History Creator / PeterCapaldi

Note: He has no relation with [[Series/DogWithABlog Francesca Capaldi]] -- she's NOT his daughter!

** He studied at the Glasgow School of Art, and appears in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPD6okhfGzs an educational video]] about {{surrealism}} for the Tate and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rewhHdFDCZg this video]] for ''Doctor Who The Fan Show'' in which he draws the [[Creator/WilliamHartnell first]] [[Creator/PatrickTroughton three]] [[Creator/JonPertwee Doctors]] and talks about his memories of them.

His first appearance as the Twelfth Doctor was a cameo in the 50th anniversary special "The Day of the Doctor", in which only his hand (pulling a lever on the TARDIS) and his eyes (apparently glaring) were seen. The latter shot [[http://petercapaldieyeshotfanclub.tumblr.com/ gained its own fan club]], and once Twelve took center stage in the show, the legend only grew further. On January 30, 2017, he announced that his third series as the Doctor would be his last, with Creator/JodieWhittaker announced as his successor on July 16, 2017.

His final story as the current Doctor, ChristmasEpisode "Twice Upon a Time", aired December 25, 2017.

* OneOfUs: [[invoked]] A lifelong ''Who'' fan, although during his teen years he hid his geekdom to avoid being bullied. He apparently selected his rather stark costume (no [[Creator/TomBaker great big scarf]], [[Creator/JonPertwee frilly shirt]], or [[Creator/ColinBaker crazy colors]]) to [[http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2014-08-07/peter-capaldi-i-wanted-a-doctor-who-costume-fans-could-copy make it easier for cosplayers]]! In Series 9 he gives up all pretense, with the Doctor wearing an outfit that consists of the trademark red-lined coat over nothing more than a t-shirt and hoodie (and in some cases, not even the coat)! A red velvet coat later enters the character's wardrobe for a little old-school throwback. However, he does have his limitations. When asked if he reads ''Doctor Who'' fan fiction, for instance, Capaldi says he doesn't, in part because so much of it is "rude".
** His first letter to the BBC on record about ''Doctor Who'' is at the tender young age of eight, followed by another letter at age fifteen, by then getting heavily interested in the show and later heading up a fan club.

* RealLife/MeanCharacterNiceActor: [[invoked]] Before playing the Twelfth Doctor (who at times comes close to Mean Character territory, being much more cold and abrasive than his previous incarnations), Capaldi was best known for playing vile spin doctor Malcolm Tucker and villainous Cardinal Richilieu. But he is generally hailed as one of the true nice guys of British television off-camera, and has a warm reputation in the ''Doctor Who'' fanbase (not surprising, given he's OneOfUs).

* ''Film/{{Paddington}}'' and ''Film/Paddington2'' as Mr. Curry (2014-2017)

** He studied at the ''Glasgow School of Art'' and appears in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPD6okhfGzs an educational video]] about [[Main/{{Surrealism}} surrealism]] for the ''Tate'' and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rewhHdFDCZg this video]] for ''Doctor Who The Fan Show'' in which he draws the [[Creator/WilliamHartnell first]] [[Creator/PatrickTroughton three]] [[Creator/JonPertwee doctors]] and talks about his memories of them.

** In ''Husbands of River Song,'' he does an ''incredibly'' hammy, ChewingTheScenery, MilkingTheGiantCow BiggerOnTheInside speech...then [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall looked right at the camera and said, "Sorry. I've always wanted to see that done properly."]]

* ''Film/{{Paddington}} and ''Film/Paddington2'' as Mr. Curry (2014-2017)

** Although he does not view his profanity-laced work a Malcolm Tucker on ''Series/TheThickOfIt'' and ''Film/InTheLoop'' as something to be ashamed of, during his time in Doctor Who, Capaldi downplayed discussion of his previous role and refused to indulge in some of the "fan rituals" - such as swearing at fans when requested to - as he felt it was inappropriate for his current image. Since leaving ''Doctor Who'', he hasn't been downplaying it quite as much.

