What's up Doc? How Matt Smith and Karen Gillan discovered that breaking up is hard to do



After three years as TV’s golden couple, Doctor Who’s Matt Smith and Karen Gillan prepare to go their separate ways. How will they ever survive?

On Matt Smith: 'One of the things I'll miss most about him is his practical joking. He used to hide in the cupboard of my trailer, jump out at me and attack me with a giant shoe horn,' said Karen Gillan

Deep in the bowels of the BBC Wales drama studios in Cardiff Bay, the opening scenes of the first episode of the new series of Doctor Who are being filmed.



Producers have gathered together just about every single Dalek that has ever appeared in the show, even a replica on loan from former executive producer Russell T Davies.



Wherever you look, there are so many Daleks it’s impossible to keep count.



Onto the set walk British television’s hottest couple, Matt Smith and Karen Gillan.



Smith is wearing his trademark Time Lord ensemble of tweed jacket and bow-tie, while Gillan is decked out in black leather jacket and perilously short skirt.



Both were unknown quantities when cast as The Doctor and his companion Amy Pond, roles that have since pole vaulted them to TV superstardom.



But it could have all been so different, as Smith explains.



Matt and Karen make for one of the strongest Time Lord/companion partnerships in the show's history

‘I nearly became Sherlock Holmes’s sidekick instead. Before Doctor Who was even discussed I went to see Steven Moffat, the co-creator of the BBC’s Sherlock, to test for the role of Doctor John Watson.

'Steven saw me more as a Sherlock Holmes than a Watson, but the main part had already gone to Benedict Cumberbatch.



'However, Steven saw something in me that made him think I could be right for the role of The Doctor.’



At that time, three years ago, Smith was best known for his role in the BBC political drama Party Animals.



Those rumoured to be taking the place of David Tennant, the Tardis’s previous incumbent, included seasoned veterans such as Robert Carlyle, Jason Statham and James Nesbitt.

One leading bookmaker took just 15 bets on Smith landing the role, most of those laid by his neighbours.



If the casting of Smith as the Time Lord upset all odds, it was an even greater surprise when Inverness-born Gillan, 24, landed the role of his companion.

Apart from ‘girl waiting in bus station’ roles in low-budget Scottish films, she was probably best known for playing an unnamed soothsayer in a 2008 episode of Doctor Who.



Gillan says she quickly became accustomed to the MI6 levels of secrecy that prevail in such a high-profile show.



‘When I arrived at the BBC for my first audition for Amy Pond I wasn’t even allowed to say I was there for Doctor Who. I had to pretend it was for something called Panic Moon, which is an anagram of ‘companion’.



'For my final audition, I was actually vetted. I was taken into a room to meet the executive producer and the head of publicity.



'They wanted to know if there were any skeletons in my closet they should know about.



'The worst part was that I didn’t have any, which made my life feel really boring. I was half tempted to make something up so that I seemed more interesting.’



Matt brushes up on his script on the set. 'Doctor Who is no ordinary TV show,' he said. He was just 26 when he successfully emerged from three weeks of gruelling auditions to become the youngest ever Time Lord

Upon returning to our screens in 2005, Doctor Who single-handedly restored Saturday teatime viewing to the status of family event.



Not only did it become the centrepiece of the Beeb’s weekend scheduling, it was transformed into a multi-million-pound global superbrand. It’s a far cry from the Eighties when the show was regarded as something of an industry joke.



Now, each new series is greeted with feverish anticipation by its millions of fans worldwide.



This new season is more eagerly anticipated than most: consisting of 14 self-contained episodes, it will be the final series before next year’s 50th anniversary.



‘Doctor Who is no ordinary TV show,’ declares Smith, who was just 26 when he successfully emerged from three weeks of gruelling auditions to become the youngest ever Time Lord.



‘It’s a gigantic, well-oiled machine that is constantly regenerating itself.

'When I get presented with a new script, I haven’t the faintest idea what the writers have in store for me. They are always upping the ante and in this new series we’ve got Daleks, Weeping Angels… We’ve even got dinosaurs running wild on a spaceship, so nobody is going to feel short-changed.’



Smith and Gillan make for one of the strongest Time Lord/companion partnerships in the show’s history.



Off screen, the chemistry between the two is palpable but purely professional. They resemble brother and sister, so much so that they tease each other affectionately.



Karen has her make-up applied. She'll bow out of the show in the fifth episode of the new series. 'I couldn't have wished for a better way to go. People assume my character is going to die,' she said

Smith will call her ‘Stupid Face Karen’, ‘Wide Load’ and ‘Plural Chins’.

She will laughingly mock him for his clumsiness on set.



‘One of the things I’ll miss most about him,’ she says, ‘is his practical joking. He used to hide in the cupboard of my trailer, jump out at me and attack me with a giant shoe horn. He must have done it a hundred times and I fell for it on every single occasion.’

‘Filming Doctor Who is very intense,’ says Smith.



‘But we’re also able to have fun with it. Karen and myself are terrible corpsers. When she joined the show, Karen never corpsed at all.



'As time went on I found ways of making her laugh by pulling a face or using a certain voice.’



For Gillan, however, time is almost up. She’ll bow out of the show in the fifth episode of the new series, and is visibly moved when describing the nature of her departure.



