Is it true you’re to appear in the Doctor Who Christmas special?

I’ve not done any acting before, so I wasn’t sure if I even could. But I read for the part and on my 30th birthday, they called to say I’d got it. Matt Smith and Michael Gambon – who’s also in the episode – have been really encouraging. I can’t wait to see the results.

Did Michael Gambon give you any acting tips?

I learned so much from simply watching him, and he was always telling great stories about all the actors he’s worked with – Matt and I would sit and listen to him for hours.

Considering a career change?

I surprised myself: I never thought years ago that I’d want to act. But I’ve had such a good time doing it, who knows? Claire Webb

You can read the full interview in this weeks Radio Times

In this weeks Radio Times Karen Gillan is interviewed and talks about acting with Matt Smith and playing Amy Pond…

“We just kind of bounce off each other. The banter that you see on screen – that’s what we’re like all day on set. I sometimes wonder if it’s our way of keeping our energy up between scenes, but it’s all subconscious. And I think we might have been like that if we’d met in any other situation.”

“The one thing I never wanted to do with Amy,” she goes on, “was to base her on any kind of formula, to conform to what works – or what has worked – in a companion; you know, the whole, likeable, girl-next-door business. Amy is likeable, I hope, but she’s not ordinary. She’s quite complicated and there are layers to explore. So I was taking a few risks with her and I think it works.”

There is also an interview with Christopher Eccleston who talks about his Doctor Who exit…

“I didn’t enjoy the environment and the culture that we, the cast and crew, had to work in.

“I thought if I stay in this job, I’m going to have to blind myself to certain things that I thought were wrong.”

You can also see a BBC news article on this Here

It is, according to Richard Curtis, the Hamlet of the television world. A pivotal, career-making role, to be reprised over the years with different actors, always the same, and yet metamorphosing radically with each new incarnation.

We are, of course, talking Doctor Who – and how Curtis, that nice chap who made Hugh Grant into a superstar and Bill Nighy into a pin-up, who made us hoot at Four Weddings and a Funeral in the cinema and Blackadder on the telly, has at last been corralled into Camp DW.

Not that Curtis, 53, was a childhood addict. “No, I wasn’t very dedicated. I seem to remember I liked the Master more than the Doctor, strangely enough.” He says his decision to write an episode was more thanks to the nagging from his four children, now aged from 14 to six. “My kids absolutely love it. We all watched the Christmas special two years ago and my children said I had to do one. Scarlett, our eldest, pointed out that while I’d always promised I would write a children’s movie, by the time I do, she won’t be a child any more. And the great thing about telly is how swift it is by comparison with films.”

While the “Curtis Episode” stars the new Time Lord, Matt Smith, it uses a storyline about Vincent van Gogh that had been in Curtis’s head for a long time. So, the Tardis journeys into The Starry Night. That’s a bit high-end, isn’t it? It’s certainly a long way from the common-as-yuk territory of blood-curdling vampires or nasty underground aliens (to cite just two of the Doctor’s recent experiences). Not at all, says Curtis. In his view, Van Gogh is easily as familiar as an alien or a vampire.

For the full interview see this week’s Radio Times, on sale from today

The new issue of Radio Times is out Today and gives an exclusive glimpse into the new Tardis, in a special pull-out gatefold cover – buy Radio Times to see the full cover picture that reveals the inside of the new Tardis.

The Radio Times website also has the pull-out gatefold image ( in spoiler tag ) and several stunning interior pictures.

From The Radio Times…

Matt Smith is the 27-year-old actor to scoop the title role in the new series of Doctor Who. A graduate of the University of East Anglia, where he studied drama and creative writing, Smith has his own way of accessing this enigmatic character. “I was thinking, ‘Who in the world has a brain and a silliness which is close to the Doctor?’ and then I saw that photograph of Albert Einstein poking his tongue out and it just clicked. I found this book of quotes by Einstein – which I recommend as a life choice, he was such an insightful man – and I started writing short stories about Einstein and the Doctor, where the Doctor was getting irritated with the great man’s buffoonery. He’d be saying, ‘Come on, Albert, keep up!’ and I think that, more than anything, was my way in to the part.”

Karen Gillan is the girl who grabbed the role every actress would die for: the companion to the eleventh Doctor. Fans camped outside the Doctor Who set are a reminder of the show’s unique place in British culture. “I was never really into science fiction when I was growing up,” she says, “though my mum was a big Doctor Who fan. Now I’ve turned into a real sci-fi geek. Once you get sucked into that world, it has its own logic and laws, which is why I think people are so passionate about it.”

TV & Satellite Week and Total TV guide covers, both have extensive articles on the new series

Extract From TV & Satellite Week…

TV & Satellite Week was given a behind-the-scenes tour of the new, darker blue Tardis, I and it certainly won’t disappoint. Almost I three times bigger than the last police box,it is split-level with several staircases leading to mysterious rooms, while the central console ‘ contains gadgets galore, from a gramophone speaker to a typewriter. The Tardis rebuilds itself in the first episode because it was damaged when David Tennant regenerated,’ explains Steven Moffat.’

Extract From Total TV guide…

New Doctor, new series – new man in charge. Freshly minted head honcho Steven Moffat reveals his take on Who…

“I see Doctor Who as a fairy tale. And by a fairy tale, I don’t mean something sweet and nice and kind and funny. I mean something scary
and terrifying. Fairy tales are the means by which we tell our children the world is dangerous. And, yes, I know Matt Smith looks like he’s the youngest Doctor ever, but in the show it’s not an issue. It really isn’t. He’s an imperious, up-himself Time Lord. When you see him bossing Winston Churchill about in an upcoming episode, he seems like Churchill’s dad!”

