The Twelfth Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the long-running
BBC television science fiction programme Doctor Who.
He is portrayed by Scottish actor Peter Capaldi.
Within the series' narrative, the Doctor is a time travelling, humanoid alien from a race
known as the Time Lords.
When the Doctor is critically injured, he can regenerate his body, and in doing so gain
a new physical appearance, and with it a distinct new personality; this plot mechanism has allowed
the Doctor to be portrayed by a series of actors over the decades since the programme's
inception in 1963.
Capaldi made his first, very brief appearance as the Doctor in the show's fiftieth anniversary
special "The Day of the Doctor", as one of the thirteen incarnations of the Doctor who
are summoned to save Gallifrey from destruction.
Capaldi's first full appearance was at the end of the 2013 Christmas special "The Time
of the Doctor".
He will be accompanied in the eighth series by incumbent companion Clara Oswald.
Appearances The Twelfth Doctor makes a first appearance
in the programme's fiftieth anniversary special, "The Day of the Doctor", when thirteen incarnations
of the Doctor unite to save his home planet of Gallifrey from destruction during the Time
War.
At first, Time Lords in Gallifrey's war room spot twelve blue TARDIS' approaching and encircling
the planet.
This count is then corrected to thirteen, and Capaldi's hands, eyes, and forehead are
fleetingly shown.
The Twelfth Doctor then makes his full debut at the end of the next episode, "The Time
of the Doctor", after the Eleventh Doctor, about to die from old age, is remotely given
a new regeneration cycle from the Time Lords, who remain hidden in a pocket universe.
He is set to return in "Deep Breath", the first episode of the eighth series.
Costume The Twelfth Doctor's clothes consist of a
signature dark blue Crombie coat with red lining, harking back to Jon Pertwee's Third
Doctor, dark blue trousers, a white shirt buttoned to the top with no tie, a navy cardigan
as well as black Dr Marten shoes.
the look was created by Doctor Who costume designer Howard Burden.
His costume was described as "No frills, no scarfs, no messing, just 100% rebel Time Lord.
Capaldi said that the costume took a long time to find.
The reason he settled on his final costume was because, “I think it’s quite a hard
look.
I always wanted him to be in black — I always just saw the Doctor in dark colours.
Not tweed," in reference to his immediate predecessor's original costume.
"Matt’s a really young cool guy — he can wear anything, but I wanted to strip it back
and be very stark.”
He also described it as "back to basics."
Moffat described the look as "A stick-insect sort of thing".
He also said that Clara calls him "a grey-haired stick-insect at one point".
Personality Capaldi has said that his Doctor is "more
alien than he's been in a while."
He has stated that unlike his previous two incarnations who cared about humans and tried
to understand them, this incarnation "doesn’t quite understand human beings or really care
very much about their approval.”
Jenna Coleman said of this Doctor, "He’s more removed, you can't quite access him in
the same way", referring to the way you could with the more friendly accessible previous
incarnation.
Capaldi also said that the Doctor will not flirt with his companion the way his previous
incarnation did.
This was something Peter Capaldi specifically requested.
He has also been described as a "total adrenaline junkie".
”Steven Moffat has said of this Doctor, "He's a much fiercer, madder, less reliable
Doctor".
"He’s not as immediately approachable and he’s not necessarily looking for your approval,
when he says ‘Wait here, I’ll be back’, you’re not absolutely convinced...
what he’s not doing is reassuring you very much.”
Mark Gatiss said that Capaldi's Doctor was "sort of Tom Baker, Jon Pertwee and even Christopher
Eccleston style...it’s someone who’s not immediately going to be your best friend and
can be quite abrupt and rude.”
Moffat added to this analysis of the character by saying, “He has a tremendous ability
with throwaway humor and a lot of it is around the fact that sometimes he is terribly rude.
I think kids will think he is the rude Doctor [...] You might want to cuddle him but he
really will resist.”
Casting
Matt Smith, who played the Eleventh Doctor, announced his departure from Doctor Who on
1 June 2013.
Prior to the revelation of Capaldi as the next Doctor, there was extensive media speculation
on the subject.
On 3 August 2013, bookmakers William Hill suspended betting when Capaldi became the
five to six favourite to be cast.
Capaldi's casting was revealed on 4 August during a live broadcast on BBC One, titled
Doctor Who Live: The Next Doctor.
The live show was watched by an average of 6.27 million in the UK, and was also simulcast
in the United States, Canada and Australia.
While Capaldi was the first choice for the role, other actors were also approached in
case Capaldi should turn the offer down.
Ben Daniels, who was an early favourite following the announcement of Matt Smith's departure,
said that he had been approached with a view to assessing whether he would be interested
in playing the Doctor, with his name remaining as a potential contender until just before
the live BBC broadcast.
Doctor Who head writer and executive producer Steven Moffat said that Capaldi "briefly flicked
through [his] mind" while casting the Eleventh Doctor, but that he dismissed the idea, thinking
he was not right for the part at the time.
Ben Stephenson, the BBC's drama commissioner, said that Capaldi was suggested months before
the August revelation and that a secret audition was held at Moffat's home.
Capaldi prepared for the audition by downloading old Doctor Who scripts from the Internet and
practising in front of a mirror.
He discovered he had been given the part during filming for Adrian Hodges' The Musketeers
in Prague; after missing a call from his agent, Capaldi rang back to be greeted with "Hello,
Doctor!"
At 55 years old when originally cast, Capaldi is almost the same age as William Hartnell
when he was cast in the role, and will be the oldest actor since Hartnell to star in
the show.
Moffat felt that an older actor would work best following the youngest actor, as it would
both provide a change and lessen comparisons.
He commented, "I can absolutely believe that the strange old-young Matt Smith will turn
into the strange young-old Peter Capaldi."
Capaldi has previously appeared playing other roles in the Doctor Who franchise.
He portrayed Lucius Caecilius Iucundus in the 2008 episode "The Fires of Pompeii" and
John Frobisher in Children of Earth, the 2009 serial of the Doctor Who spin-off Torchwood.
Moffat has stated that he plans on explaining over time why there are three characters in
the Doctor Who universe with the same appearance; his predecessor Russell T Davies had once
explained to him a theory for the first two, and upon Capaldi's casting assured Moffat
that the explanation would still work.
Capaldi's casting marks the second time an actor has previously appeared in the series
and then been cast as an incarnation of the Doctor, the first being Colin Baker.
Capaldi briefly appears in the 50th anniversary special.
Moffat stated that it was his "plan from the start" that all the Doctors would fly in to
save Gallifrey, and he knew there would be a new one at that time.
He wrote it before knowing who would be cast.
Capaldi filmed his appearance on 3 October 2013, long after principal photography for
the special had ended, and the same day he filmed his debut scene for "The Time of the
Doctor".