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Today every fan has the opportunity to talk about their favourite show online. But it wasn't always so.

In the days before the internet, magazine letters' pages were one of the few places for people to discuss the shows they loved.

Back in 1974, when he was just 15, Peter Capaldi put pen to paper and wrote to the Radio Times praising it’s coverage of the show he would go on to star in 39 years later – Doctor Who.

The megafan admits he didn’t take very good care of his memorabilia though.

‘I had a huge collection of Doctor Who books, autographs and pictures, . That was silly, wasn’t it?’

Peter Capaldi set his sights on a place at one of the famous drama schools in Britain, the Royal Academy for the Dramatic Arts, better known as RADA.

But they didn't want him.

So instead Capaldi switched tacks and .

Capaldi didn't give up on the idea of being a performer though.

In the early 1980s he was .

While they released a single, recorded live at the Hellfire Club in Glasgow, the band weren't widely acclaimed.

‘We were the only band John Peel never gave a session to in Glasgow,’ .

Capaldi wasn't the only Dreamboy to eventually find fame.

Drummer Craig Ferguson would go on to become a major star in the US .

Peter Capaldi also dabbled at stand-up comedy around this time.

But this career move proved to be no more a successful than being in a band, at least .

Capaldi's passion for comedy did inspire Craig Ferguson though.

‘ and, when done well, was an art form,’ he wrote in his 2009 memoir.

‘Up until this point, I had learned that being funny, particularly in school, was stupid and could get you physically injured.’

Stand-up comedy did help him break into acting.

Capaldi was hired to support Spandeau Ballet on tour in 1982.

Bill Forsyth, the writer and director of Gregory’s Girl, .

He liked the looked the look of the young comic and offered him the part of wide-eyed Danny Oldsen .

Yet Capaldi was not to become a household name until more than two decades later.

In the 1990s, Capaldi wrote and directed an Oscar-winning short film, .

But despite this seal of approval from Hollywood, Peter's directing career didn't kick on as he’d hoped.

‘A year after winning the Oscar, almost to the day, .’

‘I was standing in a field in Rickmansworth, close to the M25, up to my knees in mud, looking for the best spot.’

‘It was a dog food ad and it couldn’t pay for a location scout.’

‘I thought to myself, ‘This is a long way to have fallen’.’

, the foul-mouthed spin doctor, entered Peter Capaldi’s world just in the nick of time.

‘ because the business is so fickle.’

‘One year was so bad for me and my wife that we were going to have to sell our house until Elaine decided to change career and earn some money.’

Although they are extremely different shows, Capaldi says The Thick of It was good preparation for joining Doctor Who.

‘Armando Iannucci and his team of writers created a whole world that was unfortunately a very accurate reflection.’

‘I think his method of working taught us a lot about acting and .’

‘When you're doing something like Doctor Who, you try to bring some of that immediacy to the work. So, he did prepare me.’

There was surprise when Capaldi, an actor in his 50s, was cast as the Doctor in 2013.

‘I read in the paper that Matt [Smith] was leaving. ’

‘I thought the role was going to keep going in a younger direction.’