A 164-page glossy tribute to Doctor Who 2005-2010

“It’s hard to imagine when Doctor Who wasn’t a Saturday-night fixture. But back in 2005, the idea of resurrecting a defunct sci-fi drama, some 16 years after the series had limped off our screens, was a serious gamble.

It had become a byword for wobbly sets and dodgy monsters.

This 164-page special is a testament to that wise decision to get right behind the regenerated series. I do hope you enjoy our fabulous coverage of the wonderful cast, creatures and the incomparable David Tennant who all made Saturday nights special again.”
Ben Preston, Editor Radio Times

Back in December The Radio Times announced a Doctor Who souvenir book. For those of you who have already ordered this you are in for a treat, for those who haven’t we can thoroughly recommend it…

This is much more than a book just full of pictures (although there are plenty of them). Each Radio Times cover, starting with “Rose” from 2005 right up to David Tennants last cover, “Death of a Doctor” is represented with a high quality glossy original image. There is also a forward by Russell T Davies and a short synopsis for every episode from each series along various quotes from the Main Actors, quest stars and production crew.

All of this you would perhaps expect but this souvenir book goes much further…

“we were effectively space police, but we’re heavy -duty. It was fun stomping down corridors with people being terrified”
Ken Hosking, Judoon Actor

It then goes on with in-depth features and pictures from behind the scenes such as the Tardis Construction, special effects and in particular many fascinating articles and images on prosthetics and make up.

“It’s quite frightening coming into Who- like running alongside a speeding train”
Christopher Ryan, General Stall

The quality and wealth of pictures is superb with many full page and previously unseen images present as well as familiar favourites. Many of these are also unspoilt by wording as so often happens and there are several double page spreads, with Davros and The Master/Doctor image form last of the Timelords being of particular note.

“If The Sarah Jane Adventures had existed when i was eight, and fourth Doctor Tom Baker had come in for an episode, I’d have thought it was the coolest thing on Earth”
David Tennant

And for Sarah Jane fans there are a couple more “wedding pictures” of Elisabeth Sladen and David Tennant in the Tardis as well as the image already seen.

All in all this book comes highly recommended – you won’t be disappointed.

Please note this has sold out, we will leave the information Just in case there is a re run.

This book will not be in the shops – available only through an order form in Radio Times magazine or via their 24-hour order line 0844 543 9822 (calls cost 5p per minute at all times from a BT landline).

The book is £6.99 and includes free P&P.

On another note the Radio Times have put up a video and pictures of the recent Covers party some of which feature David Tennant. You can see them all Here

You can also visit the Radio Times End of Time gallery Here

Plus, Russell T Davies reveals that the Master is back:

John Simm is back, as the Master, fellow Time Lord and the Doctor’s arch nemesis for nearly four decades. But Russel T Davies wasn’t daunted by the inconvenience of having killed off the Master in 2007 – this is sci-fi, after all: “It’s personal for the Doctor. The Master is his enemy, his opposite, and yet so tantalisingly close to being his soul mate. There’s something epic about their sheer existence – the last two survivors of an ancient race. It’s a clash of the titans. Both of them heading for death, and yet both determined to survive – at any cost!”

Source:Radio Times press dept, released Sat 28 12.01am

Digital Spy say the BBC have confirmed the scheduling…

David Tennant’s final two episodes of Doctor Who will air on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day, the BBC has confirmed.

‘The End Of Time, Part Two’, in which Tennant’s Doctor will regenerate into a new incarnation played by Matt Smith, will air on New Year’s Day. The hour-long episode will go out at 7.30pm, again sandwiched between episodes of EastEnders and also ahead of the last ever episode of Gavin & Stacey.

None of this has been confirmed by any press release via the BBC site.

In other news the BBFC website has confirmed the ruining times of the 2 Christmas specials with part one nearly one hour long and part 2 just under 73mins. They also reveal the titles for Doctor Who Confidential. You can see the information Here

The same site also confirms a series of Christmas Idents

BBC ONE (BBC CHRISTMAS IDENT – DR WHO CHRISTMAS)
BBC ONE (BBC CHRISTMAS BLIP – DR WHO DIGGING IN SNOW)
BBC ONE (BBC CHRISTMAS BLIP – REINDEER SNIFFING BY TARDIS)
BBC ONE (BBC CHRISTMAS BLIP – REINDEER SNORT)

Full information can be seen Here

Other magazines with Doctor Who Covers…

TV & Satellite week and Tv Guide

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“With its terrifying army of zombified creatures sporting cracked veins and white pupils, The Waters of Mars, the first of David Tennant’s final three episodes, might also be his scariest yet”…

There is also a Radio Times Waters of Mars Gallery Here

This weeks Radio Times Cover…

“Doctor Who can be funny, wise, whimsical, exciting, heartbreaking, you name it,” says Russell T Davies, the series’ showrunner and, with Phil Ford, co-writer of this episode, “but I suppose the scary ones linger, because fear is such a vivid emotion, and very little stuff on TV is actually frightening. Good old-fashioned fear is Doctor Who’s domain. It’s what the viewers come for, especially kids.”

Also this week:

Find out what Terry Wogan’s doing on the set of Lark Rise to Candleford and see what else Pudsey’s got up his furry sleeve for this year’s Children in Need (Friday, BBC1/BBC HD)

Other places of interest…

Digital Spy have a new Waters of Mars gallery

Radio Times Doctor Who pages