Peter Capaldi Reveals Why He’s Leaving Doctor Who

Tonight, Doctor Who fans begin saying farewell to Peter Capaldi and the Twelfth Doctor. Even though Capaldi still has this year’s Doctor Who Christmas Special to go, “The Doctor Falls” will mark the end of an era for the long-running science fiction series.

Capaldi is a lifelong fan of Doctor Who, so some fans may be wondering what could make him leave the show after three seasons. Capaldi explains that it’s a matter of staving off complacency.

“I love this show, but I’ve never done anything where you turn up every day for ten months,” Capaldi tells the Radio Times. “I want to always be giving it my best and I don’t think if I stayed on I’d be able to do that. I can’t think of another way to say, ‘This could be the end of civilization as we know it.’ With episodic television of any genre, the audience wants the same thing all the time – but the instinct that leads the actor is not about being in a groove.”

Still, he says that his time as the Doctor has been an interesting challenge.

“Doctor Who is a hugely challenging show to write and to act in,” Capaldi says. “It has to turn on a dime from comedy to terror to tragedy. It’s a children’s show that developed into something more complex, a bit more adult-orientated, but we have a duty to play to the seven-year-old as well as the 42-year-old. Sometimes you have to be more comic than you’d normally be comfortable with, but it’s important.”

Peter Capaldi took over as The Doctor in Season 8, after Matt Smith’s departure. After three seasons, he will depart the show alongside showrunner Steven Moffat, who has steered the series since Season 5. Moffat was a breakout writer during the Russell T. Davies seasons of Doctor Who.

Moffat will be handing the reins over to Broadchurch creator Chris Chibnall for Doctor Who Season 11. Chibnall is a longtime Doctor Who fans who also wrote for the series during the Russell T. Davies era and was head writer on the Doctor Who spinoff series Torchwood.

Doctor Who Season 10 also introduces Pearl Mackie as the new companion, Bill Potts, replacing the previous companion, Jenna Coleman’s Clara Oswald, who left after Season 9. Whether she will join the new Doctor in Doctor Who Season 11 is still unknown

The Doctor Who Season 10 finale airs tonight at 9 p.m. ET on BBC America.

More Doctor Who: Doctor Who Christmas Special Rumored To Feature Another Doctor / Doctor Who Finale Synopsis Hints At A Major Character Death / Promo Offers First Glimpse At Peter Capaldi’s Regeneration / Peter Capaldi Hints That His Will be A Unique Regeneration For The Doctor