The 6th Doctor Did Peter Capaldi's Doctor Who Casting Trick First
Peter Capaldi was cast as the Twelfth Doctor after he played another character in Doctor Who, but this casting trick was done first by Colin Baker's Sixth Doctor. On August 4th, 2013, the BBC revealed that the twelfth incarnation of The Doctor would be played by Peter Capaldi, known for his portrayal of corrupt politician Malcolm Tucker in The Thick Of It. However, Capaldi had also previously starred in Doctor Who as Pompeiian man Lobus Caecilius in season 4, episode 2, “The Fires of Pompeii."
Caecilius encountered David Tennant's Tenth Doctor just before the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. Initially, The Doctor left Caecilius and his family to die in the disaster, but his companion Donna Noble, played by Catherine Tate, convinced him to go back and save them. Thus, when The Doctor regenerated into Capaldi's incarnation just a few years later, showrunner Steven Moffat made it clear that the likeness was more than just a coincidence. In Doctor Who season 9, episode 5, «The Girl Who Died,» Capaldi's Doctor remembered that he chose Caecilius' image when regenerating as a reminder to always try and save people.
Related: Doctor Who: Why Peter Capaldi Played Two Different Characters
However, this wasn't the first time The Doctor had regenerated into a familiar face. Almost three decades prior, Peter Davison's Fifth Doctor regenerated into the Sixth Doctor, played by Colin Baker. This was despite the fact that Baker had already played Commander Maxil in the Fifth Doctor adventure «Arc of Infinity,» making it the original casting trick. Unlike Capaldi and Caecilius, the show never addressed the visual similarities between Colin Baker's Sixth Doctor and Maxil. Nevertheless, it had already been known for some time that
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