Radio Times Preview

Radio Times has released this preview of The Next Doctor. Well, it's sort of a preview anyway.
Read below

So this is Christmas. We’re at Cyber HQ in London 1851 - in reality a set at Cardiff’s Upper Boat studios in April 2008. This is Torchwood’s Hub cunningly redressed for this year’s Doctor Who Christmas special as a sort of huge Cyber-Victorian engine - all cogs, chains, furnaces, pipes and steam. Think steampunk. Or a huge version of the board game Mouse Trap.

Street urchins are shovelling coal into buckets, pouring oil into funnels and trudging up and down rickety wooden stairs. “No smiling, please,” says director Andy Goddard. “You’re not supposed to be enjoying this. It’s hard and tiring. It’s the worst Christmas you’ve ever had.”

At the time of giving the Christmas special its title, The Next Doctor, Davies knew the news of Tennant’s departure would have become public [Tennant announced in October that he’s leaving after filming four more specials next year]. “Hopefully, that creates a bit more intrigue,” says Davies, “and hints at interesting developments in the show’s future. Let’s just say that regeneration is a complicated process, and never as simple as it seems.”

“The Doctors become great friends,” he says. “In this episode the Doctor [Tennant] doesn’t have a companion, which is rare, and my Doctor fills that gap. But all those questions my Doctor wants to ask about himself and his past have to be put aside to save London from destruction.”

Tennant and Morrissey have also worked together before - in the 2004 BBC1 drama Blackpool. “What David’s done with the Doctor is so special,” says Morrissey. “He has moved it on - not just the character, but also how he’s taken on the role publicly. We were filming in Gloucester with 400 people watching.When I got out of the car with David it was like being with a member of Take That! They were shouting, ‘We love you!’ and he was so warm-hearted towards them.”

Morrissey explains his approach to nailing his Doctor: “There has to be an inner truth for me, something at stake, and you have to play that for real.” So did any former Doctors influence his performance? “When I look at Tom Baker and William Hartnell, there’s a truth to their performances; Patrick Troughton as well. They never saw it as a genre show or a children’s show.

Radio Times is out now for £1.05.

please comment