Peter Capaldi has opened up a little further on his departure from Doctor Who, suggesting that the demands of being the face of a brand played a part in his decision to leave. Capaldi portrayed the show’s iconic titular Time Lord from his brief, eyebrow-heavy debut in 2013’s “The Day of the Doctor” until the final, emotional moments of the 2017 Christmas special. Along the way, Capaldi’s Twelfth Doctor worked his way through several full-time companions, two separate iterations of The Master, a spinoff series appearance, and a Dalek called Rusty. Quite the tenure.

After it was announced that showrunner Steven Moffat would be stepping down to make way for the incoming Chris Chibnall, Capaldi himself revealed that he too would be exiting Doctor Who and handing over the TARDIS keys to a brand new face. That face was eventually announced to be Jodie Whittaker, the first woman to land the role in Doctor Who‘s long, illustrious history, and Capaldi was quick to express his support for the actress. However, while nuggets of information have been gradually leaking out regarding the filming of Whittaker’s debut season (K-9 is back!), things have been considerably quieter on the Capaldi front, with the exception of his voice work on this year’s Peter Rabbit.

The actor himself has now revealed more about both his exit from Doctor Who and what he’s been up to since. Speaking with The Courier Mail, Capaldi said:

“Doctor Who is a great show and experience but to be at the center of that brand is a lot of work. There’s a lot more than just acting. It was hard to maintain that level of commitment with that schedule any longer. I tried my best to make the doctor come alive”

As for how Capaldi has filled his time since he ceased exploring time and space, the actor explained:

“I stopped being anything. After four years it was a great opportunity to just say I’m going to rest. I’m going to stop working, I’m playing guitar and going out for breakfast. I feel slightly guilty to say I’m enjoying it but I am.”

Doctor Who fans are generally quite divided on the success of the Capaldi era but most do tend to agree that any blame rests largely on the stories, rather than the Twelfth Doctor himself and many were keen to see how the actor would fare under another showrunner. Although it’s certainly disappointing that a Chibnall/Capaldi team-up will never come to pass on Doctor Who, it’s also perfectly understandable that the actor would feel that four years on the job is enough, especially since he’s one of the more senior figures to be cast as the Doctor in the modern era.

It’s also important to take into consideration how much heavier the responsibilities are for Doctor Who‘s lead actor compared to a regular TV role. In addition to the filming schedule itself, Doctor Who is the BBC’s flagship brand across the globe and comes with no small amount of media appearances, promotional work, and fan events. While it’s impossible to begrudge Capaldi some time off to play his guitar and eat breakfast, hopefully his considerable talents won’t stay off screens for long.

Doctor Who season 11 premieres in October 2018 on BBC.