Capaldi is just what the Doctor ordered

Who better to save the world than a sweary Scotsman?

So did you manage to guess Who?

Like most Doctor Who fans, I tuned in to the live broadcast to see fellow Glaswegian Peter Capaldi handed the keys to the TARDIS last week.

It was shown live here on BBC America that’s how big a deal Doctor Who is around the world.

Despite that, the Doctor remains one of those quintessentially British characters, like James Bond or Sherlock Holmes, that all of us have grown up with.

We all have our preferences as to how these childhood heroes should be portrayed so, when a new actor is chosen, it always causes a wee bit of controversy.

Look at Matt Smith although he turned out to be brilliant, some said he was too young to be the Doctor.

But the reaction to Peter Capaldi has been almost universally positive he’s a great choice, isn’t he?

I met Peter years ago in our home town of Glasgow, back when he was the lead singer of punk rock band Dreamboys.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=sHaFM5usqyc%3Frel%3D0

At the time, his drummer was a young Craig Ferguson who is, of course, now the incredibly successful host of The Late Late Show over here on US telly.

The Dreamboys were great fun Glasgow was amazing at the time. It seemed like everyone was in a band back then.

Afterwards Bill Forsyth went on to cast him in the movie Local Hero about a hotshot business executive dealing with a quirky Scottish village.

What a film it’s second only to Shawshank Redemption as my favourite movie.

After that Peter won an Oscar for a short film called Franz Kafka’s It’s A Wonderful Life he directed in 1995.

This makes him the only Oscar winner to play the Doctor, so you can’t get much more heavy-hitting than that.

Steven Moffat, the Paisley-born writer in charge of Doctor Who, clearly wanted someone with a bit of gravitas. I think the BBC tried to do that in 2004 when they brought the classic sci-fi back to our screens.

They cast Christopher Eccleston, known for roles in gritty shows like Cracker and Our Friends In The North, to give The Doctor an edge.

Peter Capaldi can do edgy, but he can also do quirkiness exceptionally well too, along with fantastic comic timing.

He’s shown that with his role as diabolical and foul-mouthed spin doctor Malcolm Tucker on political comedy The Thick Of It.

That show and its US spin-off In The Loop made Peter a cult hero, but I wonder if he knows what he’s let himself in for with this new role.

The Thick Of It was big, but it’s nowhere near Doctor Who big!

I know he’s been a fan since he was a young boy, but it’ll probably hit him how iconic the role of the Doctor is when he goes to one of those fan conventions for the first time.

I’m sure he’ll enjoy the experience of filming something as mad as Doctor Who though. He’s 55 now and it looks the right time for him to take on the role of the Time Lord.

A pal recently said to me that I had fewer days in front of me than I had behind me. Yes, I’ve some great friends!

But it’s a sobering thought and perhaps Peter thought it was something he should do now he’s getting a bit older.

It might even help him land a few Hollywood parts Doctor Who is quite well known out here.

Fellow Scot David Tennant tried a few stage roles in LA after he left the show but, unfortunately, it didn’t seem to come off for him.

Peter Capaldi appeared in Brad Pitt’s zombie movie World War Z earlier this year, so he was definitely on the radar in Hollywood.

Maybe playing Doctor Who will propel him to even greater heights. Not that he needs it the role is iconic as it is.

I wish him all the best after all, who better to save the world than a sweary Scotsman?