A Surprise Visit From the Doctor: Capaldi Appears in Costume

Originally published on For Your Excitement.  25 February  2014.

Decked out in his Twelfth Doctor costume, Peter Capaldi appeared at the BBC Worldwide Showcase in Liverpool on Monday. Or should we say, The Doctor made a surprise appearance.

With his dark blue, red-lined Crombie coat, dark blue trousers and waistcoat, white shirt and Doc Martens boots, Capaldi looked much more like his Time Lord alter ego than himself. The delighted audience certainly thought so, as the newest Doctor took the stage. This is the first time Capaldi has been seen in the costume since the BBC released an official picture of the outfit in January. At the time the actor remarked on the clothes saying, “Simple, stark, and back to basics. No frills, no scarf, no messing, just 100 per cent Rebel Time Lord.”

Following the event on Monday, Capaldi spoke briefly about the upcoming series 8. “I’ve always been a fan of the show and I love that it’s now a global success,” he said. “I’m excited, and slightly daunted, about how far the new series is going to travel.”

Doctor Who returns later this year.

Steven Moffat Casts Doubt On Peter Capaldi Being The 12th Doctor With Regeneration Comments

Originally published on PopWrapped.  13 October 2013.

Peter Capaldi might not be the 12th Doctor after all. Whovians have been issued a challenge byshowrunner Steven Moffat who is claiming we have all miscounted the Doctor’s regenerations.

“I think you should go back to your DVDs and count correctly this time,” Moffat said. “There’s something you’ve all missed.”

But in typical Moffat fashion he was mum on any details. It sounds like he’s referring to one of two things: either the Doctor has used more regenerations than we all thought or the Time Lord was granted a new regeneration cycle similar to the Master (read about that here). Either would be important news because Moffat also confirmed that the Doctor “can only regenerate 12 times.”

Really the problem comes with defining the process of “regeneration.” Usually this means the Doctor changes his whole being and we get a new actor stepping into the TARDIS. But if we defined the term more technically, perhaps David Tennant’s Tenth Doctor used up a regeneration in The Stolen Earth/Journey’s End after being shot by a Dalek. That again, would make Capaldi coming in as the Thirteenth Doctor.

This all gets very complicated when we throw in John Hurt’s dark Doctor. Could he be counted as a regeneration? If so, that would make Peter Capaldi’s upcoming Doctor the last at number 13 instead of number 12. Or if John Hurt does indeed fall between the Eighth Doctor and the Ninth Doctor, maybe this was when a new regeneration cycle was granted somehow.

Whatever the case, Fifth Doctor Peter Davidson stated earlier this month that he believes Moffat has a plan in place to avoid the 12-regeneration limit.

“I know people are worried about it, but I think there will be a way around that rule,” Davison said. “I know that Steven has put in the groundwork already in an episode so that there can be more.”

This really results in more questions than answers but it does give us Whovians hope that our favorite mad man in a box will be sticking around for many regenerations to come.

Peter Capaldi Is Searching For His Doctor Look According To Steve Moffat

Originally published on PopWrapped.  13 October 2013.

We have had the bow tie and fez. We have had the Converse and pinstripe suit and before that, the leather jacket. To say the Doctor’s clothes are important is an understatement; they’re iconic. So what will Peter Capaldi’s 12th Doctor wardrobe look like?

Showrunner Steven Moffat doesn’t know but he trusts the Scottish actor to decide for himself. “He was texting me ‘I’m out with [the wardrobe stylist] at the moment, it’s going quite well’ and some descriptions of clothes I did not understand,” Moffat said. “I’ll just let them get on with it and it’ll be ‘yes’ or ‘no’ at the end.”

Back in August Moffat spoke more about the Doctor’s wardrobe, saying again that he thinks it’s important for the actor to ultimately choose. “We’ve discussed costume in the lightest terms, but with Matt Smith I discovered myself to be inept at costume discussions, so I tend to step away from that. I think it’s really important that the actor chooses what makes him feel like the Doctor, which is what Matt did in the end.”

He’s referring here to Smith deciding on the Doctor’s bow tie, an accessory Moffat had initially nixed.

As the oldest actor to take on the Time Lord role since the series rebooted in 2005, Capaldi may have a few additional clothing options available to him. What Culture put together a list of 10 suggested styles, including a knitted sweater and scarf, a simple suit or period costume. I love them all.

Whatever Capaldi chooses, it will set him apart from his predecessors and give Whovian cosplayers one more option.

Peter Capaldi is the Twelfth Doctor

Originally published on TheFlickcast.com.  5 August 2013.

During an agonizingly drawn out live announcement Sunday, it was finally revealed that the Twelfth Doctor is Scottish actor Peter Capaldi. He will step into the TARDIS this Christmas when current Doctor, Matt Smith, exits the show.

“Being asked to play The Doctor is an amazing privilege,” Calpaldi said. “Like The Doctor himself I find myself in a state of utter terror and delight. I can’t wait to get started.”

Steven Moffat, lead writer and executive producer says, “It’s an incendiary combination: one of the most talented actors of his generation is about to play the best part on television. Peter Capaldi is in the TARDIS!”

A lifelong Doctor Who fan, Capaldi appeared in the fourth season episode “The Fires of Pompeii” and had a recurring role in Torchwood: Children of Earth. He is perhaps best know for his role as Malcolm Tucker in the BBC comedy, The Thick Of It. He recently starred in World War Z and will be seen as Cardinal Richelieu in the BBC AMERICA and BBC One drama series The Musketeers, which will launch in early 2014.