge

      Re: Cumberbatch would be bonkers to accept if it was offered to him

      Not only that, he would struggle to differentiate it from Sherlock.

    3. NightFox

      Re: Cumberbatch would be bonkers to accept if it was offered to him

      I don't think typecasting has proved to be an issue for Christopher Ecclestone or David Tennant - both seem to be regularly popping up in all sorts of progs (and adverts!)

  3. frank ly

    Just a minute

    Mickey Smith was not a 'bozo'. He was a hard working and emotionally mature young man who dealt well with just about most situations that came his way. (Am I taking it too seriously?)

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Just a minute

      I quite agree. Rather like Xander Harris, he was an ordinary bloke without any special powers who regularly risked his life following someone far less vulnerable, cos it was the right thing to do. Not a bozo, but a hero.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Just a minute

      and, in fact, the sort of companion we could well do with more often in drwho. I'm getting tired of all the "special ones".

      Personally, I reckon they should have used that old salesman-turned-tour-guide from the xmas titanic episode.

    3. gazthejourno (Written by Reg staff)

      Re: Just a minute

      Yes, you are taking it a wee bit too seriously. But we still love you anyway.

      Hugs and kisses

      El Reg

  4. F. Svenson

    Idris Elba.

    1. Dave 126 Silver badge

      David Oyelowo

  5. mike hock is taken
    Joke

    You can't have a string of blokes in the role only to swap genders after so many regenerations. It would make no sense. Besides, the programme would have to be renamed Nurse Who...?

    1. Doctor_Wibble

      Wouldn't work

      We already have the answer to "Nurse Who" so that just wouldn't work.

      "Bernard", if memory serves...

  6. Gordon 10
    Unhappy

    Most not realistic

    Apart from the fun aspect not really sure of the point of this poll.

    No film actor is going to be chosen simply because the BBC wont be able to afford them.

    Chris Eccleston was arguably the most famous pre-Who actor in the rebooted series - the trend has always been for existing BBC drama actors but with the trend being for them to become less and less well known.

    I'd like to see a non-flirtatious woman in the role - if only to eliminate the obvious romantic angles that keep recurring in the reboot. Has there been one companion in the reboot that hasnt harboured strong feelings for the Doctor? Even Donna's spark waned towards the end of her run.

    1. Danny 14
      Paris Hilton

      Re: Most not realistic

      he's a time traveller with loads of power, knowledge and experience. To be fair i'd probably have a go.

      1. phuzz Silver badge

        Re: Most not realistic

        I'm a straight bloke, but still, David Tennent, I would.

    2. Brewster's Angle Grinder Silver badge

      Re: Most not realistic

      Which was why I voted for Lenny Henry: because I thought it might happen and he's got such range that I really wanted to see what he could do with the role.

  7. Tom 7

    Bring back Tom Baker!

    You have the death ray of a woman, I bet your death ray has never been blown off in a type1a supernova.

    1. cs94njw
      Thumb Up

      Re: Bring back Tom Baker!

      Obscure, but funny reference. Impressed ;)

  8. Robert Measday
    Meh

    "It's the question on every geek's lips"

    Hardly.

    I have had very little interest in Dr Who since Catherine Tate worked on the series.

    1. James Hughes 1

      Re: "It's the question on every geek's lips"

      You do know she left some time ago, don't you?

      1. VinceH

        Re: "It's the question on every geek's lips"

        And, although I was dreading it when I heard she'd been cast, and possibly even for a while when she was in it, by the end of her stint she managed to raise my opinion of her slightly: She did much better than I expected.

      2. Robert Measday

        Re: "It's the question on every geek's lips"

        Yeah, but she killed any real interest I had in the franchise, just as M Bay has in TF & Jar Jar Abrams has ST & SW.

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Rory Kinnear came fourth? Really?

    His dad I can understand (and yes I know he's deceased), but Rory's a bit flat in comparison.

    1. Matt Bryant Silver badge
      Thumb Up

      Re: Rory Kinnear came fourth? Really?

      "His dad I can understand....." Whilst it must have its advantages for connections, living in his father's shadow can't be too easy.

      ".....Rory's a bit flat in comparison." Agree totally, he just doesn't have the presence. It doesn't have to be supermacho presence, in fact the opposite can be even more effective, just something to make him less ordinary. Sylvester McCoy was probably my least favourite Doctor, but even I'll admit he had presence and brought his own sense of extraordinariness to the role.

      As to a woman - hmmmm, maybe, but it would need to be a woman of character rather than some Beeb bimbo. And capable of being quite cold too - the old Doctor made some quite calculating decisions in the past. Sigourney Weaver would be perfect but probably outside the budget.

  10. JDX Gold badge

    The most boringly obvious choice

    Pick someone who's already playing the role of an eccentric, almost alien genius, with floppy hair and no interest in women.

    I really hope the BBC show more imagination.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: The most boringly obvious choice

      > Pick someone who's already playing the role of an eccentric, almost alien genius, with floppy hair and no interest in women.

      Ah, Sue Perkins... so close! ;)

  11. Arachnoid
    Holmes

    You forgot Sue Pollard !

    And I still think Warwick Davis is a good candidate for the role

  12. JayBizzle

    I see that Richard Madden (Rob Stark) is now free, maybe him... he already knows Jenna VERY well.... so the chemistry might be good (git)

  13. Michael H.F. Wilkinson Silver badge
    Happy

    Robbie Coltrane

    Or Billy Conolly would get my vote

    and of course the inimitable Tom Baker.

