That was just how Stephen Moffat wrote it.
How was the experience of going back on the set after all those years?
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I loved it.
But once I got into it I had a great time doing it.
So in a way it kind of balanced out.
And the moment you run through the lines, its great.
It was all very quick.
No no, particularly regarding Patrick.
I took bits of everybody in my head, and then whatever comes out…
Were you keen to be seen on TV as something other than the Doctor?
You cant really control those things.
I knew thered be a problem afterDoctor Who.
Which was fine by me.
No, not once Id broken the spell of it.
Is the Murka the lowest point ofDoctor Whos production values in your time?
I think the Polystyrene monsters inTime Flightmight be close to it.
They were literally lumps of Polystyrene [laughs].
You could comfortably walk away from it, so why were all these soldiers confronted with it going argghh?
Its just the way things were done.
Thats maybe missing from the new series the fun of the cheap sets.
[laughs] I love that.
Is that something you think the current series would benefit from?What, dodgy sets?
[laughs] No, Im quite happy with the series without the dodgy sets.
Its part of what you have to accept when you watch our seasons.
It just was blue-screen and chromakey that was the best technology that was available to us.
So everything about it is kind of dodgy, but you accept it.
Not for Doctor Who, but…he thought live television was the be-all and end-all.
Sometimes cameras would come into shot.
A policeman was meant to come in and go Oh Andy, youre wanted down the station.
And he didnt turn up.
So this was live television!
And he just disappeared, and people just looked on, looked around.
I didnt see that particular one, but it didnt matter.
Those kind of cock-ups didnt matter.
If you were to do that now, people would just laugh at you, they really would.
So you cant really go back even though it would be fun.
Youve got to remember to hit your mark and not block someone else, and its very bittily done.
If youre filming something, its done in thirty-second chunks, rarely longer than that.
Youre not having to remember it, you might do things in a different way and play them differently.
How has your Doctor evolved in audio versions from the role you played on TV?Im not sure.
Its very difficult for me to answer that.
Its mainly governed by the fact that Im older, and as a person, Im more experienced.
I made a decision not to try and play it like I played it.
If someone said Would you like to go back and remake the old stories?
Id say yes, great.
If I could be that young again.
But Id do it in a slightly different way.
I think its unlikely.
I loved doingTime Crash, but I dont know it would go any further.
Unless theres a spin-off for old codgers roaming around the universe!
Thanks again to Leesa Daniels ofForbidden Planet, and David Richardson atBig Finishfor helping to arrange these interviews.
Next week: Louise Jameson talks about Leela and more.
If youre after a Doctor Who fix, why not check out our interview withElisabeth Sladen?
