“SOMETIMES HER MOUTH RUNS AWAY”
Pearl Mackie steps aboard the tardis
WHAT WAS IT LIKE THE DAY YOU WERE ANNOUNCED, WATCHING YOUR TWITTER FOLLOWERS GO UP?
Oh yeah, that was mad. The day before I had like 435, and then the next day it was like 16.5K. My phone was like [vibrating noise]… I can’t even deal with that. When the battery died I was actually quite grateful.
HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE BILL?
She’s just like a normal young woman. She’s very interested in the Doctor and the way his mind works. The way he sees the world is very fascinating for her and something that she’s never experienced before. She’s pretty normal but that’s the fantastic thing about her – she’ll allow people who haven’t ever watched Doctor Who to come into it with her.
WHAT WAS IT LIKE, YOUR FIRST TIME On THE TARDIS?
Oh, it was amazing. I think the first time was the day we were shooting the scene where Bill first goes onto it as well. It’s really nice that I’m experiencing that at the same time as her. No acting required, really. I’m just like, “Oh, this is cool!”
SO WHAT’S THE DYNAMIC BETWEEN BILL AND THE DOCTOR? HOW DO THEY SPARK OFF EACH OTHER?
Obviously the Doctor’s very, very clever and worldly and quite headstrong. She’s very quick as well, very quick-witted. Between the two of them there’s a lot of mutual respect for the way that they look at things. I think he likes her for the way she’s direct and the way she says things as she sees them, which he’s not necessarily used to.
HOW SIMILAR IS SHE TO YOU?
I think she’s quite similar to me. She talks quite a lot! She’s quite cheeky and quite inquisitive. Her brain works quite quickly – sometimes too quickly, not in an over-intelligent way but sometimes her mouth kind of runs away. And then there are parts of her that aren’t like me at all. The way Steven writes as he gets to know the actor he sometimes brings elements of them into the character. I think she becomes a bit more like me as the series progresses, but obviously in very much more extreme situations!
HOW MUCH OF A DOCTOR Who FAN WERE YOU BEFORE YOU SIGNED UP FOR THE SHOW?
It wasn’t really on when I was a kid. I watched some of the new series when it first came out but I was 16, so I was trying to spend as little time at home as possible! So it’s quite new to me as well as being new to Bill. I think it’s stood me in quite good stead in terms of my approach to her. I talked to Steven [Moffat] and [executive producer] Brian [Minchin] after I’d got the job – I was like, “Look, gimme the back catalogue, let me watch it all!” I initially planned to watch all of Peter’s stuff with Jenna, so I could see what he was like as a Doctor, and they were like, “Don’t watch it, because she doesn’t know anything about that, and actually what you’re bringing to it is a really nice kind of freshness. What you’re doing is working.”
ARE THERE RESPONSIBILITIES THAT COME WITH A ROLE LIKE THIS?
I guess so. Essentially, whether you’re trying to represent people or not, in such a big role it’s something that you can’t really shy away from. Obviously Freema was the companion years ago, so Bill’s not the first companion of colour, but I think it’s really important. When I grew up there weren’t that many people who looked like me on TV. Not in a hero role, not prime time Saturday night TV, with natural hair. And if that enables young children of various ethnic backgrounds to go “Maybe I could do that”, then that’s fantastic, job done. Nick Setchfield