In an announcement yesterday that echoed through all of time and space, the BBC revealed the next man to take on the role of the world’s most famous Doctor: Peter Capaldi, a 55-year-old Scot with a pretty impressive acting résumé. Capaldi will take over the role from current Doctor Matt Smith after (during?) Doctor Who’s 2013 Christmas Special. (And we’ll be recapping all the fun!)
If you, like me, found yourself asking, “Peter Who?” (ha!) after hearing the news, I’ve put together the following information, photos and video clips that will act as an introduction to the man who will soon be vworping his way into the homes (and hearts?) of Whovians worldwide.
The Man
Peter Capaldi was born April 14, 1958, in Glasgow, Scotland, and later attended drama classes at the Glasgow School of Art. While a student there, Capaldi was the lead singer in a punk rock band called Dreamboys (the drummer of which was a man by the name of Craig Ferguson ... you might have heard of him?).
The Past and Present
Capaldi is most well known for The Thick of It, a comedy series that pokes fun at the British government. In the show, Peter played foul-mouthed Malcolm Tucker, the government’s director of communications.
Additionally, in reverse chronological order (and this is by no means a comprehensive list), he’s played Randall Brown in The Hour, Mark Jenkins (a.k.a. Sid’s dad—thanks Christy M!) in Skins, the angel Islington in the Neverwhere miniseries and even a younger George Harrison in John and Yoko: A Love Story.
And, hilariously, in this year’s World War Z, Capaldi played … a W.H.O. Doctor. (I would in no way be surprised if Who showrunner Steven Moffat had a hand in that.)
If he looks familiar to you Whovians, it might be because you’ve seen him before—in the Doctor Who episode “The Fires of Pompeii” and Torchwood: Children of Earth.
The fact that he’s been on Who before seems to be a point of contention for some people, but Capaldi isn't the first actor to play the Doctor when he’s had other roles in the series—that honor goes to the Sixth Doctor, Colin Baker—and many other actors have had minor roles in the series before taking on larger ones. Most recently, Freema Agyeman, who played companion Martha Jones, had a small role as “Martha’s cousin” Adeola Oshodi in the second series episode “Army of Ghosts;” and Karen Gillan, who played Amy Pond, the Girl Who Waited, was a soothsayer in “The Fires of Pompeii.” (Related: Gillan posted a most excellent tweet about the Capaldi announcement yesterday afternoon.)
Currently, Capaldi is working on The Musketeers, a 10-part BBC retelling of the classic Three Musketeers story that will air sometime next year. Capaldi is playing Cardinal Richelieu, which might explain this facial hair:
He also just wrapped up the role of King Kinloch in Maleficent.
The Blue Box
Whether all of the above experience adds up to a man who can play The Doctor remains to be seen. I’ve lived through two regenerations—I’m a NeWhovian*—and although both new faces took a bit to get used to (I’m pretty sure I said that I thought Matt Smith looked like a Neanderthal prior to seeing him in the role), I’ve eventually come to love all three modern Doctors because of their differences. All I know for sure at the moment is that Capaldi is excited for the opportunity, and I’m going to give him the benefit of the doubt.
*Trademarked.
But what do you think, FYAers? Let’s discuss in the comments. (I know that there was a lot of discussion pre-announcement over the ideas of a POC or lady Doctor, but I wanted the focus of this post to be more on the man who actually got cast rather than the could-have-beens. Feel free to bring these ideas up in the comments, though!)