Dr Who star to helm 'a couple of episodes'

His career skyrocketed after playing Malcolm Tucker in The Thick Of It – and now Peter Capaldi is to direct its American cousin, Veep.

The Doctor Who star revealed that he was helping a ‘couple of episodes’ of the show in an interview with Shortlist magazine.

When asked if he’d appear in Veep alongside Julia Louis-Dreyfus, he said: ‘Sure, why not? It would be fine by me. I’m about to direct a couple of episodes, does that count? That seems like the compromise option.

‘The only thing is, Doctor Who takes up so much time, it doesn’t leave a lot of time to do other things. That whole team are dear friends. I’d love to work with them at some point again.’

Veep was created by The Thick Of It mastermind Armando Iannucci, although he stepped down as show runner last year.

And Capaldi is no stranger to directing, having won an Oscar in 1995 for his short biographical film Franz Kafka’s It’s A Wonderful Life. He also helmed the 2012 spoof documentary The Cricklewood Greats and nine episodes of Jo Brand’s BBC Four comedy Getting On.

Previous directors of Veep have included Chris Morris and Chris Addison, as well as Iannucci himself.

Published: 11 Sep 2015