Peter Capaldi has voiced his concern about the future of Doctor Who, 9 years after he left the franchise. The actor played the Doctor between 2014 and 2017, and, according to him, the hit sci-fi franchise is becoming a "victim of its success" and could be the reason the show isn't as huge as it used to be.
Capaldi appeared at the Half the Picture podcast, where he reflected on Doctor Who's success. He then noted how much the series had changed since he was a child. Capaldi cited one reason Doctor Who became popular around the time of its 1963 debut: the space race between the U.S. and the Soviet Union was underway, and there was an "effort to rebuild the world" since World War II. So, when he ended up having to play the lead role, he had to balance protecting what he loved from his childhood with being a "figurehead" for Doctor Who. But at the same time, he can see how the franchise has grown over the years and how it has survived to the point that it has a place in pop culture.
"The show became very, very big. And it was never like that when I loved it. So it became a different thing. I think the responsibilities of playing the part became more... there were more of them... It became this sort of very important thing — I think less in a cultural way and more in an economic way. Sometimes I think it's a little bit of becoming a victim of its success. The show that I loved was tinier, was a tiny thing, little small thing that survived. It just survived, and then it didn't. But nobody knew it was worming its way into the culture in such a deep way."
Peter Capaldi's Doctor Who History
Before Capaldi became the Twelfth Doctor, he had a small role in the season 4 episode "The Fires of Pompei," where he played Caecilius. It wasn't until 2013 that the BBC announced that Capaldi would return to the show, playing the lead and succeeding Matt Smith after "The Time of the Doctor." Capaldi played the role from season 8 to 10, and made his final appearance in the Christmas special "Twice Upon A Time," where he regenerates to Jodi Whittaker's Thirteenth Doctor. In 2024, the actor revealed he has no plans to return to Doctor Who following his departure.
Doctor Who is available to stream on Disney+.