Doctor Who Matt Smith: I wore thermals in the desert!

Doctor Who star Matt Smith chats to What’s On TV about the new series of BBC1’s hit sci-fi series. In the first two-part adventure, The Impossible Astronaut, The Doctor, Amy, Rory and time-travelling archaeologist River Song meet up in the American desert, then travel back to 1969 where they find themselves in the White House with President Richard Nixon....

So how does it all kick off for the Doctor?
“Obviously without giving any plot away, the Doctor, Rory and Amy are faced with a sea of impossible choices and have to navigate their way through them. They’re in America, in a desert, and I get to wear a big Stetson. Every character is faced with the most seismic and high stakes choices we’ve seen so far. The desert landscape we filmed in was incredible. It definitely added a sense of scale and gives these episode a filmic quality.”

The monsters in these two episodes are called The Silence. What are they like?
“They’re going to be the greatest since the Weeping Angels. These things are scary and I’m really proud of them. They feel really grand and epic. They’re totally petrifying, look repulsive and sound scary. The Silence are very clever, and I love the fact they’ve been silently working since the dawn of time to make the Doctor come unstuck. There’s a grand plan to this series, and some seeds planted in the last series come to fruition now which affects the characters in drastic ways.”

Is this the story where we’re going to get the answers to the mystery of River Song, who’s played by Alex Kingston?
“That’s what we’re going to be exploring. Answers? When does Steven Moffat give you answers? You have to keep watching to find out. But it’s very present for the Doctor in this series, telling you just who River is...”

Was it easier filming in Utah, USA, where there aren’t so many Doctor Who fans?
“Weirdly, there were still some. Bear in mind we were filming in the middle of nowhere, six hours from a big airport. There were eight or nine people who still managed to find us. They were there all sitting on chairs and so happy. It was freezing cold. They had these iPads with a sign on saying: ‘Autograph Please’ and they just held them up. There was a lady with an iPad sitting on a fishing chair with a cooler, wearing a big hat. It was quite bizarre. They were Americans. It’s great for the show filming in Utah. We were there a week. You can tell it’s not CGI because of the texture. But it was tough with all the travelling. We came back and had to get straight into shooting two days later so it was tough with the jetlag. But it was worth it. It’s going to really benefit those first two episodes. It looks like something else, mad, and it has a different feel to it. It felt like an American world – it really shows that you are in an American desert.”

Wasn’t it hot in the desert, then?
“It was strange, it’s the desert so it’s quite warm in the day, but as soon as the sun goes down it gets freezing cold. So you don’t know how to dress. So you wear your thermals as I did while we were filming on a beach. Thermals and a tweed jacket I was sweating! It changes so drastically.”

Much of the action takes place in the 1960s...
“Yes, in 1969, which is a great era, with great style. The costumes have really lifted the identity. We’re in the Oval office of President Nixon and that set is brilliant. It looks really great on camera.”

Are you having any thoughts about giving up the role of the Doctor?
“It’s certainly not a part I want to give up any time soon. I kind of take it a year at a time and I finish shooting this season in a month so thereafter we'll wait and see. There's a Christmas special so I guess that means that everyone will sit down and figure it out, but it's certainly something I'm keen to be involved with because I love it, I love playing Doctor Who, or rather the Doctor in Doctor Who - it's a thrilling job so who knows?"

*Doctor Who premieres on Saturday, April 23 at 6pm