“Doctor Who” may have inspired a legion of fans who live and die by the series, but former star Peter Capaldi isn’t quite as obsessed as some of them. In an interview published Saturday, Capaldi told The Times of London that the decisions to cast Jodie Whittaker and then Ncuti Gatwa after his departure were correct. “It reflects its times and it’s a good thing in the world,” he explained.
“When I was a kid and watched it, it was just a monster show in the corner of the room. I dunno why people take it so seriously,” he added. Capaldi starred as the titular Doctor from 2013 to 2017.
Whittaker, who was tapped to take on the iconic role in 2017, the first woman to do so, has looked back on her time on the series fondly, despite complaints from some corners of the internet.
“There needed to be a first and I didn’t fully appreciate it,” she told the outlet in 2025. “[In the show], I’m not like Jack Lemmon in ‘Some Like It Hot’: ‘I’m a girl, I’m a girl!’ I just am. But once it was announced — as well as a few grumpy pumps — for a lot of people it felt like a really wonderful moment.”
After wrapping the series in October 2022, she told Entertainment Weekly, “I’ve shot my version of regen, and it was singularly the most emotional day on set I think I’ve ever had. It’s a really bizarre feeling, because it’s the best time I’ve ever had on a job, and I made the decision to leave it, so it’s a really strange thing to do to yourself. It feels like you’re giving yourself stitches — like, ‘Why have you done it?’ But … it felt right.”
Gatwa exited the series in 2025. “You know when you get cast, at some point you are going to have to hand back that sonic screwdriver and it is all going to come to an end, but nothing quite prepares you for it,” he said in a statement at the time. “There are no words to describe what it feels like to be cast as the Doctor, nor are there words to explain what it feels like to be accepted into this iconic role that has existed for over 60 years and is truly loved by so many across the globe.”
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