Peter Capaldi thinks some of the scenes in ‘Doctor Who’ are "a bit silly."
The 58-year-old actor – who has portrayed the Time Lord in the BBC One sci-fi drama since 2013 – has admitted he often raises his eyebrows when he skims through the script when he receives it because it’s so unrealistic and childish.
He explained: "We just blow up monsters…There are some moments when you feel ‘That’s a bit silly’ or ‘That’s a bit mawkish’ but then you realise, that’s for children. You would be a fool not to play to them because it’s their show.
"The thing about Doctor Who is the constitution of the audience. It covers a huge age range, so if you have to entertain little kids, hipsters, students and middle-aged men who should know better. Sometimes there is a kind of metaphysical and intellectual aspect to it, which is more to the fore than other times."
‘Doctor Who’ was struck a blow last year when it moved from its traditional teatime slot to a post-8pm Saturday night slot, which affected viewing figures and saw a dip in merchandise sales, but, despite this, there is still a hardcore following.
Speaking about his level of fame, he told the Radio Times magazine: "I found it hard at first. You walk on stage and it makes people go crazy, not because you’re me, because you’re Doctor Who. When you see little kids that’s fantastic. A wee bit like being a mythical character, like the Wizard of Oz or Santa Claus."
But Peter didn’t just struggle with the attention, as he also found it tough tapping in to his character’s mind-set as he believes he’s really "alien-like."
He said: "He’s not really human at all, that’s what I believe. Who you see is what he has chosen to present, because that’s the only way that humans can understand him and what he is. His problem is he sort of knows everything. That makes life quite hard … A lot of the young people I meet who love it, they tend to feel slightly outside, not part of the gang. In a way, it’s a show for not-cool people, which now has suddenly become for cool people as well. People’s relationships with the show is very personal."
Peter Capaldi finds Doctor Who moments a ‘bit silly’
