The next Doctor should be British, male, white and under 40, according to new poll
YouGov poll suggests fans want the next Doctor Who star to be, well, almost exactly the same as his recent predecessors
Ever since Matt Smith announced his reign as the Doctor was coming to an end, speculation has been rife that Steven Moffat will cast the first woman or black actor in the sought-after role. But according to research conducted by market research firm YouGov, fans of the show want the next Time Lord to be a white, British man.
Based on data gathered from 1,974 British adults, 54% of those interviewed said the most important characteristic of the next Doctor is that he is British, closely followed by the need for him to be a man (52%). When asked what other features of the 12th incarnation matter to them, 28% of the sample group also specified that he be a character actor who is white (23%), English (22%) and under 40 (19%). So far, so Matt Smith...
However, a number of qualities are deemed to be of lesser importance, with only 15% suggesting he should be heterosexual and 14% wanting him to be attractive. Just nine per cent think he should already be a household name, following on from Russell T Davies and Steven Moffat's decision to cast relatively unknown actors in recent years.
The research also polled the public's opinion of the past eleven Doctors, with David Tennant coming top, winning 43% of the vote, followed by Tom Baker (16%) and Matt Smith (14%). Poor Sylvester McCoy was named fans' least favourite incarnation, landing 29% of the vote and followed by Colin Baker (11%) and Paul McGann (9%).
