Peter Capaldi Turned Down Doctor Who Tender Bids, and Explains Why

Morning News · Sunday 1 November 2026

Peter Capaldi has been asked again and again to help companies bid for the next era of Doctor Who, and he has turned every one of them down. Also this morning: Netflix books a third stay at Haunted Hotel, Jurassic Park’s Joseph Mazzello checks in to the Cecil Hotel for the horror A Grim Life, FrightFest heads to Newcastle for the first time, Robert Eggers’ Werwulf gets a running time, and Doctor Doom’s army marches through Tokyo.

The News That Matters

Peter Capaldi turned down Doctor Who tender bids, and explains why

• What he said: The Twelfth Doctor told Billy Barnell’s Half the Picture podcast that production companies keep asking him to join their bids in the BBC’s Doctor Who tender, not to star but “to create a version of it”, and that he has said no to all of them, Bleeding Cool and Doctor Who TV reported
• Why he passed: “I know how hard the show is to make,” he said. “You can’t make a show like Doctor Who without it taking over your life… you can’t do it as a distant executive or a part-time role.” He added that he has other things he wants to pursue, and that his own love was for the old show
• His warning: Capaldi argued the series needs a devoted showrunner in the mould of Russell T Davies or Steven Moffat, said “I sometimes think people in BBC don’t really understand it”, and admitted he is “slightly concerned about branding” on that scale. He still expects whoever wins to be “driven and passionate about it”
• When: The interview was recorded on 26 September and released on Friday 30 October
• UK availability: The BBC is due to choose the winning bid in spring 2027, for a new series in 2028 or 2029 on the BBC; UK date not yet confirmed

Coming from a lifelong fan who has sat in the TARDIS, this is a useful reality check for the bidders. Capaldi isn’t knocking the tender, but he is saying the quiet part out loud: the show works when one obsessive person is in charge, not a committee. We set out who is in the running in Who Will Make the Next Doctor Who?, and why the Doctor endures in The Two Pillars of British Entertainment.

Netflix renews animated horror comedy Haunted Hotel for a third season

• What happened: Netflix has renewed Matt Roller’s animated series for a third season, due in 2027, Deadline and Variety reported. Netflix says season 2, released on 9 October, reached its Global English TV Top 10, and season 1 has passed 15 million views since September 2025
• The story: A single mother tries to run the world’s most haunted hotel, the Undervale, with her ghost brother, two kids and a demon trapped in a little boy’s body
• Who’s in it: Eliza Coupe, Will Forte, Skyler Gisondo, Natalie Palamides and Jimmi Simpson all return. Roller, a Rick and Morty writer, executive produces with Chris McKenna, Steve Levy and Rick and Morty co-creator Dan Harmon, with Titmouse animating
• What Roller said: “Season three is full of the biggest, funniest, scariest, saddest, and Abaddoniest stories we’ve ever told.” He has said the scripts are already written, with 10 episodes planned
• UK availability: Seasons 1 and 2 are on Netflix in the UK now; season 3 is due in 2027, UK date not yet confirmed

Renewing a horror comedy on the eve of Halloween is nicely timed, and finished scripts mean another October release looks realistic. Jimmi Simpson’s Abaddon remains the show’s secret weapon. For more spooky viewing, see our Halloween horror guide.

Jurassic Park’s Joseph Mazzello leads Cecil Hotel horror A Grim Life

• What happened: Joseph Mazzello (Jurassic Park, Bohemian Rhapsody, The Pacific) will star in A Grim Life, a supernatural horror set inside Los Angeles’ infamous Cecil Hotel, Variety reported. Hong Kong’s Cappu Films is handling international sales, unveiled at the Tokyo festival’s TIFFCOM market
• The story: Mazzello plays Tom, a struggling filmmaker who cleans toilets to pay the bills, until a friend steers him towards Böse, a lost silent film from 1931, and his hunt for a breakthrough leads to a dark secret
• Who else: British actor Max Beesley plays producer Joe, with Wes Studi, Carl Lumbly and Arnetia Walker. Francesco Lucente writes, directs and produces, and called it “a deeply personal project” about “ambition, obsession, and the sacrifices we make in pursuit of our dreams”
• The schedule: Pre-production starts in December, ahead of a January 2027 shoot, with delivery pencilled for July 2027
• UK availability: No distributor or release date yet; UK date not yet confirmed

The Cecil’s real history, including the 2013 death of Elisa Lam, has already fed true-crime documentaries and American Horror Story, so the challenge here is to find something new in the building. A lost silent film is a smart hook for anyone who loves cinema’s haunted past.

FrightFest heads to Newcastle for the first time

• What happened: Tubi FrightFest, the UK’s best-known horror film festival, will hold its first Newcastle event at the Tyneside Cinema on Saturday 1 and Sunday 2 May 2027, Cultured North East reported. It promises “a blood-soaked weekend of exclusive film premieres and special guest appearances”
• Why now: The weekend is part of the Tyneside Cinema’s 90th anniversary celebrations at the former newsreel cinema on Pilgrim Street
• What they said: FrightFest co-director Ian Rattray said the North East has “an incredibly passionate and dedicated community of horror fans”. Tyneside’s Dan Lauder called it “bringing the dark heart of cinema to Newcastle”
• UK availability: Tyneside Cinema, Newcastle, 1–2 May 2027; the line-up is due early in 2027

FrightFest has been a London fixture since 2000 and already runs a Glasgow weekend, so a north-east edition is long overdue for fans who have been travelling south every August. Catch up with this year’s main event in our Tubi FrightFest 2026 preview guide.

Robert Eggers’ Werwulf will reportedly run for two hours

• What happened: Robert Eggers’ medieval horror Werwulf will run for exactly two hours, according to cinema listings reported by ComingSoon
• The story: Set in England around 1300, it follows a rural town haunted by a feral beast. Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Lily-Rose Depp lead, with Willem Dafoe as the Old Hunter and Ralph Ineson and Kate Dickie also in the cast. Eggers co-wrote it with the Icelandic author Sjón
• Eggers on the myth: He told Esquire that going back to around 1300 means “all the clichés of being bitten by a werewolf and silver bullets… doesn’t exist in the mythology of this movie”
• UK availability: In UK cinemas from Friday 1 January 2027, from Universal Pictures; it opens in the US on Christmas Day

Watch the trailer

Two hours is a lean running time for Eggers after The Northman, and a werewolf film that throws out the silver bullets is exactly the kind of reset the genre needs. Our Werwulf preview has everything we know.

Doctor Doom’s army marches through Tokyo for Avengers: Doomsday

• What happened: Marvel brought Avengers: Doomsday to Tokyo’s Nihonbashi-Kyobashi Festival on Sunday 1 November, with about 280 people in a parade along Chuo-dori, Japanese outlet Cinema Today and Comic Basics reported
• The centrepiece: A 4.5-metre, 1.5-tonne float of Doctor Doom on his throne, as seen in the trailer, led by around 60 cloaked “Doom Corps” marchers, cosplayers and a high school band playing the Avengers theme
• And: Nobu, of the comedy duo Chidori, was unveiled as the film’s new Japanese ambassador. It follows a 2,000-drone show in Seoul and Doom’s throne turning up at expos around the world
• UK availability: In UK cinemas from Wednesday 16 December 2026, two days ahead of the US

Marvel is clearly selling Doom as the star of the show, and Robert Downey Jr.’s villain is getting a bigger welcome than most heroes. This week’s posters and the rest of the campaign are in our Weekly Superhero Round-up.

Who would you trust to run Doctor Who next, and should a former Doctor be part of it? Tell us below.

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