Legend of the Sea Devils airs on BBC One and BBC iPlayer on Sunday April 17.
Q&A with Jodie Whittaker
The Doctor (Jodie Whittaker)
What can audiences expect from this special?
We’re a few centuries off where the Doctor was aiming for and we stumble across a period in history that is a first for the Doctor Who universe. The TARDIS knows that it's going to China so Yaz and the Doctor have prepared appropriately for it but Dan gets a bit of a bum steer and his costume is all wrong! It’s a Pirates of the Caribbean style sci-fi, action adventure that marries historical characters with Whovian characters with a really brilliant high octane Doctor Who adventure.
Did you enjoy stepping onto set – we heard the ship was impressive?
Yeah, it was amazing! The art department worked night and day to create a really extraordinary set and I think it's the biggest one that we've worked on. We walked into an incredible pirate ship - it has so many different levels, it was really epic. It has so much depth and detail and also I think it was one boat that ended up being three different ones and in the episode, you can tell that the art department have worked so hard for that to go completely unnoticed.
How was it to find out the Sea Devils were coming back, with Craige Els as the Chief Sea Devil? How did they match up to other Doctor Who creatures you’ve come up against?
I was really pleased to be working with the Sea Devils! It’s always good to work with creatures from the Doctor Who universe. This is a hat trick for me now with Craige Els! Me and Craige were in a play called Antigone at the National with Chris Eccleston - now it’s a trio of Whovian cast. I spent the entire time with Craige saying “What did you say?” because of the mask! I think they were less familiar to me so it interesting to see Craigs Els’ interpretation because obviously he's playing a very different kind of Sea Devil than we've seen before. Because of the costume and the restrictions of the mask it meant that Craige’s lines were recorded so that added complication to it but as far as the look of it, it looked great! I think an acting thing must have been incredibly challenging for Craige but once again he brought an incredible characterisation and smashed it.
How was it working with the brilliant guest actors?
On this episode we got to work with some really exciting cast. Crystal was absolutely brilliant. And also I think, Madam Ching as a character was such a great character. I think Crystal is an actress throws herself into things 100%. She's amazing, as is Craig, Marlowe and Arthur (Lee) - we had a really contained cast. There was obviously more than that but for us it was a kind of ensemble feel as were together all of the time.
Crystal’s energy was brilliant - she was never tired - she was running around, jumping off things, swinging off things, fighting, memorising lots of lines and at no point does she ever stop smiling. She's such a wonderful person to have on set and it was really was lovely. And I think the dynamic between her, Arthur and Marlowe was great too. What was lovely was that Marlowe was at the very beginning of his career and that’s always really exciting as well, to work with people that are starting out and Doctor Who plays a part in the start of their professional life as an actor. Working with our Director Haolu (Wang) was absolutely brilliant too, I loved getting to work with her for the first time - her energy and personality really shine through in this episode.
We heard Marlowe is a big fan of Doctor Who?
Marlowe is a Whovian and his knowledge of Doctor Who far surpassed mine! There was a scene where I couldn't say one of my lines and it was a very specific scientific term. I just kept getting this word wrong and he would stand next to the camera and slightly mouth it to me as I did it. It really should have been roles reversed - I should have been helping him out because he has just started but he was always helping me out!
Can you tell us about your stunts/action scenes in this episode?
There was a scene where I needed to slide down the ship but the thing was the ship didn't have a side on it, it was really high! The team’s issue was the fact that there was no other side so if I did topple over the other side it would have probably been quite a dramatic day at work, but I was absolutely adamant (to do it). When I did it was actually really controlled but I didn’t know if it looked as good as I really thought it was going to but I was really proud of it. With sword fighting I was really nervous as I had not done it since drama school and then when we ended up rehearsing it, it was just like choreographing a dance and as soon as it was like that I could do it and I really enjoyed it.
How was your new costume?
There wasn’t as many tweaks being made to it throughout filming - I didn’t get to hang out with my wonderful dresser Ian as much as I’d like to as once this costume was on it was on! What always seems to happen on Doctor Who is you wear a thick heavy material in summer and a thin t-shirt in winter, so I was really sweaty but that was not down to the look – I felt I looked a million dollars.
How does it feel as we get closer to the big centenary special?
It’s interesting because time wise, it’s such a long time off (before they air). What's great about the standalone episodes are that if you do watch it now and then you watch another episode in autumn, you don’t need to rewatch it to understand what's happening in the next one. They are great standalone individuals stories, that obviously marry all of my seasons together, build on relationships and things like that. But they are also these individual set pieces that can be dipped into and watched without the context of the rest of the show, which I think is really important. It shouldn’t exclude viewers and or may you feel like you need to go back and do homework to watch something!
Q&A with Mandip Gill
What can audiences expect from this special?
