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Doctor Who’s The Power of the Doctor cast and Chris Chibnall on Jodie Whittaker’s final adventure

Doctor Who’s The Power of the Doctor cast and Chris Chibnall on Jodie Whittaker’s final adventure

Doctor Who: The Centenary Special (2022) Movie Download - CinematicDb

There will be laughter, there will be huge jeopardy, and there will be tears at the departure of the Thirteenth Doctor. It’s the biggest threat the Doctor has ever faced – and that any Doctor has ever faced – to their life or lives.

— Chris Chibnall

In a feature-length Special to mark her last adventure, Jodie Whittaker’s Thirteenth Doctor must fight for her very existence, against her deadliest enemies: the Daleks, the Cybermen and her arch-nemesis, the Master.

Who is attacking a speeding bullet train on the edges of a distant galaxy? Why are seismologists going missing from 21st century Earth? Who is defacing some of history’s most iconic paintings? Why is a Dalek trying to make contact with the Doctor? And just what hold does the mesmeric Rasputin have over Tsar Nicholas in 1916 Russia?

The Doctor faces multiple threats… and a battle to the death.


Interview with Chris Chibnall


Chris Chibnall

Can you tell us what audiences can expect from this special?

You can expect a massive all action thrill ride from start to finish. There will be laughter, there will be huge jeopardy, and there will be tears at the departure of the Thirteenth Doctor. It’s the biggest threat the Doctor has ever faced – and that any Doctor has ever faced – to their life or lives.

Can you talk a bit about the process in putting this feature length episode together? What did you finally set out to achieve?

It’s a particularly unique brief and a particularly unique episode because it’s a regeneration episode, but it’s also a celebratory episode for the BBC centenary and Doctor Who’s place within the BBC. So I really wanted to ensure that it had sufficient scale, but also that it was connected into the past, present, and future of Doctor Who.

We’re bringing back characters like Tegan and Ace, also there are lots and lots of easter eggs. Some are visual, some are verbal, some are so deeply buried that only few people will recognise them! But there are so many references to the past of Doctor Who in there that it’s got its own crazy movie length identity for the BBC centenary, whilst also saying goodbye to a very beloved Doctor.

We’ve got some exciting returnees such as Sacha Dhawan, Sophie Aldred and Janet Fielding. How was it having those conversations?

One of the great joys are always the phone calls to people who’ve been in the show, or who might want to be in the show, and telling them what you think the story is how it’s going to play out and asking them back. So the calls to Janet and Sophie were wonderful and were incredibly emotional. They were amazing and thrilled and throughout the whole process have just been extraordinary.

It’s important to take a moment to praise their sheer bravery and guts – to come back to something you have not done in twenty or thirty years is incredible. To step onto a set where you don’t know anybody but to be going back to a world you thought you left behind is really extraordinary. And they are so amazing in the episode. It’s a delight to see them amidst modern Doctor Who. So that was fantastic.

We talked about where we collectively thought their characters would be now. I really wanted them to feel comfortable with what had happened in the gap between when we’d last seen those characters on screen and where we meet them here. It’s lightly sketched in, but it’s really important for them as performers and for those characters.

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Janet Fielding as Tegan, Jodie Whittaker as The Doctor and Sophie Aldred as Ace

Did you always want to bring back companions from the past?

It was more to do with being asked to do a centenary special, that I thought there had to be something from the past that felt strong, unique and different to what else we’d done during Jodie’s time as the Doctor. So it was just a brilliant opportunity, and as soon as we knew we were doing that, that was one of the things I wanted to do.

Those characters and those actors came to mind as I think they’re representative of certain times in the show’s history and they are both incredibly strong and vibrant characters. There are so many to choose from and in a way you want to do all of them but actually, I had to just pick two! And what both of them said separately was ‘Oh I think, Tegan would get on well with Ace’ and then ‘Oh I think Ace would get on really well with Tegan’.

With Sacha, it was a long term plan that we had spoken about when he was last on the show. At the end of season 12 I had the conversation with him, knowing that we would be doing Jodie’s final episode at the end of the following season. The big conversation was about coming back for her finale, because it had always felt like his Master and Jodie’s Doctor instantly had that chemistry, and that it would be a really fitting last battle. It took a lot of planning and obviously then that was disrupted by the pandemic so we held on to it through everything, through all the storms. Obviously he’s incredibly in demand and he was also filming The Great but we made it work in the end. He made it happen and were just thrilled because that was the plan all along. He has rewarded everyone with the most incredible performance in this episode.

We have a focus on villains in this episode, was it hard to keep that balance of good evil? Will it be a dark episode?

I would say it’s a fast, lively and exciting episode. What you have with the three villains is separate plans and multiple threats for the Doctor. So the Doctor is really having to contain separate attacks on multiple fronts and it’s incredibly overwhelming. She’s running from pillar to post to try and sort all of these things out. And again, it was something I had in my mind for a long time, that it’d be lovely to do the axis of evil, the triumvirate of evil in Jodie’s final episode. We hadn’t done those, and I really wanted to hold that back for her finale.

The scale of this episode is huge, apart from the obvious COVID challenges, what were the other challenges faced during this process?

Every sequence is massive. So even the pre-credits – which is the longest pre-credits we’ve ever done – is like a mini movie in itself. And this episode has more visual effects shots than any episode in Doctor Who history. It was a huge demand on the visual effects team. There is a lot of action, there are a lot of locations, there are a lot of monsters, there’s a lot of things exploding! Really from the get go it had to feel constantly on the move, constantly exciting and I think it does. It was a lot of work and a lot of brilliant directing by Jamie Magnus Stone, who really is such an incredible talent and has such an ability to corral both of the emotions and the action and the scares and the humour. I think he’s done an extraordinary job.

How was it writing the Doctor’s final scenes, and did you see them being filmed?

Writing it, I always knew where we were going so I knew what I was writing towards. I knew what the final words were going to be, and where everything was going to happen and finish. So I wrote those quite early on and sort of just put them to one side.

I was on set for the final day shoot, there were a lot of people on set and there was an outpouring of love. It was a very special and very fun-filled day, there was a lot of music being played, Jodie put on playlists. There was a real sort of party atmosphere on the final day, and then we ended with these incredibly emotional final scenes. It was just a great way to finish, I have to say the last few days we had a shooting were just delightful and particularly after coming through quite a challenging year of filming, it felt like everything landed in the right place. The production team had done a great job in scheduling the final scenes of that Doctor as the final scenes we were going to film which isn’t always the case and it felt very appropriate, very right, very lovely. It didn’t feel like a sad day, it felt like a very happy day, a sense of job well done and there was so much love for Jodie and Mandip.

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Jodie Whittaker as The Doctor

What do you think Jodie’s impact has been during her time as the Doctor?

She changed the game. She changed history in terms of Doctor Who. I think what she’s brought is a Doctor who is full of hope, and positivity and generosity and I think that these times really needed that. I think she’s shown off her incredible sort of clowning side, the humour that she can do, which maybe some people didn’t know her for beforehand. I think she’s enriched the character of the Doctor, as all actors who play the Doctor do, but it’s an incredibly bold and brave performance.

And she took responsibility for the Doctor being a woman, she took it on her shoulders and represented and that was not a given, that was her strength and decision and power. I think she has been utterly magnificent, she exceeded all of our expectations. She’s given a whole generation of young girls and women a chance to feel that they are the Doctor also and that was always the purpose from the start of this era, was to really widen that net.

If you could pick your top two or three favourite episodes, what would they be?

I’d have to have a really long think about it but it’s definitely more than two or three! The ones that I really loved looking back were things like Spyfall, Rosa, Demons of the Punjab, Kerblam!, Fugitive of the Judoon, Ascension Of The Cybermen, War of the Sontarans, Village of the Angels, Eve of the Daleks. But actually, there’s loads of them that I really love and that I’m really proud of. I think it’s impossible to choose because on different days, you’ll feel different things! There’s quite a range in there, from out and out comedy to really serious drama and action in between. I feel like we really tried to make the most of the range of the stories. The whole experience is very hard to break down into components once you’re at the end!

What are you most proud of during your time on the show and what will you miss the most about Doctor Who?

It’s really hard to talk about what you’re proud of. I like the range of stories and the variety of stories. There’s a lot (to be proud of) – the first woman Doctor, a lot more women writing and directing the show, and a more diverse range of directors and writers on the show. That was the mission statement at the start for me, that’s what I wanted to do when we came in. And as I look at it now, in terms of the run we’ve had we absolutely delivered on that. That was really, really important. I’m really proud of that, but then there’s just certain stories that you think ‘We really landed that one!’

I think the thing I will miss the most is the madness of making the show. Because you can be shown the design for a monster one minute, then you’re in 1950s America, the next moment you’re getting the rushes in – you get to do things on Doctor Who you don’t do anywhere else. And the visual effects teams are amazing.

Did you take any mementos from set?

Yes I have a roundel of the TARDIS, quite a few of us do! I have a few little gifts that I was given, a front plate of the TARDIS – the plaque on the front. I didn’t take a lot, because I have a lot from the past couple of years! Weirdly the thing you take most are the memories and you kind of can’t explain those. That sounds really sentimental but it’s really true, it’s not the objects, it’s the experiences and the people.

This is also the end of Yaz’s journey, what can we expect?

It’s a big episode for Yaz and it’s the last chapter in her story, and there is a lot of things that she has to deal with do in this story. I really wanted it to feel big for Yaz as an episode, and I really think it does.

Mandip, there are not enough words in any language to describe how extraordinary Mandip is, and how brilliant she has been for the show. She is such an amazing actor. She is one of the greatest human beings, she is so smart, so funny, so kind and everyone in the television industry should be queuing up to have her as the lead in their next series because she is such a huge talent and such an amazing person. I cannot speak highly enough of her.

We really lucked out when we cast her because you never know, and to have her along for the whole of the Jodie’s era – she is as defining of it as Jodie is. The journey that her character has gone on, it’s so broad. My admiration for Mandip is unlimited.

Are you excited about the next era and being a viewer again?

I’m really looking forward to not knowing anything, I’m already enjoying it. And in fact, I had to say to Russell on a couple of occasions, ‘Please don’t tell me!’ I’m lucky enough to have seen the full ending of The Power of the Doctor and even the tiny bit of the end just made me thrilled about and excited and desperate to see more about what comes next. It’s a delightful prospect!

Can you tease what’s coming next for you?

That’s the great thing now is I don’t have to tease anything. *laughs* I’m doing lots of different projects, I’m doing stage projects, quite a lot of TV activity and we’ll see where it goes. But I’m having a lot of fun doing very different things!


Interview with Jodie Whittaker


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Can you tell us what audiences can expect from your final big special?

I would say that Whovians are in for an absolute treat. We celebrate the old, the present and the new. It’s a wonderful homage to the legacy that Doctor Who has had. It encapsulates all the things the fans love about Doctor Who – whether it be old monsters, returning characters, new elements, everything that unites Whovians is in this episode. If you haven’t seen Doctor Who before this special will be sure to hook you in for your new Doctor.

Was it exciting to be part of the BBC’s Centenary celebrations?

It is. I love the BBC, it’s a huge part of the fabric of our industry. Doctor Who is a huge part of that. Being part of a show that is so iconic in the BBC, I’m very passionate about. For this episode to come out now is a real celebration. As a young kid, the TV shows I watched led me to this now. All the drama, the comedies and the 100 years of the path that it’s laid has led to my casting.

It’s a huge episode for the villains – it’s the first time we’ve got the cybermen, The Master and the Daleks all in one. How has it been working with Sacha again?

I love Sacha, he’s amazing, an incredible actor and a phenomenal force of nature on set. His detail and level of commitment to The Master is inspiring. But in that he’s also a team player, he turns up and the crew love him, cast love him because he’s a really good laugh and he makes sure he’s part of the team. For me, he’s the perfect villain because in real life he’s the complete opposite and on screen you absolutely believe everything that comes out of his mouth. If you know him in real life, he’s such a nice guy and a lovely man. So to be so convincing as The Master? Hats off. All his choices I love. A lot of my favourite scenes throughout my tenure have been with Sacha. So being told he would be part of my final episode was an absolute joy for me. I don’t feel as it would have served my Doctor to not have the moment of resolution and heartbreak with him.

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Sacha Dhawan as The Master

How tense are those scenes?

What I love about Sacha’s Master, and what I think is important, is that he’s so broken and actually it’s not just two-dimensional evil. It’s got so many layers and there’s such a vulnerability to him that it makes things much more complicated for the Doctor. That he cannot let the Doctor survive is the most heart-breaking thing. Our last scenes were shot in order, which we never usually do so it had a big build up.

How were the stunts this time?

Stunt-wise, the opening sequences were really fun because they involved all of us at all different competence levels. You have got Dan falling out of the TARDIS but then smashing his landing. There are a lot of iconic costumes that even the fandom who haven’t even seen the episode are recreating. Someone at Comic Con turned up in my orange astronaut costume.

There are so many brilliant moments for us, there’s a lot of playfulness. There was a massive stunt that I wasn’t allowed to film where Sacha yanks the Doctor back. That was Linda, my double. Sometimes I’m gutted I’m not allowed to do things, but I didn’t miss out on being dragged over a quarry. I was fine with that!

We did loads of wire work for walking on the roof of the train. The suits were hot, and we had to have fans pumped in but they had to be turned off and then the screens would steam up. So, you had that critical moment where they’d scream ‘film’ and then the steam would come up. You go, ‘It’s not as easy as it looks!’

Can you tell us about the atmosphere on set during those final scenes?

Everyone was wonderful. On my last day there were last scenes with Yaz and the Doctor on the TARDIS but I got in a bit before Mandip to start filming. I was wondering where everyone was, but they got me on set and the cast and crew had lined up and were clapped me and I obviously lost it there. Then we did it for Mandip and I was crying more than her!

