It’s no easy gig being the star of Doctor Who – and Peter Capaldi has admitted that he sometimes worries about meeting fans.

“Some people get very excited, which I always feel vaguely confused by, because I don’t think I’m very exciting!” he told the press.

“Doctor Who’s exciting, but I’m not, so I then get into a panic, because I think I mustn’t disappoint them, but I don’t know what to do… I can’t be myself, because that will disappoint them.”

But if this all sounds rather harrowing, rest assured, Peter’s still very happy to meet and greet – he says interacting with fans has “rarely been unpleasant” and that “people want very little”.

“Often people come and ask for hugs, and I can feel them shaking, and sometimes people can’t speak. I give them a bit of time, just by talking to them.

“The funny thing I find is that I seem to be recognised even more when the show’s not on, which I can’t figure out. It doesn’t seem to diminish, it seems to be as potent as ever.”

Capaldi recalled an incident when he stumbled across a hero of his own – The Kinks legend Ray Davies – in a restaurant, and how it shed light on his own experiences with fans.

“I was really nervous,” he admitted. “I thought, ‘What if he tells me to get lost?’ – so it was good for me to be reminded of… it’s not a responsibility, but a need to try and be gracious.”

Doctor Who will return to our screens on Christmas Day with festive special ‘The Return of Doctor Mysterio’ airing at 5.45pm on BBC One.

A full 10th series will then follow in early 2017, with actress Pearl Mackie joining the show as new companion Bill Potts.

Doctor Who’s new star Charity Wakefield has said her character will bring a “Lois Lane vibe” to the Christmas special.

Charity will appear in the highly anticipated episode, entitled The Return of Doctor Mysterio, as investigative reporter Lucy Fletcher.

The Christmas Day show will focus on classic superheroes, with fellow newcomer Justin Chatwin taking on the role of a mysterious figure known as The Ghost.

The actress told BBC Breakfast: “This is an interesting one because we do go into superhero territory.

“This show is set in New York City and my character happens across this very terrifying situation where she doesn’t know what is going on.

“It feels other worldly but we also come across a character called The Ghost, who she may or may not know in her home life, so there is a sort of Lois Lane vibe about my character.”

Charity said joining the show for the festive episode, which sees the return of Peter Capaldi as the Doctor, brought extra pressure because of her childhood connection to the series.

She said: “I grew up with it. Ace the companion was a massive heroine for me, my dad was a big fan of the show when I was a kid and it’s amazing what they have done, they have completely reinvented it.

“When I got the job I was so excited and then quite nervous gong to Cardiff to film, but Peter Capaldi is the nicest actor you could ever hope to work for.

“He greeted the new cast as we came in and showed us around the set and showed us the Tardis, he’s incredibly kind and so generous.”

While Charity is sworn to secrecy about the storyline, she did urge fans to “watch out for some scary surgeons in this one”.

Doctor Who: The Return of Doctor Mysterio will air on Christmas Day on BBC One at 5.45pm.

Doctor Who is bringing us its own take on the superhero blockbuster for this year’s Christmas special, ‘The Return of Doctor Mysterio’.

But of course, another big tradition on Christmas Day is watching a classic James Bond movie – for the umpteenth time – on TV.

So could the Doctor (Peter Capaldi) ever cross paths with agent 007… and would the experience leave him shaken or stirred?

“Doing a James Bond [themed] Doctor Who for Christmas? Well, I’m running out of Christmases to do!” Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat told the press.

“I’d like Doctor Who to meet the real James Bond, that’d be awesome. They wouldn’t get on at all!

Hmm… probably an idea best left untouched. That said, there’s always been that fan theory that James Bond is a Time Lord – just think about how many times he’s changed his face…

Doctor Who will return to our screens on Christmas Day with festive special ‘The Return of Doctor Mysterio’ airing at 5.45pm on BBC One.

A full 10th series will then follow in early 2017, with actress Pearl Mackie joining the show as new companion Bill Potts.

Doctor Who star Peter Capaldi has admitted he won’t fill the famous character’s boots forever – but that he’d like to for a long time.

The Scottish actor took on the role of the Twelfth Doctor in 2013. But without a series being aired this year, fans of the sci-fi show haven’t seen Capaldi on screen for almost a whole year.

Ahead of his return on Christmas Day, the actor appeared on The Andrew Marr Show to talk about his life as the Time Lord.

He said: “My kind of attitude about it is that I didn’t want it to change my life much, but it does. But in as much as my private life goes, it remains much the same.

“But when I go out into the world, I can’t, you know I don’t want to escape the idea that I’m Doctor Who, and it’s finite – I won’t be Doctor Who forever, so there will be a day when people don’t come and say hello.”

When he was asked when that would be, he replied: “Oh, not for a long time, I hope.”

Set in New York, the Doctor and Nardole link up with investigative masked vigilante The Ghost after brain-swapping aliens attack the Earth.

But will the Doctor and his team be able to save Manhattan? And what will be revealed when we see behind the mask?

Speaking on the Andrew Marr Show on Sunday morning, Peter Capaldi said he was “quite surprised” to learn the Prime Minister liked to make the programme part of her annual Christmas routine.

He added: “I hope she takes this message of kindness and tolerance and compassion to heart.”