Doctor Who Revival: 2 Companions, No Beard, No K-9 & More: Capaldi

Posted in: BBC, TV | Tagged: doctor who

Doctor Who Revival: 2 Companions, No Beard, No K-9 & More: Capaldi

During the Half the Picture podcast, Peter Capaldi (Twelfth Doctor) shared some specifics he would like to see in the Doctor Who revival.

Published Sun, 01 Nov 2026 07:37:09 -0600
by Ray Flook
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Article Summary

• Peter Capaldi says he passed on Doctor Who revival tenders because his love is rooted in the classic series.
• Capaldi argues Doctor Who works best with a strong showrunner buffering the BBC, like Steven Moffat or Russell T. Davies.
• For the next Doctor, Capaldi wants charisma, no beard, a simple TARDIS, and a two-companion TARDIS team.
• Capaldi rejects K-9-style robot companions and favors a smaller, stranger Doctor Who with classic-series spirit.

In the latest episode of the Half the Picture podcast, with host Billy Barnell, Peter Capaldi (Twelfth Doctor) covered a lot of ground near the end regarding the current tender process, what he hopes to see when the show returns, and much more. That included revealing that he had been asked to join "tenders" for Doctor Who and explaining why he needed to pass. In addition, Capaldi shared his thoughts on the show's creative-administrative set-up, and why it's best to have someone like Steven Moffat and Russell T. Davies serving as the buffer between the show and the BBC. For this go-around, Capaldi shared another important reason he declined to join any of the tenders: "I don't know what it is people want from it because my love for the show was the old show." That led to some great moments in which Capaldi offered insights into what he would like to see the revival carry over from the show's classic days.

"One of the reasons I didn't get involved in any of the tenders was, I don't know what it is people want from it because my love for the show was the old show. That's what I grew up with. So that's not going to work, you know. So I can't come in and say, 'Let's set it in the 60s. Let's make it black and white.' With very wobbly sets. Let's make it more cheaply or with less ambition. I mean, 'Doctor Who' has always had ambition. It's just that sometimes the budgets haven't met that, but the ambition's always been there in the show," Capaldi explained, offering the runs from David Tennant, Christopher Eccleston, Jodi Whittaker, and Ncuti Gatwa as examples of modern runs that were very different in their own right, and dramatically different from what Capaldi experienced from the show growing up. "I don't know what version it is that they want. But all of those things are not the show I fell in love with. Although I love it, I still love seeing it and enjoy it most when I sense a ripple from the old show, as opposed to a big block of 'Oh, this is an old monster that we're bringing back.' I like when I sense that someone is familiar with the old show and let some of its influence materialize in the show," he added.

In terms of more specifics, Capaldi noted that the next Doctor "has to be charismatic" – but definitely no facial hair. "I don't think the Doctor should ever have a beard," he made clear twice. When it was brought up to him that Gatwa sported a mustache, Capaldi joked, "I don't think that's canon." In terms of the TARDIS, that's another line in the sand for Capaldi: the main control room needs to keep things simple, with the console, the tall column, and that classic sound. As for who should be riding inside the TARDIS, Capaldi likes the idea of having "a little team, like a little trio": the Doctor and two companions, making his case by referring back to the Patrick Troughton seasons. Capaldi isn't looking for more than two companions, "and I think a boy and a girl's good." But fans of K-9 aren't going to like Capaldi's feelings on alternate companions. When asked about a robot dog as a companion, Capaldi responded matter-of-factly, "No tin dog. Forget it. All of those things out the window. Forget it."

As for what he would want to see from the revival from an overall thematic approach, Capaldi tapped into what made the show special to him when he was younger. "I think it's actually quite a small show. It's the Doctor and the assistant-slash-assistants in the TARDIS, still quite contained and kind of balmy. And then, like 'The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe,' they open the door, they step out into this drama, and those dramas change shape, and they've got monsters in them, and they're magical and strange and weird and sad. But it needs that central core, that small group of people with the Doctor at the center of that magical wardrobe that flies around and takes you to these other places, would be my opinion," he shared.

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