Peter Capaldi Joins Only Murders in the Building Season 6, Completing an Extraordinary Doctor Who Reunion
Peter Capaldi has been cast as a recurring guest star in the sixth season of Hulu's Only Murders in the Building, according to an exclusive report from Deadline. The Scottish actor, best known as the Twelfth Doctor in Doctor Who, joins a London-set season already stacked with names from across the British acting landscape — including several of his former Time Lords.
Capaldi's casting means that four actors who have played the Doctor in Doctor Who will appear together in the same season of the murder-mystery comedy. Jodie Whittaker, who succeeded Capaldi as the Thirteenth Doctor and was the first woman to take the role, was announced in June alongside David Tennant, who played the Tenth and Fourteenth Doctors (Deadline; Radio Times). Jim Broadbent, who played an alternate version of the Eleventh Doctor in the 1999 Comic Relief special Doctor Who: The Curse of Fatal Death, rounds out the quartet.
Season 6 marks the first time the series has ventured outside the United States. Charles (Steve Martin), Oliver (Martin Short) and Mabel (Selena Gomez) leave their New York apartment building behind to investigate a mystery in London. Production is currently under way in the U.K.
The recurring guest cast for the new season is unusually large. Previously announced additions include Nicola Coughlan, Richard Ayoade, Adrian Lukis, Kathryn Hunter, Jennifer Saunders, Sean Teale, Simone Ashley, Amar Chadha-Patel, Rhea Norwood, Matthew Beard, Sharon Horgan, Martin Freeman, Geri Halliwell-Horner, Jamie Demetriou, Anjana Vasan, Jane Horrocks, Derek Jacobi and Lesley Nicol.
Capaldi brings a particularly deep résumé to the ensemble. He won two British Comedy Awards for his turn as the profane spin doctor Malcolm Tucker in four seasons of The Thick of It. He most recently starred opposite Cush Jumbo in Apple TV+'s Criminal Record — Apple revealed the Season 2 premiere date and first look in January (Deadline) — and in Amazon's The Devil's Hour, which has just finished filming its third season. Beyond acting, Capaldi released Sweet Illusions, his second album of original songs, in 2026 and is set to tour later this year.
Only Murders in the Building was co-created by Steve Martin and John Hoffman and is produced by 20th Television. Season 6's executive producers include Hoffman, Martin, Martin Short, Selena Gomez, Dan Fogelman, Jess Rosenthal, Ben Smith, Jennifer Crittenden and Gabrielle Allan.
For a show built on the chemistry of its three leads and a rotating cast of suspects, a London move and four Time Lords in one guest roster is a lot of new variables. What those additions add up to on screen is a question the viewing figures will answer when the season arrives on Hulu.
