Doctor Who’s Peter Capaldi knew his time as the Time Lord was coming to an end.
The 58-year-old actor has portrayed the time-travelling scientist since 2013 after he replaced Matt Smith as the titular character but he has admitted he always knew his stint would be relatively short because he doesn’t like to do one thing for too long.
Speaking to Radio Times magazine, he said: "I’ve never done anything for any length of time. Even ‘The Thick of It’ was only 20 episodes over four years. I’ll have done 40 episodes of ‘Doctor Who’. I don’t think if I stayed on I’d be able to think of another way to say ‘this could be the end of civilisation as we know it’. I’ve always gone from one job to the other and seen what was around the corner and I want to get back to that."
Peter confirmed he was stepping down as the iconic character earlier this year – shortly after Steven Moffatt announced he was leaving as the show runner – but the cast have teased that the forthcoming series 10, which will hit television screens on Saturday (15.04.17), will be one of the best ones yet.
Pearl Mackie, who plays the Doctor’s new gay companion Bill, said: "Series 10 is a lot to do with the relationship between the Doctor, Bill and Nardole [an alien played by Matt Lucas]. They’re all very different."
Meanwhile, ‘Broadchurch’ creator Chris Chibnall – who will take over from Moffatt later this year – has already started work on the next series but is yet to choose who will take over from Peter as the titular character.
He said previously: "We’ll cast the role in the traditional way: write the script, then go and find the best person for that part in that script. You couldn’t go out and cast an abstract idea."
Some viewers have called for a woman to be cast as the Doctor and, although he’s not giving it much thought at the moment, Chibnall has "a very clear sense" of what he wants.
He said: "The creative possibilities are endless, but I have a very clear sense of what we’re going to do, without even knowing who’s going to play the part."
Peter Capaldi knew his time was up in Doctor Who
