From the Doctor to My Son Thomas

From the Doctor to My Son Thomas
From the Doctor to My Son Thomas
	Peter Capaldi in an excerpt from his video
Directed by	Peter Capaldi
Written by	Peter Capaldi
Starring	Peter Capaldi
Cinematography	Peter Capaldi
Distributed by	Ross Goodall (YouTube)
Release date	6 November 2014;
Running time	42 seconds
Country	Scotland
Language	English

"From the Doctor to My Son Thomas" is a viral video recorded by actor Peter Capaldi and sent to Thomas Goodall, an autistic nine-year-old boy in England, to console the child over grief from the death of Goodall's grandmother. Capaldi filmed the 42-second video in character as the Twelfth Doctor from the BBC science-fiction series Doctor Who. Capaldi's message had a positive effect on Thomas: he smiled for the first time since learning of his grandmother's death, and gained the courage to go to her funeral.

Thomas' father Ross Goodall posted the video to YouTube on 6 November 2014, wanting to make the video available to his family, but had no idea it would become popular online. The video was viewed over 200,000 times in its first 48 hours online, and more than doubled the next day, and less than a week later it had over 900,000 total views, making it a viral video, with the responses becoming a global phenomenon.

"From the Doctor to My Son Thomas" was widely praised by critics for its emotional resonance. The Independent wrote that Capaldi displayed a kinder face of his personality by sending the message. It was hailed as Capaldi's best contribution as the character of the Doctor to date, with him making effective use of his Doctor role. The video had a positive impact on those with mental health problems. Peter Harness, writer of the episode "Kill the Moon", said that Capaldi's video was his favourite highlight from ten years of Doctor Who.