#classic who

indiemovieboyfriend:

Tom Baker interviewed about the 50th anniversary Doctor Who stamps on BBC Breakfast (x)

aka why classic who actors are fab

notyoujamie:

Bonus:

I’ve just heard the news that the lovely Deborah Watling has passed away, following a short battle with cancer.  I only had the chance to meet her a few times, but she was always kind, and funny, and full of sunshine, with a lifelong passion for performance and theatre.

My heart goes out to her family and friends, and all of her fans.  I feel blessed to have known her, but so sad that we’ve lost someone so special.

Sophie Aldred is a ray of sunshine, isn’t she?

I first met Sophie on a magnificently sunshiney day on the Wirral - and am so grateful for her for letting me know that the trains weren’t running to Liverpool that day!  There are worse places to be stranded, certainly, but still…

(And she will, I hope, forgive for the extreme lateness of this post: it’s amazing how much moving cities, changing jobs, wedding plans, and wrestling with incomprehensible work permit applications does pretty much reduce one’s available blogging time to nearly nil.  The fact that we caught up in Manchester for an impromptu photoshoot and I’ve been living in Oxford since last June tells you just how long I’ve been meaning to write this post!  Apologies.)

But I digress.  Where was I?  Yes, sunshine:

Lovely Sophie has been a beloved presence in the world of Doctor Who since we first met her character Ace McShane - a fiercely cool explosive-building teenager - chucking a milkshake at that snooty customer in Dragonfire.  She travelled with Sylvester McCoy’s Doctor until the end of season 26, and has subsequently reprised the role in many adventures for Big Finish.  As well as Ace, she has in recent years also lent her voice to Dennis the Menace, and the titular character from Tree Fu Tom.

Most recently, she’s also involved in a forthcoming sci-fi comedy audio series, Strangeness in Space, which you can learn all about here.  And she’s on twitter here.  You should be following her.  She’s nice.

Louise Jameson is one of those people who just radiates kindness and joy.  The first time we met was in Manchester at the very sadly now-defunct Lass O'Gowrie pub, ahead of a performance that evening at the Lowry theatre.  In hindsight, I can’t recall now whether or not I let her know that when I poked into the used bookstore later that afternoon, I found an impressive collection of Target novelisations, and all adventures featuring Leela, whom lovely Louise brought brilliantly to life opposite Tom Baker’s Doctor on television, and subsequently on audio with Big Finish, both as companion again to the Fourth Doctor, and in the series Gallifrey, which may well be my very favourite thing about the Doctor Who world.  She’s also a highly accomplished outside the realm of Who, with credits such as Tenko, Bergerac, and The Omega Factor under her belt, as well as a stint on Eastenders, and many appearances in the theatre.  Recently, she’s also lent her voice to the character of Jackie in the wonderful Big Finish adaptation of Survivors.

I first met Jameson just ahead of the release of what was to be the sixth and final series of Gallifrey.  Lamenting its end, I told her I would miss it when it was finished.  She suggested I write more.  Oh, how very tempting!

(And yes, Louise, Gary DID give me the biggest hug when I showed him that Leela-and-Narvin-are-the-best-friends-ever tshirt of mine.)

On the brisk Friday I had planned to meet up with Jessica Martin, I was late.

Like, seriously late. I had made the rookie foreigner’s mistake of believing that there was any chance at all that the Mega Bus would arrive within a relatively decent window of its scheduled time of arrival. I was so very, very wrong.

But the lovely Ms. Martin was quite patiently awaiting me at a little patisserie in Soho when I finally managed to tumble thorough the door, offering endless out-of-breath apologies. I do normally pride myself on my punctuality, honest!

When I’d caught my breath, we finally got to talking about travelling and London and all things artistic, and what an engaging, creative woman she is. Whovians will remember her best as Mags, the seriously awesome werewolf who befriended The Doctor and Ace in The Greatest Show In The Galaxy. She’s since lent her talents to many projects, including a cameo appearance as the voice of Queen Elizabeth II in Voyage Of The Damned, and over this past holiday season, she appeared as the Fairy Godmother in a successful run of Cinderella in London - full circle, she says, having played Cinderella a few years earlier. She’s also turned her hand to a new medium of late: comics. With a charming vintage style and influenced by classic cinema, she has recently released It Girl, the story of silent film star Clara Bow, which has been receiving plenty of positive attention. She’s got a full-length graphic novel in the pipeline, and I know I’ll be watching her comics career continue to grow with great interest. Her blog, chronicling her life in comics, can be found here. Keep being fabulous, Jessica!

