Would Peter Capaldi Return To Doctor Who For A Multi-Doctor Special? Here's His Thinking

The Twelfth Doctor and the First Doctor Doctor Who BBC America

Peter Capaldi has gotten a lot of attention for his role as The Thinker in The Suicide Squad, but there will always be those who remember him as the Twelfth Doctor in Doctor Who. There are even some who'd like to see the actor return to the franchise eventually in a multi-Doctor team-up adventure like the series has done in the past, but is that something Capaldi would be up for doing?

Peter Capaldi got a chance to speak about The Doctor during an interview on Sunday with Steven Rainey and was asked about his willingness to return to the role for an adventure in which his Twelfth Doctor would team up with one of the other Doctors of the past, present, or future. Capaldi shared his thoughts on the matter:

There are so many Doctors now. I’m quite happy with what I did, you know. I loved my time on Doctor Who, but I think the more of the multi-Doctor stories you have the less effective they are, really.

Peter Capaldi didn't explicitly state he'd never return for Doctor Who, but it does seem he closed the door on one major avenue for him to do so. David Tennant made his return to Doctor Who to reprise his role as a past incarnation of The Doctor for the show's 50th anniversary, but Capaldi is evidently not planning on doing something similar.

Peter Capaldi already did a couple of multi-Doctor Doctor Who episodes during his run. He appeared briefly in the 50th anniversary special, and his final episode was a shared adventure in which he teamed up with the First Doctor (played by actor David Bradley) and helped a lost soldier. That's a solid chunk of multi-Doctor collaborations and notable episodes fans won't soon forget.

And what makes those episodes so special is the fact that multi-Doctor adventures don't happen on Doctor Who all that often. From that perspective, I can totally understand why Peter Capaldi wouldn't want to do one just for the sake of having himself back in the show's universe.

Plus, it's not like there'd be an immediate opportunity for Peter Capaldi to appear in a multi-Doctor adventure given Doctor Who's current objective to close out Jodie Whittaker's run as the Thirteenth Doctor and find a new lead and showrunner. One would imagine plans are pretty laid out for how that will go down, so perhaps it's best Capaldi isn't asking to be re-included to complicate that transition further.

Doctor Who Season 13 is expected to premiere on BBC America in 2021. Lots of names have been floated for the Fourteenth Doctor, so for fans out of the loop, be sure to check out our list of popular names who could take on the role after Jodie Whittaker departs.

Mick Joest
Content Producer

Mick Joest is a Content Producer for CinemaBlend with his hand in an eclectic mix of television goodness. Star Trek is his main jam, but he also regularly reports on happenings in the world of Star Trek, WWE, Doctor Who, 90 Day Fiancé, Quantum Leap, and Big Brother. He graduated from the University of Southern Indiana with a degree in Journalism and a minor in Radio and Television. He's great at hosting panels and appearing on podcasts if given the chance as well.