"You're the impossible girl, the only mystery worth solving," so says the Doctor in describing his new companion Clara, played by Jenna-Louise Coleman.
With the
Doctor Who machine raging on as we rapidly approach the show's highly anticipated mid-season premiere this Saturday night,
Access Hollywood caught up in person with Jenna, who as fans know will be making her third first appearance on the iconic British sci-fi show.
The actress confirms that the Clara we meet in this week's episode
The Bells of Saint John is in fact, a entirely new character. But we will have to wait and see how it all ties together in the typical mind bending
Who fashion we have become accustomed to.
While she was as expected tight lipped regarding juicy details on the show's 50th Anniversary Special, she not only revealed shooting the landmark episode is imminent, but that her Grandma has plans to visit the super secret set.
"Well, I think she’s gonna come on set when we’re filming the 50th, which she’s very excited about. She’s gonna be patting Matt a lot. Matt’s her favorite Doctor," she told Access. "I can’t wait. I’ve got a new draft of the script to read today, We’re shooting in 3D."
Following the quick kiss between the Doctor and Clara in the 2012 Christmas Special
The Snowmen, where Coleman played a version of the mysterious character in Victorian-era London, would romance carry over into the modern day incarnation who will be at the Doctor's side for the remainder of the season?
"Um, I think well, we start Series Seven and it’s very much like, we haven’t met this Clara before. So we start the story again. So what happens in the Christmas episode doesn't necessarily carry on through. So there’s, I think there’s definitely always a certain level of kind of a frisson and a flirtation and kind of a form of attraction always between the Doctor and his companions," Coleman said.
"I think that’s one thing you always want to know, is it going to be a romance story between the Doctor and the companion, but I think, that you know, there’s so much more at work here and I kind of don’t want to give anything away going into the series, but it’s a new start again. It’s a completely, it’s a different character, it’s a different girl and we’ll, we will all understand why," she revealed.
Utmost secrecy is a must for all things Who these days. Among other things, Coleman revealed her code name was "Men On Waves" during the audition process for the role of the new Who companion.
"'Men on Waves,' which is an anagram, which I figured out later, for 'Woman Seven,'" Coleman recalled. "And so when you’re going into the BBC, and you know you have all these code names and talking to your agent on the phone, it’s ‘So, men on waves…’"
And when it came to strong female leads for Coleman to check out to prepare for playing Clara, Matt Smith suggested an iconic character few would argue with.
"Do you know, again, something Matt suggested that I watch, which I really enjoyed, was the first
Indiana Jones movie. And that was brilliant for
Doctor Who and I loved the fact that she [Marion Ravenwood] wasn’t the damsel in distress. It was quite fiery and you know, she wasn’t kind of just the helpless woman I suppose. So that was great to watch, between those two."
You can check out the full Access Hollywood interview
HERE.
Doctor Who returns on BBC America with
The Bells of Saint John on Saturday at 8 PM.
SOURCE:
AccessHollywood.com
