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Peter Capaldi Says He Didn’t Want To Overstay His Welcome On Doctor Who

When asked about his decision to exit the series, outgoing Doctor Who star Peter Capaldi admitted that he was wary of overstaying his welcome.

It’s going on eight months since Peter Capaldi shocked the Doctor Who community (and the Internet at large!) by announcing his decision to leave the series following 2017’s Christmas Special, “Twice Upon a Time.”

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This, coupled with the swift appointment of Jodie Whittaker, has transformed this year’s festive treat from a significant episode into must-see television, and quite frankly, December 25th can’t come soon enough. But before we get too far ahead of ourselves, the Doctor Who fanbase continue to pay tribute to the outgoing Capaldi, and while appearing at New York Comic Con this past weekend, the Scottish actor stressed that after three seasons as the illustrious Time Lord, he was always wary of overstaying his welcome.

Per Deadline, here’s what Peter Capaldi had to say about his tenure at the top:

It fills up your life. You don’t have a second where it’s not about Doctor Who. It’s a nice way to live. I really never wanted to get to a place where I knew how to do this because that’s not what being creative is. The actual amount of time we were spending on the show, I realized I was getting the hang of it. And that made me frightened.

Beyond “Twice Upon a Time,” Capaldi also believes that Doctor Who is in “really good hands” thanks to the back-to-back hiring of showrunner and long-time writer Chris Chibnall along with the aforementioned Whittaker, who will soon make history as the first female Doctor.

Capaldi has already stated in the past that he’s a big fan of Jodie Whittaker’s previous work. Here, though, the Scot focuses on the ways in which her Doctor has resonated with the Who community.

I saw what she’s done and she’s great, so I think it’s in really good hands. I’m glad people were moved by the idea of her.

“Twice Upon a Time” will herald the Doctor Who changeover we’ve all been waiting for on December 25th, before series 11 kicks off late next year with longer episodes and a revamped TARDIS.