Peter Capaldi not yet ‘in groove’ as Doctor Who

Capaldi will make his debut in the new series of Doctor Who this Saturday. Picture: BBC

The actor, 56, will be seen on screen in the new series of Doctor Who this Saturday, having spent seven months making the sci-fi show.

But he said: “I don’t know if it’s quite fallen into place yet. I think it’s a mistake to get it to click, to get into a groove. I’ve tried to avoid finding a way to do it and then just repeating that.”

Capaldi added: “I’m trying all the time to see what works and what doesn’t work, though I’m trying to bring back some of the Doctor’s mystery and strangeness, which is hard to do given that the show is 50 years old.”

The actor, who had thought his age ruled him out of the role, said: “I think I’m a more grown-up Doctor, but he’s still mirthful. He is serious when he needs to be, but he’s still quite comic.”

The Thick Of It star said that stepping out of the Tardis, on his first day filming the BBC1 show, made him anxious but also rekindled childhood memories. “I’d never been in the police box before, apart from the wardrobe at home when I was a kid pretending it was a police box.

“I was shocked to find that it was just like a wardrobe, like something your dad had made. And there was a prop bloke and a smoke machine. When I had to step out of it, it was quite nerve-racking, but delightful as well.”

Asked what advice his immediate predecessors in the role – Matt Smith and David Tennant – gave him, he said: “Sometimes you’re in the middle of a big production that has a lot of BBC politics and administration at work and it’s a big commercial vehicle.

“It’s good to be able to chat to people who have been in the same situation.”

He added: “It’s nice to talk to people who know what it’s like to get back to your flat at 7:30 at night and still have five pages of dialogue to learn for the next day and the hours are ticking away, and you’ve still got to get some sleep.”