Doctor Who wins Peabody Award

Tuesday, 21 May 2013 - Reported by Marcus
Doctor Who has been presented with a Peabody Award, one of the highest honours in American media.

The George Foster Peabody Awards recognize distinguished achievement and meritorious service by broadcasters, cable and webcasters, producing organizations, and individuals. Selection is made by the Peabody Board, a 16-member panel of distinguished academics, television critics, industry practitioners and experts in culture and the arts.

The citation reads:
Seemingly immortal, 50-years-old and still running, this engaging, imaginative sci-fi/fantasy series is awarded an Institutional Peabody for evolving with technology and the times like nothing else in the known television universe.

The award was accepted by Steven Moffat, Jenna-Louise Coleman, and Matt Smith at a ceremony in New York last night.





FILTER: - Steven Moffat - Doctor Who - Matt Smith - Awards/Nominations - Jenna-Louise Coleman

TV Choice Awards 2013 Longlist Announced

Tuesday, 21 May 2013 - Reported by John Bowman
The longlist for this year's TV Choice Awards has been announced, with Doctor Who nominated for Best Drama Series.

It is up against 22 other shows in the category, which this year has been changed from Best Family Drama, in which the show has previously featured and won.

In addition, Matt Smith and Jenna-Louise Coleman are up for, respectively, Best Actor and Best Actress, with Smith facing challenges from - among others - David Tennant (for Broadchurch), John Simm (for The Village), Derek Jacobi (for Last Tango In Halifax), and Daniel Mays (for Mrs Biggs), while Coleman must fend off the likes of Eve Myles (Frankie), Jessica Raine (Call The Midwife), Anne Reid (Last Tango In Halifax), Lesley Sharp (Scott & Bailey), Ruth Jones (Stella), Anna Maxwell Martin (The Bletchley Circle), Olivia Colman (Broadchurch), and Suranne Jones (Scott & Bailey) as the 25 contenders in her category are whittled down.

Voting in this qualifying round of the 17th awards is open online until midnight on Friday 14th June. A shortlist - again open to public vote - will then be revealed on Tuesday 2nd July with voting open for about a week, said a spokeswoman for TV Choice, and the winners will be named at a ceremony hosted by Ben Miller at The Dorchester in London on Monday 9th September.

The show or its actors have won a TV Choice award every year since 2005 except in 2009, including Christopher Eccleston (2005) and David Tennant (2006-2008) for Best Actor and Billie Piper (2006) for Best Actress.





FILTER: - UK - Matt Smith - Awards/Nominations - Jenna-Louise Coleman

Steven Moffat thanks the fans

Saturday, 18 May 2013 - Reported by Marcus
Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat has thanked the programme's fans for keeping the secrets of the season finale.

Following the early release of the US Blu-Ray discs containing the series climax, the BBC asked recipients to keep the secrets of the show until after the broadcast of the show earlier this evening, promising a special video clip would be released as a reward.

Moffat told the Guardian
Well that was all a bit Keystone Cops, wasn't it? Our biggest surprise, our most secret episode, a revelation about the Doctor that changes everything ...

... and we'd have got away with it too, if we hadn't accidentally sent Blu-ray copies of Name Of The Doctor to 210 Doctor Who fans in America. Security-wise, that's not GOOD, is it? I mean, it's not top-notch; it's hard to defend as professional-level, hard-line secrecy.

My favorite fact is that they're Blu-Rays. Listen, we don't just leak any old rubbish, we leak in high-def – 1080p or nothing, that's us. Every last pixel in beautifully rendered detail. It's like getting caught extra naked.

But here's the thing. Never mind us blundering fools, check out the fans. Two hundred and ten of them, with the top-secret episode within their grasp – and because we asked nicely, they didn't breathe a word. Not one. Even Doctor Who websites have been closing their comments sections, just in case anyone blurts. I'm gobsmacked. I'm impressed. Actually, I'm humbled. And we are all very grateful.

