The hunt is on for the next person to play the Doctor on Doctor Who. Ironically, for a show about time travel, the one thing the BBC doesn’t have on its side is time.
The Christmas episode of Doctor Who will be shot this summer, and then the twelve episodes of season 8 will follow that. It is widely assumed that at the end of the Christmas episode, we will see Matt Smith regenerate into the next Doctor. Then again, for a real whammy, the transformation could take place at the beginning of the episode, and Smith would barely have any screen time. Regardless of how much screen time will Smith will have, the key is that the next Doctor will be needed on set, and there will be no easy way to keep that information under wraps.
According to The Radio Times, a source at the BBC revealed:
It would be virtually impossible to keep the identity of the new doctor a secret even if the entire set went into lockdown during filming of the Christmas special…
“The search has begun in earnest and is active now,” the source said, adding that the BBC has not ruled out hiring a woman to replace Matt Smith
The new series, expected to be 12 episodes long, begins filming in the autumn.
It should also be noted that another source further clarified the notion of a woman doctor to the Daily Record, “There were early reports show chiefs were close to casting their first female doctor.But a BBC insider insisted that while they are not against the idea ‘there are no women currently being considered for the job’.”
Showrunner Steven Moffat did an excellent job this spring at breaking the news about David Tennant’s and Billie Piper’s involvements in the 50th anniversary special. Rather than have their presence be noticed by set observers and have that news leak out in the tabloids, he released the news himself. It’s likely the same will happen here.
Bookies in the U.K. have been throwing about all sorts of names. The odds change hour-by-hour with current front-runners being Russel Tovey, Tom Hiddleston, Rory Kinnear or Ben Daniels, depending upon which publication you read, and at what time. Some actors have flat out denied their participation wanting to instead concentrate on other aspects of their careers such as Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch.