Doctor Who series 8: Peter Capaldi wanted a 'stick insect' look

Steven Moffat said the Scottish actor is 'really into his clothes'

Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman will star in Doctor Who series 8 in August (BBC)

The new reincarnation of the Doctor, Peter Capaldi, wanted to resemble a “stick insect” on screen.

The Scottish actor, best known for his role in The Thick of It, had very clear ideas on how he wanted his character to dress in the eighth series of Doctor Who, according to executive producer Steven Moffat.

“He wanted to be quite stark. Stark and skinny. A stick-insect sort of thing,” Moffat told SFX.

“Clara (Jenna Coleman) actually calls him a grey-haired stick-insect at one point. We had some hilarious pictures of Peter just dressing up. It was all coming from him because he’s really into his clothes.”

Moffat added that Capaldi “seems to be wearing different outfits far more often than the Doctor normally does”.

“The one I like best is when he wears the jumper under his coat,” he said.

“I think he looks like a submarine commander, like an old sailor or something. It makes him all rugged and handsome!”

Capaldi has previously admitted that he only wanted to play the Doctor if he liked the role.

“I didn't want to be Doctor Who in a Doctor Who I didn't like. I had to be convinced the show was going in a direction I was interested in,” he said.

“I had to think carefully about the level of visibility. My life was blessed, but as soon as this happened I had paparazzi outside my house. People spoke to me before and recognised me, but nothing like this," Capaldi added.

“I had to decide if I was ready to live with that, because once that genie is out of the bottle, it doesn't go back in.”

Doctor Who returns to BBC One on 23 August.