Peter Capaldi Had One Complaint About The Cybermen’s Return in ‘Doctor Who’

One element of watching Peter Capaldi portray Doctor Who on the sci-fi adventure series wasn’t just his talents as a performer, but knowing that he’s been a devoted fan of the character for years added a level of authenticity. According to Rachel Talalay, who directed a two-part event where the Cybermen returned to battle the Time Lord, Capaldi’s obsession with the series got in the way of his portrayal, as he was compelled to point out a costume inaccuracy.

“[Showrunner] Steven [Moffat] and Peter both feel strongly about how they remember these things,” Talalay told the This Week in Time Travel podcast. “So they were both involved and had thoughts.”

“Peter called me after the first Mondasian incident and said, ‘Why is it they have gloves on their hands, when one of the great things about them was that they had bare hands?’” Talalay revealed.

Luckily for Talalay, she had prepared for the inquisition and happily backed up her reasons for the change, which all had to do with companion Bill (Pearl Mackie) turning into a Cyberman for part of the event.

“Given in the [original series] black-and-white version you couldn’t really tell if they had skin tone gloves, it seemed like we could get a scarier feel and something more artificial by putting the gloves on them. But it was partially an issue because of skin tone,” she detailed.

An encyclopedic familiarity with the series was a near-impossible task for the director, as she didn’t live in the UK when the original series aired.

“I was aware of it and we were there in the UK a couple of times,” Talalay pointed out. “When I was 14, 15 and 16 we lived in the UK and I had a Tom Baker period. But I wasn’t weaned on it. So a lot of the passion of it has been to go back and actually learn the things [Capaldi and Moffat] grew up with. Because I had Star Trek growing up in America.”

You can check out a new episode of the series when the Doctor Who Christmas Special airs on Christmas Day, Dec. 25, 2017.

[H/T Radio Times]

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