This Christmas, Jo Whiley is set to present a special show on Radio 2, going behind the scenes of this year’s Doctor Who festive special, Twice Upon A Time. The same festive special that sees Peter Capaldi and showrunner Steven Moffat depart the programme.
Capaldi actually announced his departure from Doctor Who on Whiley’s regular radio programme, and she’s been recalling that day in an interview with the Radio Times.
“That was one of the funniest, most extraordinary moments I’ve ever had on air I think”, she said.
“The fact that he chose to come on our show – and I remember saying to my producer ‘Peter just wants to come on the show and talk about Doctor Who? That’s great, but any idea why? Bit random, but brilliant. I love him, and I love Doctor Who, it’s fantastic”.
Turns out there was a very good reason why.
“He was just trying to work out when within the hour [of the show] he should drop the bombshell”, she said. “And then he just kind of casually let it into the conversation. I remember just trying to compute – ‘did you just say what I think you just said? Are you actually leaving?’”.
“His eyes were brimming with tears”, she recalled.
Capaldi filmed his final scenes for the show a couple of months ago now, and his exit will be screened on Christmas Day…