  14. Whitter

    A win from the outliers!

    If we remove those who won't accept being Who and the comedians who won't be asked - what do the results look like?

  15. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Time warp ..

    Last episode i seen .. they introduced John Hurt as the next Doctor ... I must either have missed his death , demise or fall off grace or you guys didn't pay attention but something fishy is going on here.

    Tell me i am slipping in the depths of madness .. :D

    1. BoldMan

      Re: Time warp ..

      John Hurt isn't the "next" Doctor - he's a previous one who "broke the promise". Current speculation is that he's actually the 9th Doctor between Paul McGann and Chris Ecclestone and was the one who "did" the Time War stuff,

      1. Tom 13

        Re: Time warp ..

        I'm not sure he's a past doctor, although I get why most people would assume that. I do think he's a future doctor. The idea that a previous incarnation wouldn't know about future incarnations is done away with by any of the multiple Doctor episodes. We also know from Trial of a Timelord that he has/will cross his time stream. Possibly he did so in the past hence the current incarnation knows what he will become. Maybe Hurt is what he turns into after the Valeyard.

        But I do see the point that he could be the incarnation that locked the Timelords into the loop with the Daleks. We'll have to wait for the penny to drop.

  16. thomas k.

    cross-dressed Tilda

    How bizarre - when I voted for Tilda I did so picturing her playing it as a man.

  17. reno79

    Complete left field option: Robin Williams.

    I would love that.

  18. MacGyver
    Thumb Up

    Why not Damien Molony?

    He was the newer vampire (Hal) on Being Human UK.

    1. PhilF

      Re: Why not Damien Molony?

      Agreed - fits the bill; currently lesser known actor who can do charming and charismatic.

  19. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Clive Owen

    ....for Bond too.... Pity!...

  20. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Any chance...

    That when Matt Smith leaves he could take the intensely annoying, rabbit trapped in a car's headlights faced Jenna-Louise Coleman with him? She gets right on my threepenny bits she does.

    Posted as anonymous to fool the baying lynch mobs.

  21. FuzzyTheBear
    Pint

    That's it .. i'm getting drunk !

    Even the BBC One DrWho pages are making me confused .. add to it the discussion in this page and you got one totally confused fan :) Sorry folks , but this is all so confusing that i see only one way out : Get drunk ! Good thing it's friday and quitting time ! Time for keg of beer and a bottle of scotch !. When ill be drunk , all of this will become crystal clear . Probably .. or ill forget about it and be happy ;)

  22. Michael Habel

    "You told us that the proudly posh Cumberbatch should cast off Sherlock Holmes' deerstalker and strap on..."

    Did we now? I remember no such thing! ....And Coma's FTW!!!

    1. Michael Habel

      Not implying that he shouldn't do so though...

  23. William Boyle

    Cumberbatch? Brilliant!

    I'd vote for him! His portrayal of a modern Sherlock Homes was simply brilliant! After all, what is the Doctor if not a time traveling Sherlock? :-)

  24. moreflamewars?
    Holmes

    Dr. Sherlock

    Maybe I'm too American, but I saw a lot of parallels between S Moffat's episode 1 of Sherlock Holmes and every Dr. Who episode I love. Cumberbatch seemed to be channeling Matt Smith in more than one scene.

  25. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Daleks need a smack.

    Send in the Stathe!

  26. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Graham

    Thinking about the nominees as I'm watching BBC America, it occurs to me that Graham Norton would be a fantastic Dr. Who.

  27. Stuart Halliday
    WTF?

    Sorry. But did no one watch the last episode? ?

    It plainly stated that John Hurt was to be the Doctor. Or was everyone asleep?

  28. Dave Lawton
    Boffin

    Votes

    Exactly how many votes did Benedict Cumberbatch poll please ?

  29. ShadowDragon8685
    Meh

    I still kind of think that they might shake the series up by doing something Permanent to the original doctor (IE, something that would land him on Trinzalore,) but keep the series going by either having one of the one not but two living beings who have all of (well, most of) the Doctor's memories return to take the title (to wit, either (Doctor)Donna or Ten's half-human Regeneration+ clone,) or have the Doctor's daughter (Jenny) show up and try to take up the mantle in Dad's name, despite being very inexperienced and unsure about everything she up.

    I doubt it; it's unlikely, but any of those would be neat, I think.

    Still, they're probably going to fish up someone I've never heard of, and knowing my luck, I won't get used to AS the Doctor until that person's about ready to call it quits, too.

    Though a series as the Not-the-Doctor John Hurt regeneration would be amazing to see.

  30. Bernard M. Orwell

    I just had a thought...

    ...what about Rhys Ifans?

  31. Dr Kerfuffle

    How about Dawn French

    I think Dawn French would make the perfect female Dr Who.

    She is funny, witty and is a great actress!

    Paul

  32. Michael Dunn
    Holmes

    A long search?

    " It's going to be a long, long search." Of course, it's a long way to Gallifrey!

  33. MrEd124
    WTF?

    Tennant as the new villian

    I would love to see the return of Tenant but as the villain!!! Imagine if the meta-crysis Dr turned out to be the one who broke the promise and became Hurt's Dr... or because he was broken and Rose couldn't fix him the second time She ends up dieing or as his puppet while he plots the death of Matt Smith to replace him and take on such names as the Valyard or Beast, etc,... Would give a plausible path to seperate Dr's time stream/time line and thereby continue one path un broken... Would be awesome to see Tenant as a recurring Dr Villain...

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