Here in Season 10 of Doctor Who, fans are having a blast watching the curious and positivity-oozing Bill going toe to toe with the ever-grumpish Number Twelve, in what has widely been reported as the final season for both star Peter Capaldi and current showrunner Steven Moffat. But lurking in the back of everyone's mind is a rabid interest to find out who will follow Capaldi in the ranks of TV Time Lords, and it appears Doctor Who's next star has already been chosen. Here's the all-too brief reveal made by former showrunner and executive producer Russell T. Davies.
I do know who it is.
Hold the phone! Also, hold the TARDIS! Although a bevy of rumors have cropped up in recent months, there hadn't even been any official confirmation that Doctor Who's producers had one particular star in mind for the role. As such, the guessing game has hit up on big names from Love Actually's Kris Marshall to MCU vet Hayley Atwell, with lots of others making the list of potentials. But if Russell T. Davies is to be believed, Doctor Who may have officially cast its next lead already, weeks before Season 10 is set to bow out. And it doesn't look like anyone is willing to start blabbing yet.
Speaking with GuysLikeU at this year's British LGBT Awards, where he won the Natwest Lifetime Achievement Award, Russell T. Davies unfortunately didn't have any other information to add beyond the fact that a final decision has seemingly been made for Doctor Who's next big star. His answer is entirely too short, and delivered too casually, to provide suitable substance for obsessive clue-hunting and plot-speculating. A hint would have been nice, Russell!
It's been discussed many times in the past that Doctor Who is looking to broaden its diversity, by way of its main characters, though it's probably not the most likely scenario that either a black actor or a female was chosen to be the next Doctor, despite public outcries for such things to happen. Actor Alan Cummings recently revealed that he's been asked twice to get into some time-traveling heroics for the BBC, but was never able to make the scheduling work, so it's probably not him either. We're just hoping it's someone that the majority of fans can cheer for, and that the upcoming showrunner Chris Chibnall hits all the right notes that fans are needing from the first Steven Moffat-less season since Season 4.
While waiting to hear about who will steer the TARDIS for Season 11 and possibly beyond -- and we probably won't hear about any finalized decisions while Season 10 is still airing Saturday nights on BBC America at 9:00 p.m. ET -- head to our summer TV premiere schedule to see what new and returning shows are hitting the small screen soon.
