Peter Capaldi nearly appeared on Veep as Malcolm Tucker

While Peter Capaldi is primarily known as the twelfth incarnation of Doctor Who, for some he’ll always be remembered as Malcolm Tucker, the gloriously fiery, sweary spin doctor from ‘The Thick Of It’ and ‘In The Loop’.

Between 2005 and 2012 Capaldi appeared in 24 episodes over four seasons as Malcolm Tucker, and deliciously delivered the unique mix of wit, expletives and threats that made the show just so funny and entertaining.

The final season made it look as though Malcolm Tucker’s time in British politics had come to an end. However, Peter Capaldi has now admitted that he held initial talks about reprising the character over in America for’ Veep’, which was created by ‘The Thick Of It’s’ Armando Ianucci.

But before you start leaping for joy and wondering aloud when we will see Malcolm Tucker and Selina Meyer in the same room together, Capaldi also confessed that he wasn’t able to find the time to bring the character back because of his ‘Doctor Who’ commitments.

During his discussion with The Observer Peter Capaldi originally admitted that he was asked by Ianucci to direct a couple of episodes, which he declined because he’d have needed to give up half a year to do so, and ‘Doctor Who’ takes up nine months of the year. Then Capaldi added, “I think they kind of floated the idea of me showing up a some point … The timing never quite worked out.”

It’s not ever likely to again, too, because Armando Ianucci has since left ‘Veep’ and been replaced by David Mandel. Capaldi sadly confessed that any discussions about him possibly starring have long since dissipated. Which just feels a giant waste.