Why David Tennant & Russell T Davies are leaving Doctor Who
Tell us about the Easter special, Planet of the Dead.
RTD: People are going to be Doctor Who-deprived this year, so it’s got everything in it: CGI monsters, prosthetic monsters, army, police, an alien planet . . . It’s our last chance to have a bit of a laugh. Now the Doctor’s facing the end of his life, it’s going to get dark.
DT: Some of it was filmed in Dubai, and there were sandstorms . . . We were despairing. I’d look into the distance and go (Acting), “What is this strange alien world?” Well, I couldn’t actually open my eyes to look at it. The Exfoliation of Doom would be a good subtitle. My hair was full of sand. And blonde. I looked like Tina Turner.
Come the final curtain, will there be a dry eye in the house?
RTD: I should f***ing think not!
DT: Well, I cried (when I read it).
Did you make a pact to leave together?
DT: We talked about it. It wasn’t a pact . . . I’d sort of decided. But then I nearly changed my mind again.
RTD: We had dinner and chatted about it a few years ago. It just felt right. The BBC asked me to do a series five, but I didn’t shift at all.
Your run on Doctor Who saw you bring back plenty of old favourites: K-9, the Master, Davros. Anything you didn’t get round to?
DT: We certainly ticked rather more fan-boy boxes than I expected. The second episode I shot had Sarah Jane and K-9 in it. My 10-year-old self melted rather when Elisabeth Sladen came in.
RTD: I would have loved to have done a Star Trek crossover. The very first year, we talked about it. Then Star Trek finally went off air. Landing the Tardis on board the Enterprise would have been magnificent. Can you imagine what their script department would have wanted, and what I would have wanted? It would have been the biggest battle.
Both of you must have been offered other sci-fi reboots.
RTD: Oh, I get those. Someone did ask me about Lost in Space, and that could be brilliant. Obviously, I said no. I’m sorry, I’ve done the best. But Lost in Space did make me think for a moment. If they got that right: a family, a robot, a villain, trapped on a spaceship . . .
DT: I’ve been offered a sci-fi thing — that I’m not allowed to discuss.
David, your Hamlet attracted a new crowd for the RSC. Teenage girls dressed up like they were off down the disco, apparently.
DT: Dressing up? No! Which tabloid have you been reading?
In Stratford, some shops had Doctor Who-themed promotions.
DT: There was a chip shop that put up a poster — “Exterminate Your Hunger!” But this story has got out of proportion.
Will you concentrate on theatre after Doctor Who? You’ve said: “Theatre is my default way of being.”
DT: Only because it’s always felt like my normal job. For the first few years, I’d do the odd episode of Rab C Nesbitt, but theatre paid the rent. (Not entirely convincingly) I have no idea what happens when I finish here. It’s a blank canvas. What about you, Russell? (Davies roars with laughter, ignores the question) Do you ever see yourself just producing and not writing?
RTD: No. Though, if the right thing . . . maybe . . . No, no. NO. I hate other people’s scripts. (Laughs) I’m only in it for me.
The working title “MGM” — More Gay Men — has been mentioned for your next television project. Something more along the lines of your 1999 drama Queer As Folk?
RTD: Yes, maybe.
DT: You just made that up one day.
RTD: Well, it wouldn’t be about just any gay men. If I said I was going to write about chipmunks, I’d spend the next six months being made president of the Chipmunks Society and would have chipmunks turning up at my door, saying, “Can we have work?” So, maybe I’ll write about gay men.
DT: Not a bad idea, though, a chipmunk drama.
RTD: You’d be a chipmunk, wouldn’t you? A gay chipmunk?
DT: I can’t wait.
It’s been a bad year for the BBC... There were even complaints about your colleague John Barrowman on the radio, getting his penis out.
DT: It’s never in.
RTD: That’s just normal!
DT: (As if the world's gone mad) It was on the radio.
The episode of Doctor Who Confidential when Matt Smith’s appointment was announced got more viewers than the FA Cup match on ITV.
DT: Ha, ha! You see? It’s the final victory! It’s the final victory of spoddy kids like me, who grew up not understanding football and liking Doctor Who, and being ridiculed and seen as geeky, and finally . . .
You cooked up the Doctor’s wardrobe together, based on, of all things, Jamie Oliver appearing on Parkinson. How would you like the Doctor’s look to evolve?
RTD: Oh, I wouldn’t presume to say.
DT: He’s quite a natty dresser, is Matt. He could probably delve into his own wardrobe for something fairly . . . They may have to tone him down, actually. He’s quite wacky. In a very stylish way, of course. Makes me feel old.
RTD: Maybe they should do something different every story. Have him dress like a real person.
DT: “Like a real person?” You crazy heretic. He’s already got quite Doctoresque hair.
RTD: Yes, but it’s not as good as David’s.
DT: Ha! It’s different.
RTD: It’s good hair. I like his hair.
DT: It is quite . . .
RTD: The poor man. We’re discussing his hair!
DT: Well, so’s the rest of the country. We may as well join in. I’m just glad it’s somebody else for a change.
Will you pinch any souvenirs from the set?
DT: I never have done.
RTD: A whole Tardis. Ha!
DT: A sonic screwdriver would be nice. But there’s only two. And they’re worth a fortune.
RTD: That would be lovely, wouldn’t it?
DT: We’re angling now: “What we’d really like . . . presented in a nice gift box.”
The level of media speculation the show generates has never died down.
DT: The next special has Lindsay Duncan in it. Lindsay Duncan wins Tony awards. This is one of the poshest actors there is.
RTD: That just feels so nice. But I always knew it was this good.
DT: Are we going to sound terribly smug and sycophantic now?
RTD: (Mock heroically) They can take the piss out of what we’re saying. But they’ll never touch us. (Thinks) The whole thing never lost its excitement for me. Otherwise I’d have been gone. That’s not why I’m going now. I’m going “in case”.
DT: I would agree with that. I’m going in case it becomes a job. Because it still doesn’t feel like one.
A good rumour: Prince Charles was going to appear.
DT: We did ask!
RTD: He turned us down, bless him.
DT: He didn’t reply personally?
RTD: No. You don’t get past a serf.
Would you work together again?
DT: Only if he asks me.
RTD: Oh, do shut up. Yes, please. I would love to.
Read the full interview here
3 comments:
These two are quite the characters. They always have such pithy things to say. I especially liked the bit about Matt Smith's hair. lol
Thanks for the link.
Aw what a lovely interview ^_^
David didn't mention not bringng back his favourite monsters, Zygons, in the ticky box question. he really wanted them back so does that mean they're in one of the specials?
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