The brilliant Jodie Whittaker is about to appear on the big screen again in Paddy Considine’s new movie, Journeyman. As such, she’s been doing some interview work to promote the movie. The subject of Doctor Who has come up in the midst of that.

Whittaker is currently filming Doctor Who series 11, of course, and she’s been chatting to the Sunday Times about how things have been going.

“People have been absolutely lovely so far”, she said. “The other week in Cardiff I could see this little lad plucking up the courage to talk to me so I made it easier, ‘you all right, mate?’ So I know it made his morning”, she added, not minding such fan interactions (“I’m actually fine with that”).

She also noted that “people are lovely, but I am very private, which is possible as long as you stick to certain things. I still get the Tube, but I might start wearing a hat”.

In the same interview, Whittaker admitted that she wasn’t a fervent Doctor Who fan growing up, but became much more aware of the show following its revival in 2005. She also admitted that her favourite Doctor is her one-time Broadchurch co-star, David Tennant…!

The Times

After recently claiming he was “blacklisted” by the BBC after leaving Doctor Who, former Ninth Doctor Christopher Eccleston has now revealed more about the tensions he felt on set during filming for the sci-fi series.

“My relationship with my three immediate superiors – the showrunner, the producer and co-producer – broke down irreparably during the first block of filming and it never recovered,” Eccleston says in the latest issue of Radio Times.

“They lost trust in me, and I lost faith and trust and belief in them,” he continues.

Eccleston starred in the sci-fi series when it first rebooted in 2005 with Russell T Davies as showrunner.

Describing the situation as “very” stressful, Eccleston claims that he felt out of place playing a lighter role, and believes it may have contributed to on-set difficulties.

“Some of my anger about the situation came from my own insecurity,” he says. “They employed somebody [as the Doctor] who was not a natural light comedian.”

He adds, “Billie [Piper], who we know was and is brilliant, was very, very nervous and very, very inexperienced. So, you had that, and then you had me. Very, very experienced, possibly the most experienced on it, but out of my comfort zone.”

In the interview, Eccleston goes on to reveal why he’s only elected to speak on the subject in recent months, with the Salford-born actor suggesting he’d made an agreement not to “damage” the reputation of the series.

“When I left, I gave my word to [then-showrunner] Russell T Davies that I wouldn’t do anything to damage the show,” he says. “But they did things to damage me. I didn’t criticise anybody.”

Asked if Davies was aware of the issues, Eccleston says, “If you’re the showrunner, you know everything. That’s your job,” adding that he “never will have” a working relationship with the screenwriter again.

Eccleston was speaking with Radio Times ahead of the release of his new series, BBC1 drama Come Home.

Read the full interview with Christopher Eccleston in the latest Radio Times magazine, on sale now

TV and film star Alan Cumming is coming (sorry) to Doctor Who. The actor revealed that he’s set to appear in a future episode of the BBC1 sci-fi series alongside Jodie Whittaker’s Thirteenth Doctor, with the Scottish actor playing a similarly Scottish monarch – James I.

“I’m about to go and do an episode of Doctor Who,” Cumming revealed on Will Young and Chris Sweeney’s podcast Homo Sapiens.

“I’m so excited! I’ve never been in it.”

Asked if he was playing a villain, Cumming replied in the affirmative, adding that he was “like, a nice baddie.

“I’m James I. So I’m kind of like, you know, a kind of dandy, foppy, coward who kind of comes alright in the end. And they said he might come back.”

If true. Cumming’s casting would represent one of the first major casting coups of the new Doctor Who series, which has remained secretive since beginning filming late last year.

And it would also represent the culmination of a long-held ambition for Cumming, who has previously stated that he was approached more than once to play the Doctor him/herself in years past.

https://twitter.com/Alancumming/status/872770997304381440

Plus, given the character he plays, it seems safe to assume that we might see the Doctor and her Tardis team go on an exciting historical adventure to 17th century England in an upcoming episode, which is exciting information for fans desperate to learn anything about the new series.

And who knows? If Cumming is right, we could see King James return in future episodes for years to come. Assuming he doesn’t get in too much trouble for spilling the beans before then…

Doctor Who returns to BBC1 this autumn