STACK Magazine November Issue 121

70 / 116

DVD&BD
NOVEMBER 2014 JB Hi-Fi
FEATURE
070
visit
Scottish actor Peter Capaldi finds himself in the thick of it once again,
this time at the controls of theTARDIS as the 12th DoctorWho.
[Playing the Doctor]
wasn’t something I ever
thought I’d end
up doing.
W hen it was announced on 4 August
2013 that the 55-year-old star of BBC
political comedy TheThick of It would
be replacing the youthful Matt Smith as TV’s
Time Lord, the first thing that sprang into Doctor
Who fans’ minds was his previous involvement
with the long-running programme. Capaldi is no
stranger to theWhoniverse, having appeared in
the 2008 story The Fires of Pompeii and also
Who spin-off Torchwood: Children of Earth
(2009) – a fact that wasn’t lost on writer and
showrunner Steven Moffat, who included a
subtle reference to the Doctor’s “familiar” new
face in the Season Eight opener Deep Breath.
A longtime fan of the show, Capaldi admitted
that playing the Doctor “wasn’t something I ever
thought I’d end up doing”, during a recent world
tour with co-star Jenna Coleman to promote the
new series – which included a Sydney
stopover. “But it’s a huge privilege
and very exciting,” he added. He also
revealed that, prior to the official
announcement of his casting, he
mingled with unsuspecting fans
in London’s sci-fi store Forbidden
Planet, slyly acknowledging that
“they didn’t realise they were standing next to
the new Doctor”.
Capaldi’s casting as the Doctor harkens back
to the series’ beginning; first Doctor William
Hartnell was also 55 when he took on the role
in 1963. It’s a refreshing change from the more
youthful actors – Christopher Eccleston, David
Tennant and Matt Smith – who have played the
part since the series’ return in 2005.
However, having a younger Doctor
plus a hint of romance with his
female companion (something
hardcoreWhovians have
never been comfortable with)
did prove instrumental in the
success of the new series.
Attend an Oz Comic-Con or
similar pop culture expo and