Doctor Who star Peter Capaldi has hinted that the next season could be his final run of episodes as the Doctor.

The actor joined the show in 2013 as the Twelfth Doctor, with a brief cameo in ‘The Day of the Doctor’ before making his first proper appearance in ‘The Time of the Doctor’.

Capaldi told The Telegraph: “This could be my final year. It’s terrifying. I love Doctor Who but it can be quite an insular world and I do want to do other things. There will come a time when this is over. But I knew that when I started.”

He added: “I was thinking about my regeneration scene from the outset. That’s my terrible melancholic nature. When you accept the job you know there will come a day, inevitably, when you’ll be saying goodbye.”

> Buy the complete Season 9 box set on DVD on Amazon.

> Buy the complete Season 9 box set on Blu-ray on Amazon.

Matt Smith and David Tennant both played the Doctor for three seasons, as did Peter Davison, Patrick Troughton and Sylvester McCoy. Tom Baker remains the longest-serving Doctor, starring in 172 episodes over seven seasons.

The new season of Doctor Who is expected to begin filming in May and is rumoured to begin airing with 2016’s Christmas special as the opening episode.

> Here’s everything we know so far about Season 10.

Alex Kingston, who plays River Song, recently revealed that she doesn’t think the next Doctor should be female: “…I just feel – I hope that women aren’t going to hate me for this – the Doctor has to be a guy, actually. I do. Although it would be very interesting for River if it were a woman!”

How long do you think Peter Capaldi should stay for? Let us know below…