Two thirds of Doctor Who fans approve of Peter Capaldi’s casting as the twelfth Doctor – and interest in the programme sees an eleven point jump amongst 18-24 year olds since June
Peter Capaldi, best known for his role as Malcolm Tucker in the BBC’s hit political satire the Thick of it, has been announced as the twelfth actor to play the Time Lord in Doctor Who. New research by YouGov probes Doctor Who fans for their reaction, finding great approval.
Of the British adults surveyed 36% say they are ‘very’ or ‘fairly’ interested in Doctor Who, and 67% of these fans ‘approve of the casting of Peter Capaldi as the actor who will play the twelfth Doctor.’ Only 10% ‘disapprove’, and 24% ‘don’t know.’
Almost equal amounts of fans say that Peter Capaldi will be better (32%) than the outgoing doctor, Matt Smith, as who say he will be about the same (33%), while only 14% say he will be worse.
The overall ordering of fans’ most and least favourite Doctors is unchanged since June, with David Tennant and Sylvester McCoy still the most approved and disapproved Doctors, respectively. Matt Smith is currently ranked as the third best Time Lord, with 9% of the fans’ vote compared to 51% for his predecessor Mr Tennant.
Peter Capaldi is at 55-years old the oldest actor to play the Doctor since William Hartnell, the first actor to star as the Time Lord in 1963. 70% of fans say that 'it is a good thing for Doctor Who to be played by a mature actor', while only 17% think it would have been better to cast a younger actor. In June, only 7% said that being 'over 40' was an 'important trait' for the next doctor.
And while overall interest is up slightly since early June, from 31% then to 36% now, amongst 18-24 year olds there has been an 11% jump in those who say they are ‘very’ or ‘fairly’ interested in Doctor Who – from a third (33%) to almost half (45%).
Doctor Who will mark it's 50th anniversary on 23 November with a special episode starring Matt Smith, David Tennant and John Hurt as the Doctor. Peter Capaldi will premier his new role in a Christmas special on Christmas day.
If you didn’t get the chance to participate in this survey, why not visit YouGov's Opigram pages for Peter Capaldi and Doctor Who to give your own ratings and opinions, available here and here respectively.