Jen, who was our third AD, had stepped up to step in as the first (AD) that last few days. She said ‘So this is the final time I’m going to call ‘Rehearsal in the TARDIS’ and I lost it. We shot the last moment and it was one take and once the camera team were happy, I could see everyone nodding and making eye-contact and my bottom lip went and I knew it was the end. It was just (the challenge of) being able to articulate to everyone what you think of them. It’s not just Mandip, not just the cast, it’s all the phenomenal people you get to work with. It’s lifelong friendships that have been forged in four years and we’ve had the time of our lives and survived a pandemic! At the beginning of our work, we had to be all separate and then at the end, we could all come together. It felt particularly emotional because of where we were at.

What will you miss most about being the Doctor?

I’m not a method actor, I don’t stay in character between scenes, but I spent a lot of time before I played the Doctor doing quite emotionally traumatised roles. I’ve played people who lost children, people whose husband had been disabled, things where characters were on the brink a lot of the time. They were major events that I can’t understand, so a lot of the time at work you are always on the moment of devastation. A lot of the time for me filming was amazing and fun to do, but you are always on the brink of upset. (With Doctor Who)

There were four seasons, there was heartbreak, there was fear and there was loss, but my overriding emotion was excitement. I felt like the over-riding thing the Doctor brought was curiosity and excitement. Obviously fear, rage and all those things, but the thing that encapsulated my Doctor the most was that bouncing into things, and that really fed into my evening and my weekend and my year. I was very half-full all day every day, so it bleeds into life. I’m not someone who sits in character all weekend but you do realise how much that emotional trauma leaves you on the edge of upset when you’ve been doing it for 12 hour days. You don’t quite let it go at the end of the day, without realising. So the reason I can gush so much about this job is because it wasn’t just happiness on set, it fed into everything. I feel like it’s knocked 15 years off me because I’ve been so energised because I had to be at work that it fed outwards and I’ll miss the energy of the Doctor.

What are you looking forward to about being a viewer of the next era?

I’m really excited to not know any spoilers! There was two big events for me – knowing O turned into the Master and that Whovians would be like, ‘OMG!’, and that I dig up a TARDIS and I turn round and Jo Martin is the Doctor. Knowing those two things were coming in one season and they hadn’t been leaked was the most fun. So now I won’t get to know those things before they come out, so I can’t wait to go, ‘You are kidding me!’. I cannot wait to see it in real time, and I don’t have the stress of keeping the secrets.

Did you steal anything from the set?

I’ve got my costume, my sonic, a Cyberman! When I fly the TARDIS, I flick a switch and what spins inside is a mini TARDIS that lights up so that spins and then I pull the handle down – I’ve got that too.

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Mandip Gill and Jodie Whittaker

You and Mandip have spent such a long time together. What will you miss most about the bond between the Doctor and Yaz?

Mandip makes me laugh in a way that nobody else does. I find her to be one of the funniest people I’ve ever been around. Mandip is in-built half-full and really constant. Everyone loves being around her. Whenever we get people on set, everyone gravitates towards her because she just is ace to be around and she is a perfect energy for me. On a selfish note, she makes me a better actor and a more level-headed person. So, on a selfish note, I feel like my anchor has gone because she never runs out of chat, which is my favourite thing…there’s an unconditional love and sisterhood. It’s unique where you find that later in life. I met her at 36 and you don’t think you’ve got room at that age. But to not be around her energy every day has been hard and I have really missed it, but obviously we speak all the time.

If you could pick one scene from your whole time that you’d love to do again, what would it be?

The episode I’d like to do again because I had such an amazing time around it, it wasn’t just the filming but the location, the people, and experiences while we were there – was Demons of the Punjab. I loved that we shot in Spain, it was our first season, it book ended our time with Jamie Childs, who’d directed us at the beginning and the end. There were some very funny moments on and off camera, we had a wonderful story that educated me because I shamefully didn’t have the knowledge about that period of history that I should have had.

So if I could go back and relive that time, I’d choose Demons of the Punjab but it would be for many reasons. Any Doctor Who fan who is into our series knows I love a birthday and I had a birthday out there, so that played a big part. But as far as doing a scene again, because it was my first week, I wish I could do the crane scenes again because the jump across, filming with Jonny (Dixon) and having scenes with Amit Shah and doing massive stunts. They were my first scenes on set and I had my very first hero speech so I would love to do that again, not because I want to change anything, but so I could relive it.

What would be your top tip for the next Doctor?

This is yours for the taking.


Interview with Mandip Gill


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Mandip Gill as Yaz

Can you tell us what audiences can expect from this feature length centenary special?

Expect lots of jaw dropping moments and amazing character interactions. When I first watched the episode my mouth was wide open. It is fast paced and as expected Chris Chibnall has once again upped the stakes in this special.

It’s a huge episode for villains with the Master, Daleks, Cybermen all appearing together for the first time since 2005. How was it working with Sacha again? Were you excited to find out he was back?

I love Sacha. It is amazing to work with one of my closest friends for obvious reasons but to watch him as an actor, creating the work he does is a privilege to watch. Trust me – you’ll see what I mean when you see it!

We’ve also got two returning companions, Sophie Aldred and Janet Fielding, did you get to know them on set?

Yes we did. It was really nice to be working with people who love the show as much as the current cast and both have so much energy and plenty of stories from their time which helped pass time during filming. It was also really exciting trying to keep them both a secret whilst filming.

The trailer looks action-packed, can you tell us a bit about any stunts we can expect?

Firstly I do all my own, so please remember that when you see me flying in the air holding on for my dear life! That was really hard and all me. Seriously it was really fun but taxing. The ropes are tight and it’s difficult to hear in the helmets. Oh and climbing up the ladder was also so difficult. It was wobbling everywhere so my look of sheer panic and distress is real. However it’s always fun to read a script where you see a stunt written, you know it’s going to be a fun few days on set.

Can you tell us about any fun moments with the team during filming? Those spacesuits look comfy!

The suit itself was very comfortable but we had huge space helmets on that had air pumped into them and I was apprehensive to put it on at first, as I was scared the air supply would stop. But the team were amazing and would take them off if I needed it. Deian Humphreys, our Sound Mixer, kindly played Dave the rapper into my helmet so I could have a little dance and rap along.

Can you tell us a bit about how you handled filming your final scenes?

Filming the final scenes were emotional, as to be expected. The Executive Producers were on the floor, the atmosphere was beautiful and naturally Jodie and I had real emotions flowing. It will be something I will remember for the rest of my days as we all knew it was the end of a beautiful chapter.

You and Jodie have been on this amazing journey together, do you hope to share the screen again?

Absolutely, we think of ideas and it usually ends up with us both been very northern and attached to the police force somehow. I would love to work with her again on something completely different, even a different genre. I am so fortunate to have found a best friend in her. The last four years have been amazing and so easy as we quickly become inseparable. We’ve been fortunate to have seen some of the world together too.

If you could go back and film one episode or scene again, what would it be and why?

I would zoom back to the beginning where the Doctor falls through the train roof and we all meet. At the time I was thinking about my delivery, character and the scene. This time I would stop and be able to see the amazing journey we’re embarking on and I would be able to enjoy it a tiny bit more.

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Yaz (Mandip Gill) and The Master (Sacha Dhawan)

Who have been some of your favourite guest artists over the years?

Too many to name. But watching Kevin McNally at work doing what he does so well is a highlight. Working with Jacob Anderson was a real treat I’ll treasure forever. Sacha has since become one of my closest mates but watching his process was precious. He is such a hard working brilliant actor. Joana Borja, Nadia Parkes and Crystal Yu (to name a few) are just some of the reasons why working on this show has been the highlight of my career so far. Getting to meet amazing talented interesting actors that become friends is a wonderful feeling.

What will you miss the most about Doctor Who and what are you most proud of during your time?

I will miss Cardiff and the crew there. They work so hard and are truly like family. I can’t emphasise how enjoyable my time has been on Doctor Who. Working long hours in all sorts of terrain with your mates is not really working for me. I am most proud of the atmosphere on set I helped to create. There were some very tough days but staying upbeat and positive can really help the rest of the cast and crew in difficult times. Jodie unknowingly has set a very high bar as “number 1” and I will work hard to follow suit.

Did you take anything from set? We heard a few things went missing..!

So, I definitely heard someone say we can take stuff. As soon as we heard that the TARDIS was dismantled in seconds! I took a sphere that was glued down but with the help of the runners it was soon in my possession and hidden from anyone I thought would steal it off me. Then we heard they still had scenes on the TARDIS to film – imagine my face because I am not naughty.

Are you excited to see the next era?

I am so excited, it will be really interesting to see their stories as I know some of our episodes were specific to my heritage, such as Demons of the Punjab and Tosin Cole’s (heritage) in Rosa, so it’ll be interesting to see theirs. Also to see them up against new and returning monsters will be fun to watch!

How was it knowing that this episode would be part of the BBC centenary celebrations?

At the time we were still only half way through the current series so it almost felt normal until I realised it was a feature long episode and it would be the regeneration and many wonderful characters! Only then did it dawn on me how privileged I was to be a part of something so iconic for Doctor Who and the BBC.

Can you sum up Yaz in three words?

Loyal, courageous and resilient.


Interview with Sacha Dhawan


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Sacha Dhawan as The Master

How did you feel when you heard you’d play such a big part in the Thirteenth Doctor’s final episode?

I was really excited to be a part of the centenary special and Jodie’s last episode, but I was also slightly nervous. You want to do the episode justice for Jodie, the rest of the cast, and for the fans. So it was a case of being excited to come back, but also wanting to offer the fans something different. I think that’s something we’ve certainly achieved.

Did you expect to return?

I knew Chris (Chibnall) wanted to bring me back. We had an open and honest conversation which was amazing, it was like a wish list. He asked me, ‘If you were to come back, what would you like to do’ and I think my head exploded. I think one of the things I really wanted to do is… fans have seen my incarnation, but I always felt that with The Master, there are so many different layers to explore. For me, he’s always been a master of disguise. He’s not happy within himself so he likes hiding in the skin of other people. That’s why I said to Chris that in this episode, I’d love to play around with these different layers and see how far we can take it.

Is it hard to get back into The Master’s skin every time?

It always brings challenges and that’s great because I’m always wanting to do something different with it. But I enjoy playing him, so even though it can be a bit terrifying at times, it’s a good feeling to have. The Master is unlike any other character I’ve ever played because they’re so rich and dynamic. You never quite know what you’re going to get, and I relish leaning into that.

Sophie (Aldred) and Janet (Fielding) have complimented your work!

That’s so nice of them. I’m a huge fan of both Janet Fielding and Sophie Aldred, they’ve had so much more history with the show. It’s a huge part of their lives and you want to do it justice for them, so when they are complimentary, it means more than just an actor complimenting your work. The feeling is certainly mutual and I think they do a fantastic job in the episode.

What is it that you think makes The Master such an iconic villain throughout Doctor Who’s history?

It’s like the relationship between Moriarty and Sherlock Holmes. The Master gets to do things that the Doctor just can’t do. You can even wipe out his existence and he’ll still find a way to come back with vengeance. He’s also a character you love to hate because there’s always a certain charm and charisma in the execution of his evil plans. I think the audience really like that because it counteracts The Doctor.

And the relationship between both The Master and the Doctor has always been so fascinating because it’s steeped in so much history, not only in front of the camera, but also, behind the camera too, especially if you look at the actors that have taken on the role over the years. And it’s a show that totally embraces each new incarnation with such excitement, with each era being an historical event of our time; ‘Who was your Doctor?’

I guess it’s the fandom themselves that make both The Doctor and The Master so iconic, by being so warm and welcoming of its new additions. It’s why the show continues to thrive from generation to generation.

Can you tease what audiences can expect from The Master and the special in general?

There is a line that The Master says to the Doctor, ‘This is the day you die’. In fact, it’s the day that puts both their lives on the line because The Master has no real control over its outcome, which makes it all the more terrifying. The Master will set out his masterplan with plenty of room for spontaneity and chaos. He’s really pushes the dial to its limits, because the truth is, he has nothing left to lose.

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Sacha Dhawan, Jodie Whittaker and Mandip Gill (Image: BBC Studios/James Pardon)

Can you tell us about any key moments from filming or building friendships on set over the years?

It was so nice working with the Doctor Who team again. It’s like stepping into one big family as they’re all so warm and welcoming. I was so nervous when I first joined the cast in Series 12, but I felt like I was more at ease this time round which meant I could soak it all up a bit more, and take in what was really a special moment in history. Not only were we celebrating the centenary, but we were also celebrating Jodie’s era as the first female Doctor. I couldn’t be more honoured and proud to have been a part of that.

I will always recall my first day in Series 12; we were in South Africa against this absolutely amazing backdrop, which I couldn’t take in because I was just so nervous. It was only when I stepped into the make-up trailer for the first time and was greeted with both Jodie and Mandip’s beaming faces and contagious laughter that I knew that this was going to special one.

Can you tell us a bit about the different incarnations of The Master we can expect?

One of the early ideas I had about playing the character was that I didn’t ever want to use prosthetics. It’s what makes The Master such fun to play, because I get to sink my teeth into so many different characters, and the onus is on me to make them believable and interesting. It also keeps the audience on their toes too, because I never wanted them to feel settled with my incarnation.

With this episode in particular I had early conversations with Chris (Chibnall) about each specific version of The Master and then worked closely with our brilliant makeup team and costume designer (Ray Holman) to create the right look. It does require a lot of attention to detail, not just in how the character looks, but making sure the performance of each incarnation feels truthful and fully formed. There’s definitely one incarnation you wouldn’t expect, but has been a long time coming…

What have been some of your standout memories on Doctor Who so far?