Peter Dougan Capaldi (born April 14, 1958) is a UsefulNotes/{{Scot|land}}tish actor from UsefulNotes/{{Glasgow}}. No, he's not a ViolentGlaswegian, [[ButIPlayOneOnTV but he plays a lot of them on TV]] -- and ''boy'' has he had an extensive TV career, as well as a somewhat less extensive film career. In 1995, he won a Best Live Action Short Film Oscar for writing and directing ''Franz Kafka's It's A Wonderful Life'', and he also has two BAFTA Awards to his name. His acting work ranges from ''Film/WorldWarZ'' to ''Series/{{Skins}}'' to Cardinal Richelieu in a 2014 [[Series/TheMusketeers BBC adaptation]] of ''Literature/TheThreeMusketeers'' to what ''was'' his most famous role until 2013: Malcolm Tucker in ''Series/TheThickOfIt''.

* ''Series/DoctorWho'' -- Caecilius in "The Fires Of Pompeii" (2008) and the Twelfth Doctor (2013-2017)

* SirSwearsALot: Before his role on ''Series/DoctorWho'', his StarMakingRole was playing foul-mouthed Malcolm Tucker in ''Series/TheThickOfIt'' and ''Film/InTheLoop'', often considered the character who redefined the swear word. In a public service announcement he made about cancer, he noted that he was not talking about "my usual [[CountryMatters big C]]". In the days when he was playing Malcolm Tucker, Capaldi encountered people who would stop him in the street and ask him to swear at them. Before the start of ''Doctor Who'' series 8 it was a common {{fanon}} to have Capaldi's Doctor swearing all the time, and the showrunners alluded to this as much as possible in a family show, with the reference to the psychic paper containing a large amount of swearing and the PG-rated version of "Fuckity-bye!" with "Shuttity-up". After taking on the role of the Doctor, Capaldi adjusted his public persona accordingly and no longer swore in character as he might occasionally do. An exception occurred in the fall of 2014 when he received GQ's Man of the Year Award for TV Personality, which was presented to him by his co-star Jenna Coleman. In what was seen as a "last kick at the can", Capaldi uttered Malcolm Tucker's iconic "Come the fuck in or fuck the fuck off" catchphrase. Not that he became Mother Teresa in the language department; he did use the word "shit" a few times during his 2015 San Diego Comic Con panel. Hilariously, the Blu-ray release of Series 9 has a mastering error on its subtitles which results in the Doctor unexpectedly subtitled as saying "Oh shit!" during the episode "The Woman Who Lived."

* ''Series/DoctorWho'' -- Caecilius in "The Fires Of Pompeii" (2008) and the Twelfth Doctor (2013-present)

** In the opening story of Series 9, "The Magician's Apprentice" sees the Doctor in the midst of TheLastDance, living it up a ''bit'' more than [[TheStoic usual]] in a castle in Essex in 1138. On the last night before he's set to meet his destiny, before a cheering crowd of medieval folk he ''rides a tank into an arena, while wearing CoolShades and playing an electric guitar!'' Even better? That's really Capaldi playing the guitar!

* DeathGlare: Creator/StevenMoffat even went as far as to call it "pure evilness" in an AprilFoolsDay joke. The script for "Deep Breath," Capaldi's first full-length episode as the Doctor, lampshades this, and gave a name to the character's most powerful attack in ''VideoGame/DoctorWhoLegacy'': "Attack Eyebrows". At the Doctor Who Festival in November 2015, during a cast Q&A some unfortunate soul in the audience, apparently not a fan of Clara Oswald, heckled Jenna Coleman and received a full-out death glare in return. He is often asked to recreate the glare in selfies and fan photos, which is why he so often looks grumpy!
* GirlyRun: Does this quite a bit with his characters. It's especially amusing watching Tucker doing this. The writers openly stated that they tend to add scenes of Tucker running because of how funny Capaldi looks doing so. Is occasionally on display as the Doctor, too; twice in Series 10, Bill Potts describes it as a "penguin with his arse on fire".

