Katherine jenkins lifts the lid on her Christmas Dr who role

Singer Katherine Jenkins bagged herself a huge job for her first acting role – the Doctor Who Christmas special. Nathan Bevan talks nerves, high notes and backstage riders with the diva

KATHERINE Jenkins is telling me of something very strange which happened on the day of her audition for the Doctor Who Christmas special. It was a cosmic coincidence so odd it could have come straight out of the plot of one of the Time Lord’s very own adventures.

“I went along to the casting director’s office in London the day before my 30th birthday and ran through about four or five scenes with them,” chirped the world-famous Neath mezzo-soprano.

“Afterwards, I drove 200 miles away to a hotel in Somerset to meet with some family and friends and guess who was the first person I saw as I walked into the lobby? Only Matt Smith himself!

“I wanted to go over to him and yell, ‘I might be acting alongside you’, but had signed a confidentiality agreement not to breathe a word. I couldn’t even tell my mum where I’d been.

“What was he doing there though? I mean seriously, just how random is that?” she laughed.

Serendipity some might call it, especially since Jenkins got the call telling her she’d won the prestigious festive role alongside Smith’s 11th Doctor practically as she was blowing out the candles on her birthday cake.

But as the mega-selling classical singer was quick to admit, she almost didn’t go for the part at all.

“Well, I’ve never done acting of any kind, so I really wasn’t sure if I was up to it,” she cringed.

“And it’s the Doctor Who Christmas Special too, that’s one step down from the Queen’s Speech in the iconic stakes. The last thing I wanted was to be the one to ruin it.

“But then I thought, ‘Well, why not try? The worst they can tell me is ‘no’.”

She clearly impressed them though, though Jenkins confessed to initially thinking she was only hired because her character, Abigail Pettigrew, is called upon in the script to sing.

Surely though, I tell her, if they’d had any concerns they’d have simply got a trained actress in and asked her to lip-synch instead.

“I suppose so,” she smiled, suddenly perking up. “And I’m in it quite a bit – it’s not a cameo – so they must trust me.”

She was certainly made very welcome by some more than others.

Yes, Michael Gambon, esteemed Knight of the British stage and screen, we’re looking at you.

“Michael was so lovely. Me and Matt would sit around for hours in his trailer in between takes listening to stories about his time in Hollywood,” said Katherine, whose part took nearly a month to film on location in places like Cardiff Bay, Pontypridd and Newport.

“He was a hell of a practical joker too, mind.

“His character, Kazran Sardick, is supposed to be a bit Scrooge-like and has this long cane with a metal tip that he carries everywhere.

“In one place we were filming the crew had to wear hard hats and, Michael being Michael, he’d wander up behind them, whack them on the head with the end of his stick and then quickly turn away like nothing had happened.

“He let me take the blame for that on a number of occasions. He really is a wicked man,” she laughed, adding that she’s now caught the acting bug and would happily do more “provided it involved music in some way”.

And Jenkins added that Smith could easily have similar success if he ever tried his luck at her day job.

“I had a really good laugh with Matt between takes.

“He kept mucking around and singing to me and I couldn’t believe what a great bass voice he has. People really should hear him!”

Acting aside, Jenkins has never been a stranger to taking risks; the stage show for her latest Believe tour featuring nightly feats of daring which see her flying around arenas on a high wire with no safety net below.

“You can blame Tim Gavin for that; he choreographed Take That’s last tour and he wanted to make mine less an ordinary classical concert and more of a spectacle,” she said.

“He was like, ‘Why don’t we have an aerialist zooming around in the air while you’re singing?’ and I told him I loved that idea.

“Then he said, ‘He’s going to come down and grab you and you’ll go up into the air with him’, and I went, ‘You what? I can’t do that!’

“We needed to do it though because it was a perfect visual complement to all the rockier songs in the set, stuff by Evanescence and Queen.

“It would have looked a bit odd me twirling around in the rafters singing Pie Jesu or something.”

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Dr who eleventh doctor quotes The Hungry Earth

The Doctor: Oh look, a big mining thing. Oh, I love a big mining thing... see? Way better than Rio; Rio doesn't have a big mining thing.
Amy: We're not going to have a look, are we?
The Doctor: Let's go and have a look.
The Doctor: "Restricted access, no unauthorized personnel." Hmmm.... 
Amy: That's breaking and entering!
The Doctor: What did I break? Sonic-ing and entering, totally different.
Rory: Doctor, something weird's going on here, the graves are eating people.
The Doctor: Not now, Rory!

Merry christmas jingle bell rock

4 days to go !!!

DrWhotoyreviews - Doctor Who App Mazes Of Time Review

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Dr who advent calender Snowfall: Vampire Hurricane, Part One Day 20

'Do you - yes you - want to see something incredible? Something so remarkable that it will thrill you until the day you pass from this world to the next? Then come with me...'

