Doctor Who: Capaldi ‘to keep his Scottish accent’

Peter Capaldi could soon be filming in New Zealand. Picture: Ian Rutherford

PETER Capaldi is set to keep his Scottish accent when he steps into the Tardis – and may soon be heading off on a Doctor Who adventure Down Under.

Lead writer and executive producer Steven Moffatt told an Edinburgh Festival Fringe audience at the Assembly Hall he would be “very surprised” if Capaldi did not have a Scottish accent when he took up the role.

He also said Oscar-winning director Peter Jackson was “very keen” to film an episode of the sci-fi series and, if this came off, it was likely to be made in his native New Zealand.

But he was tight-lipped over whether JK Rowling had written a Doctor Who short story to help mark the show’s 50th anniversary in November.

Jackson, the film-maker behind Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, previously joked about an ambition to make an episode. But Moffatt said: “He is serious about it. I spoke to him at the premiere of The Hobbit. He just wants a Dalek, that’s all he wants, then he will direct an episode. I haven’t done the thing where I say, ‘You see that amusingly small number? That is our budget’.”

Moffatt added: “I think he’d like it to go to New Zealand. He is a major fan.”