Yesterday marked the fifty-seventh birthday of Peter Capaldi, the Twelfth Doctor. A life long Doctor Who fan, his story is one that will give hope to others across the world – a literal dream come true. So, on this day, we should look back at some of his other achievements that made him so rightly famous.
Peter is more than an actor; he has also spent time as a director, producer and writer, for which he has rightly won prestigious awards. In 1995, his short film, Franz Kafka’s It’s a Wonderful Life won an Oscar for Best Live Action Short Film. Soft Top, Hard Shoulder, which he also wrote, went on to win the Audience Award at the London Film Festival and Peter won the BAFTA Scotland Award for Best Actor.
Of course, one of Peter’s most famous roles, the foul-mouthed, all-swearing-eye, Malcolm Tucker, was nominated again and again. The film, In the Loop, was nominated for no less than eight awards, including Best Actor for Capaldi at the British Independent Film Awards, and the British Actor of the Year at London Film Critics Circle Awards.
The television version, The Thick of It, also won Capaldi countless nominations and awards. The British Academy Television Awards, the British Comedy Awards, the British Academy Television Awards and the Royal Television Society Awards all nominated him for his performance.
In the Doctor Who universe his portrayal of John Frobisher in Torchwood: Children of Earth, earned him a nomination for the SFX Best Actor award.
He was also seen performing alongside fellow Doctor, Paul McGann in the 2001 “comedy” Hotel! It is quite a strange experience, seeing them together like that.
Today, tributes and praise has been pouring in for Peter Capaldi and his many achievements. Becoming the Doctor has certainly given him a lot more widespread appreciation and appeal, but we should not forget that he’s been at this game for a while. And he’s got very good at what he does.
For now, we shall leave you with a birthday tribute of our own.
Joel Cornah, is an author hailing from a small isolated village in Lancashire. He was awarded a degree in English and Creative Writing from Liverpool JM University and spent seven years writing a comical newspaper for The Barrow Downs Tolkien discussion forum. He is a published author, having written the novels The Sea-Stone Sword and The Sky Slayer, the novella The Spire of Frozen Fire, and has had many short stories featured in anthologies. He also has written for WhatCulture’s Doctor Who section and currently runs a small café and bookshop in Lancashire.