There’s been quite a few but I’d say the reveal of The Master on the plane in Spyfall was an iconic moment. That was the first time anyone had seen my incarnation. You practice the scene over and over again on your own, but it’s only when you get on set with the actors that the character really comes alive. It was utterly terrifying, but something really special happened in that moment. To be honest, it wasn’t what I initially intended when I was rehearsing on my own… but that’s what I love about what we do. Sometimes you just have to surrender to the moment, take it with both hands, and embrace it.

Could you ever be tempted back to Doctor Who?

I’m in two minds about coming back. I was nervous about coming back for the centenary special because you offer something up and you think, ‘Well, maybe I have done as much as I can with it and I don’t ever want it to feel predictable’. And we end on such an epic finale in this special… do we need to see him again?

But in saying that, it’s Russell T Davies and he’s an amazing writer and a beautiful human being too… so who knows? And also, let’s not forget, you can put The Master on the edge of the universe, but he’ll always find his way back again…

How would you describe the legacy of Jodie Whittaker’s Doctor?

I remember seeing the announcement that Jodie was the first female Doctor and I wasn’t part of the show then. I was blown away because it was a real moment in history, and she couldn’t have been more perfect for it.

But to be an actual part of the show, you get to see a version of the Doctor that people don’t get to see, which is Jodie being an absolute company leader. She’s the most gracious and generous actress I’ve ever worked with. And she takes it upon herself to look after all of us on set, which isn’t an easy feat when you’re playing such an iconic role. And she manages to do it all with such ease and charm.

The world is moving way too fast nowadays. We’re always looking for the next ‘moment’, the next piece of news, without really digesting the moment here and now. And Jodie’s era is an iconic moment in history not only because she was the first female Doctor, but she was also part of an era that overcame a global pandemic. A pandemic that has changed our lives forever. Jodie for me represents hope, our shining light, she’s a beacon of our time.


Interview with John Bishop


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John Bishop as Dan

What can we expect for Dan in this special?

I think at the start Dan is committed to his time with the Doctor and with Yaz, but then there is an incident that makes him question where he really needs to be and what his next steps should be. It takes him a little bit by surprise as well.

Villains are playing a huge role in the episode, can you speak about what people can look forward to seeing?

My main interaction is with the Cybermen. The strange thing about most of the monsters in Doctor Who when you are on the set, a lot of them are prosthetic based so when there’s a break you can kind of know when an actor is there. With the Cybermen when they walk on set they are scary! They have a scary aura about them. If I was ever to run a nightclub and need a bouncer, I think I’d get a Cyberman!

We’ve seen you get to wear some pretty stylish spacesuits?

Wearing the spacesuit is a proper step up. It’s something that you’d pay to do at a theme park with your mates, you can’t think of anything more fun. There’s a bit where my nose gets stuck in the helmet, but my actual real nose wasn’t big enough to get stuck so they made a copy of my real nose and then gave it to me. So I stuck my prosthetic nose on my real nose to get stuck. It’s a weird experience to have your nose in your pocket!

What was the atmosphere like on set?

It was definitely emotional. We went out for dinner one night with Jodie and Mandip and there was a tear shed mainly by me! You don’t often get that kind of feeling. You cross paths with people and you hope that whatever happens, these people are always in my life. That’s a rare thing.

What do you think the impact of Jodie’s Doctor has been?

There are few things, like changing the gender of the Doctor was huge step. The relationship between the Doctor and Yaz is a huge evolution.

Her legacy will be energy, if you look through the character traits and the characteristics she’s inherited and that she’s picked out, the character trait that she seems to have focused on from previous Doctors is the energy, the drive to come up with solutions quickly and to explain them as quickly has her mouth would speak. I think she nailed it incredibly well and on set you could feel it. She could get a page of information, which language wise was hard long complicated words in a crisis situation, she’s got to explain it to humans. The Doctor’s got to explain this mass of intellect and reduce it to the mind of normal beings. In some respects it’s like being a parent to a four year old.

I think the energy and joy she brought to the role is amazing. For me I’m going to confuse the screen character to the on set person, so I will always see that positive on set personality shining through the screen because the screen character is carrying on the traits of the previous Doctor’s. Jodie is just sunshine.

What has being part of Doctor Who meant for you and for your acting career going forward?

It might have given me one or ended it! *laughs* Most people’s experience of me is in entertainment TV shows unless they’ve seen me live – live comedy is what I do best and what I love most. The TV shows are entertainment which means they are there for the moment they are on, they are there to entertain and that’s fine. They’re like candyfloss, they are nice while you have them but they don’t fill you up.

To be placed in the world of Doctor Who, that has a legacy and which will last beyond the moment you are filming it, for me that alone makes it worth it. It’s very rare in your career where you get the opportunity to be in that type of show. You know you’re in something iconic in Doctor Who and in fifteen years’ time, someone will watch those episodes for the first time. That’s what being in Doctor Who is and that’s a very special thing.

Do you have Doctor Who fans coming to your gigs now?

Oh yeah, I have Doctor Who fans coming up to me, only yesterday I had three different people come up to me and they couldn’t have been more different. There’s not a stereotypical Doctor Who fan at all. If there was a line up and you were to guess who was a Doctor Who fan I could put those three in there and you would never have picked them.

Why should people watch the centenary special?

It’s a feature length episode but it’s fast, there’s something happening all the time. The jeopardy is huge, I think Sacha as The Master is just brilliant. They’re going to see a lot of familiar faces and surprises, a lot of surprises. I think they are going to get all the best of what they have wanted from Doctor Who… it’s like a mega value box of monsters because they are all there. Everyone you’ve had nightmares about arrives!


Interview with Janet Fielding


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Sophie Aldred as Ace and Janet Fielding as Tegan

Was it difficult to make the decision to come back to Doctor Who?

It took me oh, it must have been a whole thirty seconds to think yeah, I would (be interested)! But I didn’t anticipate that it would be anything other than a tiny cameo. I just assumed that that’s what it would be. And it wasn’t!

Can you tell me about your discussions with Chris Chibnall about coming back?

Well he phoned me up and we had a long chat and I said I thought that Tegan would be some sort of social campaigner, that I saw her getting involved in social issues, and that amongst them would be the environment and campaigning… I thought she’d probably have a couple of divorces behind her and that she would have adopted a child because that would be an environmental thing for her to do.

Was it challenging to get back into the character of Tegan again?

I do the Big Finish audio dramas, so I’m still often in the head space anyway although usually it’s back in time and not Tegan having moved on. I’m nearly 70, so it’s slightly different, it’s Tegan not having left the world of Doctor Who, it’s Tegan before she walks out the door which I did in 1984.

Was it hard to keep your return a secret and how did you feel about the reaction?

I found keeping the secret quite difficult because people are used to me going away doing Blu-ray extras and doing the odd bit of filming for that and fan conventions so I basically told people that I was doing Blu-ray extras, just I seemed to be doing more Blu-ray extras than normal, an awfully concentrated set of them, so that was quite funny. So “Where are you filming?” people make conversation, I made the mistake of saying “Cardiff” to a friend who instantly guessed because I’d been going away so often! She’s a really good friend and I told her if you tell anybody I’ll have to kill you, and she did keep the secret! One of the hard things was how do you get people to run lines because you need somebody to run your lines with you.

Was that aspect of getting back on set quite nerve wracking, in terms of tackling line learning, etc?

It’s a bit like driving, it’s an act of coordination and so you have to get into the rhythm of it, and so it took me a little bit, like a few days, to get into the rhythm of it. Things like remembering the lines, once upon a time it wasn’t really a problem, now it’s not as easy as it was because I’m not used to it!

The response was just amazing, to hearing that you were coming back. Was there anything that stood out to you?

I was gobsmacked! Everybody sort of said, ‘Oh my god I screamed when I saw you and Sophie (Aldred) in the trailer!’. And you go, ‘Really?’ They were so excited. Chris Chibnall and Russell T Davies both warned me, and reached out to say it will be incredible. It was truly overwhelming the number of tweets that night. And then of course all the newspapers picked up on it and all the online editions had it as a story. I sent it off to my brothers in Australia.

Can you talk a bit about your involvement with the villains on set?

I’ve got such sympathy for Patrick O’ Kane as the lead Cyberman (Ashad). He is absolutely terrifying to look at, he emanates really serious menace and he’s a very big man anyway, but he so was terrific, because we were in scenes together, we would sit and wait in the breakout area and I’d think “Oh god, how uncomfortable that must be.”

And then Sacha, I mean, Sacha is so good as The Master. So menacing. I’d use the word, unhinged. He’s very unpredictable as The Master, he’s very alarming for that reason…it’s a brilliant performance.

Did you have input into Tegan’s costume?

I went to meet with Ray Holman just before we started filming. He’s clever, Ray, and he’s so lovely, what a lovely team. I sort of said what I thought, given what her story is now and how she’s developed, and he had put together what he thought, we didn’t even have to go looking, he’d sent me a photograph of the jacket, coat, and as soon as I put it on I thought ‘yep, absolutely, love it.’

How would you describe where we find Tegan in this special?

The former companions who are on Earth have managed to get in contact with each other and she and Ace know that something is happening, and that the activity is likely to be alien. And they are investigating…

Did you enjoy working with Sophie Aldred?

Of course. How could you not enjoy working with Sophie? She’s the loveliest person.

Did it feel special to be part of Jodie’s final episode?

It felt hugely special. The first female Doctor, and a really exciting story, and also that I’ll be there for another Doctor’s regeneration – it’s the second time that’s happened! (Note: the first time was for Tom Baker regenerating into Peter Davison: Tegan’s first story, Logopolis)

How would you describe Tegan?

She takes no nonsense and she’s assertive and a lot of female characters of that time were “I’d be so nice to have in your drawing room” whereas Tegan would be more likely to challenge you. “Oh really, you think that? Tell me why.”


Interview with Sophie Aldred


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Sophie Aldred as Ace

Can you tell us about the call to come back and be a part of the centenary special and was it a tough decision?

I’ll never forget where I was. I was in the conservatory in my house and I got the call from my agent who said ‘Andy Pryor who is the Casting Director on Doctor Who has been in touch and you know what that means!’ I put the phone down and burst into tears. The call I didn’t realise I’d been waiting for all these years. The next thing that happened was a Zoom call with Chris Chibnall where he asked me if I would do the great honour and privilege of being in the BBC centenary episode. I said wild horses wouldn’t stop me! That was it.

What were your first impressions of getting that script and what were you most excited about?

There’s a particular thing that happens which I couldn’t believe Chris put in, because it calls back to something I did thirty years ago. To do that again was just incredible. I was really lucky that I was a companion as I met the Daleks and the Cybermen and The Master. I was really excited to meet and be in scenes with Jodie and Mandip and it was a thrill to be in the TARDIS – What was I most excited about? All of it!

Were there any big differences in being on set, was the family feeling always there?

The family feeling was completely the same, run by Jodie. That was totally her, it was incredible. The banter, the jokes, but also the hard work ethic, having fun, everyone, cast, crew, production. It was lovely to see the relationship between Jodie and Mandip. It reminded me of how it was with Sylvester (McCoy) and me. The same close relationship which I’m sure will be for life, like mine with Sylv.

I think the only thing that was very different was not having rehearsals like we used to have at the BBC in North Acton and COVID of course. Everyone was in masks. It was quite weird because my wonderful makeup artist, India, was wearing a mask, and when I saw her without it, I had no idea who she was!

Was it difficult to keep it a secret, were you shocked by the response?

Yes it was difficult to keep the secret because I did quite a lot of appearances and podcasts during COVID and people were asking me direct questions about it. There were some fans that were awfully near the mark and I just couldn’t say anything! I knew the trailer would be well received by the fans, but I didn’t think that we would break the internet. *laughs*

The following day someone told me that on the BBC news website ‘Janet and Sophie back on Doctor Who’ was one of the biggest topics which was just bonkers. I had no idea it would be such a big deal. People were still tweeting, nearly two weeks later, and still going now!

How has it changed when you’ve been at conventions?

The conventions that I love most are the small ones with about a couple of hundred fans. That’s like a family really; that’s not changed. Although people are incredibly excited and always tell me how they screamed and shouted and jumped off the sofa when they saw the trailer. As for the bigger ones, the Comic Cons, my queue for one recently was all day long, and I didn’t stop!

I’ve never had that, not even when we were doing the original series. Demographic wise, there’s a lot of young women, who have fallen in love with the series via Jodie and now who have gone back and watched the classics and they really relate to the character of Ace. They love the realism, her feistiness, her wearing her heart on her sleeve and she speaks to them.

How difficult was to get back into Ace’s skin on set?

In Big Finish and other audiobooks and spin offs, I’m usually playing a younger Ace, probably up to age 30. So suddenly to play middle-aged Ace… I’d had a chance to think about how she’d be and how she’d be with the Doctor (through other projects like the Torchwood audios and the Blu-Ray box set trailer). It doesn’t take her very long to get back into this youthful frame of mind!

Can you tell us how you prepared for Ace’s stunts – I hear you were looking forward to that side of things?

I was talking to Janet Fielding in one of our breaks and I said when Chris asked me what I’d like to do, I wanted to show that middle aged women have still got it! We can be fit and active if we choose to and do that same stuff and I said to him that I’d love to do what I used to do. Janet said several expletives *laughs* because of course she had to chase me around up the stairs, run around and do all that as well. I think she was secretly pleased!

Did you strike up any bonds on set and how was it working with the core cast?

It was gorgeous to see Jodie and Mandip’s bond. I really get the feeling that they would do anything for each other as people. I’m sure they see each other a lot but I remember when Doctor Who stopped I missed being with Sylvester (McCoy) on set and I’m sure it’s the same for them.

I think the relationship that has delighted me (as well as deepening the friendship with Janet of course) has been the one with Jemma (Redgrave) because the three of us, me and Janet and Jemma planned meeting up after – we haven’t done it yet! Jemma’s always working! We will eventually!

How was the atmosphere on set?

