Peter Capaldi thought he was too old to play Doctor Who's lead character.

The 56-year-old actor is to make his debut as the titular Time Lord next month but he admits he had given up hope of landing the coveted role as he thought producers would replace predecessor Matt Smith, 31, with an actor similar in age.

Peter Capaldi as The Doctor / Credit: BBC

Peter told Entertainment Weekly magazine: "I wouldn't have thought I would be the guy. I wouldn't have thought it would be me, because of my age. I would have thought they were automatically heading younger."

He then quipped: "I'm technically too young for the part, because he's over 2,000 years old!"

Executive producer Steven Moffat insists Peter isn't too old for the part because there's "no right age to be the Doctor".

He explained: "I did say, 'No, we probably won't end up with another quirky young man.' I didn't think there was any space around Matt to have another Doctor of that kind, because he sort of sums up what you could do with that. I very, very quickly - very quickly - just thought about Peter."

Peter will be joined on his adventures by Jenna Coleman, reprising her role as Clara Oswald, in the eighth series.

Guest stars include singer Foxes, 'Line of Duty' actress Keeley Hawes and comedian Frank Skinner.

by for www.femalefirst.co.uk
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