Sci-Fi Bulletin: Exploring the Universes of SF, Fantasy, Horror and Spy-fi!

Giving his first full interview about playing the Doctor to this week’s Sunday Times, Peter Capaldi has confirmed that he insisted on no romance between his incarnation of the Time Lord and his companion Clara.

Pointing out that there will be no flirting, he also commented, “It’s not what this Doctor’s concerned with. It’s quite a fun relationship, but no, I did call and say ‘I want no Papa-Nicole moments.’ I think there was a bit of tension with that at first, but I was absolutely adamant.” (The reference is to the old Renault Clio adverts which hinted at a May-to-December relationship between an older man and a younger woman.)

That wasn’t his only consideration when taking the part. “I didn’t want to be Doctor Who in a Doctor Who I didn’t like. I had to be convinced the show was going in a direction I was interested in. I had to think carefully about the level of visibility. My life was blessed, but as soon as this happened I had paparazzi outside my house. People spoke to me before and recognised me, but nothing like this. I had to decide if I was ready to live with that, because once that genie is out of the bottle, it doesn’t go back in.”

He also promises “a bit more gravity” in the programme than in recent years. “Some situations are more sombre and I think there are more rooted dramatic scenes. Over the past two or three years, which I’ve loved, there has often been a breathless vigour; we still have that attack, but we have another level of drama, another tone. And the scenes are longer.”

The full article can be read here although a subscription may be required.