It's definitely one for the family. It's got returning monsters in the Sea Devils and it's got new characters! For a new audience, you're able to relate to new characters, or if you're watching it with your grandparents, you then get to see the return of the Sea Devils. It's a really exciting story and it looks amazing. We have brilliant costumes and actors -it's a little bit scary and a little dark in parts, but I think all that works if you're going to be watching it as a family.
Where do we pick up at the start of this episode?
At the beginning of the episode, the TARDIS lands at a small coastal village but once again it's landed where it's not supposed to land. The Doctor promised Dan and Yaz that they’d be going to a beach somewhere exciting and they land on a beach, just not the beach that they expect. They get out, hear a massive scream and they realise that something very terrible is happening in this place.
How was it to film on this set?
It was a really epic ship that was built in the studios at the BBC. I saw Matt Strevens our Executive Producer in the hallway (before filming) and he was so excited for us to see it. It was brilliant, it was a huge ship so we didn't have to cheat any of the places or any of the angles. It was all there for us – things worked and moved and Jodie was able to do her stunt scene on that actual set which is always so helpful. It was one of the few times we had the whole thing there to work with. It was really spacious too, it was built to get all of us on it and a crew. The attention to detail was brilliant and having seen the episode it looks amazing!
How was it for you working with the Sea Devils?
I thought the prosthetics were amazing. Also, we knew the Sea Devils were part of Doctor Who’s history so I've always found it really exciting to work with characters that have already been there previously like Cybermen, like Daleks - it always feels like it really cements our place in the world. And then to be up against something that has been around for so long, was also an honour. They were so tall and the attention to detail was just brilliant. Again, it was great to be working with something that's there in front of you so to a degree don't have to use your imagination. It's all there!
Was it nice to have Craige Els back on set as the Chief Sea Devil?
It was brilliant! On set, you’re having these really natural conversations with a massive giant sea animal – we’re just casually having these normal conversations and having a laugh and I always wonder what it looks like from the outside looking in - he's ever so tall so he’s not always on the same chairs as us either to protect his costume. So he’s sat a little bit higher, and I am having these really in depth conversations with this sea monster!
Can you tell us about working with the guest actors?
Every single time you get new guest actors you get new best mates. I had already worked with Crystal on Casualty, so we knew each other and that felt quite familiar. Arthur was absolutely brilliant, you could see him going away to work on his lines - I love watching everyone else's acting techniques. Marlowe has done so well to be on a professional set and at young age and he’s so together. Also he’s a fan of the show and I love when people come in and they love the show. They want to be there as an actor, but they also love it and it's something that they actually watch on the outside.
I’ve always liked that about our guest actors - I love that they love it for a multitude of reasons, not just because they get to work as an actor. As it was a pandemic there were very few guest actors on and they tended to stay a lot longer than they did in previous series – we spent a fair bit of time together in Cardiff and I got on really well with them and had such lovely conversations. Crystal has got a really gorgeous energy and I think she's a brilliant actress, I think she was perfect for the part. Their costumes were great and we all did action sequences together which you don't often get to do, they were all brilliant!
What was your experience of the sword fighting?
We didn't do any training for the sword fighting but we rehearsed a sequence on the morning of it and because the set was really big, there was space to practice on the actual deck. You only see a little clip snippet of the whole work that we do after the edit but it was much harder than you think - the actual swords were a lot heavier than I expected! I was really into doing my own stunts before then and then I hurt my finger and I was like, “It's not for me!”
John Bishop mentioned that the team missed a trick not having Dan do more stunts. I don't know what you think about that?
I love how confident he is! To be honest, you think it’s going to be all fun and games and you want to do it all and are proper up for it. And then you do it and you realise that stunt people look so incredibly easy, because you have to go again and again and again! And so it's all fun and games until you're on the tenth take and you’re upside down again. But yeah, I guess I've had three years of being upside down and chased and whatnot.. John had one year but I mean, he probably wouldn't say that after three series!
What would you say we can expect in this episode between the Doctor and Yaz? Will their feelings be addressed further?
So the relationship between the Doctor and Yaz has definitely developed further. There’s not an awful lot I can say about it but there's a lot of bravery, there's a lot of emotion and a lot of understanding, and openness. Conversations are not concluded in this episode, but they still definitely have advanced from where they were at the New Year’s episode. There’s a lot of open and honest conversations.
How does this episode set us up for the final special?
We definitely get a sense that something is coming because there always is something coming when the Doctor is around! Things have not been resolved by the end of the episode and I think that can be said for the relationship between Yaz and the Doctor but also the Doctor’s history and future.
Why should everyone tune in this Easter Sunday?
I think it's a really jam packed, epic story. It looks amazing - you'll see the hard work that went in from the crew and the cast during the pandemic. They've definitely excelled in terms of prosthetics makeup, costume and set design. Everything is just brilliant. It's a standalone episode that has adventure, returning monsters, but also, ultimately and fundamentally there is a story of love at the centre of it all.