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The Big Issue : Edition 464
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THEBIGISSUE1–14AUG2014 17 Capaldi was playing anyone else. (Another Iannucci creation, American TV series Veep, starring Julia Louis- Dreyfus, continues the political backroom theme but without the presence of a Tucker- like character.) But it would be wrong to suggest that Tucker remained a two-dimensional swearing machine throughout the four series of The Thick Of It. On the contrary, as the show went on – and, presumably, it became clear just how good Capaldi was in the role – Tucker began to show human frailties, losing power and having a breakdown in the third series. He never became anything like a good guy, but Capaldi’s performance grounded and humanised the character of Malcolm Tucker without ever blunting his edge. With The Thick of It’s success, came new opportunities. Capaldi, who is married with one daughter, played a major character in the second series of high-profile BBC TV drama The Hour (2012): a buttoned-up, emotionally repressed executive – a world away from Malcolm Tucker. Hollywood was also calling, most noticeably Brad Pitt’s zombie blockbuster World War Z (2013). In that hit film, Capaldi played a World Health Organisation doctor in the film’s climactic scenes – and, yes, this did mean he was listed in the credits as WHO Doctor. His connection with Doctor Who began in 2008 (during David Tennant’s tenure as the Doctor) in an episode entitled ‘The Fires of Pompeii’. Set in the titular city in Roman times just before the eruption, Capaldi played a merchant who buys the Tardis and is eventually saved from the eruption – and an alien invasion – by the Doctor. With British television drama only having a relatively small pool of actors to draw from, it’s not the first time someone playing a supporting role in Doctor Who would later come back for a bigger role. The list includes Nicholas Courtney (Brigadier Lethbridge- Stewart), Lalla Ward (Romana), Colin Baker (the sixth Doctor) and Karen Gillan (Amy Pond). They all played supporting characters on Doctor Who before stepping into starring roles on the series. Capaldi’s other major role in the Whoniverse was his appearance in the 2009 Who spin-off TV FROM TOP: IN 2013 (TIM P WHITBY/GETTY IMAGES); IN LOCAL HERO WITH PETER RIEGERT AT RIGHT (© EVERETT COLLECTION); IN 1991 (BRYN COLTON) “I HAVEN’T PLAYED THE CHARACTER SINCE I WAS NINE”
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