"Doctor Who" interview with Jenna Coleman and Peter Capaldi

September 18, 2015 | Right in time for the premiere of Season 9 of "Doctor Who" in the UK, we got the chance to sit down with Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman to have a little chat about the upcoming adventures of The Doctor and Clara. In their second season together, the two are facing lots of action and surprises, especially after we got to see The Doctor's "arch frenemy" The Master come back last season. The ninth season of "Doctor Who" premieres September 19, 2015 in the UK and will be broadcast in the dubbed version in Germany on FOX starting on December 3rd.

Spoilers ahead for Season 8 and 9.

Foto: Jenna Coleman & Peter Capaldi, Doctor Who - Copyright: BBC/BBC WORDLWIDE 2014
Jenna Coleman & Peter Capaldi, Doctor Who
© BBC/BBC WORDLWIDE 2014
Note: © myFanbase 2015 - The interview is exclusive to myFanbase and may not be published on other websites or the like. You may share the first two questions (up to 180 words) if you link back to this site. Translations other than English and German may be posted with full credit including the link to this site.

German translation of the interview.

First of all, is the TARDIS parked safely?

Peter Capaldi: Can't tell you where it is.

It's probably in disguise anyway, isn't it?

Jenna Coleman: It's probably in the smallest place possible to park. Might've got a ticket.

We left Season 8 with quite a bit of change for all the characters; how do Clara and the Doctor move into Season 9 emotionally and in relation to each other?

JC: They're diving into it.
PC: I think they're diving into it. They're sort of like a little gang. The Doctor has sort of realised, that even at 2.000 years of age life is short and he's very blessed to not only have access to this amazing toy-box that the TARDIS is, but he has this wonderful friend in Clara and I think he's just embracing the whole idea of the pair of them ranging through time and space having a good time. Which means being very adventurous and throwing themselves into the path of danger rather recklessly. They become adrenaline junkies somehow.
JC: Yeah, they become more similar, I think. Whereas last season the Doctor was the more reckless one and Clara was the kind of responsible one bringing him back from teetering over the edge. Whereas now, she's kind of egging him on, joining him, to jump off the cliff with him. So when you got two characters like that, the risks become more heightened. There's more of a sense of freedom, they found their footing together, Clara just wants to be space-bound now, the ties to earth have gone and her perspective has changed. She just wants to seize the moment and live TARDIS-life to the max.

Foto: Jenna Coleman, Jeanne Plaumann und Peter Capaldi beim Interview - Copyright: myFanbase
Jenna Coleman, Jeanne Plaumann und Peter Capaldi beim Interview
© myFanbase

We wanna do that as well! We've had The Master come back last season, what's her relation to the Doctor like? There was always a friendship-theme coming up between them in the past – how's that going in the next season?

PC: It's good. It's great, Michelle Gomez is fabulous. Not to give anything away, but The Master kind of adopts a slightly different role this time around.
JC: She comes back in a way that you wouldn't expect and has a different approach. She's still barking mad and definitely evil…
PC: …and kills a lot of people.
JC: Standard.
PC: She's locked into her situation. We're all locked into a situation that changes so far the dynamic of the relationships.
JC: Something bigger takes over.

Do Clara and The Master have some kind of relationship going on in the coming season then?

JC: They do. Obviously they have history and the last time, Clara thought she (The Master) was dead and also was responsible for Danny's demise in part as well, so there's obviously that to address. But yes, there's also something else, something bigger, that is taking over.

Of course you can't say too much…

PC: It's not that we can't, we don't want to spoil the fun! The Doctor and Clara are enjoying themselves because the Doctor sadly knows, that there's a deepening shadow that will have to be…
JC: We are being so cryptic.
PC: Well, The Doctor knows that at some point he'll have to deal with it. But he's trying to put it off.

If you had just one word to describe Season 9 to the fans, what would it be?

JC: Shadows.
PC: Shadows. That's good. Thrills.
JC: Shadows and thrills, that's good.

What would you want to have in your perfect episode of "Doctor Who"?

JC: New York, I'm gonna do a bit of a mash-up, with the Whisper Men. I'm imagining a theatre, a big red old-fashioned theatre with the Whisper Men, New York in the 20s, a bit of a chase and then I also do want to go and see Cleopatra as well. So then we would hot foot it over to Egypt and have a cup of tea with her. Her and Clara would get on really well, I think. Maybe Clara could become an Egyptian queen! Peter? – I already know what yours is going to be, it's going to be music-related.
PC: No, you're wrong.
JC: Okay then, go on.
PC: I would like to witness the genesis of the Cybermen. I think the Doctor should go and find out exactly how the Cybermen came to be. And then stop them right there, yeah. And then he might also have to go to Swinging London as well, in the Sixties, and maybe see The Beatles. I think he should go to Hamburg and see them play in the Kaiserkeller.
JC: I'd go to the beginning of the world.
PC: That's so deep. See, I am going to see The Beatles and you're going to the beginning of the world. No, I would like to find out how the Neanderthal-people were eradicated. There was a time in history where there were both, human beings and Neanderthals who are the same race, but the Neanderthals mysteriously died out. And there are theories that human beings destroyed them. So, I would think the Doctor would be on the side of the Neanderthals.

Foto: Jenna Coleman & Peter Capaldi, Doctor Who - Copyright: BBC/BBC WORDLWIDE 2014
Jenna Coleman & Peter Capaldi, Doctor Who
© BBC/BBC WORDLWIDE 2014

What makes this show special for you? What does "Doctor Who" have, that other shows maybe lack?

JC: A TARDIS!
PC: I think it's the combination of sensibilities that it can be…
JC: You're stealing my answer!
PC: I'm not stealing your answer, I've got my own answers! It's a very unusual combination, where you can get quite profound questions asked about immortality or life or time or aging, and also men in rubber monster-costumes fighting with ray-guns. It's a sort of B-movie and a kind of psychological treatise; it's both very bright, yes it's also dark too, and also quite pulpish. I love how all those elements match together.
JC: It still has something from the Sixties in it.
PC: It's very Sixties, yeah! The Doctor is kind of an accidental hero.

Was that your answer, Jenna?

JC: It wasn't actually. A lot of what we talk about is, that it's quite a unique show, because it's a mixture between the epic and the domestic. The human and the cosmos.

Seeing that myFanbase is a website all about TV shows, do you have any shows you just can't stop watching?

JC: We both watch "Game of Thrones" and "Mad Men", big fans of those.
PC: Yeah, well that was my answer, too. We don't watch them together though, we don't really live in the TARDIS. I love "Mad Men". And "The Sopranos", and I have watched "Transparent", that's amazing. And I need to start "Orphan Black"! The cast was next to us at the hotel at San Diego Comic Con, great people.
JC: Can you imagine them both sat there, watching TV in the TARDIS though? Watching "Game of Thrones".

That would definitely be something else! Thanks for the great interview, we cannot wait for the new season!

Jeanne Plaumann - myFanbase

Kommentare