It was bittersweet. We weren’t there the day they did the last scenes but I know there were lots of tears shed. I said to the crew, ‘Gosh you’re going to miss this.’ It was a really solid group of people who loved each other’s company and working together. There was no hierarchy.

Have you followed Jodie’s Doctor throughout her tenure?

Yes I have, I think it’s really important that she’s brought a whole new demographic to the fandom. That’s her legacy, it’s bringing that young female audience to Doctor Who.

There are a lot of villains involved in this episode, can you tease audience about what they’re going to expect?

I was thrilled to watch Sacha, The Master, in action. I think he’s a genius and he’s so not like that in real life; he’s sweet and mild mannered. I think the word I’d use to describe his acting is dangerous. You always feel with this Master that he is on the edge of insanity, but totally logical and has got a plan. He’s not an over the top villain which would be so easy for The Master to evolve into, but he’s got this edge and way about him. You don’t know where you are with him and you don’t know quite what he’s going to do next. Which I find incredibly exciting to watch as an actor, it’s like watching a masterclass, watching him work.

Patrick (O’Kane) as well is great to watch. What he goes through to be that character, he can’t sit down, or go to the toilet. He’s another menacing, brilliant actor. You’re watching and you just think wow! Similar kind of dangerousness, it’s electric to witness that.

What can viewers expect from Ace’s return and this episode?

They’re already excited! They won’t be disappointed.

Legend of The Sea Devils cast tease sword fights, serious conversations and “something big around the corner”

Legend of The Sea Devils cast tease sword fights, serious conversations and “something big around the corner”

In a swashbuckling special adventure, the Doctor (Jodie Whittaker), Yaz (Mandip Gill) and Dan (John Bishop) come face to fin with one of the Doctor’s oldest adversaries: the Sea Devils. Why has legendary pirate queen Madam Ching come searching for a lost treasure? What terrifying forces lurk beneath the oceans of the nineteenth century? And did Yaz really have to dress Dan up as a pirate?

Legend of the Sea Devils is the second in a trio of specials airing in 2022. Jodie Whittaker’s final feature-length special will transmit in autumn 2022 as part of the BBC’s Centenary celebrations.

Legend of the Sea Devils airs on BBC One and BBC iPlayer on Sunday April 17.

Doctor Who Serientrailer: Legend of the Sea Devils


Q&A with Chris Chibnall


Where do we find our core cast at the beginning of this special?

This special sees the TARDIS crew landing in a coastal village in China, on the trail of the mystery of the treasure of the Flor de la Mar, which the Doctor has been meaning to find out about for a long time. When they get there, they discover some very strange events and a terrible evil being unleashed in this village!

What was your inspiration for this episode and how did you come to work together with Ella Road on this script?

We had been intending to do a piratey story during Flux and we didn’t manage to make it work for all sorts of reasons. So when it came to thinking about the final specials that was one of things I really wanted to revisit, to do a big, thrilling Bank Holiday romp of an adventure for Jodie’s penultimate story, featuring a warrior pirate queen. Ella (Road) then came to us with the idea of Madam Ching – this incredible character from history – and it all knitted together thanks to her.

Can you tell us a bit about the process of bringing the new guest actors on board?

We are always really lucky on Doctor Who as we have one of the best Casting Directors in the business in Andy Pryor. Andy’s great at keeping tabs on everyone and also uncovering great new, young talent as well. So when we were thinking about the story, I talked to him and gave him a heads up on the characters that we were thinking of. Usually the process is that Andy will put together a list, people who will tape and we’ll look at load of people so that’s how it went on this and we saw some amazing people.

Doctor Who: Legend of the Sea Devils air date confirmed ...
The Doctor and Yaz in Doctor Who: “Legend of the Sea Devils”

Crystal (Yu) just absolutely shone out, and then we also Marlowe Chan-Reeves who plays Ying-Ki, I think this is his first television job and he’s an absolute star of the future. It’s something that happens all the time on Doctor Who, down to the genius of Andy Pryor and his team – they’re the unsung heroes of the series since 2005. They have cast every episode and this litany of incredible guest actors is absolutely down to them and their brilliance. The show owes that team a huge debt of gratitude.

Why did you decide to bring back the Sea Devils? Was it always planned? How did you go about bringing that vision to life with your team?

We didn’t start with Sea Devils at all, but the great thing about Doctor Who’s history is sometimes you can pull on all of that history and go, “Oh wait okay, the perfect monster has already been created, and is already in there!” So you can spend a long time thinking about creating or making a bespoke monster for this story, but actually, we thought, “If you add the Sea Devils in, this becomes really exciting” – they bring an extra layer of story, an extra layer of thrills and an extra layer of meaning for the fans. And so it wasn’t always in there but when we put them in and tried them out it really worked.

Then the question is whether you do a big redesign, as we did with the Silurians when I was working for Steven Moffat on Matt Smith’s first season. They were created by the same writer, Malcom Hulke, and are sort of cousin monsters! With the Sea Devils, it felt like there were ways that we could fit that original, brilliant and recognisable design into this story and have a bit of fun with it, pirate them up a little bit while also doing little bits of updating and augmenting – but fundamentally retaining the incredible design by John Friedlander.

So they’re very much his creation, and updated by Robert Allsopp and Ray Holman, our costume and monster designers. Then we were really lucky in that we had Craige Els, who played Karvanista in Flux, as the Chief Sea Devil. He’s a magnificent actor who is now beneath another mask– we still haven’t seen his real face in the main show! He does a brilliant performance and we knew we needed a really great actor – a great voice actor and a physical actor as well. What he brings is just gorgeous, as always.

Doctor Who: Who Are The Sea Devils?
The Sea Devils

What was added in after filming? They seem very true to the prosthetic that was created by Robert Allsopp.

It’s just things like expression, blinking of the eyes, they do a bit of snarling – just tiny little things to make sure that things come alive but they’re very much the monsters as you saw them previously.

There seems to be great anticipation about their return?

It’s the lovely thing you can do occasionally – there aren’t millions of Doctor Who monsters that you can bring back. But there’s a lovely affection for the Sea Devils, and they haven’t been used in the modern era. Also probably my earliest memory of Doctor Who and probably my earliest memories of being alive almost, is seeing them on the TV, so it was a nice thing to do in the penultimate story we were doing.

How does the relationship between Yaz and the Doctor develop further in this episode?

Dan has cottoned onto the dynamic between the Doctor and Yaz and from a distance, observed what they haven’t been admitting to themselves. I think really, in Eve of the Daleks, both Yaz and the Doctor have hinted that they have feelings that they are suppressing and keeping quiet about. So there are some conversations that need to be had and you’ll see those conversations developing and taking place in Legend of the Sea Devils. The Doctor and Yaz have something to talk about!

Madam Ching (Crystal Yu)

Would you say this is more of a standalone episode?

Yes, it’s a big standalone bank holiday action romp for all the family! A rollicking, swashbuckling adventure for the Doctor, Dan and Yaz with big monsters, big pirate ships, the sword fights, lots of fun, loads of action, lots of lovely jokes and a great, fun tone before we go into the big epic battle for survival with Jodie’s final episode.

This episode was of course filmed during strict COVID restrictions. What were some of the bigger challenges that you faced in making it happen?

It was a huge ask, and I didn’t know whether we could do it after the production team had pulled out all the stops for Flux. We knew it was a big deal to be able to transport the show back in time, around the world, onto ships and onto the seas. It’s just a testament to the whole production team from first to last – from pre-production to post production.

Daf Shurmer, our Production Designer, is an absolute legend himself and he did something that I think should have been impossible – and I think was impossible – and he achieved it. He’s just given us such scale with so many great sets that look amazing.

Haolu Wang, our brilliant director, and Mark Waters our Director of Photography, have shot it wonderfully with energy and love and fun, and the cast all got into that. And DNEG who do all our CG and visual effects have just delivered something really special. We’ve got sea monsters, we’ve got pirate ships, we’ve got the oceans, and we’re in an ancient coastal village!

As with every episode of Doctor Who, is it was a massive team effort. Everybody involved in the COVID procedures on Doctor Who whether it was testing everybody or sorting out the bubbles – we never had a day shut down due to COVID, it involved incredible work by the whole team. And the fact that I think Jodie Whittaker did not go out for almost a year, while she was working on her final series -she set such a great and responsible example, and put the show first.

For anyone who is coming to Doctor Who as a new viewer is this an easy one to step in and get on board with? What do you hope families take from it?

I think it’s definitely a great episode to come into. It’s got a lot of action, very heroic plot, lots of fun, big mad monsters, mad ideas, cinematic ambition, all that stuff and a great cast. We have a big, epic, rollicking, fun adventure for you whether you’ve never seen Doctor Who or you’ve seen every episode. And then for long term audiences and fans of the show there are loads of lovely little easter eggs and nods to the past so it’s absolutely got something for everyone.

Is it starting to feel a bit surreal now that your time on the series is coming to an end?

The workload is less so it’s lovely doing the post production on these last two specials because you’re not having to write and film at the same time. As showrunner, when you’re doing Doctor Who and you’re in the thick of it you’re doing three jobs at the same time. You’re writing for episodes down the line, you’re looking at all the filming that’s happening and you’re in the edit and post production on multiple episodes. So it’s really nice now that I don’t have any other episodes to think about.

I love the post production process, it’s one of my favourite bits because you’re just watching teams of geniuses produce great work! So it’s nice not to have the workload, it’s nice not to have the pressure of what’s coming up. I’m sort of combining having a break with finishing these episodes and working on other things so it’s lovely right now.


Q&A with Jodie Whittaker


Legend of the Sea Devils: TRAILER | Doctor Who - Epic ...
The Doctor (Jodie Whittaker)

What can audiences expect from this special?

We’re a few centuries off where the Doctor was aiming for and we stumble across a period in history that is a first for the Doctor Who universe. The TARDIS knows that it’s going to China so Yaz and the Doctor have prepared appropriately for it but Dan gets a bit of a bum steer and his costume is all wrong! It’s a Pirates of the Caribbean style sci-fi, action adventure that marries historical characters with Whovian characters with a really brilliant high octane Doctor Who adventure.

Did you enjoy stepping onto set – we heard the ship was impressive?

Yeah, it was amazing! The art department worked night and day to create a really extraordinary set and I think it’s the biggest one that we’ve worked on. We walked into an incredible pirate ship – it has so many different levels, it was really epic. It has so much depth and detail and also I think it was one boat that ended up being three different ones and in the episode, you can tell that the art department have worked so hard for that to go completely unnoticed.

How was it to find out the Sea Devils were coming back, with Craige Els as the Chief Sea Devil? How did they match up to other Doctor Who creatures you’ve come up against?

I was really pleased to be working with the Sea Devils! It’s always good to work with creatures from the Doctor Who universe. This is a hat trick for me now with Craige Els! Me and Craige were in a play called Antigone at the National with Chris Eccleston – now it’s a trio of Whovian cast. I spent the entire time with Craige saying “What did you say?” because of the mask! I think they were less familiar to me so it interesting to see Craigs Els’ interpretation because obviously he’s playing a very different kind of Sea Devil than we’ve seen before. Because of the costume and the restrictions of the mask it meant that Craige’s lines were recorded so that added complication to it but as far as the look of it, it looked great! I think an acting thing must have been incredibly challenging for Craige but once again he brought an incredible characterisation and smashed it.

How was it working with the brilliant guest actors?

On this episode we got to work with some really exciting cast. Crystal was absolutely brilliant. And also I think, Madam Ching as a character was such a great character. I think Crystal is an actress throws herself into things 100%. She’s amazing, as is Craig, Marlowe and Arthur (Lee) – we had a really contained cast. There was obviously more than that but for us it was a kind of ensemble feel as were together all of the time.

Crystal’s energy was brilliant – she was never tired – she was running around, jumping off things, swinging off things, fighting, memorising lots of lines and at no point does she ever stop smiling. She’s such a wonderful person to have on set and it was really was lovely. And I think the dynamic between her, Arthur and Marlowe was great too. What was lovely was that Marlowe was at the very beginning of his career and that’s always really exciting as well, to work with people that are starting out and Doctor Who plays a part in the start of their professional life as an actor. Working with our Director Haolu (Wang) was absolutely brilliant too, I loved getting to work with her for the first time – her energy and personality really shine through in this episode.

We heard Marlowe is a big fan of Doctor Who?

Marlowe is a Whovian and his knowledge of Doctor Who far surpassed mine! There was a scene where I couldn’t say one of my lines and it was a very specific scientific term. I just kept getting this word wrong and he would stand next to the camera and slightly mouth it to me as I did it. It really should have been roles reversed – I should have been helping him out because he has just started but he was always helping me out!

Can you tell us about your stunts/action scenes in this episode?

There was a scene where I needed to slide down the ship but the thing was the ship didn’t have a side on it, it was really high! The team’s issue was the fact that there was no other side so if I did topple over the other side it would have probably been quite a dramatic day at work, but I was absolutely adamant (to do it). When I did it was actually really controlled but I didn’t know if it looked as good as I really thought it was going to but I was really proud of it. With sword fighting I was really nervous as I had not done it since drama school and then when we ended up rehearsing it, it was just like choreographing a dance and as soon as it was like that I could do it and I really enjoyed it.

How was your new costume?

There wasn’t as many tweaks being made to it throughout filming – I didn’t get to hang out with my wonderful dresser Ian as much as I’d like to as once this costume was on it was on! What always seems to happen on Doctor Who is you wear a thick heavy material in summer and a thin t-shirt in winter, so I was really sweaty but that was not down to the look – I felt I looked a million dollars.

How does it feel as we get closer to the big centenary special?

