Familiar to millions of viewers as the host of ITV quiz show The Chase, Bradley Walsh is returning to acting for the new series of Doctor Who.

Starring Jodie Whittaker as the first woman to play the lead role, series 11 of the BBC's beloved hit will see Walsh play Graham O'Brien, a new friend for the Doctor.

On the show's Cardiff set to speak to cast and crew, including Whittaker and new showrunner Chris Chibnall, Digital Spy asked Walsh if he was cast for his considerable comedic talents, but it turned out this wasn't the case.

"I'm not sure the character [as] developed is based on that, really," he said. "Our edict, when we first joined, was it had to be as real as possible; everything comes from reality."

BBC

The Tonight at the London Palladium host went out to say that Chibnall wasn't interested in Walsh's background in comedy but more in his dramatic abilities; having worked on another show together: "Chib was my old boss on Law & Order and thought I could bring gravitas to that. Which was great for me because I didn't really want to be a clown.

"I've done that for so many years and I'd like to do other things. I didn't quite know what direction the part was going until we got here and the scripts came in."

(Ironically, Walsh has actually already played a clown in the Who-niverse, in the spin-off series The Sarah Jane Adventures. The 2008 story 'The Day of the Clown' saw the actor played an alien entity, once known as the Pied Piper, who appear in clown guise in one scene.)

BBC

Walsh was originally kept in the dark about exactly what show he was being offered, but he trusted Chibnall and signed up regardless. When he discovered the part was a Doctor Who companion, he was a happy man: "OK, that's quite cool. I've got Bernard Cribbins in mind, I quite fancy that."

Cribbins played Donna Noble's grandfather Wilf in the David Tennant era and also starred in the 1966 movie Daleks' Invasion Earth 2150 AD, starring Peter Cushing.

BBC

However, it appears that Bradley did have a little trouble with the scripts once delivered, all from writers new to Doctor Who... but he used this confusion to help play the Time Lord's chum Graham.

"Most of the stuff, obviously, is gobbledygook in the scripts, because it's Gallifreyan and it's the chat that the Doctor does," he said. "My characterisation is, I've been sucked along on this journey, through no fault of my own, and I'm just going to be a normal bloke and I won't understand a word of it!"

He added: "It's perfect for me because I have absolutely no idea what is going on!"

Doctor Who series 11 begins on Sunday, October 7 on BBC One.

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