Now you might be thinking, what does all this matter? It's a plot development in the mad old fantasy world of Doctor Who, why is that important? Well of course, it's not important, and in the scheme of things, it doesn't matter at all. Just as it doesn't matter when you're telling a joke, and some idiot shouts out the punchline before you finish. It's irritating, that's all. It's bad manners.

Well, no bad manners here! Two hundred and ten Doctor Who fans kept the secret, and many, many more fans helped. I wish I could send you all flowers, but I don't know where you live (and, given our record, you really shouldn't be sharing private information with us). So instead, there is a little video treat.

Ten plus 11 gives you ...





FILTER: - Steven Moffat - Matt Smith - David Tennant - Series 7/33

Matt Smith to stay for Series Eight

Saturday, 18 May 2013 - Reported by Marcus
Matt Smith has told a newspaper he intends to stay with Doctor Who for the 34th series of the show, the eighth since the return in 2005.

Smith told The Sun's TV Magazine he is currently on a break from the show making a film in Detroit, but will be back in costume during the summer to shoot the 2013 Christmas Special, before he starts work on Series Eight at the end of this year, or the start of 2014.

Smith has already completed work on the 50th Anniversary episode due to be show in the the Autumn.

The actor told the magazine he understood all the speculation over his departure.
People are always going to ask because they care about the show. But I take it year by year. And this year is going to be the biggest one in the show’s history.
The climax of Series Seven can been seen this weekend in the UK, North America and Australia.


Update 1st June: the BBC have since announced in a press release that Matt Smith would leave the show after the Christmas Special.




FILTER: - Doctor Who - Matt Smith

BAFTA's Doctor Who Anniversary Tribute Released

Thursday, 16 May 2013 - Reported by John Bowman
The video tribute to Doctor Who shown at last Sunday's TV BAFTA ceremony to mark the programme's 50th anniversary has been made available online.

The dazzling montage, which lasts 2 min 16 sec, features clips and dialogue from a multitude of adventures, and is followed by a scene inside the TARDIS where the Doctor, as played by Matt Smith, discovers a BAFTA award mask, which he likens to an Axon. He is corrected by Clara - Jenna-Louise Coleman - who takes the mask to present at the ceremony, which was hosted by Graham Norton.


Overseas readers may find the above will not play, in which case they should try this version:



The BBC Four adaptation of Room At The Top, in which Coleman starred, won the mini-series BAFTA. Other winners with Doctor Who connections were: Olivia Colman - supporting actress and female performance in a comedy programme; Sheridan Smith (companion Lucie Miller to the Eighth Doctor in the Big Finish audio dramas) - leading actress; Last Tango In Halifax, starring Derek Jacobi, Anne Reid, Sarah Lancashire, and Sacha Dhawan - drama series; Twenty Twelve, starring Hugh Bonneville, Jessica Hynes, and Olivia Colman - situation comedy; and Game of Thrones, starring Iain Glen, Harry Lloyd, and Liam Cunningham - audience award.




FILTER: - Special Events - UK - Online - Matt Smith - WHO50 - Jenna-Louise Coleman

50th Anniversary Special: second photo released

Tuesday, 2 April 2013 - Reported by Chuck Foster
Hot on the heels of the one earlier in the evening, a new publicity photo for the 50th Anniversary Special's read-through has been released, this time featuring Matt Smith and David Tennant, plus Jenna-Louise Coleman and guest star Joanna Page:

Joanna Page, David Tennant, Jenna-Louise Coleman and Matt Smith at the 50th Anniversary Special readthrough (Credit: BBC)





FILTER: - Day of the Doctor - Matt Smith - David Tennant - Press - Jenna-Louise Coleman

50th Anniversary Special: first photo released

Monday, 1 April 2013 - Reported by Chuck Foster
The BBC have released the first publicity photo for the 50th Anniversary Special, featuring Matt Smith and David Tennant together at the episode read-through that took place today:

Matt Smith and David together at the 50th Anniversary Special readthrough (Credit: BBC)

Filming for the special takes place over the next few weeks.




