Then they eventually put their finger on it, most people recognise Fox from Lewis, ITV’s Morse spin-off drama, in which he played Detective Sergeant James Hathaway, Kevin Whately’s sidekick, for seven series. Others will know him as the husband of Billie Piper, the popstar-turned-actress, to whom he has been married for six years. “I’ve never called myself that; it would sound weird,” insists Fox. “At Lewis, when I’m being naughty, they say, ‘Oh look, Mr Billie Piper’s being a d—.’ They know that will make my hackles rise.”
Despite his escalating profile, Fox, 35, is a family man. He’s most at home chopping wood and fishing for pike near the ramshackle West Sussex cottage he shares with Billie and sons Winston, five, and Eugene, 18 months. The downside to doing eight shows a week in London is being away from it all. “Theatre is great until you start doing it and then you go, ‘God, I’m missing my family,’” he says. To make things easier, the Foxes (plus their two dogs, Baxter and Peggy) have moved to the capital while he’s on stage. Continue reading »
What was it like working with Billie Piper again, who returns as Rose Tyler?
“It’s always lovely working with Billie. She’s one of the best actresses around and one of the loveliest human beings, so I was very happy to be in her orbit. It wasn’t strange acting with her again, it’s easy how you slip back into these things. And I suppose it’s not been a massive amount of time. If we’re all brought back in another 20 years it might be a bit different – and we’d be spending even longer in make up! Us being the Doctor and Rose is still within relatively recent memory so it’s not been too difficult to dredge up, although it’s hard to tell objectively whether things are the same or not.”
How do you react to the return of Rose Tyler?
MS: Obviously I can’t tell you a thing, can I! But Rose Tyler is around. I’m great friends with Billie so it’s lovely to have her here. We said let’s just make five a year each! Get a big gang, the workload will be 50% less…
DT: There won’t be as many lines to learn!
MS: But obviously I don’t want to give too much away about narrative, and reactions to people. We should save that for the day.
Did she know she was going to be back when she went on the Graham Norton Show and said she wasn’t?
MS: No, she didn’t. Definitely. Because I didn’t even know that they were going to ask her.
DT: Billie and I have both been accused of being lying. I think I lied once, quite recently, but basically it has all come together recently.
MS: And also, we would tell you, but if we did tell you, you would never see us again, that would be it. We would be cooped up, locked up somewhere!
INTERVIEW WITH STEVEN MOFFAT – LEAD WRITER AND EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
Q. And seeing Billie and David on set together how was that?
SM: Seeing Billie and David standing on set together was quite epic. Billie told me that as she is very good friends with both Matt and David, she felt quite torn and divided. She didn’t know how to deal with both of them at the same time, so if she was talking to one she would stroke the arm of the other.INTERVIEW WITH MATT SMITH – THE ELEVENTH DOCTOR
Q: ‘The Day of the Doctor’ marks the return of David Tennant and Billie Piper, and we get the revelation of John Hurt’s Doctor. What was it like working alongside them all?
MS: It was a joy to work with David, Billie and John Hurt. I’ve worked with Billie before and I’d obviously seen all of David’s work, especially as the Doctor. He’s a brilliant actor and a brilliant Doctor. It’s quite strange, I always sort of get that surreal thing of looking and David and thinking, ‘Oh my God, there’s Doctor Who’. And John is acting royalty. Another wonderful Doctor and again, a good bloke. I think looking back over my tenure on this show one of the great privileges has been the quality of actors that you get to work with.
Q: Was there any kind of competitiveness between the different Doctors and companions?
MS: No we’re not competitive, I mean there’s a funny bit in the script between the 10th and 11th Doctors comparing Sonics, so there’s competitiveness in the story, but not off screen. We just had a laugh and it was exciting to see David back in the pin striped suit and the Converse. John only has to move his eyes and he flaws you and Billie’s, Billie. I adore Billie, so we had a great time.
Q: Were there any moments when you were standing on the floor waiting for action to be called and thinking ‘Oh my goodness, I’m actually doing this’?
