How Every Doctor Who Got Cast

Steven Moffat had apparently considered casting Peter Capaldi as the Eleventh Doctor back in 2009, but it never came to be. Four years later, Moffat revisited this notion, and offered Capaldi the role after a private audition at Moffat's home. 

It's widely believed that Capaldi was always the first choice for the role, which was why he auditioned in Moffat's kitchen, rather than in a more official setting.

However, other options were being explored for the unlikely possibility that lifelong Doctor Who fan Capaldi would turn down this most coveted of characters.

Actor Ben Daniels revealed that he had been asked about succeeding Matt Smith as the Twelfth Doctor. Meanwhile, bookies slashed the odds on James Bond actor Rory Kinnear being cast as the Doctor, believing that it was a dead cert.

While these potential candidates had been rumoured and leaked to the press ahead of the big swanky primetime reveal in August 2013, Peter Capaldi was always at the top of the list.