It’s interesting because time wise, it’s such a long time off (before they air). What’s great about the standalone episodes are that if you do watch it now and then you watch another episode in autumn, you don’t need to rewatch it to understand what’s happening in the next one. They are great standalone individuals stories, that obviously marry all of my seasons together, build on relationships and things like that. But they are also these individual set pieces that can be dipped into and watched without the context of the rest of the show, which I think is really important. It shouldn’t exclude viewers and or may you feel like you need to go back and do homework to watch something!


Q&A with Mandip Gill


Doctor Who Legend of the Sea Devils pics see Yaz and Dan ...
Yaz (Mandip Gill)

What can audiences expect from this special?

It’s definitely one for the family. It’s got returning monsters in the Sea Devils and it’s got new characters! For a new audience, you’re able to relate to new characters, or if you’re watching it with your grandparents, you then get to see the return of the Sea Devils. It’s a really exciting story and it looks amazing. We have brilliant costumes and actors -it’s a little bit scary and a little dark in parts, but I think all that works if you’re going to be watching it as a family.

Where do we pick up at the start of this episode?

At the beginning of the episode, the TARDIS lands at a small coastal village but once again it’s landed where it’s not supposed to land. The Doctor promised Dan and Yaz that they’d be going to a beach somewhere exciting and they land on a beach, just not the beach that they expect. They get out, hear a massive scream and they realise that something very terrible is happening in this place.

How was it to film on this set?

It was a really epic ship that was built in the studios at the BBC. I saw Matt Strevens our Executive Producer in the hallway (before filming) and he was so excited for us to see it. It was brilliant, it was a huge ship so we didn’t have to cheat any of the places or any of the angles. It was all there for us – things worked and moved and Jodie was able to do her stunt scene on that actual set which is always so helpful. It was one of the few times we had the whole thing there to work with. It was really spacious too, it was built to get all of us on it and a crew. The attention to detail was brilliant and having seen the episode it looks amazing!

How was it for you working with the Sea Devils?

I thought the prosthetics were amazing. Also, we knew the Sea Devils were part of Doctor Who’s history so I’ve always found it really exciting to work with characters that have already been there previously like Cybermen, like Daleks – it always feels like it really cements our place in the world. And then to be up against something that has been around for so long, was also an honour. They were so tall and the attention to detail was just brilliant. Again, it was great to be working with something that’s there in front of you so to a degree don’t have to use your imagination. It’s all there!

Was it nice to have Craige Els back on set as the Chief Sea Devil?

It was brilliant! On set, you’re having these really natural conversations with a massive giant sea animal – we’re just casually having these normal conversations and having a laugh and I always wonder what it looks like from the outside looking in – he’s ever so tall so he’s not always on the same chairs as us either to protect his costume. So he’s sat a little bit higher, and I am having these really in depth conversations with this sea monster!

Can you tell us about working with the guest actors?

Every single time you get new guest actors you get new best mates. I had already worked with Crystal on Casualty, so we knew each other and that felt quite familiar. Arthur was absolutely brilliant, you could see him going away to work on his lines – I love watching everyone else’s acting techniques. Marlowe has done so well to be on a professional set and at young age and he’s so together. Also he’s a fan of the show and I love when people come in and they love the show. They want to be there as an actor, but they also love it and it’s something that they actually watch on the outside.

I’ve always liked that about our guest actors – I love that they love it for a multitude of reasons, not just because they get to work as an actor. As it was a pandemic there were very few guest actors on and they tended to stay a lot longer than they did in previous series – we spent a fair bit of time together in Cardiff and I got on really well with them and had such lovely conversations. Crystal has got a really gorgeous energy and I think she’s a brilliant actress, I think she was perfect for the part. Their costumes were great and we all did action sequences together which you don’t often get to do, they were all brilliant!

What was your experience of the sword fighting?

We didn’t do any training for the sword fighting but we rehearsed a sequence on the morning of it and because the set was really big, there was space to practice on the actual deck. You only see a little clip snippet of the whole work that we do after the edit but it was much harder than you think – the actual swords were a lot heavier than I expected! I was really into doing my own stunts before then and then I hurt my finger and I was like, “It’s not for me!”

John Bishop mentioned that the team missed a trick not having Dan do more stunts. I don’t know what you think about that?

I love how confident he is! To be honest, you think it’s going to be all fun and games and you want to do it all and are proper up for it. And then you do it and you realise that stunt people look so incredibly easy, because you have to go again and again and again! And so it’s all fun and games until you’re on the tenth take and you’re upside down again. But yeah, I guess I’ve had three years of being upside down and chased and whatnot.. John had one year but I mean, he probably wouldn’t say that after three series!

What would you say we can expect in this episode between the Doctor and Yaz? Will their feelings be addressed further?

So the relationship between the Doctor and Yaz has definitely developed further. There’s not an awful lot I can say about it but there’s a lot of bravery, there’s a lot of emotion and a lot of understanding, and openness. Conversations are not concluded in this episode, but they still definitely have advanced from where they were at the New Year’s episode. There’s a lot of open and honest conversations.

How does this episode set us up for the final special?

We definitely get a sense that something is coming because there always is something coming when the Doctor is around! Things have not been resolved by the end of the episode and I think that can be said for the relationship between Yaz and the Doctor but also the Doctor’s history and future.

Why should everyone tune in this Easter Sunday?

I think it’s a really jam packed, epic story. It looks amazing – you’ll see the hard work that went in from the crew and the cast during the pandemic. They’ve definitely excelled in terms of prosthetics makeup, costume and set design. Everything is just brilliant. It’s a standalone episode that has adventure, returning monsters, but also, ultimately and fundamentally there is a story of love at the centre of it all.


Q&A with John Bishop


Doctor Who Legend of the Sea Devils pics see Yaz and Dan ...
John Bishop (left) as Dan

What’s next in store for the trio on this adventure?

Well, this adventure involves monsters, someone dressed as a pirate, real pirates, an underlying love story, and it involves somebody finding something in themselves to make a commitment to another person to look after them. It has all of those things, and sword fighting, so I don’t think you could ask for more!

For this episode, we have the return of the Sea Devils, which everyone is very excited about. How did they compare to working with other Doctor Who monsters? Obviously we have Craige (Els) was back in a costume so you got to work with him again!

That was quite an interesting dynamic. Craige is great, but when he was Karvanista we were mates whereas with the Sea Devils it’s a bit of a different story – so it made the coffee breaks interesting! It was also, from a performance point of view and so on, really odd because they were physically threatening. In Doctor Who some of the monsters are not necessarily bigger than you are or physically different than you. Whereas with the Sea Devils…put it this way – if they walked into a pub, nobody is going to take them on!

Did you know much about them before filming or did anyone need to bring you up to speed on the history?

I knew a little bit about them and then Ray (Holman) our Costume Designer had a chat with me about their history, and how they’ve not been around for a while, so I knew what he had told me. Like all the elements of Doctor Who, the main actors are a small part of the fabric of what makes it work. The designers, the art department, the prosthetics, wardrobe and all those things make it work on the day and then afterwards, the post production, the music; all of those things make what you see so much better than what you’re doing on the day. And when you do it on the day and it’s good, you know it’s going to be brilliant on the telly because all of those bits get added.

You’ve got quite a striking pirate costume in this episode. How did that one come about?

It starts out a little joke between the characters – between Yaz and Dan – and then events take over and he never gets the chance to change!

Was there anything about the sets that really impressed you?

I’ll tell you what impressed me – having a ship! I just couldn’t believe it. It was a full ship built in the studio next door to the TARDIS. So we were filming a previous episode, and then you walk in next door and there’s a ship that has been built. It absolutely floored me, honest to God it staggered me – the workmanship and the level of detail in it. It literally blew me away.

There are some new guest actors in this episode. How was it welcoming them into the Doctor Who family?

It’s always good, particularly when they’re good actors! Crystal was familiar with Cardiff because obviously she has been in Casualty and when she was on set there she was thinking about what it was like in the Doctor Who studio – on the other side of the wall – so it was interesting to see it from that perspective. It was Marlowe’s first job and he was he was brilliant. Everyone wanted to look after him but he was just so accomplished, me and him were hanging upside down for half a day just having a laugh. Which is an odd way of getting to know someone!

How was your experience filming this special compared to others?

To get on the beach, on the coast, all of that setting and just being outside was good. But the main thing for me was just the ship, filming on the ship and just seeing the way it’s done. There’s a massive screen for all of the CGI and I’ve never seen anything like that before – it was just so impressive.

Is Dan still involved with the Doctor and Yaz in this episode in terms of the development of their relationship?

I think it was probably a surprise to both the Doctor and Yaz that it was so obvious to him that there was feelings between them. And I think as a character he is probably not the most obvious persons to be the matchmaker. Because he comes in as an ordinary bloke you would suspect is so bemused by the world that he’s in is too busy to absorb what’s going on around him to notice. But because the bond between them is so clear, and because I think as well as he says to Yaz in the New Year’s special – sometimes if you’ve got feelings for somebody you just have to act on them because otherwise if you don’t it will be too late.

Were you involved in any of the sword fighting for this episode?

I’ll be honest with you – I think they missed an opportunity because I was so desperate to do a few somersaults and swing on ropes – I really wanted to be a proper pirate! I got a bit done but if it was down to me I think there was a big likelihood that I wouldn’t have been in the show at all because I think I would have killed myself at some point. I was like a kid on the set, climbing up ropes and everything – the stunt coordinator kept going “Get off, get off!” There’s a bit of rope swinging a bit of sword fighting and all that. Because we knew it was a special and the way the story was we played it for fun – it was written to be big and bold and that’s what it was.

How does it set us up for the final special? Does it gives any clues about what to expect?

You know there’s something big about to happen. You can see the change in the Doctor and change in the dynamic and you just know there’s something big around the corner.

First draft for tactile Doctor Who book delivered to visually impaired fan

First draft for tactile Doctor Who book delivered to visually impaired fan

Visually impaired fan Louis Moorhouse has received the first draft of the first book of Doctor Who Living Paintings for review.

Blind since he was 18 months old, 20-year-old Moorhouse from Bradford, England spearheaded a fundraising campaign to help the publisher Living Paintings create Doctor Who Touch-to-See books which would help blind fans like him enjoy and engage with Doctor Who on a whole new level. The publisher agreed if Moorhouse could raise the funds for research and development. Doctor Who Touch to See books will be sent out across the UK to blind youngsters like Louis — completely free of charge.

With the support and help of many generous people and a very special contribution from Doctor Who showrunner Chris Chibnall, Moorhouse reached his fundraising goal and the books are now in the development stage.

“It was absolutely mad to wake up this morning and see that Chris Chibnall had given a donation! And a very generous donation too! To have such recognition from the man who literally runs Doctor Who at the moment means a lot. Thank you Chris, I really appreciate your support.”

As he ran his fingers over the tactile illustrations, Moorhouse marvelled at the detail in each one, exclaiming that he never before knew what a Sontaran looked like.

The raised illustrations will eventually be painted to enable the books to be shared and enjoyed with sighted friends, family and classmates. Touch- to-See books include raised tactile pictures and Braille, accompanied by atmospheric, educational and entertaining audio guides. The audio guides, often narrated by famous people, help fingers explore the tactile images, tell the stories of the pictures and describe their features. In this way, the senses of touch and hearing combine to make up for the missing sense of sight.

Moorhouse’s wonderful campaign officially ended on Monday 16 August, 2021 but this is not the end of his journey. Living Books will continue to involve Louis throughout the tactile and audio book production process, which will culminate in the publication of 3 Doctor Who Touch-to-See books provided free to visually-impaired children.

Jodie Whittaker and Chris Chibnall to leave Doctor Who in a trio of Specials in 2022

Jodie Whittaker and Chris Chibnall to leave Doctor Who in a trio of Specials in 2022

Jodie Whittaker and Chris Chibnall to leave Doctor Who in a trio of Specials, culminating in an epic blockbuster Special to air in autumn 2022 as part of the BBC’s Centenary celebrations.

Having been in charge of the TARDIS since filming for the Thirteenth Doctor began in 2017, Showrunner Chris Chibnall and the Thirteenth Doctor, Jodie Whittaker, have confirmed they will be moving on from the most famous police box on Earth – and the universe.

https://twitter.com/lizo_mzimba/status/1420745936909651972

With a six-part Event Serial announced for the autumn, and two Specials already planned for 2022, BBC One has now asked for an additional final feature length adventure for the Thirteenth Doctor, to form a trio of Specials for 2022, before the Doctor regenerates once more.

After taking the helm of the show, Chris Chibnall made the groundbreaking decision to cast Jodie Whittaker as the first female Doctor. He also brought in ‘the fam’ of Tosin Cole (Ryan), Mandip Gill (Yaz) and Bradley Walsh (Graham), and cast the acclaimed Sacha Dhawan as the latest incarnation of The Master, plus Jo Martin as the mysterious Fugitive Doctor, adding new characters, layers and twists to the mythology of the show.

Episodes such as Rosa, Demons of the Punjab and Spyfall have thrilled audiences across the globe garnering critical acclaim and award recognition, including two BAFTA Must See Moment nominations, along with multiple National Television Award, BAFTA Cymru, TV Choice, Screen Nation, Hugo, Saturn. and Critics Choice nominations. Under Chris’ tenure, the series has been awarded the Visionary Awards TV Show of the Year, the Canadian Rockie Award from the BANFF Television Festival for best sci-fi and genre series, while Mandip Gill and Vinay Patel were recognised with wins from the Eastern Eye Awards. The 2020 series won Best Science Fiction Show voted for by readers at Radio Times.com, beating out competition from The Mandalorian, Lucifer and The Boys, as well as winning both Best Moment and Most Incredible Twist from the Digital Spy Reader Awards 2020, for Fugitive Of The Judoon and Ascension Of The Cybermen. In 2019, the entire current cast and crew were awarded Honorary Doctorates by Sheffield Hallam University for their work on the show.

