Watch out, Sydney – an invasion is coming. Murray Gold’sDoctor Who Symphonic Spectacularwill be landing Down Under in January, bringing with it live music, auditorium-stalking monsters and the one and only Peter Davison as host. I was fortunate enough to chat to the Fifth Doctor, and even managed to display some semblance of professionalism. Well, mostly.
Being a serious journalist, I’m not afraid to ask the hard-hitting questions. This resulted in me immediately interrogating Davison about something that fans have been pondering for three decades – the truth behind the celery on his lapel. The answer is scandalous indeed. “I’m afraid it was fake,” Davison laughs. “Whenever I meet fans at conventions and they’re walking around with real celery they only put on an hour ago, it’s already drooping! They would have literally had to change it every two minutes if it was real.”
Davison makes me feel better about being a crazy Doctor Who fan by revealing that he was actually one himself. “I remember watching the first episode! I was a big fan of the first two Doctors, then I went off to school and watched it less, but I always kept in touch with it. As an actor, I remember thinking, ‘God, I’d love to get a part in Doctor Who.’”
Not only did Davison get the part in 1981, he unknowingly started one big Whovian family. Fans will be aware that Davison’s daughter, Georgia, not only played the Doctor’s daughter, Jenny, in 2008, but went on to marry and start a family with the Tenth Doctor, David Tennant. “Oh yes, our dynasty,” Davison jests. “I definitely have both my son, and now David’s son, lined up to be the Doctor. It’s kind of cool, and it’s a big shock for people when they see us walking the dog in the park,” he laughs.
Whenever I speak to people who have been involved in Doctor Who, I always find it fascinating to hear their thoughts on why the show is still so successful after 50-plus years.
“I suppose the obvious answer is the fact that they came up with this brilliant idea that the Doctor can regenerate. More than that, I think that part of it is the endless possibilities of science-fiction and a hero with a time machine. You’re not tied to any one place – you finish a story in one place and next week you may be somewhere 2,000 years into the future or the past. It’s a tremendously exciting genre and the only limits are your imagination.”
Jokes and fan-girling aside, we also manage to have a conversation about the Doctor Who Symphonic Spectacular, which is undoubtedly going to be even more incredible than it sounds. “The music from the show, written by Murray Gold, is going to be played by a marvellous symphony orchestra,” Davison explains. “Also, many Doctor Who monsters from the show will be wandering about the auditorium and interacting with both the conductor and myself whilst trying to scare the hell out of people watching.
“The music is of course very powerful. It’s wonderful to hear it being played live, and we’ll also have clips from the show running behind the orchestra. What’s interesting is that, as opposed to when you’re watching it on TV, when the emphasis is on the screen and the music is in the background, in this case the music is in the forefront. You get a real sense of what you’re listening to and the power of a symphony orchestra.”
Doctor Who Symphonic Spectacularis playing atQantas Credit Union Arena onSaturday Febuary 7, tickets online.
