Sunday, 4th August 2013,
BBC One aired
Doctor Who Live : The Next Doctor; a special show to introduce theactor who will portray the
Twelth Doctor to the world. That actor is
Peter Capaldi. What do we know about him? What are his acting credentials?
Peter Capaldi is 55. That's 25 years
older than Matt Smith, the 11th Time Lord, and the same age as the very
first Doctor William Hartnell.
Capaldi described himself as "a lifelong Doctor
Who fan" who had begun practising for the role as a nine
year old in the school playground.
As the new Doctor Who was announced live on the BBC on Sunday evening, viewers
were shown a letter written by Capaldi, then aged 15, to the Radio Times in
1988 in which he praised programme makers for their "excellent"
Doctor Who special episode:
He urged the show's producers to make another "Special" in 15 years
time to celebrate 25 years of "wandering in time with the Doctor".
Capaldi was born in Glasgow, Scotland. His mother's family was from Killeshandra, County Cavan, Ireland, and his father's family was from Picinisco, Italy.
He was educated at St Teresa's Primary School in the city's Possilpark district,
St Matthew's Primary School in Bishopbriggs,
and at St Ninian's High School, Kirkintilloch,
before attending the
Glasgow School of Art.
Capaldi displayed an early talent for performance by putting on a puppet
show in primary school. While at high school, he was a member of the
Antonine Players, who performed at the Fort Theatre in Bishopbriggs. As
an art student, he was the lead singer in a
punk rock band called Dreamboys, whose drummer was future comedian
Craig Ferguson.
Capaldi lives in North London with
his wife Elaine and daughter, from whom whom he had to keep it secret
that he was to be the next Doctor Who. "She was looking at the internet,
and getting upset when there was no mention of me," he revealed. "I had
to say, 'Rise above it, darling.'"
He got his big break in the 1983
film 'Local Hero', where he played Oldsen, distracted from plans of
empire-building by the sight of Jenny Seagrove swimming. He featured as Ozzy in a 1985 episode of
Minder, and had roles in
The Lair of the White Worm and
Dangerous Liaisons in 1988.
In a 30-year career, Capaldi has
appeared on small and big screen, as well as the stage. His face will be
familiar from all sorts of things, he played fictional
Songs of Praise producer Tristan Campbell in two episodes of the sitcom
Vicar of Dibley, and a transvestite in ITV's
Prime Suspect3. In the Channel 4 series
Psychos, he played a mathematician with bipolar disorder, made an appearance as a university professor in the sitcom
Peep Show, and played a prime suspect in the 2007 series of
Waking the Dead.
In the television adaptation of Neil Gaiman's gothic fantasy
Neverwhere, he portrayed the angel Islington. In 2008 episode of
'Doctor Who: The Fires of
Pompeii'. He will be co-starring with
Benedict Cumberbatch in the
forthcoming film about Wikileaks, '
The Fifth Estate'.
In 2005, Capaldi was cast in what is arguably his best-known role, as spin doctor
Malcolm Tucker in the BBC comedy series
The Thick of It, which he played from 2005 to 2012. The character was said to be largely, if loosely, based upon Tony Blair's right-hand man Alastair Campbell. Capaldi himself has said that he based his performance more on Hollywood power players, such as the often abrasive
Harvey Weinstein.
For his performance as Tucker, he won a BAFTA Award for Best Performance in a Comedy Role and two British Comedy Awards.
A film spin-off from
The Thick of It, entitled
In the Loop, was released in 2009. Malcolm Tucker is a man
who can turn the Cabinet Room blue with his stream of personal
invective. Example: "When I want your opinion, I'll give you the signal,
and the signal will be me being sectioned."
Peter Capaldi recently appeared in
Brad Pitt's apocalyptic blockbuster 'World War Z'. Spookily, Capaldi
played 'W.H.O doctor' - just a suitable World Health Organisation
acronym, or did they know something we didn't?!
The new Doctor is a Patron of
the
Association for International Cancer Research, and of a Scottish
children's charity, the
Aberlour Child Care Trust.
Presently, Peter is filming a new 10-part BBC One adaptation of
Alexandre Dumas' novel The Three Musketeers. He
will play the shadowy Cardinal Richelieu in
The Musketeers, with Skins actor
Luke Pasqualino as
D'Artagnan. The drama is due to be broadcast in 2014 and has been written by Bafta winner
Adrian Hodges.
Hodges said he was "thrilled" the actors have committed to his "modern and original take on this great story".
Speaking about The Musketeers, he said: "This series is all about
passion, romance, heroism and action, and I can't think of a better
group of actors to embody those diverse qualities."
The story is set in 17th Century Paris and follows a crack team of soldiers and bodyguards to King Louis XIII.
It recounts the adventures of a young, skilled fighter from
rural Gascony called D'Artagnan, who dreams of joining the Musketeers of
the Guard and meets the trio on a journey to right the wrong of his
father's death
The Musketeers will be played by Great Expectations actor Tom Burke
as Athos, Santiago Cabrera from Merlin as Aramis, and Howard Charles,
who has acted with the Royal Shakespeare Company, as Porthos.
Come Christmas evening, we shall see Matt Smith regenerate from a young looking Doctor to an older one in the shape of Peter Capaldi. Time has yet to be confirmed by the BBC but is likely to be around either 6pm or 7pm. I personally can not wait and I am back to feeling like a child all over again.
For more info on Capaldi's acting roles, go
here .
