When Peter Capaldi Leaves Doctor Who...Could ***SPOILER!!!*** Be Returning As The Doctor?

There's one thing that is for certain when it comes to Doctor Who, at some point the Doctor will go through a regeneration and become a "new" person.  He'll retain his old memories, but his appearance and personality will be that of a different person.  It keeps the show fresh and interesting, and even draws in new viewers to meet the new Doctor.  The current Doctor is being played by Peter Capaldi, who is rumored to leave the role after this next season as the famous Time Lord.  Like every other time an actor has announced that he'd be leaving this role, people are beginning to ask, "who will be the next Doctor?"


One of the rumors going around actually comes from the showrunner for Doctor Who, Steven Moffat.  He's suggesting that at some point The Doctor might revert to an old familiar face.  So what does this mean?  Peter Capaldi had actually appeared on Doctor Who prior to his becoming The Doctor, but as a secondary character.  Is this what Moffat's alluding to?  Or could it mean something else?


One of the most difficult times for Moffat as showrunner came when Matt Smith decided to leave the show.  Moffat had even been quoted as saying, "It felt like everything was blowing up around me."  He asked Smith to stay on in the role, but at the time Smith wanted to move on and try different roles in other projects.  Later, Smith said that he regretted leaving the show, and has been "quite open about how much he misses it, and how much he wishes he hadn't left."  These two pieces of information have led many to speculate that Smith may return to the show as the next Doctor.


Something like this has never happened on the show before, if indeed this is the direction that they are going.  Once a Doctor regenerates, he leaves the old form behind.  For them to bring back Smith's Eleventh Doctor would be a break from the show's 50 years of tradition, but sometimes you have to shake things up to stay relevant.  Many fans of Smith's Doctor will be excited, but there are already some fans voicing their concerns, saying that this seems like a step back for the show.  Because all of this is just rumor at this point, it's not really necessary to get worked up over something that hasn't been confirmed, whether you'd be for this or against it.


All we can do is wait until the official announcement, which will come sometime next year (I'm guessing).  Until then, just enjoy the next season of the show, and enjoy having Capaldi as The Doctor while you can.  Doctor Who returns for the Christmas Special in December, and season 10 will being in January 2017.


sources: Cinemablend.com and Screenrant.com