Peter Capaldi May Not Stay Beyond Season 10 Of ‘Doctor Who’

It was recently confirmed that Stephen Moffat would step down as the showrunner of Doctor Who, and with that news came serious doubt over the future of the series. Further doubt has now been cast over the future of Doctor Who, with the current Doctor, Peter Capaldi, stating that he may not stay beyond the upcoming 10th series of the show.

Already well known is the fact that Peter Capaldi plans to stay on as the Doctor for the 10th series of the show, which is set to air in 2017. With that in mind, in a recent interview with BBC Radio Scotland, Capaldi told listeners that he’d been invited back to the show for an 11th season. While that news should excite fans of the show, it really won’t when they come to realize that Capaldi hasn’t yet made his mind up about whether he’ll take new showrunner Chris Chibnall up on his offer. For the moment, Peter Capaldi simply sees the 11th series of Doctor Who as incredibly far away and simply isn’t ready to think about it just yet.

“I haven’t made my mind up. I’ve been asked to stay on, which is lovely – and I think Chris Chibnall’s fantastic and a wonderful choice. To be perfectly honest, it’s so far away in the future… you know, Doctor Who is a very difficult thing to say goodbye to – and I don’t want to make that decision right now.”

Fans shouldn’t be too disheartened by the news just yet, however, as Peter Capaldi is already penned to reprise his role in an upcoming Christmas special of Doctor Who this year and another full series of the show, which is set to air in 2017. The show has, of course, been confirmed not to see a full series in 2016, a decision which is largely believed to have been made in accordance with the availability of several cast members and, most notably, Peter Capaldi himself.

Peter Capaldi: 'I've been asked to stay on in #DoctorWho after Steven Moffat leaves' https://t.co/Gu42ytJwy9 pic.twitter.com/7mL65AX6NX

— Radio Times (@RadioTimes) March 7, 2016

Peter Capaldi made the aforementioned comments during a round of interviews and appearances on British television and radio on Monday morning. He later appeared on the Lorraine show, telling the host that it’s the fans of Doctor Who who keep it alive. Those comments come following speculation around the future of the series, with the BBC believed to be considering axing the show following consecutively lower viewer ratings for the most recent seasons.

The aforementioned news around Peter Capaldi’s departure doesn’t come as too much of a surprise, however, considering the actor has now hinted several times that he may be preparing to make his departure from the show.

Not that Capaldi would be short of work if he made the decision to give up his role as the most famous Doctor on television, with a series of different acting roles currently in the pipeline. As confirmed only last year, he’ll be directing an episode of VEEP for HBO. The role of director isn’t one that we see Peter Capaldi take up all too often, however, his appointment isn’t all that surprising considering the show is written by Armando Ianucci and regularly directed by Chris Addison, both of whom he has worked with in the past on British sitcom The Thick of It.

Peter Capaldi has only made the future of Doctor Who even more unclear, and his departure from the show after its upcoming 10th series could just spell another new Doctor and a new era for the show. Of course, BBC may just use it as an opportunity to give the show another break, much like when it first disappeared from our screens back in 1989.

[Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images]