DOCTOR Who star Peter Capaldi did not want a romance between his character and Jenna Coleman’s Clara, his assistant, in the new series.

“It would have been completely creepy,” the Glasgow-born star said.. “It’s fine if you have handsome young men like Matt (Smith) and David Tennant, but as a father I felt it would be inappropriate.”

As the 12th incarnation of the Time Lord, Capaldi is 57 and actress Coleman, who has played the Doctor’s assistant Clara Oswald since 2012, is 29. Having made a name for himself as The Thick Of It’s ,Malcolm Tucker, he says the lack of romance between the Doctor and his assistant has “forged a huge bond” between him and Coleman.

“There’s no romance,” he explains, “But there’s deep love.”

Coleman, also known for her role as Jasmine Thomas in Emmerdale, says starring alongside a new Doctor was exciting, but scary.

“The Doctor, who is my best friend, is not only in a different body, but he’s also getting to know himself,” she says. “Age made no difference. He’s an alien. We’re not lovey-dovey.

“Everything is more about what is unsaid, rather than said. Clara may seem like a control freak, but she’s trying to control the uncontrollable.”

The ninth series of the hit BBC One show starts again on Saturday, with Steven Moffat, from Paisley, at the helm once again.

A lot has been made of the relationship between the Doctor and his assistant, given that in the last series their relationship was really put through its paces.

The show is a phenomenon all over the world, with audiences in the USA and South Korea tuning in to watch it.

Capaldi reckons: “Unlike other sci-fi, Doctor Who has a domestic element – the Tardis could turn up in the Mall or a coffee shop – but it catches fire abroad, in culturally different places, particularly with students and young adults.

“I suppose it offers escapism.”