10 MORE Times Doctor Who Lied To Your Face

At San Diego Comic-Con in 2013, Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat told Digital Spy that "the search for the Twelfth Doctor has barely begun." Less than two weeks later, Peter Capaldi was unveiled as the Twelfth Doctor in a live show spectacular on primetime BBC1.

Once again, Steven Moffat had lied through his teeth.

In fact, at the time of his interview with Digital Spy in July 2013, Peter Capaldi's casting had been known by the Doctor Who production team for quite a while. Even the idea of a "search" for the Twelfth Doctor was a lie, with Peter Capaldi being the first choice to play the part. There would have been other names as back-ups in case Capaldi said no of course, which is probably where those Rory Kinnear and Ben Daniels rumours came from. But Capaldi was always Moffat's man, and in fact, Moffat had briefly considered casting him as the Eleventh Doctor before Matt Smith entered the picture!

Fundamentally though, lifelong Doctor Who fan Peter Capaldi was never going to say no. And savvy Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat was hardly going to kick Capaldi out of his kitchen after his successful audition.

Still, it's another example of a little white lie leading to another big reward – this time during Doctor Who's glorious 50th anniversary year, in which Capaldi's Twelfth Doctor (or rather, his eyebrows) was unveiled in spectacular fashion.

And really, with Matt Smith's regeneration on the horizon, we should've known that the search for his replacement hadn't "barely begun". The search for the next Doctor Who isn't something you rush at the last minute, is it?