RTD interview

From the Telegraph

Dr Who: Russell T Davies interview

In the Doctor's latest adventure, partly shot in Dubai and being shown today on BBC One, he is marooned on an alien planet with a double-decker bus and ex-EastEnder Michelle Ryan, who plays a jewel thief. Lee Evans, the comedian, is the Earth-bound academic trying to retrieve them. "It's a great big spectacular," boasts Davies, whose enthusiasm is barely dented by the fact that he is operating on four hours sleep. "A little bit Indiana Jones, a little bit Flight of the Phoenix."

And a little bit of a chance to get a tan? Not for the last time, Davies – who actually stayed behind in Cardiff – breaks into laughter.

"People often think it's a jolly when you go abroad, but it's a nightmare. Imagine doing your job, but transplanted to a different country, and under pressure to make every penny and every second count. It's really not fun."

Almost makes you wish you had a time machine, doesn't it? But – look away now, kids – the man who sent the Doctor to meet Shakespeare doesn't believe in time travel. Even worse, he finds the idea of going back slightly boring.

"Who wants to see what happened in the past? I know what happened! The one thing I'll never know is what happens in the future. That drives me mad, it really does – in 10,000 years, what will this planet be? It's terrible not to know."

Emphatically not evil are his actors, who are uniformly "lovely", "nice" or "gorgeous". Tennant is, of course, the loveliest and nicest of them all, while "if I was working on series five of Doctor Who, I would bring back Michelle Ryan at the drop of a hat".

Ah – there's that "if". Davies and Tennant are about to hand over to Steven Moffat (writer) and Matt Smith, the relative unknown who will become the youngest ever Doctor. After a special in November there will be a two-part swansong at Christmas.

Already the rumours are stirring: Davies confirms that Bernard Cribbins is returning as a full companion to the Doctor. But cameras have also captured what seems to be the Master: John Simm. Davies is coy: even if the Master is returning, he says, all might not be as it seems. "There are nightmare sequences because the Doctor's coming to the end of his time."

Given how many times the Doctor has saved the day, can Davies really raise the stakes any further? He stares at me, and tells me not to worry. "The thing is, it's such an honour to write for that man. When it comes to the last episode, there is no way I would let him down."

Read the full interview here