Sarah Jane’s new squeeze on wine cruises, K9 tattoos, and Steven Moffat’s mobile phone…
This interview was originally appeared in DWM 414, published in October 2009.
Hello, Nigel. Tell us a bit about Peter Dalton, the character that you play in The Sarah Jane Adventures.
“Actually, I can’t.”
Oh.
“If I do, I’ll give it all away. Everything I tell you will pre-empt what happens. Let’s keep people guessing.”
Right. The title of the episode – The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith – might give our readers a clue, anyway. How aware of the show were you before landing the role?
“I’ve been aware of Doctor Who ever since I was a kid. This will be incomprehensible to you, but I was watching television when the very first episode went out. There was a whole gang of us.”
Did you hide behind the sofa? Everyone hid behind the sofa in the 60s.
“Well, I was scared, but it was a bit wobbly, wasn’t it? Like, the sets. It was always a bit naff. I don’t know if you’ve seen the old episodes. They’re sort of creaky. They’re rather quaint. There’s a certain charm to them, I suppose. When they revived it, they pumped money into it, and I think it’s absolutely brilliant. It’s a proper show. This is the spin-off, isn’t it? I’m enjoying it.”
How have you got into character as Peter Dalton?
“I’ve been an actor for 40 years. By now, it’s a second instinct to me. It’s like playing cricket. Give me the bat and… er, I do.”
Some actors talk about nailing the role once they’ve got their costume sorted.
“I wear the clothes. The clothes don’t wear me.”
You should get that printed on a t-shirt.
“Why?”
Never mind. You have a reputation for being quite smooth and debonair – are you in real life?
“It’s not for me to say.”
So you never look in the mirror and think, hey, not bad…?
“I don’t look in the mirror.”
Come off it!
“[Laughing] I don’t. Not on purpose.”
Do you never watch yourself on TV?
“I haven’t for a long time. I still don’t know how to operate my bloody Sky+ thing.”
Earlier today, I spotted Tommy [Knight] and Daniel [Anthony] showing you how to work your mobile phone.
“Yeah, I’ve got an iPhone. So does David [Tennant, who guest stars as the Doctor in The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith]. He has an application on his phone that simulates a –”
[In walks David…]
DT: “What’s that?”
NH: “Oh. We were talking about phones. Didn’t you say that you can cock yours and it fires –?”
DT: “No, no, that’s [Doctor Who writer] Steven Moffat. He has everything you’ve ever wanted on his iPhone. He can turn his into a lightsaber, he drinks pints of beer from it…”
Some people – they’re called killjoys, I think – would say that’s a bit pointless.
NH: “No, you see, when you’re filming, you’ve so much dead time, it gives you things to do.”
DT: “Yeah, it’s great. It’s a whole leisure centre. I’ve got a spelling game on mine.”
NH: “Have you, David?”
DT: “I thought it would educate me, but all I do is find three-letter words. Hundreds and hundreds of three-letter words. That isn’t quite the point. I’m looking for that elusive 13- letterer.”
NH: “Or the longest word in England.”
DT: “I wouldn’t go that far. I’ll settle for antidisestablishmentarianism.”
Talking of technology, is K9 any easier to work with this year, David?
NH: “I worked with him yesterday.”
DT: “This is the revamped one. This model was only in the final scene of School Reunion [2006]. It’s supposed to be the all-singing, all-dancing, 21st-century version, but I think the one from the 70s actually worked slightly better.”
NH: “The guy operating it [Mat Irvine] reads in the voice –“
DT: “Yes.”
NH: “– slightly late.”
DT: “He’s just the poor bloke who built it. He’s ended up reading in the lines on set, because John Leeson [the actual voice of K9] is on a wine cruise.”
Is ‘John Leeson is on a wine cruise’ akin to ‘Jeffrey Bernard is unwell’? Is the voice of K9 lying drunk in a gutter somewhere?
DT: “No! Honestly! John is a world expert on wine.”
NH: “And on K9.”
DT: “Yes, that’s the Venn diagram of John Leeson’s life.”
NH: “K9 should have been drunk.”
DT: “I think he is, Nigel.”
[Both laugh at this for a very long time, then David wanders off.]
Nigel, earlier this year, you appeared on BBC Four’s I’ve Never Seen Star Wars [in which famous people are invited to try new cultural experiences] – and you got a tattoo! You did know it was permanent, didn’t you?
“Well, they grab you and say, ‘Have you done the following things?’ And there’s a huge list. I’d done most of them. They offered me ice-skating, but I thought that sounded boring, so I offered to get a tattoo. It didn’t hurt.”
Will you be getting any more?
“Probably. But maybe not one of K9.”
