Actor Peter Capaldi is stepping down from the lead role in the BBC sci-fi series Doctor Who at the end of the tenth series which starts transmitting on BBC1 from Saturday 15th April 2017.

It’s going to be a Good Friday followed by a VERY good Saturday for Doctor Who fans as Peter Capaldi has confirmed that the long awaited series ten will debut on Easter Saturday!

Capaldi told Whiley that the upcoming series was quite “vintage Doctor Who” and said it “rolls along in a very vintage kind of way”.

“It’s full of explosions and adventures,” he added, promising that the Doctor would meet some old adversaries, but mostly new villains.

The actor confirmed that he’s still filming the series and revealed that they’re “about four episodes away from the end”.

Peter reveals the new series of #DoctorWho starts 15th April… and it'll be his last!
Hear the entire @JoWhiley show: https://t.co/RlUs0pObtO pic.twitter.com/1Wlj0vcKxv

— Doctor Who (@bbcdoctorwho) January 30, 2017

Capaldi shocked fans by making the announcement during a BBC Radio 2 show with presenter Jo Whiley.

He said he will leave Doctor Who at the end of the year. “I feel it’s time to move on,” he said.

The 58-year-old Glasgow-born star became the 12th actor to play the Doctor in 2013.

While speaking about the forthcoming 10th series, he said it would be his last.

“I feel sad, I love Doctor Who, it is a fantastic programme to work on,” he said. “It can’t praise the people I work with more highly, but I have always been someone that did a lot of different things.”

He said he was asked to stay on after his contract ran out, but he wanted to move on to other challenges.

The new series airs in spring and Capaldi said his final episode will be shown at Christmas.

In his interview, Capaldi assured listeners that he is still Doctor Who at the moment, as filming in ongoing.

The next series will also be the last with Steven Moffat, lead writer and executive producer, at the helm.

Moffat praised the star’s performance in a BBC announcement: “Peter’s amazing, fiery, turbulent Doctor is still fighting the good fight, and his greatest adventures are yet to come. Monsters of the universe, be on your guard – Capaldi’s not done with you yet!”

He added: “Like Peter, I’m facing up to leaving the best job I’ll ever have, but knowing I do so in the company of the best, and kindest and cleverest of men, makes the saddest of endings a little sweeter.”

Charlotte Moore, director of BBC Content, said: “He has been a tremendous Doctor who has brought his own unique wisdom and charisma to the role.

The popular sci-fi series features a Time Lord known only as “The Doctor” who travels through time and space in a ship called the Tardis, which outwardly resembles a 1960s police telephone box.

The main character has the ability to regenerate, a quirk that has allowed a number of actors to have played the role over the years.

Dr Who was first broadcast in 1963 and underwent a relaunch in 2005, the 10th series of which will be Peter Capaldi’s last.

Capaldi was previously best known for his role as foul-mouthed spin-doctor Malcolm Tucker in the BBC series The Thick of It.