26, take one.
- Andaction!
- Ah, my ladyyour train awaits.
'All aboard for another exciting episode! 'This week, we are on the Orient Express.
'Prepare to meet a mysterious mummy, 'we have an exclusive interview with singer Foxes, 'and we meet a wise engineer.
' Perkins.
Chief Engineer.
The Doctor.
'Hold on, as we go full steam ahead!' 477, take two Doctor?
It's Clara.
If you get this, come quickly.
We're trapped in carriage 24.
'With Clara and the Doctor taking a break 'on the Orient Express in space, 'there is plenty of action in this week's episode.
' A long time ago, the Doctor took a phone call asking for some help on the Orient Express.
Finally, he's getting around to doing something about it.
As ever, there is something unforeseen, a dark force at work which ruins the holiday.
- There's nothing there.
- Can't you see it?
!
- Calm down.
- Get it away! Get it away! People have started dying on the Orient Express.
- Let's get him out.
- Get it away! Get it away! And then it gradually becomes apparent that this is a mummy.
MAN SCREAMS I think the Doctor quite enjoys, really, when his holidays go askew because of evil forces.
'With m*rder on this iconic train, 'the crew were keen to recreate beautiful sets 'to match this luxury locomotive.
' Completely faithful recreation of the original Orient Express.
Only slightly biggerand in space.
'Recreating this classic train involved painstaking work 'in order to capture an authentic look.
' It retains all of the Art Deco, Thirties elegance of the original.
You do feel like you've been transported back in time.
It was very true, I think, to the Orient Express.
'It doesn't take the Doctor long to realise 'that all is not as it should be, 'but he soon bumps into a wily engineer 'with a familiar Brummie accent.
'
- 420, take 2.
- Action! Perkins.
Chief Engineer.
The Doctor.
Nosy parker.
HE CHUCKLES What I like about him particularly is that he has a Birmingham accent but he's pretty sharp.
He's a very, very bright He's the second
-brightest man on the train.
You can probably guess who the most bright one is.
Course, there's a rumour that someone orSOMETHING else might be responsible.
Keep talking.
When I found out Perkins was going to be played by Frank Skinner, I immediately went and looked at the script and went, "Oh, we can have another few jokes here", and writing lines and gags for Frank Skinner to say on set is brilliant.
Conventional weapons have no effect on the Foretold.
It's immortal.
Unstoppable.
Unkillable.
Can we get a new expert?
I like the fact that he gets gags and that the Doctoractually is quite respectful to him and knows that, you know, he's not an idiot.
'So everyone was scared by the Foretold, 'but how did the team go about creating such a creepy creature?
' I always think the mummy It's kind of got a bad rap.
I think the mummy is sort of the poor cousin of vampire, werewolf, ghost You know, mummy is kind of there.
They're the hierarchy that's up here and the mummy, I think, is quite low.
You know, it's viewed as a bit laughable and a bit dated and I think with this, hopefully, people will go, "Oh, yeah.
That's nice.
" He walked through the doorway on the carriage, and I honestly felt it was genuinely frightening.
The idea of seeing it for the first time at home with all the polish and all the effects on it, it is a proper scary mummy, you know.
We surrender! Zero.
What was very funny is the lovely gentleman playing him would forget that he was in full costume and sort of sidle up to you and say, "I'm thinking of having fish and chips for lunch.
What about you?
" And you'd go, "Oh! NERVOUSLY: "Um.
I thinkI think I might have the salad.
" 'It required specialist expertise to create this murderous mummy.
' Face, hands, chest, feet were all sculpted and turned out in foam latex, mounted onto a Lycra suit and then wrapped in bandages.
Reallyas I say, really simple.
It's down to the design and artwork really.
'Spooky stuff, but this isn't the first time 'the Doctor has faced an enemy that resembles a monster 'from our own planet's myths and legends 'During a visit to the Torchwood Estate, 'the Doctor was hounded by what looked to be a werewolf, 'but turned out to be a Lupine Wavelength Haemovariform.
'Probably easier to call it a werewolf.
'And there were more fangs in 16th
-century Europe 'when the Eleventh Doctor faced the so
-called "Vampires of Venice".
'These bitey beauties were Saturnynians 'and he found out they used perception filters 'to mask their true appearance.
'In fact, the Doctor has uncovered many myths aboutwell, mythology.
'He discovered that at least some of the legendary yeti, 'or abominable snowmen, 'were machines controlled by the Great Intelligence.
'And the Loch Ness Monster is actually a creature 'brought to our world by the Zygons! 'The Nimon didn't bother with any disguises 'and closely resembled the Minotaur from Greek mythology.
'The Eleventh Doctor also had a run
-in 'with a Minotaur
-type creature.
' 335, take 1, camera mark.
# Tonight # I'm gonna have myself a real good time I feel alive 'The Orient Express not only had m*rder and intrigue, 'but eagle
-eyed viewers may have spotted a celebrity cameo.
'Yes, that's right
- the singer Foxes appeared in this episode, 'singing a jazz version of Don't Stop Me Now.
' I really loved the song.
I love the idea of stripping the song back and, you know, doing a jazz version of it.
I think it's really nice.
It's nice to have that version.
I don't think anyone's done it before.
# Burning through the sky, yeah # 200 degrees # That's why they call me Mr Fahrenheit # I'm travelling at the speed of light I wanna make a supersonic man out of you And cut it there.
Thank you very much.
'During a break in filming, Foxes also got the chance 'to step inside the TARDIS.
' Wow! God, it's just like being a big kid, isn't it?
Being on this?
How much fun! It feels amazing.
I feel like a big kid.
I've sort of been running around the set, like, "Wow! That's the TARDIS!" It's quite mad.
Crazy! 'Chief Engineer Perkins may have helped the Doctor save the day, 'but it was soon time for him to say goodbye to his new friend.
'This was especially painful for Frank Skinner, 'who played the role.
' He's been petitioning to be in Doctor Who for a very long while and of course, we've been actually very keen to find him a part, because he's brilliant.
He's not just a great comedian and a great Doctor Who fan, he's someone who can bring genuine heart and pathos to the show.
I'm on set asas an actor, but also, I can't help being on set as a fan, thinking, "Whoa! You knowa new Doctor! He's, you know, brilliant!"
- I'll definitely be sad to go.
- Nothing wrong with being a fan.
Nothing wrong with being a fan when you come onto this show.
I think the most difficult thing about the character is I basically get offered to be a companion and I turn it down.
506, take 1.
Action! You should get someone in.
And a job like that takes for ever.
Really?
So I suppose whoever I did get in, it might just be easier to have them stay on board for a while.
I don't suppose you'd know of anyone?
When I read that, I thought, "They can't" It's one thing not to have the offer, but to have to say, "No, I don't fancy that, thanks very much" No.
Sorry, Doctor, but I don't think I do.
That job could, erchange a man.
Yes, it does.
Frequently.
I did speak to the director and said, "If we've got a bit of time, "could I say 'Yes', just once "and say 'Oh, that's brilliant! I'll go and get me bags'?
" Well, I won't keep you.
Goodbye, Perkins.
- Good to meet you.
- You too, Doctor.
Andgood luck.
'The Doctor rarely asks people to join him in the TARDIS, 'so perhaps we may see Perkins again.
' I've been in Doctor Who and that's fantastic, but I don't want to get into the "Will my character come back?
" Because I think that will keep me awake at night.