Capaldi will fill Doctor Who shoes
Peter Capaldi is going from spin doctor to “Doctor Who.”
The BBC announced Sunday that the Scottish actor, best known as venom-spitting political fixer Malcolm Tucker in the sitcom “The Thick of It” and its film spin-off, “In the Loop,” is the new star of “Doctor Who,” the science fiction series soon to celebrate its 50th anniversary.
Capaldi is the 12th actor to play the Doctor, a galaxy-hopping Time Lord who travels in the Tardis, a time machine shaped like an old-fashioned British police telephone booth. At age 55, he’s also the oldest since the first Doctor, William Hartnell.
Capaldi has a long list of movie, television and stage credits, from the 1983 film “Local Hero,” to zombie thriller “World War Z,” to the BBC’s recent newsroom drama “The Hour.” He is currently playing Cardinal Richelieu in the BBC drama “The Musketeers.” He’s also an Oscar winner – he directed “Franz Kafka’s It’s a Wonderful Life,” which won the Academy Award for best short film in 1995.
“Doctor Who” was first broadcast in 1963 and is now one of the BBC’s most popular programs. Its longevity is due partly to the flexibility of the premise. The Doctor can regenerate into new bodies and can travel to any point in space or time.
“Doctor Who” ran from 1963 to 1989, and was revived in 2005. Since then, the Doctor has been played by Christopher Eccleston, David Tennant and Matt Smith.
Smith will leave after a Christmas special that will see him regenerate into Capaldi. Capaldi’s first full episode will air next year.
Boy ‘cheated’ over ‘Jeopardy!’ ruling
A Connecticut eighth-grader who misspelled the correct answer to a “Jeopardy!” question and lost money over it says he was cheated.
Thomas Hurley III correctly answered the Final Jeopardy question about the Emancipation Proclamation signed by President Abraham Lincoln. But Thomas spelled it “emanciptation” and was ruled out by host Alex Trebek.
He bet $3,000 of his $9,600 in winnings and finished well behind a rival who amassed $66,600.
“I was pretty upset that I was cheated out of the final ‘Jeopardy!’ question,” he said. “It was just a spelling error.” The Newtown Middle School student won $2,000 as the runner-up.
In an email, producers of Jeopardy! defended Trebek’s decision.
“If ‘Jeopardy!’ were to give credit for an incorrect response (however minor), the show would effectively penalize the other players,” they said. “We love presenting young people as contestants on our show and make every effort to be fair and consistent in their treatment.”
The Kids Jeopardy! program aired last week.
The birthday bunch
Actress Loni Anderson is 68. Actress Erica Slezak (“One Life to Live”) is 67. Singer Rick Derringer is 66. Singer Samantha Sang is 60. Actress Maureen McCormick (“The Brady Bunch”) is 57. Guitarist Pat Smear (Foo Fighters) is 54. Cellist Eicca Toppinen (Apocalyptica) is 38.