I remember the first time I met Michael Jayston, we were chatting about this and that, and for some reason I mentioned that sometimes I fear having trouble being taken seriously as a professional, as I do tend to look a bit young for my age.

“Really?” he said. “Because you honestly don’t look a day over 64.”

Oh Michael, you ol’ smoothie. I do enjoy a bit of ridiculous banter.

Who fans - and if you’re reading this, you probably are one - will remember Jayston’s understated, menacing performance as the ScrapyardBarnyardJunkyard Valeyard in the show’s Trial Of A Time Lord season, a role he has since reprises in the Big Finish audios He Jests At Scars and the recent Trial Of The Valeyard. He’s been in far too many other things to list them all; that said, I would be remiss if I failed to mention his performance opposite Alec Guinness in the fabulous BBC adaptation of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.

Then there was the time I mentioned being a lapsed academic, and he looked at me incredulously, and said “did you say you’re a lapdancer?” and I laughed so hard I could barely breathe. So thank you for that, sir.

“Can we take a photo of me with the Dalek?” Anneke Wills asks me, beaming with delight.

I agree wholeheartedly with the suggestion, and the Dalek is more than happy to pose alongside his former adversary. It’s nice to see that they’ve since become firm friends, and indeed seemed quite happy to be reunited. It was a genuinely touching scene to witness.

It’s been a few years since the lovely Anneke first crossed paths with the Daleks as the playful and confident companion Polly. She was also part of the TARDIS team to witness the very first regeneration - from William Hartnell’s Doctor to Patrick Troughton - and she speaks of both actors with such great warmth and affection. Indeed, she’s also reprised the role of Polly for Big Finish, as well as reading audiobooks of her adventures for AudioGO. She’s also recently recorded the audio edition of Who’s There? - The Life And Career Of William Hartnell, a biography lovingly written by Hartnell’s granddaughter, Jessica Carney. Anneke also makes an appearance in An Adventure In Space And Time, the recent (stunningly beautiful and moving) biopic chronicling the early years of Doctor Who. You can learn more about all of the interesting thing she’s done and doing in greater detail at her website. To say that these are exciting times for fans of 60s Who, and the people instrumental in helping to create it, would be an understatement. I’m sure dear Anneke would agree.

(As would the Dalek. Though don’t ask him the last time he saw Power Of The Daleks. He’s still hoping it’ll turn up, but preferably with a nice alternate ending where the Daleks win and live happily ever after.)

It’s the delightful gents from Doctor Who Magazine, Peter Ware and Tom Spilsbury! Hello, gents!

It was overcast as heck in Swansea when this pair of illustrious journalistic luminaries and I found ourselves on a patio, talking Doctor Who, the missing episode wild mass speculation flying around at the time, photographing things, generally being awesome.

If you aren’t reading Doctor Who Magazine, you really ought to be. It’s only the most important publication in the world, after all. As of press time, the 50th anniversary edition has just been released, and it is such a treasure of imagery and history and stories and news and comics and all kinds of beautiful surprises. Worth every penny, guys, as always. And while you’re at it, go follow DWMandTomandPeter on twitter, because they’re awesome.

Wendy Padbury tows a perfect line between effortless elegance and profound cuteness. She’s about as tiny as I am, which is always a refreshing change to having to crane my neck at unhealthy angles to talk to people, but I digress.

Lovely Wendy is, of course, fondly remembered for her portrayal of spangly futuristic girl genius Zoe, playing opposite Patrick Troughton and Frazer Hines. Much to the delight of this TARDIS Team Cute fangirl, it is a role she continues to reprise in the Big Finish audio range. And what’s more, in her subsequent work as an agent, she represented a number of later Who actors, and went on to discover Matt Smith, so Eleventh Doctor enthusiasts owe her a big hug, wouldn’t you agree?

We meet on an overcast patio on a grey but comfortable autumn day, where she is enjoying the most elegant cigarette I think I’ve ever seen. It surprises a fellow patiomate that someone who was on children’s television in the 60s occasionally uses grown-up language. Of course she does, but with such affable, down-to-earth grace. Keep being fabulous, Wendy. We love you.

Not only is Andrew Smith a sparklingly talented writer, he’s also someone I’m blessed to call a good friend.

It is an overcast and fairly drizzly early autumn afternoon when he meets me in central London, the weather slightly forcing me to rethink the exciting photo locations I’d been considering, ducking instead into bookshops and out of the rain.

