Character

The Captain

The Captain in Doctor Who (2005), played by Mark Gatiss.

The Captain leads a scrappy platoon of child soldiers sent to secure a derelict amusement park, and he takes the job far more seriously than his troops or his circumstances really warrant. Blustering, rule-bound and faintly ridiculous, he clings to protocol and rank as if they might steady a command that is visibly falling apart around him.

Gatiss plays the pomposity absolutely straight, which is what makes it funny rather than grating — a man performing authority he doesn't quite feel, over children who don't quite respect it. The comedy never curdles into mockery; underneath the bluster is real anxiety about competence, and that flicker of doubt is what keeps him human rather than a punchline.

Played by

Appears in

Doctor Who2005