Peter Capaldi is great. Have you seen him as Malcolm Tucker in "The Thick of it". Warning. Much bad language.
I love Capaldi's Who. He brings an offensively pessimistic strain to the character. Or is just a dick. It's excellent.
I like him as well. My wife does not. I hope they bring him back for one more season. He needs to have a new companion to keep things interesting.
Before him, every Doctor since the 2005 revival had been roughly of a [possibly more upbeat] Peter Davison template. The sensitive type with a hand-wringing pacifist streak who genuinely cares about his companions; and of an age that could give him appeal to young viewers like writer Matthew Graham's daughter [at the time, anyway]. Perversely blended with some of the humor that Tom Baker originally brought to the table. But minus the full sarcasm, flippancy and intermittent indifference of Baker, who was apt to just suddenly walk-out on somebody without hardly a goodbye. Which is what retrospectively perturbed Sarah Jane Smith about him when the more touchy-feely-era version of DW finally encountered her again decades later. A few codger characteristics of other 60s-80s Doctors may have returned, too.
All the "revival" Whos have been too much the drama-queens, I've found. But I was spoilt by growing up with Tom Baker... to me the epitome of who Who should be. It's now too much about the romantic relationship with his companion: if it's not about the companion and him having feelings for each other, it's about the romantic relationship of the companions themselves. I know it's what people (i.e. the masses) want to see, and it's what keeps the show popular, but I was sick of Tennant's Who / Rose storyline, Martha's would have been tiresome had it gone on any longer, and Pond / Rory / Smith's Who was actually tolerable but only 'cos it was done in a quite humourous way. And the other thing I find irritating about it is that the stories are told at break-neck speed, often cramming in a good idea into 45 minutes, thus dispensing with any possibility of suspense and dread that the older series had in abundance. Admittedly they spent between 4x and 7x 25 minute episodes doing much the same in the "good ol' days" but everyone runs around these days... running to something or away from something... and the lack of cliff-hangers is to its detriment. But it's made with the current generation in mind... it is "of its time" as they say, so I shouldn't complain too much. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! And Capaldi is possibly the best of the new bunch so far!
Pretty much my idea of him, too. Baker just happened to be my first encounter with the Doctor, even though years after his stint originally aired. Not sure I'd ever have bothered to check out the rest of the episodes if the introduction had come from any other DW of the original era (Pertwee, possibly, at best).
I used to think that... I grew up with Tom Baker initially, and then Davison, who was okay, and then it just got increasingly silly. But I found Pertwee to be watchable - and actually think Troughton was good, if not for the budgets back then. Haven't seen much of Hartnell other than the first few stories. But Tom Baker... simply brilliant. When they had the 50th anniversary and he turned up as the museum's curator at the end... goosebumps. I think he was the first to truly grasp the notion of being so far advanced of humanity without being naturally condescending and patronising. Oh, he could be if the situation required, but he just portrayed brilliance almost effortlessly. And there was a natural humour and charisma about him that the others have since lacked - they may each have had one strong point, but never quite the full package. Heck, I'm a TB fanboy! But Capaldi is good, and a great first season... I think he may appeal to the older fans who want a slightly darker, less romanticised Who.
This is my new go-to video when I need cheering up. Capaldi's been great as the Doctor, but the writing this season seemed lackluster.
I wouldn't worry about it. Sounds like next season is happening for sure. I would find it hard to believe that they would stop now. It seems like it is gaining more and more popularity in the US.