Callie Cooke reveals why she's always wanted to be in Doctor Who

"As a kid, I always wanted to be in Doctor Who! I always had this thing at drama school, whenever they asked you what you wanted to, I was like, 'I want to be in Doctor Who'. I feel very privileged that Andy Pryor, the casting director, got me on tape and then it happened very quickly - next thing I knew, I was spending two months in Cardiff! Russell's been so amazing and supportive of me and my career since then, and I don't doubt that we'll work together again. I feel very lucky."

"I play Lindy Pepper-Bean — full name! — who I guess you could say lives in the world of influencers in the future. Lindy is incredibly popular and has lots of followers — she's kind of this Love Island, Molly-Mae-style futuristic person. She's incredibly kind, fun and loyal, but also very petulant and neurotic. She exists purely for this app, which is on her Dot — and there's only so much a person can be a real human if they only exist in a Dot."

"Well, we wanted to give her layers, because it's easy to just go and play someone who's an influencer that has no personality. I remember Russell always telling me, 'yes, she's a bit of a nightmare, but she's got to be likeable', so I think in terms of basing her, I just tried to imagine what it would be like to never be with people in real life. In the world of Finetime, people are never together talking in person, so you have to think what effect it would have on a person if they're only communicating through an app."

"Yeah, definitely: 'what if we became so addicted to our phones that we actually start to kind of live in them?' — which we're not that far away from! Basically, this character can't walk in a straight line without her Dot directing her, so we took that idea of being obsessed with technology and just ran with it, which I think people will definitely enjoy watching, if not be a bit scared by."

"It's tricky to gauge, because it was the first episode that they shot, but it definitely did feel like people thought it was quite a special episode. People really liked the story and the characters, the world was really fine-tuned — I guess because Russell had so long to work on it. You'll know when you watch it, the beats of the dialogue are pitch-perfect. Lindy doesn't really talk like you and I, they all have this kind of 'influencers gone wild' language that they have developed, and it's really fascinating. He's so consistent with his writing that within the first five minutes of the episode you understand this world, and you don't ask any more questions!"

"Tom Rhys Harries plays a character called Ricky September who is a famous influencer, musician and singer in the world of Finetime. Lindy's obsessed with him, and he's the one everyone fancies. Everyone's following him and liking his videos — he's a really fun character."

"I still have this thing, every time I'm in a studio I'm like 'filmmaking is unbelievable' and I pinch myself — I can't get over it! Walking into the studios at Bad Wolf and seeing the TARDIS — I've got so many videos of me just running around this TARDIS that I've not been able to show anyone for a year! I'll never not be excited when I see a film set, but there's something about seeing the TARDIS and being in that studio. We actually filmed on location a lot, but we also have some unbelievable sets — Lindy's bedroom, which is created in the world of Finetime, is all pinks and purples and everything is really cutesy. Just being in that was so fun."

"My brother-in-law is a superfan, so he can't cope! I've done some cool stuff in the last year or so, but Doctor Who is the one some of them can't wait for. I think it's just because it's so relatable. I can't always drag my family to come and see me in a play in some bunker in north London, but they're incredibly proud to see me in Doctor Who."

"I hope so! It really does feel like a family on that job, and like I said, Russell's already been so supportive of me this last year. I would love to stay a part of it, I would love to meet the fans and talk to them. If they respond to the character, then I would love to keep engaging with them forever — that would be amazing."

"It was very cold! I was there in December and January — it was one of the coldest days of my life in December, and I'm in a miniskirt and I was basically stood in the sea, and it was freezing! But it's all part of it, you've just got to crack on. The second you moan about being cold, you're finished — you can't let it happen! It was fun, Cardiff over Christmas is beautiful and the people are amazing. I had a lovely time!"