Peter Capaldi doesn't "want to know" if everybody hates him.

Peter Capaldi as the Doctor

Peter Capaldi as the Doctor

The 'Doctor Who' star - who reprises his role as the titular Time Lord in the upcoming ninth series - has admitted he avoids reading what people write about his performances on Twitter because he doesn't want to be made to doubt himself.

He said: "I don't play any of those games, looking at Twitter and so on. It's too hard - you know what the world's like. If everybody hates me, I don't want to know - you can't let any of that affect what you do. I'm still doing it , so that means I guess that people thought I was OK. Either that, or they couldn't afford to buy out my contract."

The 57-year-old actor doesn't think he'll ever get bored of playing the Doctor and feels privileged to be doing something he loves for a living.

He told Shortlist magazine: "Is this work? No, it's 'Doctor Who', how can it be just work? If something becomes just work, it's time to pack it in anyway. It's a wonderful job to find myself in, I'm just happy to be here. I can't imagine it ever becoming routine."

Capaldi also insisted that although the BBC sci-fi drama is a family show, they try not to let that affect the storylines.

He explained: "We never tone things down. The intensity is welcomed. We look at loss, and dark - if you like - adult issues, and we never soften things. Obviously there is care taken around things like violence, but that's common sense more than anything else. But the concept, the ideas, are never toned down. Or the performances, for that matter - apart from them asking me to overact less. I never listen to that note at all, I'll down a Red Bull and overact more."