As the Thirteenth Doctor, Jodie Whittaker stepped aboard the TARDIS to begin filming in 2017. As the first woman to play the iconic role, Jodie has thrilled audiences with her portrayal of the Time Lord, winning the hearts of Doctor Who fans across the globe. Jodie’s multi-layered, warm, funny and inspiring depiction of the Doctor not only created a first in Doctor Who history, but in 2020, Jodie was voted 2nd Most Popular Doctor of all time, coming within a whisker of her friend David Tennant, in a poll of more than 50,000 fans for Radio Times.

Chris Chibnall says

“Jodie and I made a “three series and out” pact with each other at the start of this once-in-a-lifetime blast. So now our shift is done, and we’re handing back the TARDIS keys.

“Jodie’s magnificent, iconic Doctor has exceeded all our high expectations. She’s been the gold standard leading actor, shouldering the responsibility of being the first female Doctor with style, strength, warmth, generosity and humour. She captured the public imagination and continues to inspire adoration around the world, as well as from everyone on the production. I can’t imagine working with a more inspiring Doctor – so I’m not going to!

“For me, leading this exceptional team has been unrivalled creative fun, and one of the great joys of my career. I’m so proud of the people we’ve worked with and the stories we’ve told. To finish our time on the show with an additional Special, after the pandemic changed and challenged our production plans, is a lovely bonus. It’s great that the climax of the Thirteenth Doctor’s story will be at the heart(s) of the BBC’s centenary celebrations.

“I wish our successors – whoever the BBC and BBC Studios choose – as much fun as we’ve had. They’re in for a treat!”

Jodie Whittaker adds

“In 2017 I opened my glorious gift box of size 13 shoes. I could not have guessed the brilliant adventures, worlds and wonders I was to see in them. My heart is so full of love for this show, for the team who make it, for the fans who watch it and for what it has brought to my life. And I cannot thank Chris enough for entrusting me with his incredible stories. We knew that we wanted to ride this wave side by side, and pass on the baton together. So here we are, weeks away from wrapping on the best job I have ever had. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to express what this role has given me. I will carry the Doctor and the lessons I’ve learnt forever.

“I know change can be scary and none of us know what’s out there. That’s why we keep looking. Travel Hopefully. The Universe will surprise you. Constantly.”

Piers Wenger, Director of BBC Drama says

“Over the last four years Chris and Jodie have made Doctor Who history and their time on the show is indelibly marked on our memories. From Rosa Parks to Ascension of the Cybermen, Chris and Jodie have given Doctor Who some of its most life-affirming and tear-jerking moments to date and we are beyond excited to see what they have in store for us in the new series this Autumn. Jodie’s final adventure to mark the BBC’s Centenary in 2022 is set to be a Doctor Who Special to remember. I’d like to thank them both for their incredible work on the show”

With over a year of adventures to come, the Thirteenth Doctor still has plenty in store for fans.

The BBC is “a very long way from wanting to rest” Doctor Who, says Drama boss

The BBC is “a very long way from wanting to rest” Doctor Who, says Drama boss

Doctor Who - Jodie Whittaker

Doctor Who fans can breathe easy, as controller of BBC drama commissioning Piers Wenger has insisted there are no plans for the series to take a break.

Speaking at a BBC Drama launch event, Wenger told the press that the BBC is “a very long way from wanting to rest” the sci-fi show.

The current series of Doctor Who – its 12th since the show was relaunched in 2005 – will draw to a close on Sunday (1st March), with star Jodie Whittaker and showrunner Chris Chibnall having already confirmed their involvement in another run of episodes, to begin shooting in autumn 2020.

But with overnight ratings having dipped below 4 million, Wenger – who previously served as executive producer on the show from 2010 to 2011 – was asked if there were plans to “rest” the show after that.

“I genuinely – I worked on Doctor Who myself, I produced it for many years, and I can honestly say that I don’t think it’s been in better health, editorially,” he said. “I think it’s fantastic and… the production values obviously have never been better.

“It’s an incredibly important show for younger audiences, still watched by families in a world where there are fewer and fewer shows that have the power to do that, so it will always be an important show for us.”

He concluded:

“I think we’re a very long way from wanting to rest it.”

Wenger also suggested that the cost of producing Doctor Who is not as significant as some might think, since the show is “not just funded by the BBC” but is “funded by lots of international partners”.

The 13th series of Doctor Who is expected to air sometime in 2021, though series boss Chibnall has hinted that the seeds for future episodes will be sown in this weekend’s series 12 finale.

“I’m coming back for a third season [and] we are already planning the stories,” he said. “Once you see the end of this series, you’ll realise there are some stories we’re already setting in train for next series. We have very big, ambitious plans for our third series together.”

Interviews With The Stars Of Series 12

Interviews With The Stars Of Series 12

Jodie Whittaker (The Doctor)

How does it feel to be returning as The Doctor?

Really exciting. My series one (Series Eleven) was so full of excitement and nervousness for me because I was the first female, there’s a lot of noise around that. For yourself, you’re making these choices and you’re yet to know if they work or if it’s the direction you want to go in but you’re lucky with this job, it’s ten episodes per series so you get so much time to play. So to have a gap and then come back it feels liberating and exciting knowing that you can go in any direction.

How is it different for you this series compared to last year?

It’s only different in the sense that you know everyone, that’s the major difference. For us, we were lucky with our family in this, that our friendship outside of work was instant and constant. So returning, it’s like the siblings and the dad back together – that’s what it feels like. But then also with the crew it’s a really unique job, you spend a lot of time with each other and we’re all really good mates. There’s a lot of give and take in that, people are very forgiving if we’ve been on seven night shifts in a row. There’s support for everyone and I think everybody’s individual personality is allowed to have the space and freedom at work and I think that only comes from having history with people. I think that doesn’t happen often in a job.

Was there anything you approached differently this year coming back to it?

I didn’t approach anything differently in the sense I didn’t decide to work completely differently as an actor. But every new scenario is different, every new adventure is different, every new relationship with a character is different. The Doctor goes on a big journey throughout this series and that brings news things, so to hash out the same thing would be pointless and it’s not the role to do that because you’re not playing a human. You have the freedom to go in any direction, there’s no constraint or time period for social etiquette, we don’t have any of that. The only approach is be open.

Can you tell us a bit about the response you got last year?

Well I get a really filtered view of the response because I’m not on social media. Social media is sometimes the way we decide whether something is a popular choice or not. And if you’re not on it, you have no idea.

A lot of my mates watched it for the first time so that was a really exciting thing. I’ve got a lot of people in my life who are new Whovians so that’s really exciting knowing this world is open to them. So that’s amazing, you can have this show that’s been going for years and years and years but then there are new audiences to reach.

Do you get a response when you go to the shops?

Yeah I do. I think with this show you’re continually surprised with who watches it, there’s not an obvious demographic. You know something like Attack The Block, if I was kicking about after school time I would feel like a legend for about ten minutes if I walked past at the right time. But I think with Doctor Who it really surprises you, it really curveballs you sometimes the people that it touches and reaches. Because it’s a BBC show, it’s worldwide, it goes out to so many different continents and I think for me it’s surprising you can go to places you think no one will know you and they do.

This time around, there are some amazing guest artists, what was it like working with Stephen and Lenny?

I’ve worked with Lenny before so that was really lovely and in a completely different capacity – we were filming in South Africa so it was like we were all on holiday together so that was incredible and lovely. And anyone who knows him knows he’s famously absolutely lovely and brilliant, and a great energy to have on set, he’s amazing.

Stephen Fry I really fangirled over – I had met him before but I didn’t think he’d remember – we were both in St Trinians. I’m really in awe of someone who can offer themselves up to the world in a brutally honest and unapologetically intelligent and forward thinking way. I think we should celebrate brains like that. For anyone who considers themselves to be interested in learning, just some of his vocabulary was beautiful but not excluding. I think he’s an inclusive thinker and I think for Doctor Who that’s perfect but for me to be around him at 37, I was really in awe. I was just beyond excited to work with him and he was lovely and everything you’d want him to be. He’s great, for everything he’s done and does, if you’re ever going to join social media which I will never, do it as a contributor like him.

Have you done any stunts this year?

Yeah there’s a motorbike! I’m not qualified to ride a motorbike so we were on a truck – looks cool though. There’s a lot of jumping, clinging on for dear life, there’s a lot of action so you should be excited for that.

Can you tell us about the terrifying monsters?

I was actually really scared when I saw one of them, I bricked it. I proper bricked it. In rehearsal, he’s like six foot seven, in a suit and he’s running at you down a corridor and I was screaming. He’s called Spencer, he’s one of the Darth Vaders, and he’s a bit of a legend on set. [laughs]

Is it strange when you see people on set in prosthetics?

Yes, Brad can you tell this but what was funny, Brad had worked with someone, he went: “Lovely to meet you darling”, and she was like “It’s me!” He had no idea it was her. Once I was chatting away with someone and they went: “Just so you know my ears are covered and I can’t hear a thing”, so they missed all my jokes (laughs). The make-up and costume department and the prosthetic department are another level.

And the return of the Judoon, what was it like working with them?

That was amazing, they’re massive. It’s weird the mouth moves and a voice comes from a person way over the other side of the set. It was brilliant, for me it was my first interaction with the Judoon.

What has been your highlight about being The Doctor so far?

The highlight for me is being in something that reaches such a wide range of people and emotionally touches those people in ways you can’t even imagine. I think I didn’t realise what Doctor Who was for so many people and I find it really moving. I think our heroes in life come in all different forms, but to play someone who celebrates inclusivity and the fact that we don’t know the answers but that’s okay. And The Doctor can be anyone, so to be able to do that and play this role the way I wanted to play it, ten year old me didn’t think this would happen, you know it’s massive. Being the first female Doctor, it’s what dreams are made of really, especially growing up as an actor who wanted to play pretend.

How would you describe Series 12 in three words?

Epic, emotional, rollercoaster.


Bradley Walsh (Graham)

How does it feel to be going into your second year?

I’m excited! I can’t wait to see the gang back together, I’m really looking forward to it. I think this year is going to be crashbang… it is going to be fantastic.

Has anything changed for you going into the second year?

No, actually it was slightly easier as I knew what to expect. I was really looking forward to as I say getting back with the gang, and our leader, Jodie. Jodie is for me the benchmark of professionalism so I was really looking forward to getting back on track with the guys for this series.

How are things going to be different for Graham?

We haven’t got the Grace scenario now so the question is has he got over his grief? We will just have to wait and see.

Are we going to see a change of dynamic between The Doctor and her friends?

I would say yes and the reason I say yes is because we don’t stick together the whole time. I think The Doctor will start delegating more now and I think that will slightly change the dynamic.

What’s the relationship between Ryan and Graham this year, are they going to be closer?

I think it is on the cards because as we saw at the end of last season, when Ryan’s dad was part of the show, he then went off as he didn’t want to come with us. So I am sort of taking his place more now, I’m sort of being Ryan’s father figure more.

There are some amazing guest artists, what’s been your highlight about working with them?

I have been very lucky in my career to be able to work with a lot of different people but strangely enough, although I have worked with Robert Glenister many times, I haven’t worked with Lenny Henry and I haven’t worked with Stephen Fry or Goran Višnjić so to work with those as well and see them work has been great. And I was thrilled to see Lenny and work with Lenny, I really was.

What was your highlight from last year?

I think my highlight from last year was my first day on the set, I thought that was great. My first day was just amazing and I thought: “Wow, this is going to be really cool,” and it was. Then strangely enough, everything in between was great but then the last episode we did, with Jamie Childs directing, which was where we were blowing up stuff and was yippee ki yay sort of stuff, I really quite enjoyed that. I felt a bit of an action hero and I quite liked it!

How scary are the monsters this year?

There is a particular monster that I can’t wait for people to see it and see how it gets received because it is extraordinary.

Is it strange when you see people in prosthetics, what’s been your strangest experience?

Without a doubt the strangest experience I have had was working with someone I have worked with previously, Anjli. I have worked with her many times. The thing is when people have the prosthetics on they can be barely recognisable – and she said: “Brad” and I said “Hello there, lovely to meet you” and I added that “We will have to reintroduce ourselves when you have all those prosthetics off as I won’t recognise you” and she went “Brad it’s me” and I had to apologise as I had no idea. We have worked together a few times but I just didn’t recognise her as the prosthetics she had on were so good.

What was it like working with the Cybermen?

It was really good. We were doing a fantastic exterior scene and that was great, that was an action packed day. I thoroughly enjoyed that.

Do you have a highlight of your time so far?

I loved, loved, loved the first two episodes of the second series, the action scenes in the first episodes I thought that was tremendous.

You might not be able to tell us the ins and outs, but is there a particular moment you’re excited for fans to see this year?

Yes. It will be definitely the monsters I was talking about!

What does Doctor Who mean to you?

Doctor Who is a lifelong ambition for me. It strangely is the same feeling as when I did Coronation Street, big hit, massive, massive show, institutional; Law & Order – institutional in America so doing the English version… Doctor Who has been an institution from the sixties and strangely enough when I hosted the London palladium. So I have done the four of the longest running, iconic shows in television history.

I am very lucky that I have been in shows that have been on television, or hosted them, that have been going since the 1960’s. There’s not that many people that have done that. To host the London Pallidum there’s myself, Tarbuck, Forsyth and all those people but they have never done Coronation Street, they’ve never done Doctor Who. The only other entertainer that I think has done that would have been Roy Castle, he was in Doctor Who in the movie.  I’ve been very lucky, I’ve done some really great stuff in my time.

How would you describe Series 12 in three words?

Cinematic, exciting, thought-provoking.


Mandip Gill (Yaz)

Jodie Whittaker and friends are back with a bang! Doctor Who returns on New Year’s Day with an epic and thrilling new series full of scares and surprises.

How does it feel to be going into your second year?