FILTER: - Day of the Doctor - Matt Smith - David Tennant - Press

Media Roundup

Friday, 29 March 2013 - Reported by Chuck Foster
A roundup of recent media "clippings" for Doctor Who in the run-up to the series return tomorrow.

Matt Smith (The Doctor)

On his new co-star: "You’ll see on screen she’s absolutely brilliant and it’s been a joy. I’m really proud of the work we’ve done and I think it’s exciting for the character, he’s got a new lease of life somehow. Jenna’s inventive, she works tirelessly hard. I like her, which is good because you’ve got to get on. And I’m really proud of what she’s achieved and I’m pleased that it’s gone so well for her because I think she’s brilliant in it." [Yorkshire Evening Post, 27 Mar 2013]

On how they get along: "Really well. We’re good friends, actually, which is nice. It would be really rubbish if we weren’t! I guess you guys are the critics of this, but I think she has started really well. She’s immediately likeable and popular, which is a stroke of fortune. It was always going to be difficult coming in after Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill [who played Amy and Rory] because they became really loved and admired. I think she’s made it her own and she’s been inventive and brave. It’s not an easy show to waltz into. It moves at such a pace. And there’s such a fervent following and people have such clear opinions on it." [TV Choice, 30 Mar 2013]

On riding a bike around London: "It was very exciting. I am innately very clumsy, and my mother has always forbidden me from getting a motorbike. I’ve driven mopeds before, abroad and stuff, without her knowing – well, now she knows. But that’s like a big old Harley looking bike, and I wouldn’t know where to begin… It was amazing filming those scenes. It was on a rig, and we got to sort of travel round London. Car rigs are different because you’re in a car, but being on a bike it’s like you’re on a sort of fairground ride. It was a really crisp, sunny day and we kept going around Waterloo Bridge and Westminster Bridge and Waterloo Bridge and Westminster Bridge and it was just one of those days where you think ‘This is a very privileged place to be for a day at work." [SFX, 25 Mar 2013]

On the 50th Anniversary script: It sort of does what it says on the tin. You won't be disappointed. It's my cryptic way of going ... no, the thing is, much as we'd love to tell you everything, I read it and I clapped at the end. I think it's hilarious and I think it's epic and I think it's vast. I'm telling you nothing more. But you will not be disappointed. I think it's going to be the biggest, the best, the most inventive, the most exciting year for the show. And I think this script, it delivers on all those points that you want it to for where the show is at this time. It's brilliant. It somehow manages to pay homage to everything and look forward. And I think that's the mark, the genius of it." [This is Local London, 25 Mar 2013]

Matt also spoke to BBC News about the 'vast and epic' series. [BBC News (video), 18 Mar 2013]

Jenna-Louise Coleman (Clara)

On the re-appearance of Clara: "You'll see an essence in the same way there was an essence of Oswin in Christmas Clara, there was a similar essence running through them, a similar spirit. We'll see that again with this Clara." RedEye Chicago, 27 Mar 2013]

Her take on The Bells of Saint John: "I saw it at the London screening that we did last week. It just looks brilliant because it’s such a ... from shooting the show there’s so much that happens afterwards from the CGI and the music and to make the episodes kind of as epic as they are so it’s gonna be great for me to sit there as a viewer and watch them as well. I was able to just enjoy all of the pieces of like the jigsaw coming together, and also you just realize how clever Steven Moffat is and the setup of the story that we have going through, arcing through the series, of the mystery of Clara Oswald and the Doctor trying to figure out who she is. It’s set up so brilliantly from everything that we’ve done so far through Steven. So, it’s exciting." [Access Hollywood, 26 Mar 2013]

On how the relationship between the Doctor and Clara develops: "I'm sure audiences will be looking out for it, and they have an advantage, over the two characters even, because they have experienced the Christmas special, but this series is a whole new beginning again. That sounds like such an unsatisfying answer, but one of the things that is explored in this series is that there is nothing the Doctor dislikes more than something he can't solve, something he can't explain, and that's exactly what Clara is. He can't figure her out. They are drawn together, and really like each other, but there's always this underlying feeling of them both trying to figure each other out. It's not plain sailing between them both." [New Zealand Herald, 28 Mar 2013]

