Peter Capaldi has admitted he is 'frustrated' by the erratic scheduling of worldwide phenomenon Doctor Who.

In recent years, Doctor Who has been shifted between autumn and spring airings - alternating between split series and even a year like 2016 where it won't be on until Christmas.

BBC

Doctor Who's chief Time Lord has noticed these drastic shifts - and now he's called on the BBC to make the show's Saturday night slot more of a "ritual".

"The BBC is an incredible organisation, but...sometimes people there think, that's looking after itself, and it's not being looked after," Capaldi told Newsweek.

BBC

"I think maybe their eye was taken off the ball, or the show was seen as a thing they could just push around. It's not. It's a special thing."

Specifically of the show's shifting evening scheduling in recent years, he added: " It does frustrate me. If you're going to have a family show, I think you have to build up a little ritual around it - and that ritual usually starts with having it on at the same time [every week]. Even I didn't know what time it was on because it got later and later and later."

Looking at the programme's fluctuating ratings over its most recent series, Capaldi insisted that Doctor Who must remain "protected" by the BBC because it provides valuable family viewing.

"I have to pay attention to ratings - I'd rather not - but it's the way the business is," he admitted. "I think overnight ratings are a thing of the past.

BBC

"You can't really measure the success of the show by its overnight ratings, which is what the papers do. But there's still a place for families to sit down and watch the show - that's still a great, fun thing to do.

"That's what the show's success has been based on. That has to be protected."

His criticism of the BBC comes days after Capaldi revealed that he's been invited to stay once new showrunner Chris Chibnall takes over in 2018.

"To be perfectly honest, it's so far away in the future," he cautioned. "You know, Doctor Who is a very difficult thing to say goodbye to - and I don't want to make that decision right now."

Doctor Who will remain absent from TV screens until the Christmas special this December, which in turn leads into showrunner Steven Moffat's final series next year.

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