Capaldi Hints at Caecilius Return in Doctor Who Series 9?

Richard Forbes is a writer at Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews - All the latest Doctor Who news and reviews with our weekly podKast, features and interviews, and a long-running forum.

Prepare to ‘Whaaat?': Peter Capaldi has hinted that ‘Caecilius’ – his other Doctor Who character – may make a return in Series 9. Capaldi played Caecilius in Series 4’s The Fires of Pompeii (2008), a dream part for the lifelong Whovian at the time – little would he know he would return to Doctor Who later, however, as none other than the Doctor himself. It’s long been suggested that Capaldi’s other appearances in the Whoverse would be addressed onscreen, but how the showrunner intends to do so has so far remained a mystery; this is the first time that it’s been hinted that Caecilius might return.

At the Apple ‘Meet the Cast’ event, Peter Capaldi himself noted that ‘with regards to my Roman alter-ego, there will be a…’ he paused, concluding, ‘he may appear again.’ Capaldi also said that Caecilus ‘will certainly be invoked,’ – whatever that means. A bad case of hypnotism? A hallucination? A well choreographed dance routine spelling out his face? Erm…

Series 8’s Deep Breath saw Capaldi’s Doctor briefly musing about his face, a face he’d ‘seen before,’ questioning whether his face is a personal message from himself – a message he couldn’t tell himself in person.

Steven Moffat, Doctor Who showrunner, already teased last year that Capaldi’s earlier parts in Doctor Who would not go ignored, saying ‘we’ll play that one out over time. It’s actually quite neat.’ The explanation for the reoccurring faces, as Steven explains, comes from an unusual (and exciting) source: Russell T Davies, former showrunner.

‘When Peter Capaldi turned up in Torchwood Russell said he had a plan in his head on why he looked like the guy in The Fires of Pompeii. So I emailed him and said what was the explanation and does it fit with the new Doctor? And it sort of does.

‘So in a very low-key way we’ll address it. It won’t be a major deal because in the end people know the real reason is he’s played by the same actor.’

– Steven Moffat, 2013.

With some fans speculating that Caecilus might return during Episode 4-5, due to the former’s reported Viking theme, I wonder if perhaps Caecilius might be the reason that the Doctor (according to the recent trailer) dusts off the ol’ two thousand year diary. No word yet on whether the appearance will also address St Bartholomew’s Eve‘s Abbot of Amboise… Salamander…Commander Maxil…

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