Recorded on location during the last days of filming, the Access All Areas Doctor Who Special will be presented by Jo Whiley and features interviews with the episode’s actors and crew including showrunner Steven Moffat, Pearl Mackie, David Bradley and Peter Capaldi himself.
“We were really lucky to be on location when they were filming the final scenes of the Christmas Day Doctor Who special,” Whiley (whose radio show was where Capaldi chose to announce his exit from the series in January) told RadioTimes.com of the upcoming broadcast, which can be heard on BBC Radio 2 a few days before the episode airs (Thursday 21st December, to be precise).
“So we spent the day with the cast, and it was all very emotional.
“It just felt like a real privilege that we were there to watch some of the most emotional scenes that people will see play out on the Christmas Day Doctor Who. To see the chemistry between all the different characters, to watch the Doctor as he nears the end of this incarnation.
“It’s fantastic, just to hear all the various members of the cast telling us about the things that had happened beforehand, and the story behind it all. It’s just going to be such a huge emotional climax on Christmas Day, when people watch the whole thing.”
An official synopsis for the radio special (which will also feature an interview with already-departed series 10 companion Matt Lucas and material from the Doctor Who archive) can be read after the jump.
As Peter Capaldi calls time on his adventures in the Tardis, Jo has exclusive access to the Doctor Who team. She catches up with the stars of the series on the set including Pearl Mackie, David Bradley, exec producer extraordinaire Steven Moffat, and the Doctor himself. Plus, Jo hears from outgoing companion, Matt Lucas, and digs into the BBC Doctor Who archive.
There will be stories from behind the scenes including how Matt approaches being recognised by fans, the radical ways in which Pearl’s life has changed, Pele’s reaction to signing a Brazil shirt for the Doctor and how Doctor Who has always been with Peter Capaldi – from dressing up as a Dalek as a child, to karaoke singalongs to The Killers all in the name of getting into character…
Plus, Radio 2 listeners will find out which member of the team has a penchant for Chas and Dave!
“We did a really really long interview with Peter; we got him to choose lots of songs and bits of music that he loves, and he’d thought it all through,” Whiley added.
“He’s such a music fan that he’d been agonising over what songs to play. So, we get to hear the Doctor’s musical passions. We spoke to Matt, we spoke to Pearl, we spoke to various members of the Doctor Who team. We speak to all the cast who are involved.”
According to Whiley, fans have plenty to look forward to when the full episode finally airs on Christmas Day.
“The thing that struck me the most about the day was that it was such an epic production,” she said. “It’s going to look incredible.
“They actually treated us to watching back some of the filming that they’d done a couple of days beforehand; the scale of what they’ve done, the directing is incredible.
“They wanted to give people the best possible send-off with the grandest story; they wanted to give the viewers something to remember him by, and the greatest Doctor Who Christmas Day special that they possibly could watch.”
Sounds like the perfect present to unwrap this 25th December, then.
The Jo Whiley – Access All Areas Doctor Who Special airs on BBC Radio 2 from 8 to 10pm on Thursday 21st December
Via: Radio Times by Huw Fullerton
