'Doctor Who' writer defends Capaldi casting: 'It's not Made in Chelsea'

In an interview with The Guardian; Timeriders author Alex Scarrow was asked what he thought of Peter Capaldi being cast as the twelfth Doctor:

Brilliant! Simply brilliant! I've seen some twitter traffic from (I guess) some younger viewers who were moaning about him not being young and pretty...but sheeesh, this isn't X Factor! This isn't Big Brother or Made in Chelsea!! This is the world's best, longest running scifi drama! It's not about having sexy cheekbones or floppy hair! It's about big ideas that knock you onto your butt and stay with you long after the end credit music has played out. Choosing Capaldi tells me the big wigs behind Doctor Who are taking this show to darker places. Throwing bigger ideas our way. I can't wait.

 Alex Scarrow has written a new Doctor Who story, focusing on the eighth Doctor and set in a small town in the Nevada desert in which an alien pathogen has reduced the entire population to a seething mass of black slime.

What drew you to Paul McGann's one-off incarnation? Was there a particular trait or aspect of his personality that led you to write for him? Since he only appeared once there must be a driving force behind penning a story for the eighth Doctor?

I wanted the most obscure Doctor. Paul McGann's Doctor only ever had one feature length outing, although to be fair, the 8th Doctor has had a lot of books and audio books, but for me, being very film oriented, I wanted more room to manoeuvre on that side. Plus...I'm a big fan of Paul McGann. 

Doctor Who has always had the knack for plunging its protagonist and his companion into danger on a different world and a couple of the e-books in this series have done so but you chose to stay on Earth. Considering the menagerie of planets out there, why did you set Spore in olden Earth?

I wanted a setting that was very familiar with audience so that the horror of the Spore would feel more real. So, what's more familiar than good ol' earth? That said...why didn't I set it in, say, Milton Keynes? Well...to be honest, a lot of the TV series seems to be shot in the UK, (clearly budget, and the cost of shooting on location is an issue there) so I did want somewhere other than London or Wales.