A Farewell to Doctors

Good afternoon everyone and welcome to The Magical Mystery Blog.

This has been a rough patch for Whovians with the death of John Hurt on January 25^th, 2017 and now the departure of Peter Capaldi after this upcoming season of “Doctor Who”.

Both men played wonderful doctors – John Hurt’s War Doctor questioned his regenerations in “The Day of the Doctor” special. Peter Capaldi followed Matt Smith’s Doctor with an older, brooding gentleman who always tried to learn more about himself. While we only saw John Hurt’s War Doctor for this special (and a brief appearance in the Matt Smith episode prior to the special), his appearance alone was enough to make us wonder about the Doctor. Where did this War Doctor fit in? How did he endure the Gallifreyian War? Did he really have a mid life crisis?

Along with playing the War Doctor, John Hurt also took on the role of Ollivander from the “Harry Potter” movies, he played himself in “Space Balls”, provided the voice of Aragorn from “Lord of the Rings”, and gave voice to the Horned King from “The Black Cauldron”.  He also lent his voice to the Dragon from the series “Merlin”, starred in “V for Vendetta” as Chancellor Sutler, and played Trevor ‘Broom’ Bruttenholm in “Hellboy”.

John Hurt was an eclectic actor who was the youngest of his siblings in Derbyshire, England.  Despite showing little initiative and solitude as a child, he was guided into art. However, his admiration for acting took hold and pursued the field after failing to receive a scholarship in art. John Hurt embraced television and with it exposed his acting capabilities to an extreme level.

Peter Capaldi’s acting abilities bear the same extremity, especially when portraying the Doctor. His cynicism, his slowly warming heart, and his nail biting bluntness have created a unique Doctor. Albeit, there were a slew of comedic moments from him most met with sarcasm and a witty tone which is something that will be missed as he takes his leave of the Doctor.

Peter will be departing from “Doctor Who” at the end of 2017 with the Christmas special as his final performance. When the BBC asked Capaldi if they could renew his contract for the show, Capaldi declined and claimed that it was time to move onto different things.  While this appears to be a common reason for Doctors to retire, it is understandable. As much as we adore the actors who play the Doctor, at some point they want something more than running around chasing aliens, befriending companions, and travelling through all of time and space. It’s time for a change and a new regeneration for Peter Capaldi.

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So tell me, did you enjoy the John Hurt’s War Doctor or Peter Capaldi’s Doctor more?