Peter Capaldi on the role of a “sympathetic serial killer” and parallels to Doctor Who

In Season 1, Gideon, a man who is reincarnated every time he dies and who has dedicated his life to preventing terrible tragedies, was locked in a cell.

But at the end of the season he manages to escape and this time he is let loose on the world as he and Jessica Raines DI Lucy Chambers form an uneasy alliance to try to prevent a devastating incident.

“I think I feel for him,” Capaldi said in an exclusive interview with RadioTimes.com. “What drives him is, ironically, a desire to protect people – and he’s trapped.”

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“He has knowledge that puts him in a situation where he either does nothing or acts on that knowledge. The path he has chosen is dangerous.”

While Season 1 was a supernatural mystery, Season 2 is a true thriller as Gideon and Lucy race against the clock and deal with their newfound alliance.

“There is more action,” emphasizes Capaldi. “It’s probably more of a thriller than the last one. It still has its cosmic and psychological horror vibe, but I think it moves a lot faster and there’s a ticking bomb in it that you have to deal with. It moves “faster.”

Raine adds: “It’s a really troubled relationship.” [between Gideon and Lucy]. He basically came into their lives and completely uprooted everything, and he talks in riddles, and it’s hard to bond with him because he has the knowledge of all these lives inside of him, so they’re kind of forced to work together to work together for the greater good.”

What matters is that Gideon escaped his cell, and for Capaldi that meant one thing he’s had to get quite used to over the years – an incredible amount of running.

“It’s actually a much more physical thing because he’s never completely still,” Capaldi explains. “He’s always planning and trying to figure things out.

“And so, while last [season]He kept all the secrets, he gave a lot of big speeches explaining what was going on, and this time he’s much more active. But he still holds the key to the unique view of the world that the program offers.”

One of the main differences is that audiences now have a little more idea of ​​who Gideon is – but that doesn’t mean the mystery is gone. After asking writer Tom Moran last season if he could be more humanized, Capaldi wanted to give the character more of a “cosmic” feel this time around.

“This time I went the other way, probably because there were more grounded things. Last time it was just me in a cell, and that’s why I asked that we show him more humanity because what he does comes at a price, because I think, “Originally it was a little more veiled – I wanted him make you more vulnerable.

“But this time, because he’s out in the world, we see him doing things and we see the costs that he incurs, so this time I said, ‘Let’s make sure he still has a little bit.’ is cosmic.’

“Poor Tom! I always ask him for more. I don’t want to be grounded, I want cosmic this time!”

Of course, “cosmic” is something Capaldi does very, very well, to say the least. While he has been open about not returning to Doctor Who, there are moments in The Devil’s Hour that may elicit a knowing smile from Whovians, with Gideon describing himself as having “a complicated relationship with time” in Season 1 .

Capaldi looks back fondly on Doctor Who and says: “It was just an incredible experience. Suddenly you’re in the middle of this fantastic world, surrounded by people who love Doctor Who.”

“I saw Tom Baker talking about something and he said that when he was Doctor Who he would do a lot of publicity and stuff because it was a lot more fun being Doctor Who than being Tom Baker and I’d say the same thing.’ It’s probably a lot more fun being Doctor Who than being me.

“Certainly you are in a very privileged position because of the affection you have for this character. It’s a character, it’s not me, and it’s a wonderful place to live. I think it would be hard to keep that up. forever, but you see the best people, which is nice.

Although he doesn’t actively seek out time-consuming roles, he admits: “Obviously I seem to have a certain ability to embody these characters that have this strange relationship with time. It’s just the kind of actor you are – you bring yourself to everything, really.”

He adds: “There are small overlaps.” [with Doctor Who]which is fine, but [as an actor]you learn a certain skill about how to look angry or sad or whatever. But actually actors are a collection of their lives and their life experiences and also their roles.

“So this role [the Doctor] comes with me, just like Malcolm Tucker or other characters I’ve played, and they’re with me because they all have that face, so they’re doing me a favor because they’re coming and letting the audience know that there’s more to me than actually exists.”

However, it’s not just Capaldi who creates the series’ “cosmic” atmosphere, with the actor and his co-star Raine praising director Johnny Allan – not least for the spooky Easter eggs that appear throughout the season.

“There’s an incredible moment, I think in Episode 1, with Lucy in Dr. Bennett’s office, and it’s creepy,” Raine explains. “It’s my shot, I’m in the foreground, but in the background there’s a little eight-year-old child just peeking out from behind the curtain.

“And it literally only lasts a second and then the shot goes somewhere else. That makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.”

Capaldi adds that moments like these are “a testament to the skill and talent of our directors.”

He points out, “This show has really blossomed because of the direction, because creating that sense of unease and those chills and those sudden terrors and things like that is a really skillful and complex task.”

“[Allan] I’m going to talk about how if you hold on to a shot a little longer than the audience expects, it kind of disrupts the rhythm because they’re used to things being cut at a certain speed.

“But if you change the speed and just take a shot of someone sitting on a sofa, maybe three seconds longer than they should, you think, ‘Something strange is going to happen.'”

While Season 2 is just about to be released, filming for Season 3 is already in full swing and will begin in March 2024.
“It’s a three-season thing,” confirms Capaldi. “So it will come to an end, it will come to an end. It’s not like we’re doing a third season and then a fourth season. It will come to an end, the story will come to an end.”
While we currently have no idea how the show will end, Capaldi has great hope for Gideon: “It would be nice to get some peace and quiet. It could end in a peaceful situation.”

“He’s bothered by the world as a conscious conscience, ironically because he’s constantly killing people, but he wants the world to be better – but actually he can’t control it, even though he tries.”

The Devil’s Hour season 2 will stream on Prime Video starting October 18, 2024 – you can sign up for a free 30-day Prime Video trial now.

If you’re looking for something else to watch in the meantime, check out our TV guide and streaming guide or visit our dedicated fantasy hub. You can find more information about the biggest TV stars here The Radio Times Podcast.