Doctor Who - Peter Capaldi is the Twelfth Doctor
It's official. When Matt Smith's Eleventh Doctor regenerates at the end of this year's Christmas special, he's going to look like this...
In a live special today, the BBC announced that Peter Capaldi will portray the twelfth incarnation of Doctor Who's well-worn Time Lord. Capaldi is best known for his darkly comic role as Malcolm Tucker in the BBC comedy The Thick of It, and its big-screen, Oscar-nominated companion, In the Loop.
"It's so wonderful not to keep this secret any longer," said the 55-year-old Scottish actor, a lifelong fan of the show. In preparation for his audition, Capaldi said he downloaded old scripts and rehearsed in front of his mirror.
Executive producer Steven Moffat recalled the audition process: "We all had the same idea and it was a quite different idea." However, when he and his team made a video with Capaldi, "everybody saw it and was like, 'That's the Doctor.'"
Moffat had initially considered Capaldi when casting the 11th Doctor, before going with Matt Smith instead. "There comes a right time for the right person to play it," he said.
Capaldi is in for a challenge, as ex-Doctors were on hand to discuss the unique nature of the role, which is unlike any other role on television.
"In a way it's the longest job in television. It's a whirlwind time when you do it, and it keeps on going after," said Peter Davison, the Fifth Doctor (1981-1984). Davison's daughter is married to David Tennant, the actor who portrayed the Tenth Doctor.
"There are no parts like this," said Matt Smith, before reflecting, "I loved it, I'll miss it, but when you gotta go, you gotta go."
But Capaldi is excited to take over for Smith and be a part of the Who canon. "Doctor Who belongs to all of us. Everybody makes Doctor Who."
Lastly, in an amusing, coincidental twist picked up by The Guardian, Capaldi played a World Health Organization (WHO) doctor in World War Z. And now he's the lead on Doctor Who. Mull that one over and check out the reveal below. Then hit up the comments and let us know what you think of the newest Doctor: