Doctor Who 12th Wishlist - 13 Probable, Plausible And Impossible Replacements For Matt Smith
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6. Richard Armitage
Powerfully built and ruggedly handsome are not the sort of descriptive terms that usually leap to mind when one talks of The Doctor, but unlike a lot of contemporary leading men, Armitage also possesses the sort of brooding intensity that leaves one hankering for the halcyon days of Brando, De Niro and Pacino. A skilled and subtle actor, he can do a lot with very little, conveying the full force of a characters raging inner conflicts with the arch of an eyebrow or twitch of the lip.
WHY HIM: A harder, more contained Doctor, to be sure, but considering that, according to Doctor Who mythos, the Twelfth Doctor is poised to give rise in some, way, shape or form, to the Valeyard (an embodiment of all the long-repressed darkness in the Doctors nature), Armitage might be just the actor to throw some light on the shadowy corners of the Time Lords psyche. His icy, blue gaze conveys a penetrating intelligence, but his lopsided grin and roguish charm prevent him from ever being unapproachable. He can break your heart as the agonized villain as easily as the tragic hero an essential ability for anyone playing a Doctor who may have to be both at once. The image of a haunted Armitage stalking about the TARDIS in a long black coat, trying to keep his darker passions at bay is a pretty compelling one, if you ask me
SEE HIM IN: The BBC series, Spooks (aka MI-5 in America), as the affable, but mysterious Lucas North a man attempting to atone for his dark past by pursuing a life of heroism. If that doesnt scream The Doctor, I dont know what does