This week, late night host Conan O’Brien brought his TBS show to San Diego, filming four episodes at the historic Spreckels Theater with fans and celebrities of Comic-Con. (By the way, if you haven’t seen Conan’s hilarious Mad Max parody announcing the Comic-Con trip, you owe it to yourself to check it out. I laughed until I cried — repeatedly).
On last night’s final Comic-Con episode, Doctor Who‘s Peter Capaldi made a surprise appearance, as the TARDIS literally interrupted Conan mid-sentence to “appear” on stage:
Not surprisingly, Capaldi gave a fantastic, hilarious interview. After posing and pointing at fans in the audience, Capaldi took a seat next to Conan, who apologized for the low-tech introduction: “Thank you for entering with such a terrible special effect.” Capaldi said it was no problem, quipping that he now travels with his own dry ice.
More from Winter is Coming
- For All Mankind finally gives us information in Episode 405, “Goldilocks”
- Watch a stunning VFX breakdown of The Wheel of Time season 2
- Of course Steve Toussaint (Corlys Velaryon) thinks Eve Best (Rhaenys Targaryen) should rule Westeros
- Confirmed: The Last of Us season 2 will air in 2025
- Final season of Star Trek: Discovery will have “a lot of action, a lot of adventure, a lot of fun”
Conan asked Capaldi about his experience at Comic-Con, this being his first time and all. Capaldi said the security team kept warning him not to wander the street, lest he be mobbed by rabid fans, to which Capaldi replied:
"“Come on, guys, put yourself in my shoes. You know, I play this iconic role that people love. Wouldn’t you walk down the street?”"
He then told the story of what happened when he did wander outside, eventually coming upon the line of fans at the San Diego Convention Center waiting to get into the Doctor Who panel the next day (where he did indeed get mobbed).
Related: Comic-Con 2015: Peter Capaldi Greets Fans in Hall H Line
The conversation moved to Capaldi’s lifelong love for Doctor Who, where he recalled, “As a child, I wrote to Doctor Who. I got letters back from the original Doctor Whos.”
Conan asked Capaldi for his reaction to criticisms that his Doctor was perhaps a bit too grumpy:
"“Well, he’s two-and-half thousand years old. He’s been around, you know, and life is tough — business as usual. But, he loves — the great thing about Doctor Who, I think, is he’s actually full of joy, because he loves time and space. You know, he can find beauty in the simpliest of things. He can sit in the supermarket car park and watch the sun coming up and think that’s the most amazing thing. Or watch stars being born on Alpha Centauri. He’s just incredible.”"
That right there is why I love Peter Capaldi. What a beautiful, amazing quote about Doctor Who.
Next, the duo talked about the progression of the special effects on the show, and Capaldi related how he felt like he was finally, really on Doctor Who when he was asked to fight a rubber spider during the Series 9 filming; Capaldi thought to himself, “This is what I was born to be.”
In the last part of their chat, Conan asked Capaldi if he felt pressured to come up with a catchphrase, like the “Allons-y” and “Geronimo” of his predecessors. Capaldi said he didn’t really, and that “I like to be taciturn.” Conan informed him that was never going to catch-on on a t-shirt.
For the entire interview, you can check out the full episode now on the Team Coco website. Highly recommended!
What do you think? Did you enjoy Peter Capaldi’s surprise appearance on Conan? Sound off in the comments below!
Next: Comic-Con 2015: Peter Capaldi and Sean Pertwee Hang Out Backstage!