As Australian Doctor Who fans still reel from last weekend’s adventure, Adelaide and Brisbane Whovians are preparing for a member of the current cast to journey out to Australia for the Supanova Pop Culture Expo! With both Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman causing chaos on the Doctor Who World Tour earlier in the year, plus Coleman’s return last month to meet fans, we’ve been spoiled when it’s come to having actors from the show visit the other side of the globe simply to connect with fans. Come November 21st-23rd in Adelaide and November 28th-30th in Brisbane, the lovely Neve McIntosh aka Madame Vastra, will be meeting Whovians wanting to get their Silurian fix in both cities.
“I’ve never been to Australia,” McIntosh excitedly says as she enjoys some downtime in her native Scotland. “I can’t wait! I’ve got family in Adelaide and Brisbane so when I’m not at the conventions, I’m going to be spending time meeting family I’ve never met. Some of them I have, but it’s been something like 15 years since they came and did a tour of the UK and Europe. That’s really exciting for me, I can’t wait. I’m getting quite nervous thinking about it!”
The reach Doctor Who has been able to garner in the past few years especially has been incredible to track, particularly since Peter Capaldi took over from Matt Smith. McIntosh, who appeared in the Season 8 premiere “Deep Breath” most recently, comments on the extraordinary growth of what is now one of the BBC’s most bankable shows and how it has truly been able to go global in recent years.
“Doctor Who has moved on to such a new level. When you watch Star Trek and stuff, you can kind of understand it because it is American, so it is going to be on a bigger scale, but Doctor Who is now right up there. What’s been done with the reboot by Russell T Davies and what Steven Moffatt’s doing with it now…it’s really exciting! It’s exciting to be a part of. At the minute, I think it’s going down brilliantly well. I think it’s great now, with the digital age, that you can show it at the same time all around the world. Because it was being shown in cinemas at the same time all around the world, you’re going, ‘What? That’s incredible. It was weird, someone sent me a message on Twitter or a text saying, ‘You’re trending!’ and I was like, ‘…Okay!’ I’m still getting used to it!”
The character of Madame Vastra has grown considerably under the crafting of showrunner Moffatt and frequent Doctor Who writer and actor, Mark Gatiss. A strong ally of the show’s titular character, Vastra and the ‘Paternoster Gang’ have become a popular group of characters within recent story lines. Focusing on this recent season on the show, McIntosh reflects on the intensity that is filming a show like Doctor Who and in particular, the scenes she shared with Jenna Coleman and her onscreen wife, Catrin Stewart (Jenny), the latter relationship bringing with it some controversy.
“I think that obviously he {Moffatt] and Mark Gatiss really enjoy writing for us,” McIntosh muses. “The stuff they come up with and the comedic stuff they come up with for Strax, Dan Starkey, is brilliant. Dan just does it so effortlessly, he’s fantastic. From the moment you get given the script, you know that Steven Moffatt has thought so much about the comedy and the humour, and also the adult nature of the relationships and the depths of the relationships. With “The Name of The Doctor”, when he kills Jenny off and of course, she comes back because it’s all wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey…It gives you the opportunity to have the most flippant comedy because it’s sparky and there is banter, and moments of the deepest, darkest drama. Plus, it gives me ray guns and swords and I get to run around looking pretty cool! It’s easier to talk about the downsides of doing it and I don’t think there are many, aside from maybe getting up at three or four o’clock every morning to get covered in glue, bits of plastic and rubber!”
Fans will note the relationship between McIntosh’s Vasta and Coleman’s Clara reach confrontation during “Deep Breath”, leading to a heated conversation about first judgements and impressions. A dialogue heavy scene which sees both women tackle some great moments of acting, McIntosh notes the challenging nature of the scene itself.
“Because that opening episode was an hour and a half [long], we had the time as well to put into that. It was a really difficult scene for Jenna and I and it took quite a few goes of certain bits of it just to get the movement because it is so quick and clever. Sometimes, when you’ve been up since three o’clock in the morning too, you’re not the sharpest tool in the box! God bless Ben [Wheatley, Director] for seeing us through that in that way. I think it is an important scene, don’t judge a book by its cover. Judge with the heart and not through your eyes and it’s of course, it’s funny that subsequently there was a moment of me saving my wife’s life through an act of utter love that was then misinterpreted. They missed the point, unfortunately. I loved that scene and I loved watching it. I loved others as well, but that one was fantastic. I always liked that, all of a sudden, the veil was gone. It’s kind of like when I do the one word test in the Christmas Special. I like that Clara and I have these little moments sitting in my conservatory or my small garden/greenhouse.”
The rapport McIntosh has maintained with her Who cast mates is no doubt something Australian fans are going to be chomping at the bit to find more out about in coming weeks and the Scots actress is already preparing to bring her A-Game to Supanova, despite having been incredibly busy with other projects through this year.
“I need to watch more of it [Doctor Who], because I’ve been so busy!” she admits. “I’ve watched the first two [epsiodes], so I need to sit down and do my homework before I get there because I know people are going to be asking me questions about it! I’ve just finished a low budget British movie called Social Suicide which is quite interesting and I’ve enjoyed doing it. I’m looking forward to seeing what happens with that. Also, I’ve just done a huge job on a medical drama called Critical, for Sky One. Apart from that, next year I’m going to be on stage in New York doing a play that I did in the festival which won a lot of awards. I’m pretty busy, but it’s fine! When I’m over your side of the world, I’m just going to take my time coming home. I’m going to enjoy myself and have a holiday!”
As for whether or not we can be expecting McIntosh and Madame Vastra back in the Doctor Who universe any time soon? Well, things may be looking positive.
“I think so, yes.” she laughs. “Let me put it this way, the last time I saw Mr. Moffatt I went and said, ‘So I’ll see you soon?’ and he went, ‘Oh yes, you’ll see me soon!’ I’m still waiting to hear, come on Moff! Come on! We’ll see. I’d love to do more. He [Capaldi] is a joy to work with.”
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The Supanova Pop Culture Expo comes through the Adelaide Showgrounds on November 21st-23rd and the Brisbane’s Convention and Exhibition Centre on November 28th-30th. Visit www.supanova.com.au for more info!
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