While we eagerly await tonight’s premiere of Doctor Who Season 8, Peter Capaldi is here to tide you over with a chat about his favorite Who villains and his absolute love of the show.
[Spoilers only if you haven’t already heard which villains are showing up this season, or don’t want to know.]
While speaking during a press conference on the Doctor Who World Tour’s NYC stop, Capaldi was asked about his previous appearance on the show (in “The Fires of Pompeii”) and if he was, at that time, thinking about being the Doctor. His answer revealed his inner fanboy.
I wasn’t thinking about being the next Doctor. I mean, I was just delighted to be in the show because I love the show. I just remembered the other day when I turned up and I met David [Tennant], I knew him before – but when I went to the set I said, “Where’s the TARDIS?” I was really [laughter] excited, where is the TARDIS? He said it’s over there and it was a great cloth in this – because we were in a Roman chamber. I just went over and I remember touching it. You know, the box, the police box. And I thought this is, and I got a little bit teary looking at it! But that’s because I love the show. I never really thought, I mean, first of all, I was surprised even to be in that episode. Because although I had enjoyed Doctor Who when it came back, I hadn’t really worked with the people who were involved with the show, and I didn’t really feel that it was something that I would ever be in, in any way, shape, or form. So I was thrilled to be in that episode. And I always thought anyway, you know, I was always interested when they were changing Doctors. But I never really thought they would come to me. It seemed to be something that was not a direction they would be going in.
But now, the reality has hit him. “Every day it’s like, it’s full of moments that you go, ‘Oh wow, I’m The Doctor, this is amazing.’ But think of the first time you make your escape through a ventilation shaft! [laughter] It’s quite special.”
Though Steven Moffat though he knew exactly when Capaldi’s Whovian self came out:
Moffat: I know the moment, Peter, I know the moment when you felt it, it was, I think –
Capaldi: What was that?
Moffat: Just from watching the rushes is when you go, “Cyberman!” [laughter] Oh yes, this man is happy.
Capaldi added another experience, with a different villain:
I have to say, the moment when the Daleks – when I heard my first conversation with a Dalek was extraordinary. Because you sort of think you know all about Daleks and you’ve watched them since you were a kid, and also the guys – it’s not giving anything away to say there’s a man inside a Dalek. [laughter] And also there’s another man with a little control box controlling all the lights and then there’s another man who does the voice who stands around the corner, and you think they’re sort of all over the place here and and the man who’s inside the Dalek, Barnaby, who’s our top Dalek man, who like most of our monster people – they tend to be ex-dancers. So they have an elegance about them, “Would you like to run the scene?” He said. And I would say, “Yeah – but there’s no Dalek here.” And he said “No, but my eye is at the exact same height as the Dalek’s eye, so if you look into my eyes, you’ll be looking into the eye of a Dalek.” [laughter] So I looked into his eye and we did this – so that was great. But then finally they brought the prop and Nick who’s a sort of amiable big nice man got this microphone out and then the man started off the switch. And so they went, “DOCTOR!” like that.
“It was really something,” he continued, “I thought – wow. I actually swore with delight. [laughter] It’s pretty amazing when it comes together. And then it goes off and it bumps into the wall. [laughter]”
“There’s a comedy beneath the scenes, I think,” added co-star Jenna Coleman. “You call it and then you’re just taking to the alien, like, “So plans this weekend?”
Then Capaldi shared one last humorous tidbit about working with super serious aliens. “The monster once was very tall and very, very scary. And I said, “What have you been doing recently?” And he said, “I’m a White Walker from Game of Thrones.’ I go ‘Wow!’ [laughter] I said ‘Tell me about that.'”
(image ©BBC AMERICA/Amy Sussman)
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