Claim: Actors have played the Doctor.

Peter Dougan Capaldi -LRB- born 14 April 1958 -RRB- is a Scottish actor , writer and director , best known for playing the twelfth incarnation of the Doctor in the television series Doctor Who . His next most notable role is spin doctor Malcolm Tucker in The Thick of It , for which he has received four British Academy Television Award nominations , winning Best Male Comedy Performance in 2010 . For reprising the role in the spinoff film In the Loop , Capaldi was honoured with several film critic award nominations for Best Supporting Actor . He further took on the role of Paddington Bear 's neighbour Mr. Curry in the family comedy film Paddington ; he is set to reprise the role in Paddington 2 .   As a director , Capaldi won the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film and the BAFTA Award for Best Short Film for his short film Franz Kafka 's It 's a Wonderful Life . He went on to write and direct the drama film Strictly Sinatra and helmed two series of sitcom Getting On .