DOCTOR Who star Peter Capaldi has helped an autistic boy understand the death of his beloved grandma – by sending him a video message.

Thomas Goodall, nine, from North Baddesley, had been struggling to come to terms with the death of his 72-year-old gran Helen in October when he received a comforting video clip from the actor.

In his message, which last has been viewed on the Internet by more than 800,000 people, Capaldi stays in character as the Time Lord as he thanks the child for writing to him.

He then offers some wise words on life and death as well as telling him to “take care and be happy”.

Thomas’s dad, Ross, who shared the clip online so that other relatives could see it, said that for the first time since his grandmother’s death, Thomas came out of his shell.

He said: “A massive smile just beamed across his face. He came away from the computer and cuddled his sister and decided he wanted to go to the funeral. He had been finding it all too much and was blocking it all out until he saw the video and then he decided he could deal with it.”

Thomas, an avid Doctor Who fan since the age of two, comes from a family of ‘Whovians’.

He first wrote to Capaldi to wish him luck in his new role as the Doctor.

The actor responded soon after, writing to dad Ross about how to set up a tour of the set, but after hearing about the death of Thomas’s gran, Capaldi recorded a message.