David Kershaw shifted in his seat. He sat in a small auditorium in a cinema on London's Southbank. The room had been hired to a private party and he was one of about twenty people who sat rapt. What David Kershaw was about to see would change his life.

'You will witness something that has been unseen for centuries. And you will see it...'

The black and white footage on the screen had every member of the audience enthralled. The onscreen presenter, a long-dead American explorer, was beckoning his audience and they needed no further invitation. For David, an expert in the lost civilisation of the Incas, this reel of film, depicting the legendary and mysterious opening of the Tomb of the Bear in 1934, was one of the two great Holy Grails of Incan-lore. The other was the Great Bear itself but that had been lost since the tomb's excavation. This reel of film, recently discovered in Cairo, was being played for the first time ever and was being seen -

'Now!' declared the explorer.

Natives of the Mexican jungles slung ropes as thick as their arms across their shoulders and pulled. David's eyes widened as they moved away from the huge pyramid. The ropes tautened and began to open the fifteen foot door at the foot of the stone slopes.

'A moment in history! No-one has seen this since the dawn of time!'

Drums began to beat, slowly at first then faster, faster, faster... The door was hauled open and the drums reached a mad crescendo and then -

Nothing. A tiny onscreen cough.

The dust started to clear from the pyramid's doorway and from inside the tomb a silhouette appeared. David squinted. What? Tall. Tweed. Bow tie. What?

'Blimey O'Reilly,' said the man emerging from the pyramid.

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Katherine Jenkins talks 'Doctor Who' Christmas special

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Christmas 'Who': Q&A with Arthur Darvill

What is Rory's role in 'A Christmas Carol'?
"Amy and Rory are on their honeymoon at Christmas time. We're on a spaceship that's obviously in some terrible danger, so it's a slightly short-lived honeymoon! It's with The Doctor, so it's not going to be a safe holiday at all! The spaceship starts to crash and we all have to be saved somehow. Meanwhile, The Doctor's on this amazing planet and has a Christmas adventure to try and save us. It's all very dark and misty like a good, traditional Christmas episode should be!"

What was it like working with Sir Michael Gambon?
"Michael's brilliant. He's just been acting for so long that you can't help but be slightly in awe of him. But it's surprising, because he's so invested as an actor, but he's also a lot of fun. Once you get over those initial nerves, he's hilarious. He's just a joy to be in the same room with."

Was it strange filming Christmas scenes in July?
"It's really odd. You do scenes where it starts snowing and then you walk outside and you're swelteringly hot! Some people have to walk around with coats and big wooly hats on as part of their costume, then they come outside and there's puddles of sweat! But I think everyone is getting into the Christmas mood. Steven [Moffat] said he was going to bring mince pies down at some point. He hasn't done that yet, so I'm waiting!"


How does it feel to be part of the first married couple to travel in the Tardis?
"It's really cool to be a married couple in the Tardis. It's obviously something that's never been done before, and it's not just any old married couple! It's still Amy and Rory, but they've both been through so much. I don't think they're going to settle down and start eating TV dinners. Not that that's all married couples do! I know lots of very exciting married couples who do lots of fun stuff. But I think Amy and Rory have grown up a bit and they're both a bit more used to being in perilous situations. I think it's going to be an interesting dynamic."

Do you think Rory has changed after the events of the last series?
"I think Rory has changed a hell of a lot. He's waited 2,000 years for Amy, he's died a few times, he's been a plastic Roman soldier and he's had a gun come out of his hand! I don't think you can get over those things particularly easily! I think he has grown, so while he's still probably going to be terrified of everything, he's now more willing to go the extra mile. I also think being around The Doctor and Amy brings out the adventurous side of him."

How has Rory's relationship with The Doctor changed over time?
"I think it's a pretty good relationship now. Rory's grown in confidence throughout all this and I think he feels like he's proved himself. It's just the three of them in the Tardis. I think they've all become really close and Rory and The Doctor are now quite good mates. They trust each other a lot and are able to tell each other what they really think."

Is it exciting being one of the few male companions to have featured on the show since the 2005 revival?
"Yeah, I think it's great. The dynamic between a male companion and The Doctor is always going to be really interesting. It's like how you are with your closest male friends and that's something that hasn't really been explored so far in recent Doctor Who. I'm really interested to see how The Doctor and Rory's relationship develops."

Do you feel more confident, returning to the show for a second run?
"I suppose I feel a bit more confident. I still have some panics and worries that come in every day! I'm going to say something really cheesy, but it's like a big family on-set. It's a really lovely bunch of people to work with. It would have to be for something that takes so long and for it to turn out so well!"

How do you think Rory is going to evolve in the next series?

"I think Rory's going to start working out. I think he's going to start pumping iron quite a lot and get on the protein shakes. He's going to shave his head and there'll be a few piercings and knuckle dusters. How about a tattoo with Amy's name on? 'Amy' and 'Rory' written on each side of his chest. He's basically going to become a bit of a meathead. A bit like the Jean-Claude Van Damme of the programme... which is obviously why I was cast!"

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