MS: Of course, there’s always those moments in Doctor Who when you’re going, ‘Wow we’re doing Doctor Who and there’s David Tennant over there and John Hurt over there and Billie over there and there’s a Redgrave over there’. There are a lot of those moments when you make this show. But I think the wonderful thing was there was great down time. I just enjoyed spending time with David and obviously for me as well as I am about to leave the show, it was really interesting to talk to him about that experience and his experience on the show, because it is a very individual experience playing the Doctor. It was quite nice to go, ‘What was that bit like for you?’ and it was just sort of enlightening really.
INTERVIEW WITH DAVID TENNANT – THE TENTH DOCTOR
Q: What was it like working with Billie again?
DT: It’s always lovely to see Billie and to be on set with her is a particular joy. She’s one of my favourite actresses and one of my favourite people, so I was very happy to be in the same room as Billie.
INTERVIEW WITH JENNA COLEMAN – CLARA OSWALD
Q: What is it like starring in the 50th special, one of the biggest year’s for the show?
JC: It’s fantastic. I feel really spoilt to be honest and lucky to be in the show in the first place, but also to have come in at this time. Whilst we were filming it felt very celebratory and special. Working with David, Billie and John, I feel really pleased to be part of the whole thing.
Q: What was it like working with David and Billie, was there any competiveness between the different Doctors and companions?
JC: I think there’s a competitiveness in them that kind of brings out the best in the Doctor. You see it on set that they are so totally different Doctors, but they just complement each other. They make fun of each other mercilessly.
INTERVIEW WITH JOANNA PAGE- QUEEN ELIZABETH I
Q: What was it like working Matt, David, Billie and Jenna?
JP: It was quite scary working with Matt, David, Billie and Jenna because they’re iconic and they’re these major characters that I’ve watched and are part of Doctor Who history. It’s really funny acting with them because you look at them and they’re almost like cartoon characters because you see them so much and you’ve watched them and you believe them. It’s just been fascinating and working with the two Doctors is brilliant because it’s the same character, but seeing how the two boys just play them completely differently and how they work off each other it’s really funny. After reading the script and then hearing it all in the read through it just all came to life and I thought, ‘Wow this is going to be fantastic’.
“It was a really nice feeling because every day felt like a celebration. You knew you were part of something special, and part of the history of the show. It will be lovely to look back in a few years and be like, ‘Cool, I was part of that whole thing!’”
Jenna also spoke of meeting Billie, who played companion Rose during the first two series of post-rebirth Who: “This was the first time I had met her. I heard a lot about her. Matt’s really good friends with Billie, so I felt like I met her before.”
Did they compare any notes about their TARDIS travels? Not really, Jenna says. “It’s funny, the stuff you talk about is more like the logistics of like, ‘Oh yeah, I used to eat at this place.’ ‘Well, actually did you know about this place?’ ‘Oh, I stayed in this place.’ We shared notes on that kind of thing, and then we just really got on. She’s great to have around. She’s got such a good energy on set as well. We all had special chairs made for us for the 50th. In between takes and stuff like that, we’d sit around and it was just like a big family.”
Let’s talk a little bit about the 50th. I know you can’t say too much, but what was the vibe like on set, since it was the 50th Anniversary special. Did it feel like a regular episode?
Jenna Coleman: No, it didn’t. It was different in so many ways. Because it’s 3D, the way of shooting is totally different. The cameras are a lot bigger. It takes a lot more time with set ups, and actually filming the show. Also, just having so many people on set. It’s such an ensemble cast, with the three Doctors, with Billie Piper, myself, lots of different characters.
It was a really nice feeling because every day felt like a celebration. There was just a buzz. You knew you were part of something special, and part of the history of the show. There was that kind of atmosphere around. I have to think it will be lovely to look back in a few years and be like, ‘Cool, I was part of that whole thing!’
Had you met Billie Piper before or was this the first time?
This was the first time I had met her. I heard a lot about her. Matt’s really good friends with Billie, so I felt like I met her before.
Did you compare companion notes at all?
It’s funny, the stuff you talk about is more like the logistics of like, ‘Oh yeah, I used to eat at this place.’ ‘Well, actually did you know about this place?’ ‘Oh, I stayed in this place.’ We shared notes on that kind of thing, and then we just really got on. She’s great to have around. She’s got such a good energy on set as well. We all had special chairs made for us for the 50th. In between takes and stuff like that, we’d sit around and it was just like a big family.
It sounds exciting.
It was, and we’d all get Nando’s at lunch. Do you have that here?