On how her family keeps her grounded: "My brother is a joiner, like my dad, and they came to the Doctor Who set to see me at work. He’d never been much impressed by my acting stuff before but he watched filming and said: 'You’ve got the coolest job in the world – fighting the Cybermen.' I think he’s right." [Metro, 28 Mar 2013]

On her gran's plans for Matt Smith during filming for the 50th Anniversary: "I think she's gonna come on set when we're filming the 50th, which she's very excited about. She's gonna be patting Matt a lot. Matt's her favourite Doctor." [Access Hollywood via STV, 27 Mar 2013]

Steven Moffat (lead writer)

On the role of the companion: "We never see how the Doctor began his journey. We'll probably never see how he ends it. We'll probably never know why he embarked on it, but we know all those companions, who they were before they met the Doctor, why they ran away with him, and where they ended up. Those stories are complete. The Doctor is the enigma that enters their lives and changes them. The story is always about the person who changes the most." [Examiner, 27 Mar 2013]

On Jenna-Louise Coleman: "Well, she’s terrific! The most obvious answer is that she’s a terribly good actress. I know that’s a dull thing to say, but it’s the truth. You can be as beautiful and charming as you’d like, but if you’re not terrific at acting, it will mean nothing on the screen. She’s a terrific actress. She looks great. She has great comic timing. She looks like she belongs, somehow, next to Matt Smith. When the two stand together, they look like an instant team. They have enough in common, and yet have enough sharp contrasts, that it’s an instant poster when you stand them together." [Collider, 27 Mar 2013]


Other Media Items


Entertainment Weekly Issue #1252 Entertainment Weekly Issue #1252
Entertainment Weekly has been published with two different covers as it celebrates the return of Doctor Who this weekend. The magazine's cover story looks at how the show will celebrate its 50th Anniversary, and includes a touching tribute to the Time Lord from director Peter Jackson, who still has his eye on the Doctor: "They don’t even have to pay me! But I have got my eye on one of those nice new gold-colored Daleks. They must have a spare one (hint, hint)." [Entertainment Weekly, 21 Mar 2013]

Two associated videos have also been released, with the first featuring Matt Smith and Jenna-Louise Coleman discussing fans, whilst the second features Matt, Jenna and costume designer Howard Burden discussing the Doctor's new look. Burden commented: "When I first came into the series [on Asylum of the Daleks], we had an established look for the Doctor. As subsequent episodes came in, I was told that we could actually change the look. It was quite an intense process to actually make sure everyone was happy." [Entertainment Weekly, 22 Mar 2013]

Amongst its pages was a comment from Steven Moffat in which he said that statistically he was nearer the end than the beginning of his time on the show: "I just take it a year at a time. I think the feeling of it being done for you is quite unambiguous when it suddenly arrives.".

One name that cropped up as a potential replacement for Moffat earlier this month was that of Being Human showrunner Toby Whithouse: "I have heard the rumours. I've been hearing them for years now. In terms of my future on Doctor Who, this kind of speculation only takes place in the heads of the fans. No-one from the BBC has said anything to me. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't intrigued by the idea, but also it would be terrifying. It's definitely something I'd be really tempted by but I'm genuinely not in any hurry to do it." [SFX via Metro, 11 Mar 2013]

The Sun reported that they believed Matt Smith would be leaving the show at Christmas, with their 'sources' suggesting the BBC already had someone in mind to replace him. However, the BBC have stated: "Sorry folks but even we don’t know what's going to happen at Christmas. It's not been written yet! But Matt loves the show and is to start filming the unmissable 50th anniversary, and the new series starting on Easter Saturday." [The Sun, 22 Mar 2013]

The report came after Matt's appearance on The Jonathan Ross Show, where he said: "Doctor Who is one of of those jobs that you have to take year by year, it's ten months a year, it's all-consuming, so I don’t think you can plan five or six years ahead, or even two years ahead. It's a year by year thing, and at the moment it’s 2013 and we’ll see what 2014 holds."

