Another fan mentioned how Wil Wheaton spoke about actually knowing how to drive the Enterprise, and wondered if Matt Smith felt the same way about the Tardis control panel. Much to everyone’s surprise, it wasn’t all timey-wimey, spacey-wacey logic. In fact, on his very first day, Smith was given a Tardis manual. (Merchandising, anyone?)
“I’ve taught Karen how to fly, and we spend hours just fiddling around,” revealed Smith. “If you look at the way I’m taking off and landing, it’s always the same thing. I do the gear there, clink back the big lever with lights, and zip the hand brake. There’s also a navigation system where he types in where he’s going to go. So yeah, the Tardis just never gets boring.”
Another interesting tidbit was Whithouse’s How-To guide on writing a good Doctor Who monster. “I think bizarrely you have to find the humanity because there’s nothing more boring than a straightforward villain who just wants to do evil. Actually what you have to find is the kind of mitigating factors. You need the sympathies and the complexities within the character to make them interesting. And I think that’s the secret of it. Doctor Who is essentially a detective story every week. So understanding the intentions is a big part of that investigative process.”
Staying in line with the complexities of characters’ intentions, Smith and Gillan promised fans that they will see more of the Doctor’s darker side. “Rule Number One – The Doctor Lies,” Gillan said ominously.
Smith talked seriously about how much of a burden it is for the Doctor to manage all the guilt and death he has experienced over the ages. “There’s a lot of blood on the Doctor’s hands. And I actually think that’s why he’s so bright and bubbly and effervescent and mad, because he has to keep going, he has to keep travelling, to keep saving people and making jokes—because if he didn’t, if he stopped and sat down, he’d have to contemplate losing the Roses, losing the Sarah Janes, and all these people and letting them go.”
When asked for specific hints about the upcoming latter half of Series 6, show writer Whithouse, Smith, and Gillan admitted even they don’t know all the answers. In fact, the main actors are continually hiding secrets about their own characters from each other, much to the chagrin of everyone. Concerning the big twist about River Song at the end of the first half of the series, Smith revealed that Steven Moffat had told Alex Kingston the secret at the very beginning.
“She knew all along,” said Smith. “We’d be shooting every day and we’d keep going ‘Alex, tell us, come on, what is it? And she just wouldn’t budge. You know, no spoilers from River Song. Steven gave her more power—how can you give River Song more power? It’s not fair.”
Despite the great frustration it causes, Gillan admitted that keeping secrets really helps with playing her role. “If the characters are keeping secrets from each other, then it helps to actually not discuss them in real life. Actually, my secret I’ve still got, you still don’t know it, Matt,” squealed Gillan with an evil glint in her eye. “Oh it’s so good! I feel so powerful right now. This never happens.”
“We can’t even say what it’s about—it’s really exciting, but argh, she just won’t tell me!” added a very vexed Smith. “But that’s what’s really interesting and frustrating about it, which is good. I think the Doctor always wants to know the most, and always does generally know the most.”
However, according to executive producer Willis, the man who really, truly knows the most is head show-runner Steven Moffat. “The brilliance of Steven is that he will tell you the things that you need to know, but he takes so much pleasure in holding back.”
Unfortunately for us Doctor Who fans, we’ll be stuck in the unknown until the next episode of the second half of Series 6 premieres on August 27, 9 p.m. on BBC America. In the meantime, keep yourself buzzing with giddiness and confusion with the new trailer—River wears an eye patch! Amy has wrinkles! And Rory punches Hitler in the face!