It feels really exciting! It feels like we’re part of something and we’ve found our feet. People started this way before we got here, it’s not our baby, but we’re part of this massive family. I think in the first year you’re trying to prove something. You’re trying to prove that you are part of it, whereas now, we know how it works. It’s bigger than before – you do it and you think how is it going to be bigger next year? But Chris has gone further and it feels like we’ve taken ownership of it now. Now it’s like we are a four, we know what we’re doing in the TARDIS, we know what parts we all play.

How are things going to be different for Yaz this year?

For Yaz, she’s a little more grounded, I don’t think she needs The Doctor’s attention as much. She’s still really influenced by her and infatuated with her in loads of ways, but she’s found herself, she knows what to do, she’s not so scared of taking the lead. I also think she’s more excited than ever. She goes back to speak with her family and we find out a lot about Yaz’s past, and why she is the way she is and why she became a police officer, why she’s so into this journey with these people she never knew. I think for me as an actress it was really great to touch on as it gave her some sort of foundation, an explanation as to her behaviour, and why she’s so into everything and wants to go on all these journeys.

Yaz seems to really take things in her stride, are we going to see more of that this year?

Yeah definitely! Last year we really needed The Doctor, we didn’t really know what was going on. Yaz needed reassurance; she needed to be told it was okay, it was safe. She was at the forefront of going, but she also needed someone to say this is what we need to do. This time I think The Doctor needs her friends more than she needed them before. She knows where their strengths lie and what they can give to her in certain situations – but Yaz doesn’t need reassurance as much. She still believes in The Doctor but she believes in herself now too.

Are we going to see a change in dynamic between The Doctor and Yaz?

Yes and I think with The Doctor and the gang in general. There are times when we are taken aback a bit by her. There are also times when she doesn’t explain herself and we get a bit confident and we’re like: “You never tell us about your past life, you’re asking us all these questions, you never talk about yourself or why you’re upset, or this particular monster”. So I think there’s a shift both ways – I think we’ve got more confident, we’re able to push her in certain instances and she’s allowed to snap back. If she had done that in Series 11, it would have been like: “Who’s this random person shouting at us?”

Do you have a highlight from your first series and what has been your highlight from your second series of filming?

There wasn’t a highlight, it was all so exciting. It was a completely new journey, it was new people, and we had so much fun. Brad is so funny on set. We were finding out about each other and our real lives, doing the most amazing scenes, there was such a buzz around last year, with the new Doctor, a new series. You’ve come into something you’re not used to – I’ve been on shows where the buzz has been going on for years but there’s something completely different about being in Doctor Who, people are just as excited as you are.

Now it’s completely different, we’re getting dolls made of ourselves, you see yourself on calendars, and it’s played in so many countries. Series 11 was massive. The same for Series 12 as well, you have a couple months break and then you’re like I don’t really know myself now without Doctor Who. That’s been my life since 2017, when you’re not filming you’re still talking about it, you’re still part of it.

We did a two-parter at the beginning of Series 12, and there’s amazing actors in it, Stephen Fry, Lenny Henry, there are some amazing characters that come up and we went back to South Africa where it all started. I think the highlight was not being in England when it was winter. [laughs]

Let’s talk monsters; we hear there are some terrifying ones this series, what can you tell us about them?

We can talk about the Judoon – they are really impressive. The detail and prosthetics! Not very often do we get to see the actual monsters but these ones are there. The animatronics as well, they move but then there’s a guy that says the line completely in character from the side.

We’ve got some really scary monsters, there’s one particular monster I think is really scary, and the guy playing him is amazing. He doesn’t even need to act, you’re in the dark, it’s wet, it’s cold and it’s really scary!

Is it strange when you see people in prosthetics?

You don’t see the actor very often without the prosthetics because their call time is so much earlier than yours so they have to sit in it for ages. Some bits may get removed that they can easily put back on but they’re sat there for hours and hours just with monster teeth while we’re all talking. The weird thing is when I see their regular headshots in the makeup department.

What was it like working with the Cybermen?

It was really exciting, there’s an exciting part with the Cybermen. It’s so nice to work with new monsters but what’s so exciting being part of this family is to say you’ve been able to work with the Cybermen or monsters everyone knows. You feel part of it anyway but I really feel part of it now.

Personally, what does Doctor Who mean to you?

I find it really inclusive; I’ve found it’s opened me up to a genre I probably would never have watched. My brother and nephews watch Doctor Who and I knew what it was, but it was a bit like: “Is this too clever for me?” I didn’t understand science and unless I knew about the history, I thought this is not for me. But actually being a part of it, I realised a lot of it is actually explained. You learn so much, so if I would’ve stopped and looked at the genre, I would’ve learned something!

How would you describe Series 12 in three words?

Fast, action and drama.

You highlight your running technique, have you put in more effort this year?

[Laughs] I’ve watched myself back a few times. This is a really bizarre one, I am dreading watching myself run in the first two-parters because I’d obviously eaten a lot over Christmas… I think I’m going to do what I did in Series 11, where you see it, you work on it throughout the shoot and by the end of the episode we’ve improved!


Tosin Cole (Ryan)

How does it feel to be going into your second year?

It feels great, man! Lovely to be back with the team, you know there’s lots of banter, stories and experiences – I’m just looking forward to being back, it’s a pleasure.

Has anything changed for you going into the second year, have you approached anything differently? 

No not really, just getting more familiar with everyone. It’s nice coming back when you’re comfortable with everyone but before I was trying to figure everyone out, it’s kind of picking up where you left off isn’t it?

How are things going to be different for Ryan?

Just more independence in the sense he’s not really relying on The Doctor as much. He’s got more questions and using his initiative a bit more, and more adventurous in a sense.

Are we going to see a change of dynamic between The Doctor and her friends?

One hundred percent – it changes between everyone because everyone has their own vibes and feelings going on. I think because everyone’s matured in this space that they’re in, there’s a lot more questions and a lot more clashing heads. The dynamics will shift a bit, well a lot actually.

What’s the relationship with Ryan and Graham this year, are they going to be closer?

Yeah, since the last season they’ve had a heart to heart and they’ve kind of seen eye to eye so it’s just kind of picking up after that, just cracking on with their relationship.

There are some amazing guest artists, what’s been your highlight about working with them?

Just being like: “Oh, I know them now”. When you see them on TV doing other stuff you’re like: “Yeah, yeah, I know them! We’ve worked together!”

What was your highlight from last year?

Bradley doing stupid stuff on set and making me laugh! I just remember him saying: “What is it, garlic?” pretending to rehearse his lines in many different ways just before a take and when we were rolling and he forgot the line! But it happened like twenty five times. Every time I see a garlic clove when I’m cooking I start giggling. It’s so silly but you had to be there.

Sounds like it was a long day on set then?

It was a proper long day on set, it was cold, I just got back from South Africa. I think it was a night shoot. And he’s just saying: “What is it, garlic?” Proper dramatic – it was his line and he completely blanked, he didn’t know what to say. That was one of my favourite moments on set; I was just dying with laughter.

How scary are the monsters this year?

Oh no, no, no! There’s a monster that shall not be named, you’re going to see my reaction, it breaks through the wall and you’re going to see me jump and that jump is the most honest jump. I was actually scared – I knew it was going to happen but when it happened I didn’t know it was going to happen like that. I was genuinely scared. I think I had to change my pants that day! [laughs]

Is it strange when you people in prosthetics? What’s been your strangest experience?

There’s someone in this season and I’ve even seen the person before, and then she came in and I was talking to her like I’d never met her before and she said: “You do know it’s me?” I was like “No, no!” They did a really good job! Sometimes people have a slight resemblance but no, this was crazy. They were in the chair for four hours I was thinking: “Nah, I couldn’t do that”. I remember before when I wanted to play monsters and that, but when you realise you have to have an earlier call time and stuff like that, I was like not for me! [laughs]

What was it like working with the Cybermen and the Judoon and the other monsters?

It’s nice isn’t it? It’s cool because you always get to see how it works especially with the Judoon and the animatronics. You see the guys doing the voices, and you learn about them.

It’s also nice to have that classic feel. Before, we didn’t really work with the classic monsters, only on the festive episode. So to do it this season it’s nice to have that nostalgic feel to it.

Do you have a highlight of your time during the series so far?

It’s the little things for me, the banter between us and the guys. There’s so many!

What was your favourite episode of last year and why?

The Rosa Parks episode – that was my favourite. Just the weight of it and experiencing it through Ryan was just… imagine if that was really Rosa Parks, especially one of the scenes with Martin Luther King and all the civil rights leaders in that one room. I was like that is crazy! Just the weight of it and the approach we had to it, and the little nuances, it really touched me. Yeah, this was something I was really proud of. It has a special place in my heart.

You might not be able to tell us the ins and outs, but is there a particular moment you’re excited for the fans to see this year?

My stunts – there’s going to be some bangs, some booms, some action! No stunt double, all me! I do my own stunts. I’ve set the standard; I’ve set the bar quite high (laughs). People try and act like there’s no competition, I think Bradley was the first one to do a stunt and I was like: “Oh yeah? Alright cool then watch this old timer…” The episode with all of the stunts, definitely…

Have there been any jaw dropping moments when you read the script?

There’s always jaw dropping moments – Doctor Who’s actually kind of ruthless! When you watch it, someone’s always dying. I’m like I didn’t even see that coming. When we do the cast reading and when we get a new episode, something will be happening, the new villain will come in and then boom, someone’s dead. I’m always like, where did that come from?! Lots of shocks.

What does Doctor Who mean to you?

It’s just escapism isn’t it? And just the limitless to life, everyone always wonders what’s on the other side, what’s out there. And the fact that we have this show that explores all of those kinds of ventures and what ifs; it’s just escapism, and limitless, and knowing that anything is possible.

How would you describe Series 12?

I know we say this every year but the standard has really increased. It’s really exciting, dramatic… The stakes are really high this season! Like really, really high. It’s a rollercoaster of so many things. Old villains, new villains, old feelings, new feelings, questions – I think the fans are really going to enjoy it. I hope they do but I really feel like they will.


Chris Chibnall (Showrunner)

After writing one series, how did you approach your second series?

When I came in I had a long term plan for the show: With the first year, there were mainly standalone stories and no old monsters. It was really about introducing the Thirteenth Doctor, and her new friends and getting people to fall in love with those characters.

Phase two of the plan, which is this series, is taking the audience that have joined with Jodie and taking those who have been on that journey with Doctor Who for a number of years, and going deeper into the wonders and mysteries of the Doctor Who universe. We knew we wanted to bring back old monsters this year, and do some two-part stories.

Then the challenge becomes the brilliance of Jodie Whittaker, to be honest! She is so extraordinary, and my job is to feed her brilliance and to take the character into places it hasn’t been before, while still retaining the essence of the Thirteenth Doctor.

Is there anything you are approaching differently this year?

It’s really about keeping the ambition high. We achieved so much of what we wanted last year and the audience responded so positively, so now we’re going: “Right, how do we keep raising the bar? How do we surprise and delight people? How do we make Doctor Who look like it’s never looked before?”. We know how much Doctor Who means to people, so we want to give them new treats.

So we’ve kept raising the ambition, challenging ourselves and challenging the production team. They’re the big, unsung heroes in of all this process: this incredible production team at Roath Lock in Cardiff who create all these worlds and characters and surprises.

Is there going to be a different theme to the show this year, what’s different?

Yes, although it’s funny because I don’t really want to talk concretely about what the theme is until after the series is over. You want to see the audience figure it out: That’s part of the viewing experience, how that evolves.

I think it was pretty clear that the big theme of last series was family: Different versions of family and different ideas of family. There is a different governing theme this year but I’m not going to talk about it at the start. People will be able to figure out what it is. It’s pretty clear by the end.

There are some returning monsters this series, including the Judoon, why did you decide to bring them back?

Oh I love them! They’ve never come back properly before. When I started saying to people I’m thinking of bringing back the Judoon, I’d see massive smiles spread over their faces. I think they’re an incredible creation by Russell T Davies. Rhino-headed space police in leather: They stomp about the place, they scan people and they zap people who don’t cooperate – what more do you want from a Doctor Who monster? They’re both really enjoyable and quite scary as well. They’re a great one for kids of all ages.

We have a great story for them, set in Gloucester. Everybody on set was just delighted, that delight went through the whole production. Seeing them stomping around outside Gloucester cathedral is glorious. They are brilliant, and it’s a really exciting episode. I’m really pleased to bring them back.

You also have the Cybermen who are one of the Doctor’s biggest enemies, so what can you tell us about them?

It’s the Thirteenth Doctor’s first meeting with the Cybermen! It’s a story in which you’re going to be encountering a particularly relentless and ferocious set of Cybermen.

How do you find the balance between introducing new monsters but also returning monsters?

We deliberately kept to new monsters in Jodie’s first series because it was so much about the focus being on her and the gang, and giving those people and particularly those children who came to the series that year their own monsters.

It’s interesting, because although you can talk about it as old versus new, that’s slightly a false definition. Because even if you bring the Cyberman back, that’ll be the first time for some kids and for some viewers. So you have to make sure that they feel fresh and there’s an idea behind them. I feel like we did a really nice job with that and with Resolution and the Dalek – that was a new spin on a Dalek story.

I think, with any series of Doctor Who, you want it to be this wondrous array – a bit of old, a bit of new and some surprises. You want a bit of everything – stuff for kids and new viewers, and stuff that, if you’ve been watching Doctor Who for 50 years, there’s a line or an image that you’ll understand the resonance of. We’ve got all of that this year.

There are some terrifying monsters this year, what can you tell us about this? We’ve heard that episode three is particularly terrifying…

Yes, there are some pretty fearsome new monsters in episode three. We have a lot of new monsters this year, alongside the returning ones.

I think all the kids need to get that little space behind the sofa ready, for their parents, so the parents are ready to hide there.

It’s the beautiful thing about Doctor Who, it’s that scary bedtime story for the whole country.

