Rachel Talalay is one of the most exciting directors working in TV tonight — on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. The Canadian-based American director has helmed episodes of Sherlock, The Flash, Supergirl, and Legends of Tomorrow, but we have seen her pop up the most often behind the camera on Doctor Who.
Talalay has been the director for the two-part finales of Doctor Who Season 8, Season 9, and Season 10. She will be returning for what will be Peter Capaldi and Steven Moffat's final episode (at least for now): the 2017 Christmas special.
We talked to Talalay, a long-time Whovian herself, about her Doctor Who legacy, the differences between directing on The CW vs. on Doctor Who, and her excitement about Jodie Whittaker as the next Doctor.
What is it about Doctor Who that has made you want to come back to direct so many times?
Talk to any kid dressed in a bow tie, fez, duster, velvet jacket, or pointing a sonic screwdriver, ready to take on the universe. That's the lure of the Doctor. For 53 years and 5M more.
Can you talk about the differences between directing an episode of Doctor Who vs. directing an episode of The Flash or Supergirl? It seems like you might have more creative freedom in the former.
I very much enjoy and appreciate the CW shows (I've done Supergirl, Legends of Tomorrow and The Flash) but they are not like Doctor Who mini-films. The whole process is so different, I work on a CW episode for about 20 days. On Doctor Who, I am involved for months through the final broadcast show.
Doctor Who creates a new world every episode, be it comedy, horror, past or future. The CW shows strive for some consistency through the episodes. Doctor Who excels in variety. As a director, the variety makes returning more exciting.
I have tried to give each episode a different style that worked with the script. For instance, the Doctor Who episode "Heaven Sent" was Citizen Kane meets German Expressionism.
In Harry Potter, "the Wand chooses the Wizard;" in Doctor Who, the "words and worlds choose the style."
Jumping off of that, you have directed some of the most important episodes of the Capaldi-era of Doctor Who. Episodes that were not only visually-impressive, but helped inform larger Doctor Who mythology — i.e. the workings of the confession dial or the genesis of the Cybermen.
Can you talk about what it’s been like to make such meaningful contributions to the 50+-year history of Doctor Who, a show of which you yourself are a fan. How do you hope Doctor Who fans will remember your contribution to the Capaldi era?
Epic. I'm making Doctor Who — those are shiver-y words.
I can't really talk about how I will be remembered, I want to do a great job and make inspiring episodes.
Michelle Gomez reminisced during our roundtable interview at Comic Con about you, Peter, and her all starting in Doctor Who on the same run. What was it like to be able to follow through on the Doctor/Missy, a relationship that you helped form, in “The Doctor Falls” and “World Enough and Time”?
Gomez and I created a bond on S8, so it was delightful to get back with her and finish her (if indeed she really is done, which is never a fait accompli in Doctor Who mythology).
I adored working with both Masters as unpredictable mirrors of each other in Season 10. I delighted in their complexity, humor and even cruelty.
Gomez is just brilliant, she always has her unique spin on the work. We have a shorthand, which includes her raising her hand, which means 'let me do it again because I know what it needs.' And then she hits every beat that I was going to speak to her about. But if I want her to try other things, she will and that will blow my mind as well. That’s awe.
She and Peter love to experiment and to challenge each other. Every version is magnificent but completely different. I add a few thoughts, but it’s mostly them. With actors this brilliant, I try to give them the space to do their best work and let the sparks ignite.
Read the full interview by Kayti Burt on the Den of Geek site here
