DOCTOR WHO INTERVIEW: Karen Gillan Talks Filming In NYC and Shares Her Final 'Who' Scene Memories

Doctor Who fans are in the final stretch leading to this Saturday's much talked about fond farewell to the beloved Ponds, Amy and Rory, in the mid-season finale, The Angels Take Manhattan.

The fifth and final show that is set to air in 2012 was shot on location in New York City last April, and features the return of the popular villains, the Weeping Angels. Fret not, following the annual Who Christmas Special in December, the second wave of Seventh Season episodes are on-deck for 2013 featuring a new companion for the Doctor played by Jenna Louise-Coleman (who was unexpectedly introduced with questions aplenty in the season premiere, Asylum of the Daleks).

I had the opportunity to sit down with Karen Gillan for a roundtable interview last month shortly before the New York City premiere screening of Asylum at the Ziegfeld Theater. At that time I asked her about her impressions of shooting the Ponds' swan song episode of Doctor Who in the Big Apple, and what she recalled about her final moments on the set before the very last 'cut' was called.

After answering questions from some of the other journalist present, I welcomed Gillan back to the Big Apple (she and Matt Smith attended the 2010 screening of her Who debut episode at the Paley Center For Media, which introduced fans to Smith as the newly regenerated 11th Doctor), and asked her what her NYC filming experience was like. Fan and paparazzi pictures from Times Square and Central Park sets popped up online almost immediately.

"It was just the best experience, it really was. And it’s kind of interesting because when we did that Paley Center thing it was kind of at the beginning of introducing it to America for the first time, and then we were saying how much we’d love to shoot there. And actually, my final episode was shot in New York, which is kind of weird. But it was amazing," she recalled.

"We were in Central Park and we started shooting. Then all these people turned up and we didn’t expect it at all, at all. So we didn’t have any sort of security or anything like that, and then more and more turned up to the point where there was just hundreds upon hundreds of people lining Central Park and just screaming. And they were like, 'Sign my TARDIS!' It was just the most amazing thing."

"And then we ran to Time Square and quickly shot this scene and trying to draw as little interest as possible I guess. It was really funny seeing Matt running around Time Square in his bow tie. I was like, 'Am I imagining this? This is so weird!'" she said.

Before the interview wrapped, I asked her what she could share about shooting her final scene on the set of Doctor Who, which appropriately also featured Matt Smith and Arthur Darvill. Obviously they shoot out of sequence, so Gillan's actual final scene was (most likely) not Amy Pond's final scene in context of the show's continuity.

I was curious to hear her reminisce about the moments right before 'cut' was called for the very last time. Perhaps there was a conscious effort to do whatever it took to keep shooting. Did anyone purposely keep blowing their lines?

"Honestly it was the weirdest, most serene feeling on set all day," she recalled.

"And then it was our last scene walking into the TARDIS. And then we did about twenty takes of it though, which was really weird. Maybe the director was delaying it. It was lovely though because then Matt closed the door, and it was complete darkness and we all just hugged in the dark. It was like, 'It’s done!' It was just the most emotional feeling, it really was," she said.

Doctor Who: The Angels Take Manhattan airs on Saturday, September 29th at 9pm on BBC America.

PICTURES: Karen Gillan Twitter Page,  LA Times, BBC America

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PREVIEW - Doctor Who: The Power of Three

Check out the trailer and some sneak peek images to tomorrow night's fourth adventure from this season's Doctor Who: The Power of Three.

This will be the penultimate episode for 2012, as the fifth episode, the NYC-set The Angels Take Manhattan, will mark the final hour-long adventure of the year, and bid what promises to be a tearful farewell to the Doctor's popular companions, Amy and Rory.

As for tomorrow's episode, here is how the BBC describes it.

"The Doctor and the Ponds puzzle over an unlikely invasion of Earth, as millions of sinister black cubes arrive overnight..."

In some of the accompanying pictures following the trailer below, there seems to be some problems with the Doctor's heart, or at least one his two hearts that is...

Doctor Who: The Power of Three airs on BBC America tomorrow night at 9pm.

SOURCE: BBC America

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Review: DOCTOR WHO: ASYLUM OF THE DALEKS ★★★★☆

The worldwide broadcast premiere of Doctor Who: Asylum of the Daleks, the Series Seven season opener, is finally upon us. I have been posting quite a lot of Who material this week, having attended the U.S. screening at the Ziegfeld Theatre a week ago today.

I am still quite taken aback as a fan regarding that day's worth of events, from interviewing Matt Smith, Karen Gillan, and Who Executive Producer Caroline Skinner, to chatting with the eager fans waiting in line outside the theater, to seeing the episode projected on the grand big screen of the Ziegfeld. Then top it all off with the post show Q&A hosted by Chris Hardwick. It was quite a day, and just as important, I'm happy to report that the premiere episode delivers.

