Peter Capaldi is determined not to be an "old Doctor" and has performed most of his own stunts for ‘Doctor Who’.
At 56, Capaldi is one of the oldest actors to take on the role of the titular Time Lord but despite his advanced age he has thrown himself into the action side of the sci-fi series.
In an interview with Shortlist magazine, Capaldi revealed: "I took Matt Smith to lunch before we started and he came in on crutches. I said, ‘What happened to you, mate?’ And he said "It’s this show…" I was just, ‘He’s younger than me, what am I going to do?’ But it’s been fine, I try to keep myself fit and healthy and I enjoy it. I’ve done a lot of running up and down corridors – I don’t want to be an old Doctor just standing in the corner with the young people doing all the action for me."
Capaldi particularly enjoyed one high-wire stunt which made him feel like he was the Doctor and Superman at the same time.
He said: "One day I was on wires falling through the air – well, skydiving. People kept worrying about me, asking if I was OK. I was loving it, I didn’t want to get down – it was like being nine, because you don’t normally get to play Doctor Who and Superman at the same time. How many other guys get a chance to do that?"
Capaldi has been a fan of ‘Doctor Who’ since childhood and he believes the appeal of the show – which celebrated its 50th anniversary in November 2013 – is that it’s like a fairy tale.
He also accepts the myriad of monsters have a strong appeal to viewers.
He said: "To me, it’s (the show’s) a fairy tale. It embodies some key human desires – the desire for people to escape when their life is crappy. When things are going wrong, it would be very nice if you had a blue box you could use to disappear to another world. People love monsters, as well. There are very few shows with monsters in them, surprisingly – people like men in rubber suits."
Capaldi makes his debut in ‘Doctor Who’ in the episode ‘Deep Breath’ which airs on BBC One on August 23.
Peter Capaldi wants to be daredevil Doctor
