OK, stay with me Dr. Who fans and I can explain how, beyond my love for the BBC America Series, why the news that Peter Calpaldi will be the new Who is a rock and roll story.
Ready.
1. In 1981, Bill Forsyth released the movie “Gregory’s Girl”.
2. Starring Clare Grogan.
3. Of Altered Images.
4. Discovered by Siouxsie And The Banshees.
5. And with main songwriter Johnny McElhone.
6. Who went on to form Texas.
7. And managed Ramona, a band that never hit the big time the way they should have.
8. Bill Forsyth followed “Gregory’s Girl” with “Local Hero”.
9. A masterpiece if only for Dire Strait’s Mark Knopfler brilliant score.
10. Who was that along with Burt Lancaster and Peter Reigert? Yup. Peter Capldi.
11. The new Dr. Who.
Have I made my point?
In the following 30 odd years the Scottish Mr. Capaldi has become a major actor and if you have a look at the picture above you might also note that he has completely lost that fresh faced innocence that made him such a sweet presence at the side of “Local Hero”. Playing the father of Sid Jenkins in the BBC Teen Drama Skins only adds to his cool factor. He is quite adept at the baby (check out the steely glint and goatee) and it leads me to believe that after the gleeful and young glint in the eye of the great Matt Smith (why they couldn’t sign him for two more years I don’t know), the Who saga is going to get very very dark. By the way, Matt was at Coachella last year, I bet Peter won’t be visiting any time soon.
If you don’t know the sci-fi Dr. Who sci-fi TV show, it has only been around since 1963 (give or take a decade), so it isn’t too late to get with it. Dr. Who is a time lord out to protect the universe, who is reborn into a different body every couple of seasons. The last couple of years Matt Smith has been awesome and while I like Peter a lot, I liked the light touch too.
Oh and the theme music is an awesome swirl of synths and special effect. Written by Ron Granier and Della Derbeyshire , Della was a famous electronic musician decades before EDM, or even Giorgio Moroder.