I will offer some quick thoughts on what will air tonight, with no spoilers. This will just encourage you to tune in tonight, whether you be a Whovian or not.

First it must be noted how well the episode looked presented in cinematic proportions in New York City's last remaining grand single screen theater. The production value of the show has reached the level that I would be more than happy to watch in geek bliss each 40-odd minute episode in a cinematic setting on a weekly basis. At no point did the directing, cinematography, or special effects scream 'TV show in a movie theater!' It also goes without saying there is something special about watching it with a capacity crowd of enthusiastic Whovians ooh'ing, ahh'ing and laughing in all the right places.

The Steven Moffat-penned episode is a rock solid start as the first of the five new adventures set to air in September before wrapping up 2012 with the Doctor Who Christmas Special.

It's no secret that the fifth episode, The Angels Take Manhattan, will be the last appearance of Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill as the Doctor's popular companions, and tonight's premiere lays firm groundwork to what fans will slowly see unfold in the coming weeks. There is an edgy dark dynamic set here, and it will be interesting to see how it progresses until Jenna Louise-Coleman is set as the new companion by year's end.

The relentless robotic Daleks, perhaps the greatest villains in the Doctor's rogue's gallery, return tonight with appropriate cause and force the Time Lord's hand into an unholy alliance. The episode doesn't quite pick up straight from the Series 6 finale. Time has passed, the Doctor has perhaps been laying low, relationships have changed, and it starts the year off on a cleaner slate with solid work all around from the cast.

Smith has grown well into mixing heroics, humor, and dead-on bravado when called for as the Eleventh Doctor, who shows a noticeable darker side here. Karen Gillan's Amy Pond has toughened up and grown into a true sci-fi heroine who manages to vamp up her look a notch or two as well. Arthur Darvill remains the emotional anchor as the heart and soul for the time traveling trio, as we wait to see what the Ponds fate ultimately is.

Much of the complex arc from last year is not played upon, making this an accessible episode for newcomers, but will make them only want to go back and see what has preceded it. With a feel of an old school Doctor Who adventure, it hits all the right marks for adventure, wit, and emotional curveball plot twists that fans have come to expect from the show.

OFFICIAL SYNOPSIS:

"Kidnapped by his oldest foe, the Doctor is forced on an impossible mission – to a place even the Daleks are too terrified to enter… the Asylum. A planetary prison confining the most terrifying and insane of their kind, the Doctor and the Ponds must find an escape route. But with Amy and Rory's relationship in meltdown, and an army of mad Daleks closing in, it is up to the Doctor to save their lives, as well as the Pond’s marriage."

Doctor Who: Asylum of the Daleks airs tonight on BBC America at 9 p.m.

REVIEW RATING:  ★★★★☆
Directed By: Nick Hurran
Written By: Steven Moffat
Starring: Matt Smith, Karen Gillan, Arthur Darvill
Studio: BBC

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First Official Image of The Doctor & His New Companion Revealed

The BBC has released the first official image of Matt Smith and Jenna-Louise Coleman together on set as the Doctor and his new companion Clara.

The Doctor's new time-traveling partner will make her debut in the Doctor Who Christmas Special set to air later this year following the departure of current companions Amy Pond and Rory Williams (played by Karen Gillan and Arthur Darville) in episode 5 of the upcoming new season.

SOURCES: BBC America

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FIRST LOOK: The Doctor and the Ponds from 'Doctor Who' Series 7 Set

Check out the first official picture of the Doctor, and Amy & Rory Pond from the set of Doctor Who. The seventh season/series just started shooting the first of fourteen episodes yesterday and will see at some point the departure of his companions Amy and Rory played by Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill.

From BBC:

Filming has just started on Series 7 of Doctor Who in Cardiff.

This series will see the last days of the Ponds with Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill returning for their final, rollercoaster voyage with the Doctor. Amy and Rory have been at the Doctor's side for more than two series but what will he do after their heartbreaking departure?

On returning for his third series as the Eleventh Doctor, Matt Smith says: "It's thrilling and exciting to be back and working with two of my closest friends."

Karen Gillan adds: "It's just brilliant to be back on the TARDIS with Matt and Arthur for our craziest adventures yet."

Series 7 will then see a dramatic turn of events when the Doctor meets a new friend.
Prepare yourselves for thrills, adventures and dramatic surprises as the show builds towards its enormous, climactic 50th anniversary year. Fourteen big, blockbuster-movie episodes — each a brand new epic adventure featuring new monsters and some familiar foes as you've never seen them before. 

So far, the confirmed guest stars include David Bradley (better known as Argus Filch in the Harry Potter films), Rupert Graves and Mark Williams.

The first set new of Doctor Who episodes is planned to air here in the States in the fall of 2012.

SOURCE: Doctor Who TV