Whether you know him as the Twelfth Doctor or as Paddington Bear's nosy next-door neighbour, Peter Capaldi has well and truly left his mark on the screen. And he's back on televisions across the nation over Easter with the second season of ITV's horror flick The Devil's Hour.
Peter plays one of the darkest roles of his career in the psychological thriller as Gideon Shepherd – a vigilante stuck in a time loop. The second installment, which came out in 2024, was added to ITVX on 5 April and is the next best binge for horror fanatics.
The now 67-year-old has been married to a famous producer behind a major BBC series for most of his four decades in acting. Peter tied the knot with Scottish star Elaine Collins back in 1991 – and not only are they "best friends" and parents to a grown-up daughter, but they've even worked together on a popular thriller series.
Read on for all you need to know about Elaine and her private 35-year marriage with Peter.
© Getty ImagesShe's supported Peter's career
Peter and Elaine first met back in 1983 when they were working together on a production with the Paines Plough Theatre Company. It was that first meeting that Peter later admitted was the one moment in his life that he would time-travel back to if he could. "I just loved meeting my wife. We were both in a show together so that was terribly exciting. I’d like to re-live that," he told The Standard in 2015.
They went on to tie the knot in 1991 and welcomed their only child, a daughter named Cecily, in 1992. The couple have since become grandparents to Cecily's two sons, who were reportedly born in 2021 and 2023.
During an acceptance speech at the BAFTA Scotland awards in November 2022, Peter gushed that it was his wife's "strength, kindness, wisdom and love that's enabled me to have this career." He added: "You’ve always been there through all the ups and downs, and that you chose to share your life with me is the greatest luck of all."
He's also reportedly credited Elaine as the person who "changed everything" for him, as per The Daily Mail in April 2025. "Elaine really changed my life. She’s an incredible woman, amazing mother and producer and actress and all of these things," he reportedly said.
"I don’t want to go into it in huge detail because I also have a private life but she’s the person who changed everything for me because she took me in at a time when I wasn’t in great shape, and loved me."
Elaine is in the same industry
While her husband has made a name for himself in front of the camera on Doctor Who, The Thick of It and Local Hero, to name a few credits, Elaine is a force behind the screen. In 2011, she executive produced and helped develop the ITV series Vera, starring Brenda Blethyn and based on Ann Cleeves' Vera Stanhope crime novels.
She then signed on to bring another of Ann's series, Shetland, to the small screen a couple of years later. Elaine joined the BBC's long-running crime drama series, which was produced by ITV Studios for BBC Scotland, as an executive producer and developer from its inception in 2013 up until the third season in 2016. She has since gone on to start her own production company, Tod Productions, which launched in 2017.
They've worked together
© Ross Ferguson, Apple TV+Though she didn't share the screen with her husband in the 2024 Apple TV+ thriller series Criminal Record, Elaine worked behind-the-scenes to bring the show to life. The series was commissioned by her production company and produced in collaboration with STV Studios.
"It was lovely to work with her. We did a film years ago and a play – we met doing a play – but this was the first time I'd acted in a show that she'd created, so it was nice," Peter told HELLO! exclusively about his experience being a co-producer and playing Detective Chief Inspector Daniel Hegarty the show with his wife. The pair had previously shared the stage and worked together on multiple projects, including the 1995 Oscar-winning short film, Franz Kafka's It's a Wonderful Life, which Peter wrote and directed.
Elaine also gushed about filming Criminal Record with her husband in an interview with Radio Times, and revealed how they balanced their home and work life.
"He was fantastic. We genuinely had a great time and it was amazing to have that support system at work and at home," she said.
"Of course you bring it home – you’re living and breathing a show while you’re making it – but that was genuinely great. He’s always a support system for me. Hand on heart, we’re best friends."