The BBC statement didn't stop the Sun from polling readers for who they'd like to see next as the Doctor, with their results citing Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch as the favourite; the runners up were previous Doctor David Tennant, and comedy actor James Corden (who played Craig in the series). [The Sun, 24 Mar 2013]

Other Magazine Covers

Some other covers prominently featuring the series return:

The Big Issue 1044 (Credit: The Big Issue) TV & Satellite Week, 22-29 Mar 2013 (Credit: TV & Satellite Week) SFX Issue 233 (clean cover), published March 2013 (Credit: SFX) Radio Times (30 Mar - 5 Apr 2013) (Credit: Radio Times)




FILTER: - Steven Moffat - People - Matt Smith - Press - Jenna-Louise Coleman - Series 7/33

People Roundup

Friday, 29 March 2013 - Reported by Chuck Foster
Talking about fandom in the US, Matt Smith said: "We didn’t realise how big it was until we filmed in New York, but the fans have been so supportive. The British are a lot more reserved, and the North Americans have a lot more enthusiasm. I love it when people dress up as the Doctor. I like all that — that is the spirit of the place and there is a freedom to be enthusiastic there, which is hugely enjoyable. That is what’s great about working in science fiction shows." [New York Daily News, 23 Mar 2013]

And his thoughts on now being immortalised on a new stamp from the Royal Mail? "It’s a great privilege that the nation will be licking the backs of our heads. It’s an amazing thing – I’m really proud to be part of it. It’s cool. it’s something that I can show my grandkids." [SFX, 25 Mar 2013]

He also has an eye on being in the Bond franchise: "I'm not handsome enough to be James Bond. Maybe a villain though. Start campaigning now. I'd edge on the camp dangerous side I think. Javier Bardem was amazing. I thought Skyfall was a sumptuous film." Jenna-Louise Coleman also commented: "I’d love to be a Bond girl — I did have my moment on the back of a motorbike. But then we’ve got the goggles and the hat, so it was Doctor Who’s take on James Bond." [The Sun 19 Mar 2013, 22 Mar 2013]

Outside of Who, Jenna-Louise chats about what she'd like to tackle, drame-wise: "What I would really like to do is an adaptation. I like period drama because everyone is so restrained, but they have all these emotions raging underneath." [Evening Standard, 22 Feb 2013]

David Tennant has said that he isn't a fan of social media: "Twitter! It’s like being stalked by committee! Come and say hello if you want, but not for the sake of twittering about it." [Time Out via Radio Times, 27 Feb 2013]

Jenna-Louise similarly talks about avoiding the online community: "I don't really get online very much, I try to stay away. It's just ... that feeling of accessibility, you know? I like to go about my business and go to work and not have too much of a consciousness of what I'm doing. I just don't think it's for me, really. It's just not my cup of tea." [Mashable, 27 Mar 2013]

On the other hand, Billie Piper has embraced it, having arrived on Twitter as @BilliePiper - including a photo to prove it!

Peter Davison talks about watching Doctor Who with his children: "I do watch the new series, yes, because my children watch it and I love watching it. I've got to that age now. Douglas Adams who was a script editor on Doctor Who once said to me: "the trick about Doctor Who is making it simple enough for the adults to understand and complicated enough to hold the children’s attention". And I think I'm now getting to that point where I think I've moved into the older bracket, obviously I have, but in brain as well because I do find myself turning to my children saying: "what’s going on? What? Can you explain that?" They go: "oh, dad, what’s happened is this..." So, I'm now in that bracket which has to be simple for dad to understand." [Independent, 3 Mar 2013]

Colin Baker is to appear at Sci-fi By The Sea, a convention to be held at Herne Bay Football Club on the 16th June 16. Organiser Gerald McCarthy said: "People are very excited to have a proper Doctor Who coming down. Sometimes these announcements have a knock on effect for other guests, who ask who else is coming down before they attend. We already have two tardis’, seven or eight Daleks and some Cybermen coming along, so Colin tops it off for us on that front." [Kent Online, 14 Mar 2013]