* OneOfUs: [[invoked]] A lifelong ''Who'' fan, although during his teen years he hid his geekdom to avoid being bullied. He apparently selected his rather stark costume (no [[Creator/TomBaker great big scarf]], [[Creator/JonPertwee frilly shirt]], or [[Creator/ColinBaker crazy colors]]) to [[http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2014-08-07/peter-capaldi-i-wanted-a-doctor-who-costume-fans-could-copy make it easier for cosplayers]]! In Series 9 he gives up all pretense, with the Doctor wearing an outfit that consists of the trademark red-lined coat over nothing more than a t-shirt and hoodie (and in some cases, not even the coat)! A red velvet coat is now in the character's wardrobe for a little old-school throwback. However, he does have his limitations. When asked if he reads ''Doctor Who'' fan fiction, for instance, Capaldi says he doesn't, in part because so much of it is "rude".

* PromotedFanboy: [[invoked]] A young Capaldi wrote to the ''Magazine/RadioTimes'' about his favourite show, hoping it would release a special episode to celebrate 25 years on air. Two-and-a-half decades later, in the ''50th'' anniversary special, Capaldi made his debut as the Twelfth Doctor.

* SirSwearsALot: Before his role on ''Series/DoctorWho'', his StarMakingRole was playing foul-mouthed Malcolm Tucker in ''Series/TheThickOfIt'' and ''Film/InTheLoop'', often considered the character who redefined the swear word. In a public service announcement he made about cancer, he noted that he was not talking about "my usual [[CountryMatters big C]]". In the days when he was playing Malcolm Tucker, Capaldi encountered people who would stop him in the street and ask him to swear at them. Before the start of ''Doctor Who'' series 8 it was a common {{fanon}} to have Capaldi's Doctor swearing all the time, and the showrunners have alluded to this as much as possible in a family show, with the reference to the psychic paper containing a large amount of swearing and the PG-rated version of "Fuckity-bye!" with "Shuttity-up". After taking on the role of the Doctor, Capaldi adjusted his public persona accordingly and no longer swore in character as he might occasionally do. An exception occurred in the fall of 2014 when he received GQ's Man of the Year Award for TV Personality, which was presented to him by his co-star Jenna Coleman. In what was seen as a "last kick at the can", Capaldi uttered Malcolm Tucker's iconic "Come the fuck in or fuck the fuck off" catchphrase. Not that he became Mother Teresa in the language department; he did use the word "shit" a few times during his 2015 San Diego Comic Con panel. Hilariously, the Blu-ray release of Series 9 has a mastering error on its subtitles which results in the Doctor unexpectedly subtitled as saying "Oh shit!" during the episode "The Woman Who Lived."

In 2013 he was cast as the Twelfth Doctor in ''Series/DoctorWho'', succeeding Creator/MattSmith. [[PromotedFanboy A fan since childhood]], he wrote a letter to the BBC's ''Magazine/RadioTimes'' when he was 15, and later wrote articles and submitted art to the show's various fan magazines. He wasn't even new to appearing on the series, having made a [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E2TheFiresOfPompeii previous appearance]] on the show as a different character[[note]] Making him the only other actor, along with Creator/ColinBaker, to appear in ''Doctor Who'' before getting cast as the Doctor[[/note]]; he also appeared in the spinoff ''Series/{{Torchwood}}'' as an AntiVillain in the ''Children of Earth'' miniseries.

His first appearance as the Twelfth Doctor was a cameo in the 50th anniversary special "The Day of the Doctor", in which only his hand (pulling a lever on the TARDIS) and his eyes (apparently glaring) were seen. The latter shot [[http://petercapaldieyeshotfanclub.tumblr.com/ gained its own fan club]], and once Twelve took center stage in the show, the legend only grew further. On January 30, 2017, he announced that his third series as the Doctor would be his last.

