Peter Capaldi as the Doctor
Doctor Who's personality isn't going to change just because of Peter Capaldi's age.
The 55-year-old actor has been tasked with following in 31-year-old star Matt Smith's footsteps as the next incarnation of the quick-witted Time Lord, and showrunner Steven Moffat says the main motivation behind the change-up was casting a great actor rather than an older Doctor.
Asked whether he had consciously stepped away from Matt's "sexy" portrayal of the Doctor, he said: "[After] Matt Smith's wonderful Doctor, we said, 'What other young man could do that?' I can think of one actor right now who'd be a brilliant choice for the Doctor, but you just think, 'It's another sexy young man with amazing hair,' and we've done that.
"But also, most significantly, I knew Peter Capaldi's a huge 'Doctor Who' fan. He's one of the best actors in the world. He's an extraordinary actor. I just thought, 'Why has nobody ever asked him if he'd do it?' And he is doing it, and wow.
"I was watching it this morning, and it's all the difference in the world, because suddenly he's a man in his 50s with grey hair - and it's no difference at all. It's weird. Never mind that, John Hurt's 73, and how great was he? And kids love the John Hurt Doctor."
Steven also addressed fan criticism that the time-travelling Gallifreyan has become too "sexualised" in recent years, insisting that love has always been part of the long-running BBC One show's identity.
He told IGN.com: "People talk about sex in 'Doctor Who' - I heard someone say that to me, 'You've sexualised the Doctor.'
"It's a fact of the canon of the show that the Doctor was a married man and had children. We know that he flirts, we know that he falls in love, we know that he has the full range of responses in that. The story of Doctor Who is that he's not a deity, but some people think he is, and sometimes he tries to live up to that."
Tagged in Matt Smith Steven Moffat Peter Capaldi