On tour promoting their latest book, The Bone Quill, John and Carole Barrowman discuss their future plans for Hollow Earth: "We worked out some key plot things and some new things we hadn’t originally planned.. When we first planned [the series], we had three major evolutionary things we wanted to happen, [one] in each book, based on Matt’s and Em’s ability. We fleshed out the little details as we went along. One of the things we’ve had a lot of fun in doing, particularly with the first book, is seeding a lot of things that we hope to pull out as we go along. We planted little Easter eggs, or symbols, to discover. The twins live on Raphael Terrace. There are all sorts of allusions to art in ways that kids may not pick up until they get a little older. Matt and Em’s last name is Calder, not only a Scottish last name but also a famous artist’s last name. The idea of duality is in there. We’ve actually had a lot of fun playing the puzzle makers for all of that." [Popmatters, 29 Mar 2013]

The book was launched at St Katherine's School, Ham Green, which was chosen as the venue through librarian Lucy Edwards’ working relationship with Waterstone's. The siblings had an audience of 300 year eight pupils were there for their visit along with students from various reading groups. [Weston Mercury, 13 Mar 2013]

Writer Neil Cross explains what makes a good monster: "There's two kinds of good monsters. The monster to whom your existence means nothing. That's something like the Daleks. It's something so alien that it's inhumane in every sense. Then there's the monsters that look like us, but there's something wrong, like Hannibal Lecter. The attributes that we think are best in ourselves - love, conscience, compassion - are all stripped away. They're the people who kill puppies." [The Wellingtonian, 8 Mar 2013]

Writer Mark Ravenhill explained about potentially writing for Doctor Who: "I did once go and see Russell T Davies and he said he thought I was far too adult for Doctor Who. But he was creating Torchwood and so he said to go away and come up with some ideas. I had very few clues what it was about, so it was like throwing darts at a dartboard in the dark. That was the closest I ever came. Although I love Doctor Who - maybe I'm not the right person to write it." [BBC News, 24 Feb 2013]

When asked whether the perceived imbalance between male and female writers on Doctor Who would be addressed, producer Marcus Wilson said: "Due to schedules and other projects, both male and female writers whom we have wanted to join the team simply haven't been able to. For us it's about who can write good Doctor Who stories, regardless of gender." [Guardian, 27 Mar 2013]

Paul McCartney has revealed how he had asked Delia Derbyshire to remake Yesterday, though it never went any further: "We went round to visit her, we even went into the hut at the bottom of her garden. It was full of tape machines and funny instruments. My plan in meeting her was to do an electronic backing for my song Yesterday. We'd already recorded it with a string quartet, but I wanted to give the arrangement electronic backing. The Radiophonic Workshop, I loved all that, it fascinated me, and still does." [Q Magazine via Guardian, 22 Mar 2013]

Murray Gold recently appeared at the Scoring Drama Masterclass at London’s BFI, where he discussed strategies for composing drama music, including reading the script: "You need to love drama to score drama and show that you love it. First time I get a script, I read it. Which some composers don’t do. But reading the script helps you work out where ‘the kick’ is. This job is also a lot more interesting when you’re writing for a show you actually like." [M Magazine, 21 Mar 2013]

Being a former footballer, Matt Smith continues to take a keen interest, and shared his thoughts on recent developments at Blackburn Rovers: "It's an absolute farce, a joke, it's being run by complete numpties. Great players, great team, great club and those berks have ruined it. They talk about getting rid of Allardyce because of the long ball - what the hell was that against Millwall? It was a woeful performance against Millwall. It's the first time I've been embarrassed at the way the team played." [BBC News, 16 Mar 2013]