* CastTheExpert: [[invoked]] More than just a fan of ''Doctor Who'', Capaldi attempted to become the head of its national fan club, wrote a letter to the Radio Times praising its coverage of the 10th anniversary (see OldShame, below), and even combined his art-school education with his fandom to write a detailed article for a fanzine about the show's opening sequences. There have been numerous cases of Capaldi making public appearances in character as the Doctor in which he accurately answers audience questions about the character's past, or ad-libs based on Capaldi's knowledge of the show. Co-star Creator/JennaColeman often mentions in convention Q&As about how Capaldi jokingly frowns at her when she decides to push random buttons on the TARDIS console. Similarly, Capaldi himself has joked that when he joined the series he had to tell a props person that he didn't need to be shown what buttons do what on the TARDIS console.
* CoolOldGuy: Third-oldest actor to play the Doctor (after Creator/WilliamHartnell and Creator/JohnHurt) and indications are that he's having a great deal of fun at it.

* GirlyRun: Does this quite a bit with his characters. It's especially amusing watching Tucker doing this. The writers openly stated that they tend to add scenes of Tucker running because of how funny Capaldi looks doing so. Is occasionally on display as the Doctor, too: twice in Series 10, Pearl Mackie's character describes it as a "penguin with his arse on fire".

** Mention The Dreamboys (a punk-rock band he sang for in his youth, with Creator/CraigFerguson as the drummer) and watch him turn completely red and make embarrassed noises. Though this didn't stop him from agreeing to give the Doctor an electric guitar hobby in Series 9. (And he was genuinely touched which, during a convention appearance in June 2016, a fan sang a little bit of one of his old songs.) He is, however, quite happy to remind folks that Ferguson was also in the band.
* OneOfUs: [[invoked]] A lifelong ''Who'' fan, although during his teen years he hid his geekdom to avoid being bullied. He apparently selected his rather stark costume (no [[Creator/TomBaker great big scarf]], [[Creator/JonPertwee frilly shirt]], or [[Creator/ColinBaker crazy colors]]) to [[http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2014-08-07/peter-capaldi-i-wanted-a-doctor-who-costume-fans-could-copy make it easier for cosplayers]]! In Series 9 he gives up all pretense; the Doctor's been wearing an outfit that consists of the trademark red-lined coat over nothing more than a t-shirt and hoodie (and in some cases, not even the coat)! A red velvet coat is now in the character's wardrobe for a little old-school throwback. However, he does have his limitations. When asked if he reads ''Doctor Who'' fan fiction, for instance, Capaldi says he doesn't, in part because so much of it is "rude".

* YouLookFamiliar: He played a one-shot role in the Tenth Doctor episode "The Fires of Pompeii" before being cast as the Twelfth Doctor himself.
** Come "The Girl Who Died" this becomes a plot point, which "Deep Breath" foreshadowed. [[spoiler: He regenerated into a copy of Caecilius to remind himself of what it means to be The Doctor now that he no longer needs the shackles of the Time War to "hold [him] to the mark" as he himself put it.]]

* ''Series/DoctorWho'' -- Caecilius in "The Fires Of Pompeii" (2008) and the Twelfth Doctor (2013-2017)

* GirlyRun: Does this quite a bit with his characters. It's especially amusing watching Tucker doing this. The writers openly stated that they tend to add scenes of Tucker running because of how funny Capaldi looks doing so. Is occasionally on display as the Doctor, too.

* ''Series/DoctorWho'' -- Caecilius in "The Fires Of Pompeii" (2008) and the Twelfth Doctor (2013-present)

* ''Series/DoctorWho'' -- Caecilius in "The Fires Of Pompeii" (2008) and the Twelfth Doctor (2013-2017)