Peter Capaldi once turned down the chance to play Doctor Who.
The 56-year-old actor has just completed his first run as the titular Time Lord in the BBC sci-fi show but has revealed he was invited to audition for the part when the 1996 TV movie was made, an opportunity he relinquished.
Speaking at a Q&A to launch the release of the Series 8 DVD in London, he said: "I turned down the opportunity to audition for the role of Doctor Who in the one that Paul McGann did."
McGann played the Eighth Doctor and although his performance in the San Francisco set film was lauded a new TV series was not commissioned afterwards, with fans having to wait until 2005 for Russell T. Davies’ relaunch.
Explaining why he chose not to try out for the part he has wanted since he was a child, Capaldi said: "I knew I wouldn’t get it. I just didn’t want to have the disappointment, and go through all the palaver of jumping through hoops for something that I would never get … I knew it was an American pilot thing, and I knew they would go for somebody who was well known, which Paul was."
He added: "I loved the show so much that I didn’t want to have anything to do with it was going to be me!"
Showrunner Steven Moffat was surprised by Capaldi’s revelation, exclaiming: "I’d never heard that before."
Moffat also revealed Capaldi will be back in the TARDIS in Series 9, saying: "Yes, he’s confirmed."
Capaldi and Moffat were joined at the Q&A – which was preceded by a screening of ‘Earth Conquest: The Doctor Who World Tour’, a documentary about the 12-day promotional trip the cast went on in August – Jenna-Louise Coleman, Samuel Anderson and Michelle Gomez, while Frank Skinner hosted.
The ‘Doctor Who’ Series 8 DVD will be available from November 24.
Peter Capaldi once turned down Doctor Who