Now firmly established on ITV, David Tennant commented on how the Broadchurch story unfolded where the actors didn't know how it would develop: "When you're playing those initial interviews with characters and you genuinely don't know what the truth is, you can't load those scenes with 'actorly' tricks. You have to play it for what it is, which can only make it more real. You can be as exasperated about the mystery of the characters as the audience will be. It's great to be part of something where all the characters have powerful stories to tell. There's the whodunit aspect but there are other stories going on and such wonderful people portraying those parts." [Belfast Telegraph, 22 Feb 2013]

Co-star Arthur Darvill explained how he became involved with Broadchurch: "Chris Chibnall came up to me while I was filming one of his episodes in Cardiff and said, "I've written you a part in a new TV series, will you do it?" I thought, "I can't say no to that, that's amazing!". We chatted about it, we discussed where the character would go, and I just found what he was trying to do really interesting, so I jumped at the chance. That's the first time somebody's ever written anything for me; it was very humbling. It's quite an honour," he added." [Belfast Telegraph, 1 Mar 2013]

Karen Gillan is to join American comedy series NTSF:SD:SUV for its third series, appearing as Daisy, described as the team's "Q" expert. The series is due to be broadcast in from July. [Radio Times, 22 Mar 2013]

David Warner and Lisa Bowerman can be seen in The Wizard, a short film written by Simon Guerrier for Hat Trick and Bad Teeth's Short and Funnies short comedy film competition.




FILTER: - People - Arthur Darvill - Karen Gillan - Matt Smith - Billie Piper - Peter Davison

The Bells of Saint John: New Clips / Interview Roundup

Wednesday, 27 March 2013 - Reported by Chuck Foster
A number of clips from the BBC and BBC America have been released to promote Saturday's The Bells of Saint John, joining those that have already been released earlier this week:


Interviews

ITV's entertainment correspondent Richard Arnold spoke to Matt Smith and Jenna-Louise Coleman on this morning's Daybreak, chatting about the return of the series, the character relationships, and what might happen in the 50th Anniversary:
Jenna-Louise Coleman speaking to Richard Arnold, Daybreak 27 Mar 2013 (Credit: ITV)
Matt Smith speaking to Richard Arnold, Daybreak 27 Mar 2013 (Credit: ITV)
Jenna-Louse spoke about the relationship between the two: "Clara has kind of been billed as the impossible woman to the Doctor because she's this unsolved mystery that he doesn't understand, and a woman twice dead. There's kind of a lot going on between the two of them, he's trying to figure her out, she doesn't quite know him, so there's a lot going on." Matt responded to the description of the TARDIS as "the snog box": "(It) gives him a fright and irritates him hugely I think because the idea of snogging in it is just redundant." And on romance: Perhaps, you'll have to wait and see - god knows how he'd react to romance, the Doctor - or my Doctor, anyway!"

When asked about the Doctor's greatest secret, which Steven Moffat promises to reveal in the series finale, Jenna-Louise only said: "It's huge finale episode, it's a great build up into the 50th. It's a homage to the last 50 years, it's pretty epic."

Speaking about the 50th Anniversary special, Matt said: "It's a thrill and a privilege, and I think it's going to be the biggest and best year and the most momentous occasion - we hope - in the show's history. I've read the script and it balances looking back and forward in a glorious way. I've become a fan of the show, in the same way as when you watch it there's that, and there's that, and there's this and there's that." However, Matt wouldn't be drawn on the appearance of past Doctors though!
 
The interviews can be watched in the UK via the ITV Player until the 3rd April (last segment of the show).


Matt Smith was interviewed at London's Apple Store about the series return; this is available to listen to for free via iTunes. Jenna-Louise Coleman made an appearance on the Craig Ferguson show on the 18th March (search YouTube), and has recorded three segments with Access Hollywood on getting ready for the 50th Anniversary. flirting and kissing with the Doctor, and working with Matt Smith. An interview with Steven Moffat was conducted by Ed Stradling for the Gallifrey One convention in February, in which he talks(ish) about the eight episodes coming up, the 50th Anniversary and An Adventure in Space and Time.




FILTER: - Steven Moffat - Matt Smith - Press - Jenna-Louise Coleman - Series 7/33