“We are going to do the story properly of the Doctor having lost a friend and making a new one. We’re not taking that lightly. It’s not in one door out the other. It’s the story of how all that affects him, why he engages with somebody else and what’s going on with that – that’s all important.
What does Jenna bring to it? It’s surprising just how much the show changes with a new co-star. The Doctor is quite different with her, and the way you watch them is quite different. You watched the Eleventh Doctor and Amy arrive together. It’s like they grew up in the same sandpit, playing. They felt not quite like equals – the Doctor never feels like an equal to his companion – but you knew them equally well and they were equally important to each other. They formed around each other. And one of the interesting things about writing the Doctor is that he’s so responsive to the people around him. It’s almost like left on his own his personality would slowly disintegrate. He becomes what people want him to be, a little bit. So he’s Amy’s Raggedy Doctor.
With a different companion he becomes a slightly different man. He dresses differently. The mere fact that he’s so much taller than her suddenly reveals that Matt Smith is very tall, not, as people assume, about average height, because he was about the same height as Karen. He’s the senior man, not in the sense that he’s more important but he’s the one you know already, and he’s training up a new one, as it were. In these five episodes the Doctor is practically the adopted son of Amy and Rory. He’s gone from being the wonderful man from space – Space Gandalf, as he wants to be – to being that troublesome kid that they try and keep under control. They even talked about getting babysitters for him in one unfortunately cut scene. They love him, but they know he’s a big kid, they know they have to look out for him, check he eats and all that. Whereas with the new companion he’s back to being the mysterious spacefarer.
And this never goes away, this thrill – you want to see the reaction when you see it’s bigger on the inside, you want to see the count the hearts moment, you want the story to begin again. And that’s what it gives you. It gives you Doctor Who at its most iconic, because a new person is having to learn the rules – and you’ve seen that story how many times now? I don’t think you ever get tired of it.”
[x]
(via butterflyinthetardis)
Steven Moffat, Lara Pulver, Mark Gatiss, & Andrew Scott > BAFTA 2012
(via theblueboxonbakerstreet)
* Under a read more because it is rather long, and a touch spoilery - but completely worth the full read. :)
“Moff!” said the voice on the phone. “Stop writing and get over here!”
Let’s be clear: I have never invited anyone to call me Moff. I haven’t suggested it, encouraged it, or in any way condoned it, Particularly not when it’s THE Moff: I have many delusions, but being Peter Cushing in Star Wars isn’t one of them. For a long time, I refused to accept it was really happening. But then some newspaper said I was called that, and Karen said it when she picked up her NTA, and when I mentioned my bemusement to my wife, she looked shifty and left the room: later, I noticed on her Twitter Bio, she was ‘wife of the Moff’. Do I look like a Moff, does my smile carry any hint of Death Star, do I –
“Moff, shut up about the Death Star and get over here! You’ve got to see this!”
Okay so the voice on the phone was Matt Smith, and obviously I know better than to disobey a direct command from the Doctor himself. And where I was standing was my hotel room in New York.
Steven: I’ll draw your attention to Irene’s Evil Hair. She’s currently (the couch scene at 221B) got her Nice Hair because she’s being nice. But when she goes after this scene to see them on the plane, she’s reached for that concealed switch at the nape of her neck that just turns her hair evil again.
Lara: Bing!
Steven: That happens instantly. She’s able to do that within minutes.
Mark: It’s actually sort of like a superpower isn’t it?
[ Sherlock Series 2 DVD commentary]
What I find interesting is how much older Evil Hair (and makeup) makes her look. Granted, I’m horrible at guessing ages anyway, but I still think it adds a good six or seven years at least. Good hair makes her look the thirtyish she actually is. I remember thinking ‘you have GOT to be kidding me!’ when I saw Lara’s birthday in IMDB.
(Source: starkky, via iceinherheart-kissonherlips)