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Rapunzel & River Song #DoctorWho

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Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, Avengers: Endgame Screenplay Writers

I don't like them.

Me @ Them  :

Things that are Pretty are always kept behind glass...

(This interview appeared in the Scottish Daily Record on December 19 2014. I went to the premiere of the episode, Last Christmas, where I was able to meet the lovely Peter Capaldi - an absolute highlight of my journalistic career.It was fixed up by brand manager Edward Russell, to whom I am eternally grateful.  I’ve loved Peter’s work for years, long before Doctor Who, so this was pure heaven for me. When I was introduced to Peter, he shook my hand, delighted to hear I’d flown down from Glasgow just for the evening... and he shook my hand for over two minutes. It was like Mr Shaky Hand Man from Banzai!)

DOCTOR Who star Peter Capaldi has revealed that playing the Time Lord is the easiest job he’s ever done.

The 56-year-old Glaswegian, who succeeded Matt Smith in the role last Christmas, has been a lifelong fan of the show.

When he was cast last year, the Record revealed Capaldi’s secret inner geek, having been involved in a battle to take charge of the Doctor Who fan club in the 70s, as well as writing fanzine articles.

And despite having won an Oscar and played foul-mouthed political spin doctor Malcolm Tucker in The Thick of It, he says being the Doctor is the part that comes most naturally to him.

He laughed: “It’s the easiest thing I’ve ever done in my life!

“It’s not hard, it’s fun, because we’ve got such a great team, the scripts are so good, and we’ve such a fun programme, and it’s such an iconic thing.

“People keep saying to me, ‘Is it weird suddenly being recognised in a way I wasn’t before?’

“I walk down the street, and people say ‘Look, there’s Doctor Who,’ not, ‘Look, there’s Peter.’ They see me and smile, as they are happy to see Doctor Who, and that’s lovely.”

Capaldi has now completed his first 13 episodes, and had the first reading of scripts for the next series this week.

He said: “I can’t believe it’s gone so quickly. We just had the read-through for the first of next series and I went through the same thing last year, and was  absolutely terrified as I didn’t know anybody – and I had to be Doctoro Who!

“The scripts have been fantastic, the crew are fabulous, Jenna is fabulous, and all the guest actors we’ve had onboard have been fabulous – it’s just been great and really good fun. 

“It’s difficult to say what specific moments were significant to me because the whole thing has just been amazing. The first time you go on to the set, the first time you meet a Dalek or even the first time the TARDIS wobbles when you shut the door. I know it won’t last forever so I’m enjoying it all.”

The writer of the Christmas special – titled Last Christmas – is Paisley man Steven Moffat, who is also the show’s executive producer.

He said: “What Peter triumphs in is that he is bracing. We’ve been used to a particular kind of Doctor across three very different actors – Chris (Eccleston), David (Tennant) and Matt (Smith). The Doctor has been younger, blokier, slightly more modern, you might say more approachable. We’ve now thrown that into reverse.

“There are moments with the other three actors where you can see a spiky, scary older man inside him and now we’re seeing more of that man.

“Peter makes you look for the heroism more, which I think is exciting – it throws you off balance.

“It’s almost like going from Pierce Brosnan to Daniel Craig as James Bond. Making the Doctor older has inadvertently made the show feel new again.”

In the Christmas special, which airs next Thursday, the Time Lord meets Santa Claus, played by Nick Frost.

Moffat said: “It’s come from the idea of, ‘what if Doctor Who met Santa Claus?’