Glaswegian actor insists there will be 'no Papa-Nicole moments' with co-star Jenna Coleman's character

This article is more than 6 years old

This article is more than 6 years old

Incoming Doctor Who Peter Capaldi has revealed there will be no flirting with co-star Jenna Coleman in the new series.

The previous Doctor was engaged in a close relationship with his sidekick Clara that even led to a passionate kiss.

But Capaldi, 56, insisted his Time Lord would not be following in Matt Smith's footsteps by getting intimate with 28-year-old Coleman's character.

"There'll be no flirting, that's for sure," he told the Sunday Times Magazine. "It's not what this Doctor's concerned with. It's quite a fun relationship, but no, I did call and say, 'I want no Papa-Nicole moments'. I think there was a bit of tension with that at first, but I was absolutely adamant."

The Papa-Nicole comment relates to a series of 1990s Renault Clio car adverts which hinted at a romance between an older man and a younger woman, before they were revealed to be father and daughter.

Capaldi also had good news for those Doctor Who purists who believe the show's storylines have become over the top.

"It's going to be a bit different from what we've seen over recent years. A bit more gravity," he said. "Some situations are more sombre and I think there are more rooted dramatic scenes. Over the past two or three years, which I've loved, there has often been a breathless vigour; we still have that attack, but we have another level of drama, another tone. And the scenes are longer."

Capaldi recalled how his agent called him to tell him he had got the part when he was filming in Prague, and he spent the afternoon wandering around the city humming the Doctor Who theme tune.

"I just didn't think it was something that would happen to me," he admitted.

But the Glaswegian actor did not say yes to the part immediately.

"I didn't want to be Doctor Who in a Doctor Who I didn't like," he said. "I had to be convinced the show was going in a direction I was interested in.

"I had to think carefully about the level of visibility. My life was blessed, but as soon as this happened I had paparazzi outside my house. People spoke to me before and recognised me, but nothing like this.

"I had to decide if I was ready to live with that, because once that genie is out of the bottle, it doesn't go back in."

Doctor Who returns to BBC1 on 23 August.

•No flirting? Good – Doctor Who was never about romance