2013–2017: Doctor Who
These years saw the rise of Capaldi to worldwide fame with his casting in the role of the Twelfth Doctor in the BBC science-fiction series Doctor Who, becoming the oldest actor since the first incarnation to star as the Doctor and the third oldest to portray the character, at the age of 56; Capaldi stated that he had to seriously consider the increased level of visibility that would come with the part. He had portrayed characters in Doctor Who before he was cast as the Doctor: Lobus Caecilius in the Doctor Who episode "The Fires of Pompeii". The following year he played civil servant John Frobisher in the third series of the Doctor Who spin-off, Torchwood.
The start of 2013 saw Capaldi portraying the editor of The Guardian Alan Rusbridger, in The Fifth Estate, starring in Inside the Mind of Leonardo, a documentary about Leonardo da Vinci and appearing as a World Health Organization doctor in World War Z. Capaldi also directed several episodes of the BBC Four sitcom Getting On. He portrayed Cardinal Richelieu in an adaptation of The Three Musketeers on BBC One the next year, though with his casting, he was killed off-screen to avoid clashes with Doctor Who.
In August 2013 during a special event titled Doctor Who Live: The Next Doctor, Capaldi was revealed as the next Doctor, succeeding Matt Smith in the role, and made his first appearance as the Doctor in cameos in the 2013 specials, first in the 50th anniversary special, "The Day of the Doctor", then the 2013 Christmas special, "The Time of the Doctor", taking over the role at the end of the episode. Capaldi made his first regular in Doctor Who in the episode "Deep Breath" later that year, leading 40 episodes, consisting of three series and four specials during the next four years. In 2015 he voiced the Doctor in crossover video game Lego Dimensions. In 2016, Capaldi reprised his role as the Twelfth Doctor in the Doctor Who spin-off programme Class, written by young-adult author Patrick Ness.
Besides Doctor Who, he appeared as Paddington Bear's neighbour Mr Curry in the family comedy film Paddington in 2015 and reprised the role two years later film's sequel Paddington 2, and as King Kinloch in Maleficent in deleted scenes. He also appeared as himself in various short films and documentaries.
On 30 January 2017, in an interview with BBC Radio 2, Capaldi confirmed that the tenth series would be his last. His final episode was the Christmas special, "Twice Upon a Time", in which he was succeeded by actress Jodie Whittaker. His performance as the Doctor was widely praised; with his Doctor being characterised as one who started out rude and grumpy, with a short fuse, but who grew and mellowed over time, into the perfect embodiment of kindness and love.
