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When Peter Capaldi steps out of the TARDIS this weekend for his Doctor Who debut, it'll be the first time many will see the wiry Scottish actor in action. Playing The Doctor will raise Capaldi's profile into the stratosphere, but he's been a supporting staple on the small and big screen since the early '80s.

Digital Spy casts its eyes over five film highlights from the 12th Doctor.

Local Hero (1983)

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Capaldi's second acting job was in Bill Forsyth's brilliantly moving Local Hero, a comedy-drama about an American oil company worker who's dispatched to Scotland with a view to buying up land surrounding a small community. His first point of contact is Capaldi's Danny Oldsen, a fresh-faced bumbler who, though only a minor player, offers up plenty of light relief. Local Hero is also well-known for Mark Knopfler's closing theme, which has been adopted by football club Newcastle United for the players' run-out music on match day.

Franz Kafka's It's A Wonderful Life (1993)

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Here's something you might not have expected - Peter Capaldi is actually an Oscar-winning filmmaker! His BBC Scotland-backed Franz Kafka's It's a Wonderful Life bagged the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film in 1994, and starred Richard E Grant as the eponymous writer as he struggled to write The Metamorphosis. Capaldi used this 23-minute short to help kickstart a career behind the camera, although that had to take a backseat as his acting profile went from strength to strength.

Strictly Sinatra (2001)

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Capaldi again sat in the director's chair for this romantic drama about a Glasgow lounge singer (Ian Hart) whose Frank Sinatra act catches the eye of Irene (Kelly Macdonald). Before long he's running into trouble with a local gangster (Brian Cox) who beckons him into a life of smalltime crime. This is Capaldi's one and only feature film as a director, but another could well be on the horizon. His Who clout might be able to push Born to Be King, about an extra who bears a resemblance to a movie star, into production in the next few years.

In the Loop (2009)

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Prior to Doctor Who, Capaldi's biggest role was that of The Thick of It's foul-mouthed spin doctor Malcolm Tucker. Armando Iannucci's BBC sitcom was turned into a feature film in 2009, with Tucker dispatched to the States as the UK and US march towards an ill-advised war. Capaldi is in fine form as he tears through the upper echelons of Washington with the kind of explosive rage that once led him to state that a colleague was "as useless as a marzipan dildo".

World War Z (2013)

A large-scale Hollywood blockbuster that was plagued by production problems, World War Z had its entire ending re-shot and Capaldi was parachuted in to play a World Health Organisation scientist who helped Brad Pitt's Gerry Lane find a cure for the zombie outbreak. This WWZ part might be a small one, but there's some significance in the eerie foreshadowing of his end credits character name: WHO Doctor.

Which Peter Capaldi film do you admire the most? Leave your comments in the space below!

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