‘There was never a moment when I decided I wanted to go,’ she says.

Each new series is greeted with feverish anticipation by its millions of fans worldwide (pictured: Anamaria Marinca, who plays Darla)

‘I would have happily remained on the show but I felt that the time was coming when they’d be looking for someone new.



'So I had dinner with (executive producer) Steven Moffat. We both put our cards on the table in terms of when we felt Amy should go, then made a mutual decision.

'In no way was I pushed off the show. I wanted to leave at exactly the right time so that my departure would have maximum impact.



'When Steven and I decided on the timing it was a heartfelt moment. But it felt right.



'I was sent my final script a few weeks before filming but I couldn’t bring myself to read it until the very last minute. I was trembling as I read it and got closer to the revelation of how I’m going to bow out.

'I couldn’t have wished for a better way to go. People assume my character is going to die. But that’s not necessarily the case. It might not be that clear-cut.’

As she describes her last day on set, tears well up in her eyes.



Upon returning to our screens in 2005, Doctor Who single-handedly restored Saturday teatime viewing to the status of family event (pictured: Extras take cover under umbrellas between filming)

‘The last day of filming was when the emotion kicked in. I didn’t hold it together at all. I managed to get through the filming OK. Then we wrapped the final scene.



'Loads of people came onto the set. Steven made a big speech. Champagne was popped. I was wailing throughout the whole thing.



‘Doctor Who has been a major part of my life since I was 21. I’ve spent three years on one of the most iconic TV shows of all time. It’s never going to be easy walking away from something so huge.



'I’ve been able to travel to the 33rd and 51st centuries, meet Winston Churchill and Vincent van Gogh, and flirt with a future version of myself. I’ve lost count of how many monsters I’ve run away from. What other TV shows could give me that?’



For Smith, acting was never his ambition, only turning to it when his promising football career was cruelly cut short.



The Dalek Prime Minister

‘I played youth football for Leicester City. It was the day before my History GCSE when Leicester told me that my back injury meant they wouldn’t be extending my contract.



'I was 16 and it felt like my life was over. Then I went off to study drama at university and it took off from there.



'However well I’d have done in football, even if I’d played for England, I’d have missed out on fighting with Daleks and nothing is more fun than that.’



After landing the part of Doctor Who, Smith had just five months to prepare.

‘It was obvious to me that nothing of the previous Doctors could be copied or reproduced. It had to be my version of The Doctor.



'I kept asking myself who would be the closest human being to him and I kept coming back to Albert Einstein. Like Einstein I saw The Doctor as being both brilliant and barmy.



‘It was just as important to get the character’s look right. Initially they were considering more of a swashbuckling Jack Sparrow look.



'That seemed to me to be the kind of thing that someone would think would be right for The Doctor, rather than what The Doctor would choose to wear. I was always keen to retain an element of The Professor.



'The now famous tweed jacket was just something I happened to wear to one of the fittings sessions. The boots and high trousers immediately felt right.

'But I felt there was something missing. When I suggested a bow-tie everyone groaned. But it worked.’

Smith and Gillan may have been elevated to the A-list of British TV by Doctor Who but they seem determined to avoid the showbiz limelight.



‘I’m not really one to hang out with famous people,’ says Smith.



‘I tend to spend time with the same people I’ve known for years. Luckily for me, my mates aren’t remotely interested in hearing me talk about Doctor Who.’

Smith dated model Daisy Lowe for 18 months before the couple broke up in November 2011.



Gillan has been single since splitting with photographer Patrick Green around the same time.



Despite rumours, Smith and Gillan are not an item.



Neither could have realised that joining Doctor Who meant they were signing away all rights to anonymity.



‘We get recognised wherever we go and that’s something we’ve had to get used to,’ says Gillan.



‘Matt’s learned to wear a hoodie everywhere. I get recognised for my red hair so I keep that covered up and keep my head down. It’s always a shock to me to discover just how popular Doctor Who is outside England.



'For the new series we got to shoot in New York. Walking down Fifth Avenue we were mobbed by people.



'When it came to filming, there were thousands of people lining Central Park holding miniature Tardises and all kinds of Doctor Who memorabilia.’



‘We find ourselves in the most bizarre situations,’ adds Smith.



‘We attend quite a few Doctor Who conventions. You never get used to driving down the street seeing people dressed exactly like you.

'In New York, Karen and I walked into this Doctor Who-themed bar. It shows the appalling limits of our vanity that we wanted to go to a Doctor Who bar.



'But our curiosity got the better of us. You could have heard a pin drop when we strolled in. But it’s our characters that people are interested in, not us.



'The characters are the stars. I’m lucky enough to inhabit the character for now. But Doctor Who will live on long after I’ve stopped playing him.’

Despite speculation, the current series will not be Smith’s last. With the 50th anniversary looming, the show is gearing up for the biggest TV celebration seen for years and he has no intention of missing a party like that.



‘I’m not about to disappear any time soon,’ he confirms. ‘When the time comes for me to move on I’d like to think that I could have a say in it.

'I’ll know when the time is right to go. When I do eventually leave, I’ll do so in the knowledge that I’ve played a character who ranks alongside Robin Hood and Sherlock Holmes.’



‘Doctor Who’ is on BBC1, Saturday evenings



