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!

Was it quite key do you think that Billie had to come back?

DT: Again, that’s story-led, so I never presume to tell Steven or Russell before him how the story should be or something like. That has to come from them.

MS: They’re cleverer than us!

DT: Us providing a wishlist of things we’d like at work wouldn’t necessarily make the best story choices! I’m thrilled that she’s around.

Could you talk about the unique qualities that Jenna and Billie bring to the companion roles?

MS: Each Doctor has a very individual relationship with their own companion. I can speak on behalf of Jenna because obviously I haven’t worked with Billie in quite the same way. But I think Jenna brings real diligence, intelligence and tenacity to her companion, that challenges the Doctor in a slightly different way. She refuses to go on trips with him, which is bizarre, but I think intrigues him. And she’s quite forthright with her opinions and her mind, and I think Jenna works very hard bringing all that to life.

DT: Well, Billie I think is one of the country’s great actors. And I think it’s always a joy to work with her and I think she gives and has given Rose Tyler a humanity that captured a nation’s heart.

MS: And she’s left a legacy with Rose. I think Rose is one of the great companions, you know?

DT: I think that was one of the things that Russell did very cleverly when he rebooted the whole show. It was Rose’s point of view, the Doctor was a secondary character. Which is kind of how it was back in 1963. She was the audience’s way in, but also she was written in a very three dimensional way, which perhaps wasn’t always the tradition back in the day. And I think Billie embodied that and I think that has then carried on through Freema and Catherine, then Karen and now Jenna. I think though the centrality of that relationship has been key to the show.

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