Jenna Coleman: "You're in Doctor Who knowing it will never last"
Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman reveal the secrets of their successful partnership as Doctor Who returns to BBC1
He used to draw every day, but has no time with the Doctor Who schedule. “I miss it because I know it’s atrophying. It’s not something I do as a pastime. It’s part of me. I’d like to have been an artist but think I’m too gregarious – well, not really – and when I look at painters like John Byrne [who also wrote the 1987 BBC series Tutti Frutti starring Robbie Coltrane], I think there’s no point in having a go.”
Coleman was brought up in Blackpool, where her father and brother run a shop-fitting business. She was a bridesmaid in Summer Holiday with Darren Day at 11, and turned down a place to study English at York University when offered a part in Emmerdale as Jasmine Thomas at 19. She found her character boring and decided to leave – just before Jasmine had a lesbian affair with her best pal Debbie, became pregnant by Debbie’s father, had an abortion, and clubbed her policeman boyfriend to death with a chair leg, as happens in soaps. “A good exit story,” she says wryly.
She went to LA at 22. “I’d lived in Leeds for four years, didn’t have a gap year. I wanted a change, to flex different muscles. It was really brave. I arrived at the airport having never driven on the other side of the road, and had my car towed [for a parking violation] on the first day. I enjoyed auditions – they keep you active, creative and busy while you’re unemployed. I returned after four months feeling great and fearless.”
Capaldi has no idea how long he’ll play the part. “It depends whether viewers like me, and you never know. We’re conscious of the fact the show will go on without any of us. Life is full of surprises, and there is a cosmic sledgehammer.”
“You never feel you’ve arrived,” she adds, “which is a good thing. It would be quite scary to feel safe. You’re in Doctor Who knowing it will never last. It’s constantly regenerating, so you want to make your time count and enjoy the adventure for the fleeting time you’re here.”
Controversy is always close, though. In Capaldi’s first episode, last year, there was a shared on-screen kiss between lizard woman Madame Vastra and her human wife Jenny Flint even though they’d been together three years. There were complaints that the BBC was promoting a gay agenda. They both laugh. “I think it was good,” he says, and then looks mock serious. “Actually it’s not just lesbian. It’s across species, which is even worse, presumably. It’s crazy if people get up in arms about it. There should be lots more kissing in Doctor Who. So long as it’s not the Doctor and Clara.”
Doctor Who series 9 begins on BBC1 tomorrow (Saturday 19th September) at 7.40pm
