Doctor Who: Capaldi ‘to keep his Scottish accent’

PETER Capaldi is set to keep his Scottish accent when he steps into the Tardis – and may soon be heading off on a Doctor Who adventure Down Under.

Peter Capaldi could soon be filming in New Zealand. Picture: Ian Rutherford

Lead writer and executive producer Steven Moffatt told an Edinburgh Festival Fringe audience at the Assembly Hall he would be “very surprised” if Capaldi did not have a Scottish accent when he took up the role.

He also said Oscar-winning director Peter Jackson was “very keen” to film an episode of the sci-fi series and, if this came off, it was likely to be made in his native New Zealand.

But he was tight-lipped over whether JK Rowling had written a Doctor Who short story to help mark the show’s 50th anniversary in November.

Jackson, the film-maker behind Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, previously joked about an ambition to make an episode. But Moffatt said: “He is serious about it. I spoke to him at the premiere of The Hobbit. He just wants a Dalek, that’s all he wants, then he will direct an episode. I haven’t done the thing where I say, ‘You see that amusingly small number? That is our budget’.”

Moffatt added: “I think he’d like it to go to New Zealand. He is a major fan.”