Peter Capaldi will depart Doctor Who this Christmas after four years as the show's lead, but one of his predecessors - Colin Baker - thinks the actor has "had a rough deal" from fans.

Baker, who played the sixth Doctor from 1984-86, told Digital Spy that he believes some Whovians were hostile towards Capaldi because he didn't fit the young and dashing model popularised by David Tennant.

BBC

"The fans weren't very kind to Peter Capaldi, because they'd been conditioned to want eye candy," Baker said. "The first and second and third Doctors... none of them were eye candy. They were strong, definite characters.

"Peter [Davison, who played the fifth Doctor] was a bit eye candy-ish, I suppose, but don't tell him I said that!"

Baker went on to suggest that there are similarities between Capaldi's Doctor and his own, with both starting out more severe before mellowing in later life.

BBC

"For me, the most interesting characters, in anything, are the ones that you learn about as the drama unfolds." he said. "Someone like Darcy in Pride and Prejudice, who for 7/8s of the book, you hate. But you find out at the end that he had the most decent motives of anybody in the book.

"And if I can take a more prosaic analogy, in Harry Potter, who do we hate all the way through? Severus Snape. Who was the greatest hero of them all? Severus Snape. So I find that interesting.

"That was the plan with my Doctor, to reveal his true self later on, but the plan was somewhat stymied by the powers-that-be at the BBC, who didn't like the programme."

Colin Baker was speaking at San Diego Comic-Con to promote classic Doctor Who on BritBox.

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