How do you get the balance right between the scary monsters and aliens, but also having a show so many people can relate to?

I think that’s the essence of Doctor Who, and it’s how it was created. The DNA of Doctor Who contains everything. It’s got drama, warmth, humour, emotion, scares, action and excitement! You want every episode of Doctor Who to have varying degrees of all those components. That’s what makes it different from almost every other show in the world.

It’s a show about somebody who fights monsters, so you want to have a high scare factor, but also you have that amazing reassuring presence of The Doctor. The Doctor is the person who fights and vanquishes the monsters and Jodie’s Doctor is particularly strong and hopeful and reassuring and heroic, so that’s important.

But also I think it’s a mainstream BBC One drama that plays to audiences all around the world. So the relationships between the characters, both the regular cast and also the guest cast that come in every week, are really important. We pride ourselves on the amazing guest casts we get and that’s down to having good strong human characters – and good strong alien characters. Because every actor always wants to be in a prosthetic! [laughs]

How does creating a new a monster come about, what’s the process?

It really varies. Sometimes it’s an idea. Sometimes it’s an image. Sometimes it’s a thing that you think: “Oh that would terrify me if that happened.” It can really, really vary. You get a kernel of something and then you start to build it out from there.

Then it will be written into a storyline or a script, after which it gets conceptualised by a concept artist. They’ll do the first drawing, based on the description in the script or the storyline, and that first image gives us something to talk about. Once we’ve nailed what we think it is, we start to think about how it’s going to be created. That’s when we decided it’s a big physical prosthetic mask and costume, or if it’s entirely CG. It can be a really varied process.

Monster creation is one of the great bits of the job, because each time it’s different. You’re using all the disciplines of all the departments who are involved – costume for example is a really important part and underappreciated in terms of monster design. If you think about the Thijarians in Demons Of The Punjab, the amazing costumes that they wore were as important to their identity as their amazing alien faces, so it’s a real team effort.

Doctor Who has always been a global show on a massive scale, are we going to see more of that this year?

You’re going to see a lot of the world on screen. You’ll see in the two part opener, Spyfall, a huge global spy thriller and action adventure movie. It’s got global locations, big stunts, big villains, monsters, laughs, car chases, the lot.

For a show that has been going for so long, how do you make it feel so fresh and exciting for a brand new series every year?

The scope of Doctor Who is infinite, so there are always more stories. Whatever’s happening in the world, whatever people’s preoccupations are at any given moment, that refreshes it. Any new Doctor, any new cast members coming in, refreshes it.

I think it’s also down to our writing and directing team – their voices, their attitudes and concerns, their stories and characters and ways of telling stories keep it feeling a modern show. A big part of my job is to keep it feeling fresh. You’ve got an amazing heritage to call on, but also you want to be creating the stories for the ten-year-olds today to reminisce about in 40 years’ time to their kids.

What does Doctor Who mean to you?

So many different things! It means an amazing character, probably the richest character in the history of television drama, if you think about how that character has been going for 56 years. In terms of the show, it’s such a vast, brilliant, simple, beautiful idea.

I think what it means to me is the collective labour of every person who’s ever worked on Doctor Who. It’s this incredible collage of every person who’s ever touched it or made a contribution to the mythology of Doctor Who in large and small ways.

But mostly I guess what it means to me is childlike wonder. Doctor Who makes you feel like no other show does. It makes every viewer feel that childlike wonder and like you’re eight years old again. Whether if you’re 28, 58, or 98 it lets you tap into that memory of what it feels like to be a child, during the most exciting bedtime story, with the most exciting scary monster coming round the corner.

It’s sort of everything really.

How would you describe Series 12  in a few words? 

It’s an epic, entertaining, action packed, emotional rollercoaster of a journey.

For viewers who have never watched the show, why should they watch this year?

If you’re new to the show, episode one this year is the perfect starting point. You don’t need to know anything, we’ll explain it all as we go. And episode one is the most exciting way to start 2020! If you’ve never seen Doctor Who before meeting The Doctor and her friends on the journey that starts with Spyfall, you are going to have a blast!


Matt Strevens (Executive Producer)

How do you feel going into your second year?

There’s a huge sense of excitement but also continued sense of wanting to take the show further and raise the bar again. There’s a creative thrill in what we managed to achieve with our first series in terms of launching Jodie and putting our own stamp on the look of the show, the production values and stories we wanted to tell but you’ve always got somewhere new you want to take it, a feeling of having to follow that, and how do you keep moving the show forward? How do you take it to new levels? How do you continue to make it fresh for the audience? And how do you make it fresh for yourself and the production and creative team?

Have you approached anything differently this year?

Obviously we learnt a lot during the making of our first series. How long things take, what the production can do, where we can push it a little bit more, so you take on a lot of new learnings. In terms of approaching things differently, I think always in terms of the storytelling: What was the first year about, what did we need to do? Introduce this fabulous Doctor and her friends and also wanting to give people as much variety in terms of story, tone and setting, so we felt the best way to do that was telling a story of the week that could encompass the classic territory of Doctor Who – so historical episodes, contemporary Earth stories, sci-fi heavy episodes set on alien planets or on alien ships etc.

We still want to retain that, we still love the idea of stories of the week and getting as many adventures in but you’re also looking for ways to move that forward and build on it. What do we want to do with the friends and The Doctor? How does their story evolve? So in terms of storytelling, we’ve looked to build on what we learned last year, and take it to new levels and get to know our gang even better and our Doctor even better. In terms of production values, again you keep on evolving. Other shows don’t stand still and they keep moving forward. And even in the very short amount of time we’ve been off air everything changes and production values get better and more sophisticated. So it’s constantly looking at how do we move things forward, not getting complacent or just doing more of the same.

What is going to be different for The Doctor and her friends this year?

I think this year they all know each other a whole lot more. The friends really relied on The Doctor in the first year but towards the end of the last series they started taking more control. They started being a lot more proactive and I think that just continues and builds this series, they’re very much more self-sufficient. They rely on each other. They’ve learned from The Doctor so they learn how to question things in the way The Doctor questions things. They’re a lot more interrogative and a lot more questioning. They’re the heroes of their stories.

The Doctor is facing more challenges. There are questions for her. I think she is going to need the gang a lot more. So she’s going to rely on them a lot more. Also, they’re over the initial kind of complete discombobulation and amazement of being in this space and time machine with this amazing alien, it’s settled a bit for them. And although every week is a new surprise, it’s still a completely surreal adventure, they are starting to ask questions about their adventures now. They’re starting to ask questions about The Doctor and what makes her tick and who she is.

There’s going to be some amazing guest stars. Focusing on the first episode, we’ve got Lenny Henry and Stephen Fry, what can you tell us about this? How did this all come about?

The way it works is Chris writes the script first. We had two very important parts so right from the start, we said let’s do our wish list. It’s the first episode back; it’s also the first episode of the series. We want a real treat for the audience. Let’s just completely punch as high as we can punch. And obviously Lenny is somebody that we greatly admire and Chris’s worked with him before. So he’s always been in our mind and we always knew we wanted to work with Lenny. And Stephen is on every list you put together. He’s a national treasure, we adore him so we went to them first and we’re very lucky that we got our first choices for those roles, especially as they are both fantastically busy all the time.

We’ve heard there are some scary monsters this year. What’s the process of creating these?

I think they are really scary! What you work with is, you go back and you remember classic episodes of Doctor Who and think about what really works, what really scares us, what can we do within the framework? How scary can we be? It’s a family show but what you realise is that the show’s always pushed the boundaries on that. And it has been incredibly scary, and people love to be scared. We created a lot of new monsters and threats last year, and this year we’ve got even more.

It always starts with the script and then the writer of that episode has an idea of the monster, and then we really interrogate it. There’s nothing harder for the design team, when you’ve got something that’s incredibly nebulous, and you don’t know really what it is. So we always encourage the writers, and Chris is very good at this, to really pin down what this monster needs to feel like. Then you open up it to the creative team and the designers, the creature designer, the costume designer Ray Holman, whether it’s the prosthetics team or whether it’s special makeup with Claire Pritchard, you look for inspiration and sometimes they’ll take it in a different direction to what was written and it’s a discussion such as: “But how about if we added this or how about if it was more like this?” Then we all get excited by each other’s ideas and as we get concepts in, that’s when you really start to hone the process down. But we’ve got some real behind the sofa moments this year.

Is there a particular moment from the upcoming series that you’re really excited for viewers to see? Was there a moment when you read a script where you had an idea and you thought, I can’t wait for viewers to see this?

There are lots of different moments. I think I’m really genuinely excited about our first episode. I think it’s huge. I think we really wanted to push the boundaries of what we could do and give the audience a real treat. They haven’t seen The Doctor and the gang for a year so we really wanted to bring it back with a bang and I think we’ve done that. What’s been really exciting is this whole series feels like we’ve constantly kept pushing and pushing and pushing! There were loads of lovely surprises and again, each episode feels very, very different; from the locations and the settings and designs and score of every episode. Everything does feel incredibly special and bespoke so that’s really exciting.

For a show that has been going for so long, how do you make it feel so fresh and exciting and like a brand new series every year?

That was bequeathed to us in terms of the format of the show. The great thing about the show is that it has an inbuilt renewal and although the show has been going for a very long time, the basic premise of the show is still exactly the same as it was back in 1963. You can bring in a whole new raft of characters and a new actor playing The Doctor and then what you constantly have each year is new things at your disposal, new technological advances, new ways of doing things, going to different locations and everything else. It has that ability to constantly change itself up.

So you keep it fresh by doing the things that are basic to every great drama, which is it’s all about the story. The story always hinges on the characters and so if you’ve got a great central character, great core characters, and great guest characters it just keeps an inbuilt freshness. And that is what we strive to do all the time. We have a great core cast, we have a great Doctor, so let’s build on last year, let’s have really, really great guest characters that are fully rounded, that you can fall in love with or hate or whatever but just have some really great parts there as well. I think that helps to keep it fresh.

What does Doctor Who mean to you?

Doctor Who means a lot of things to me. I watched it growing up so in some ways, one is slightly in awe of it, you feel like you’re carrying a glass vase across a very shiny floor you just want to preserve this national treasure. On the other hand, it represents just the most amazing challenge to me in a really great way. It is a real privilege and it’s incredibly exciting and it’s kind of like wish fulfilment. It’s like getting a ticket into Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory. That’s what it means to me.

How would you describe Series 12 in three words?

Exhilarating. Funny. Climactic.

For those who didn’t watch the show last year, why should they watch this year?

Well, what’s really lovely about this year is that if you come in on the first episode, it’s very clear who our characters are and who our Doctor is, and what the world is. So still I would say, you don’t need any prior knowledge of the show to come and enjoy Series 12 and if you stick with this series there are lots of lovely things that happen and develop throughout the series. If this is your first episode, it’s a great series to come in on, you won’t be disappointed. You’ll fall in love with everybody and it will take you on a journey.

Doctor Who, Spyfall: screening at BFI Southbank

Doctor Who, Spyfall: screening at BFI Southbank

A screening of the Doctor Who, Series 12 opening episode Spyfall, Part 1 was held for the press and special guests at BFI Southbank in London, Wednesday evening, December 17.

A few journalists and a number of children where invited to the screening.

Jodie Whittaker, Bradley Walsh, Mandip Gill and Spyfall co-star Sir Lenny Henry were present at the screening, as were showrunner Chris Chibnall and composer Segun Akinola.

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Only the children attending were allowed to ask questions of the panel after the screening, which featured Chris Chibnall, Jodie Whittaker, Mandip Gill and Sir Lenny Henry.

After the screening and the panel, guests socialised and enjoyed hamburgers with “DOCTOR WHO” branded on the bun.

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There were very few comments by the journalists present on Spyfall, Part 1. We can expect to hear more from them when their reviews appear in various publications on an unknown date the BBC has chosen, possibly as early as a week from the screening.

Written by Chris Chibnall and directed by Jamie Magnus Stone, Spyfall, Part 1 airs Wednesday, January 1 at 6:55 p.m. on BBC One, and 8:00 p.m. on BBC America.

Doctor Who departure rumours branded “nonsense” by insiders

Doctor Who departure rumours branded “nonsense” by insiders

Jodie Whittaker and Chris Chibnall (Ray Burmiston, BBC)

Rumours have swirled over the last couple of days that Doctor Who showrunner Chris Chibnall has quit the long-running BBC sci-fi series, with unsubstantiated reports also suggesting that lead actor Jodie Whittaker has departed in sympathy.

However, according to RadioTimes.com we now understand that there is no truth in the speculation about Chibnall and/or Whittaker’s departures, with show insiders bewildered by false rumours that they say bear little resemblance to the reality of series 12 filming.

“This is all total nonsense,” a well-placed Doctor Who source told RadioTimes.com.

“This has originated and spread through the online rumour mill.”

Apparently, the new rumours originated on a popular Doctor Who message-board before being spread on social media platforms, with many fans anticipating an official announcement about either Chibnall or Whittaker’s departure imminently, while also speculating about which other regular writers could be stepping in to take over.

However, many others pointed out the unlikely nature of the longtime Doctor Who writer departing the showrunner position mid-series, while some noted that similar rumours relating to Chibnall’s exit had been suggested and disproven on more than one occasion since he took over the top job in 2017.

As it stands, both Chibnall and Whittaker are set to continue filming series 12 in the coming weeks and months, though exactly what they’re shooting is a bit of a mystery – apart from the return of the Rhino-like Judoon and hints of a wartime France episode, little to no information has been shared about where the Thirteenth Doctor and her friends (played by Bradley Walsh, Mandip Gill and Tosin Cole) will go in the eagerly-awaited new episodes.

Wherever they do go, though, one thing’s for sure – the team aren’t going their separate ways just yet.

Doctor Who will return to BBC1 in early 2020