David Bradley plays the First Doctor in the Doctor Who Christmas special
Doctor Who actor David Bradley said he and Peter Capaldi became emotional shooting the actor’s final scenes as the Time Lord, which will be seen in the Doctor Who Christmas special.
The 12th Doctor and the First Doctor (played by David) come face to face in the BBC show’s festive episode, which is Peter’s last stint in the TARDIS before he hands over the role to Jodie Whittaker.
David said of one scene: “There was one moment where me and Peter just looked at each other in the middle of this scene and it was like, who was gonna well up first?”
He said of Peter’s last scene: “Well, it was very touching, from promising beginnings, when we’re suspicious of each other and I say, ‘Who are you?’ and he says ‘I’m the Doctor’ and I say, ‘No, you may be a doctor but I’m THE Doctor.’
“And so there’s a bit of a frisson between them before we’ve both realised that we’re actually both one and the same person.
“And, we kind of encircle each other occasionally about, ‘How do you feel about this, how do I feel about this?’ and he’s rather, the 12th Doctor, is rather shocked at this old guy that comes in with all his 1960s sensibilities, and his non-PC attitude to things like, ‘This TARDIS, this is a bit dusty, where’s Polly, it needs a good spring clean’ and Peter says, ‘You can’t say that!’ ‘Why? Why?’.
“Because he’s from that era, and there’s a few of those.”
David, who has taken over the part of the first Doctor from late actor William Hartnell, continued: “For me the comic energy between them is a lot to do with these two different worlds they’re both coming from.
“There’s a kind of mutual respect by the end, and acknowledgement.”
David previously worked with Jodie on Broadchurch and said he was “delighted” when he heard she had been cast as the first female Doctor.
He said: “I have to say, as we saw in Broadchurch, she’s got this emotional reserve that is kind of like, there’s no limit to it, she just tells it like it is.
“She’s capable of great emotion and passion and at the same time, anybody who’s hung out with her for a while, which I did, knows that she’s also got a wicked sense of humour, and she’s just got that kind of playfulness.
“I think she’s got all the skills that are needed.
“Because I think the Doctor basically, he’s got this child-like quality, curiosity about the universe and everything in it, and that sense of fun, and playfulness. And he gets it wrong sometimes, he’s not perfect, sometimes he gets them into deep water, and nearly kills himself and everybody else with him, so he’s not the lone ranger, he’s not perfect, which makes him very vulnerable, and to me that makes him human.
“I think Jodie will be fantastic.”
– Doctor Who: Twice Upon A Time airs on Christmas Day.
