So WHO gets the girl? As the new series of Doctor Who begins, Arthur Darvill - aka Rory Williams - divulges a few secrets



For all those fans perched on the edge of their seats tonight anticipating what kind of fiendish adversaries have been dreamed up for Matt Smith to tackle in the next chapter of Doctor Who, there will be as many desperate to see how the on going, unspoken frisson of desire between the dashing Doctor and his sidekick Amy Pond develops – and what Amy's husband Rory Williams will make of it all.



Among the racier scenes in the first series, we saw the Doctor encounter Amy dressed as a kissogram, and we watched as he took his clothes off while Amy looked on longingly, before she rather shockingly attempted to seduce him on the eve of her wedding.



The first we see of our three heroes in this new series is the Doctor asking Rory's permission to kiss Amy, and then doing so with his grudging approval.



In demand: Arthur Darvill is still getting used to how fanatic Doctor Who fans are

Surely a sign there's more hanky-panky afoot? Not at all, says Arthur Darvill, who has leapt from relative obscurity to play Rory. In fact, quite the opposite.

'There's an episode later in the run that majors on mine and Amy's relationship,' reveals Arthur. 'And there are scenes in other episodes too that give us an insight, including a flashback to when Amy and Rory were teens, when Amy was convinced Rory was gay and he was too awkward around her to say how he really felt.



'And then, with a bit of help from a friend, the penny drops, they become romantically involved and a decade on here they are, still together, except now they're married and have a child, Alex Kingston's character River Song.

Three Musketeers: Arthur with co-stars Matt Smith and Karen Gillan

'When you boil it down, Doctor Who is about relationships, and Rory and Amy's is the steadiest of them all. They get into terrible danger in the first episode of this series and are expecting to die. They turn to each other and say, "I love you." That says it all – there's utter devotion towards one another.'



Suddenly finding himself part of one of the most talked-about shows on TV has been an eye-opener for Arthur. Not least, he has had to come to terms with the hysteria it provokes among fans.



'It's not something I really considered before I took the role. It's flattering being recognised, but weird too. 'I thought I'd just be in a few episodes and never dreamt I'd be such a major part of it. We live in a bit of a bubble on set in Cardiff; everyone is so used to us filming, they don't pay us much attention. Then you come back to London and it's madness.'



And then, with a bit of help from a friend, the penny drops, they become romantically involved



Of course, Doctor Who mania is a fairly recent phenomenon: William Hartnell and Sylvester McCoy were never mobbed by female fans. Even the more recent Doctors, Christopher Eccleston and David Tennant, failed to inject the role with as much va-va-voom as the current Time Lord Matt Smith, who in real life hangs out in the VIP areas of music festivals with his model girlfriend Daisy Lowe.



And Karen Gillan has not only become a pin-up for her role as the Doctor's mini-skirted assistant Amy Pond, she has started to attract attention in the film and fashion worlds – she has recently been photographed by David Bailey for Vogue to promote her role as icon Jean Shrimpton in a biopic.



'When we were making it, we weren't thinking, "Wow, Karen, you're really going to rev those guys up,"' says Arthur. 'That's just what she looks like in real life. She just has those legs! It's odd because Karen, Matt and I have such a brotherly and sisterly thing going on. We're just three good mates who have a laugh together. We'll all be friends for life.'



Love story: An episode in the new series reveals how Rory and Amy's romance developed when they were teenagers

They have plenty in common: they are all musicians – and they're all terribly clumsy. 'We keep breaking things on set. They make us stand in the corner while they set up shots.'



And, helpfully for the programme's Three Musketeers camaraderie, they all have partners, so there's no question of romance complicating their friendship – Matt has Daisy, Karen is dating a photographer called Patrick Green, and Arthur lives with actress Sophie Wu in north London, though on that subject he says, 'I'm not talking about her.'



Steven Moffat [the writer] gave us a false ending that didn't make sense... Then he took me, Karen and Matt into a corridor and showed us the real ending



Arthur got his TV break in 2008 as 'Tip' in BBC1's Little Dorrit, before landing the life-changing role of Rory. But quite how long we can expect to see him traipsing around the universe with the Doctor is anybody's guess.

The last cliffhanger left us with the revelation that the mysterious River Song (played by Alex Kingston, 48) is Amy and Rory's daughter (Karen is in fact 23 and Arthur is 29). Arthur is vague about how this series will end, but insists all will become clear – or at least, clearish.



'Steven Moffat [the writer] gave us a false ending that didn't make sense, so there were some baffled faces in the read-through. Then he took me, Karen and Matt into a corridor and showed us the real ending on his laptop.'



Does that mean there's a messy end for Rory? Arthur grins. 'The official response is – I'll be back at some point.' Aha. So, he may not be in the next series? 'Yep. But I will be back at some point.' He thinks for a moment. 'It's going to blow your mind, actually.'



Doctor Who, BBC1, tonight, 7.10pm