(But also, bookshops are totally wizard and it’s always fun to find the Doctor Who section and compare which Target novelisations you own, isn’t it?)

Did I mention he’s a fantastically good writer? You may remember that time when he, as a young gentleman, wrote the Tom Baker serial Full Circle. You may also more recently remember that he’s written quite a bit for Big Finish. If you haven’t listened to The First Sontarans, for instance, do correct this. It’s brilliant.

It is with an adventurous twinkle - or rather, since I’m pretty sure he mentioned it in an email, I like to imagine there was an adventurous twinkle as he typed - that he mentioned having discovered, of all things, a Canadian-themed pub in London. Neither of us felt quite brave enough to try what passes for poutine in England that day, however, and we chatted instead over an afternoon pint.

One of these days, though. Poutiiiiiiiine.

Jeremy Bulloch is an absolutely, absolutely delightful gentleman.

Absolutely.

His first involvement with Doctor Who was in the brilliant William Hartnell story The Space Museum, fighting against the Moroks as the rebel Tor; he also has the distinction - and it is an impressive distinction indeed - of having shot and killed the Sontaran Linx in The Time Warrior, in his role as Hal The Archer.

(And he was Boba Fett, to any Starwarsians out there.)

And, as a gentleman with such an impressive acting CV, we ended up discussing at some length how much it really matters in the creative disciplines that you do it because you have a genuine passion and love for the craft, or it’s not worth putting up with. And you can read about the kinds of things he’s put up with his website, where you can also find his cheeky, charming book.

(My brother, a classicist who lives with his wife and son back in Canada, is a Starwarsian. I’m pretty confident that he’s never been more jealous of my art before.)

And as always, if you’ve been involved in the Doctor Who universe, or know someone who has, do get in contact!

It’s Mat Irvine!

His camera was much fancier than mine - a D, what was it, 6100? Please feel free to jog my memory, Mat - which I’ve had kicking around since the 1984 Olympics or so. But then, he’s also been working in Visual Effects for many years now, and knows a thing or two about cameras as well, it turns out. Doctor Who fans will recognise his handiwork every time K-9 appears onscreen, as it’s Mr. Irvine behind the scenes taking the beloved puppy for walkies.

(Or to put it in less syrupy cute terms, if I have to, I suppose, Mat operated the K-9 model both during its original run with Tom Baker, and then later in its subsequent outings. But I still think walkies is a perfectly apt description.)

Plus, he’s done loads of other visual effects design besides, on a host of programmes, and has written a number of books on the subject to boot. And here’s his website!

And as always, if you’ve been involved in the Doctor Who Universe, or know someone who has, do drop me a line!

Paul Darrow invited me to join him on a smoke break, just after lunchtime, on a pleasant September Sunday.

“Do you smoke?” he asks me. We’re stood out the back entrance of the venue, some twists and turns of the corridor past the green room.

“Sometimes,” I tell him.

“Do you want one?” He offers the pack to me, but I politely decline.

“I’m trying to cut down,” I reply.

“I’ve been trying to cut down since I started,” he laughs, in that deadpan way that is, it seems, almost exclusively the domain of distinguished older gentlemen.

Doctor Who fans will know him as Captain Hawkins in The Silurians, and later as Tekker in Timelash, though he is best known for his role as Avon in the British sci-fi classic Blake’s 7, a role he has since reprised for the Big Finish audio range based on the series. This year, he’s taken his involvement in Blake’s 7 a step further: his Blake’s 7 novel, Lucifer, was released in May of 2013, with further volumes to follow. Exciting times, Mr. Darrow!

My quest to photograph the people of Who continues, and as such, if you’ve been involved in the Who universe, or know someone who has, do get in contact!

Say hello to the wonderful John Leeson.

In addition to a rare onscreen appearance as Dugeen in The Power Of Kroll, it is, of course, his voice most people are familiar with; as the voice of K-9, he has appeared as companion to the Doctor, and as best friend to Leela, Romana, and later, Sarah Jane. He continues to voice K-9 in audio dramas from Big Finish, opposite Tom Baker in the Fourth Doctor adventure range, and the brilliant Gallifrey series.

And he’s written a wonderful book! I’m normally quite shy meeting people for the first time, but there’s a certain affable, eloquent sparkle about this gentleman that makes you feel like you’re chatting to a dear friend.

I’m chuffed to bits to be able to share these portraits, and the project is still very much ongoing, so if you’ve been involved in the Doctor Who universe, or know someone who has, on camera or behind the scenes, I want to hear from you!