Straight off the bat, let’s say it—Peter Capaldi is going to be a stellar Doctor. The show has never cast an actor who couldn’t play the part, and it’s unlikely that it will start now. It’s time to look forward to whatever he’s going to bring to the part.
It’s also time to take a look-see at the current dialogue surrounding the casting of the part, a dialogue asking whether the Doctor could ever become someone who was not white or male. A great deal of the discourse isn’t placing blame or pointing fingers, but rather wondering about the difficulties, the timing, the reasons. Can this character change? Why should he? Why are people asking for it?
[But… but Matt Smith wanted to regenerate into a woman!]