Peter Capaldi on Leaving Doctor Who: “While You’re Enjoying It, Leave”

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Peter Capaldi officially announced a few months ago that season 10 would be his last one on Doctor Who. Additionally, in an appearance on Graham Norton, he shared that—save for the Christmas special—he’s now finished filming. When Norton asks if he’s “done the….?” Capaldi responds, “Well, you got to watch it and see. I have done the death of my character.”

While we’re not sure exactly how this will go down, the trailer showed us that the Doctor’s not doing too hot. The new season premieres tomorrow on BBC America, so we’ll just have to wait and see. Even though we’re going to miss seeing Capaldi’s Twelve, we can respect the actor’s reason for leaving. He says:

I think I’ve always—Doctor Who is a great job but it’s a bit of a television factory, you know? You do 12 episodes a year and I just worry that I wouldn’t be able to continue doing my best work because I like to be able to learn the lines and do some preparation and give it vigor and fun.

Norton then adds, “and not hate it,” which Capaldi also adds:

I just thought, you know, while you’re enjoying it—leave.

The two also took talked a bit about Capaldi’s Doctor Who press encounters in Germany and a fun conversation that arose about the Daleks. It’s definitely going to be an emotional goodbye, but it’s also great that Capaldi is leaving on his own terms. It sounds like he really loves the show and doesn’t want it to decline by overstaying, though we will miss him. Are you going to miss Capaldi as the Doctor?

(Image: screencap)

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