TV Choice Magazine: Matt Smith and Katy Manning

Amplify’d from www.tvchoicemagazine.co.uk

We catch up with Dr Who himself (Matt Smith) and Seventies companion Jo Grant (Katy Manning) as both guest in this week’s The Sarah Jane Adventures. So, the big question — why is the Doctor not wearing his normal shirt in The Sarah Jane Adventures? Matt Smith: Sadly it’s the cameras we use on Sarah Jane, it makes the pattern flare on the Paul Smith shirt I normally wear. So I have to have a plain one, but it looks quite nice. Was doing Sarah Jane part of the gig when you got Dr Who? Or did it come along a bit later? Matt Smith: No it came along at the end of Dr Who, really, and they mentioned it to me. I knew Russell T Davies was going to be writing the script and I’m really fond of Lis [Sladen, who plays Sarah Jane]… Has Elisabeth Sladen been fun to work with? Matt Smith: Yes, she’s just lovely, it’s a real privilege to be working with two companions. It’s funny because you get such a bond working with the actress who plays your assistant. It would be really difficult if I didn’t get on with Karen Gillan [who plays current sidekick Amy Pond]. She’s great, isn’t she? But yes, just talking to Lis and Katy about their time in Dr Who is fascinating. Lis worked with Tom Baker! Probably, worldwide one of the most classic, definitive Doctors. With the hat and the scarf and the madness… Does Russell T Davies — who is so associated with writing for David Tennant’s Doctor — ‘get’ your Doctor? Matt Smith: Yes, absolutely he does! I think Russell just writes brilliant Doctors — really brilliant Doctors! What are your time-travelling tips? Matt Smith: Bring tea, bring a pack of jammy dodgers. I met someone last night who had a pack of jammy dodgers on them, can you believe that? And got me to sign them! What does the Doctor like to do when he’s not saving the Universe? Matt Smith: That’s the question! I don’t know — deconstruct every atomic particle that exists in the cosmos, invert it and then turn it into an apple, I guess. Katy, what’s been going on with Jo Grant since we saw her last? Katy Manning: What I love is that she hasn’t stopped travelling since leaving the Doctor [in 1973]. She has been to Mozambique, the Ganges, the top of the Andes, down the Amazon — all over the place. If you lived your life like that, it would be pretty hard to settle down, have a couple of kids and attend mothers’ meetings! What’s it been like playing Jo Grant again after 37 years? Katy Manning: She’s been buried under a pile of other demented characters that I have played! When Jo was told that she was going to come out she was like, ‘Out of my way, out of my way!’ Also you have to bear in mind she couldn’t be an elderly woman in mini-skirts and platform shoes. So you have to think about this woman who has matured. Has Dr Who ever really left you life? Katy Manning: I don’t think anyone who has been in Dr Who can say that it has left them. Lis and I were just saying to Matt earlier, it’s with you forever. What do you think of Matt Smith’s Doctor? Katy Manning: His physicality is one of the most extraordinary things I have seen. I think it’s wonderful and so appropriate, so creative with this new Doctor. I mean look at the acts this young boy’s had to follow! It isn’t easy and I think he has done a miraculous job, from the moment I saw him. What do you think your Doctor, Jon Pertwee, would make of all this if he were still alive? He would be thrilled, but he’d be giving us notes! By Graham Kibble-White Read more at www.tvchoicemagazine.co.uk

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