Posted in: BBC, Current News, TV | Tagged: doctor who

Doctor Who Pressure "Quite Intense": Capaldi on How Role Changed Him

Doctor Who star Peter Capaldi on the "intense" pressure of playing the Twelfth Doctor and having to "become cheerful all the time."

A silver lining to all of the time that we've been spending waiting for news on the upcoming Christmas Special, penned by Showrunner Russell T. Davies, and what the future could hold for the long-running series, is that it's given us time to spotlight what some of the icons have had to share about their runs on the BBC's Doctor Who. During an interview with the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Peter Capaldi, aka the Twelfth Doctor, shared that he had "a little regret" when it came to making the decision to depart the show. Building on the question, Capaldi offered a deep dive into how the "intense" pressure of taking on the beloved role affected his daily interactions with others in public.

"It's great fun being Doctor Who, but the pressure of it is quite intense. You're sort of on all the time and you don't want to disappoint anyone because even though I'm not Doctor Who, if people are meeting me they'd rather meet the version of me that is Doctor Who. So you try not to let them down, right?" Capaldi explained. "Yeah, because I'm quite miserable and melancholic, really," he joked, adding, "And that was, that was one of the big changes in my life, I guess, which happened quite late, was I'm quite miserable really, but I thought you can't be miserable if you're Doctor Who. You can't because you would disappoint people so I have to become cheerful all the time."

Doctor Who: Peter Capaldi "Excited" for Gatwa; Praises Tennant, Smith

Back in October 2023, prior to the anniversary specials and the start of Ncuti Gatwa's run as the Fifteenth Doctor, RadioTimes.com spoke with Capaldi, who had some kind words to share about how David Tennant (Tenth Doctor) and Matt Smith (Eleventh Doctor) made themselves available to him as he began his run as the Twelfth Doctor. In addition, Capaldi shared the great first impressions he got after meeting Gatwa and the high hopes he had for the new Doctor.

"I love 'Doctor Who' and I look forward to watching the 60th and Ncuti [Gatwa], I think, is amazing. I'm so excited to see what he does," Capaldi shared. "We [Capaldi & Gatwa] had such a laugh because we met. We'd gone to the Scottish BAFTAs, and I met his mum as well, which was lovely. We were just talking – it's like what David [Tennant] and Matt [Smith] did with me." From there, Capaldi explained how playing the Doctor puts you into a very select club, so having others there to lean on makes the process of taking on the role & making it your own easier.

"There are only a few, well 14 people, who have done this, and there are specific challenges to it, and it's a specific world, and there's only 14 people who have been at the heart of that. It's interesting to hear what they have to say about it. David [Tennant] and Matt [Smith] were very good at helping me with advice and chat and were always there if I wanted to talk to them and stuff. Ncuti [Gatwa] was very open to hearing what it was like. I just think he'll be great." Capaldi went on to offer a few more details on his exchange with the newest Doctor: "We'd met at the Scottish BAFTAs, and we exchanged texts, and I was on the train home, and I was texting him, and he was texting me, and then we found out we were on the same train! So then he joined us; that was great."

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