What it was like to shoot the final days of Peter Capaldi’s time on Doctor Who
Doctor Who fans are headed towards a very dark day in the near future, with current series lead Peter Capaldi (who’s played the Doctor since 2013) set to leave the series this December after announcing his departure earlier in the year.
And apparently the sense of nostalgia and sadness surrounding his exit isn’t limited to viewers of the show, with series 10 guest star Samantha Spiro recently lifting the lid on the slightly sombre mood on set for Capaldi’s last scenes in series 10 (prior to his proper final episode this Christmas).
“I do think you could really sense that on set,” Spiro, who plays a character called Hazran in this Saturday’s series finale, told RadioTimes.com. “And it’s funny going in when the whole crew’s been working on it for many years, and coming to the end of Peter’s time, because there’s a great camaraderie on set, they are a really fantastic crew.
“I think it really did add, not just in the scenes that were very emotional but there is a sense of it throughout, and I couldn’t help but get swept up with that really because its the end of a really fabulous era.
“Three years for Peter, but ten years for some of the crew who probably won’t be moving on now because there’s a whole new production.”
She added: “Because this is the final episode there’s some really fantastic epic pieces that Peter deals with as the Doctor in this episode that I found really quite a privilege to witness, it really took my breath away. I think he’s brilliant.”
Fingers and toes crossed that that means we can expect the start of a great send-off for a much-loved Doctor this Saturday, then. Might take the edge off the whole thing.
Doctor Who continues on BBC1 this Saturday 1st July