{"id":34188,"date":"2021-12-29T01:06:00","date_gmt":"2021-12-29T01:06:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thedoctorwhocompanion.com\/?p=34188"},"modified":"2021-12-27T13:07:30","modified_gmt":"2021-12-27T13:07:30","slug":"mandip-gill-eve-of-the-daleks-is-the-funniest-episode-weve-done","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thedoctorwhocompanion.com\/2021\/12\/29\/mandip-gill-eve-of-the-daleks-is-the-funniest-episode-weve-done\/","title":{"rendered":"Mandip Gill: Eve of the Daleks Is “the Funniest Episode We’ve Done”"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

Eve of the Daleks<\/em> will be the third New Year’s Day Doctor Who<\/em> episode featuring Jodie Whittaker’s Thirteenth Doctor, the Daleks, and Yasmin Khan, played by Mandip Gill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So what does Eve of the Daleks<\/em>, written by Chris Chibnall, have in store for us? Mandip Gill tells all…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What can audiences expect from the New Year\u2019s Day special?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The New Year\u2019s special is a standalone episode so it\u2019s a really easy access point for anyone that perhaps didn\u2019t watch the series or has never watched Doctor Who<\/em>. It\u2019s full of adventure, there\u2019s a lot at stake, particularly for the Doctor but it\u2019s also the funniest episode we\u2019ve done. There\u2019s lots of humour, there\u2019s lots of warmth, romance, and then there\u2019s this really cool storyline in which the gang are stuck in a time loop against the Daleks and unless they break the time loop it\u2019s not going to look good for them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s a really nice, essentially easy watch but not because there is a lot at stake but at the same time, having come off the back of Flux<\/em> which has been quite an intense series, it\u2019s a little bit different for people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ve got Aisling Bea and Adjani Salmon joining the cast for this one. What it was like working with them and can you tell us anything about their characters?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For this episode we worked with Aisling Bea and Adjani Salmon. We had a really good time. Essentially it was just me, Jodie, John, Aisling and Adjani together for a couple of weeks in the same set as it\u2019s we\u2019re stuck in a time loop. We just had such fun. There was a time where Jodie, Aisling, and I really convinced ourselves that it would be a good idea to do a music video because there was a big silver gate and it reminded us of Girls Aloud\u2019s \u2018Sound of the Underground\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We practiced it, then we had to go to set, then we practiced it again and in my head I really thought Adjani was actually our tour manager. John kept going in and out and I think we said he could be the director but really we knew we didn\u2019t need direction! In my head we were really going to do this music video and then it didn\u2019t happen. Aisling was a bit like the director, she gave us our lines. I was like, \u201cCan I be Kimberley because she\u2019s really northern?\u201d and she let me do that bit which was really nice of her!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How are the central trio managing off the back of Flux<\/em>?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The trio have been through a lot, and they\u2019ve been separated for quite a long time. Weirdly we sort of forget about the emotional turmoil that we\u2019ve all been through, to some degree. What happens in this world is you get thrown into another challenge and adventure, you meet new people, and you dust yourself off and you\u2019re back in it again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s no time to sort of reflect on everything that has gone on. However, we do, I\u2019ve been on a really long journey with Dan in which he\u2019s seen things and emotions, a side to me he probably wouldn\u2019t have seen if we hadn\u2019t been separated from the Doctor. He starts to question my actions, he makes me think about my actions and my feelings so we do remember to a degree what we\u2019ve been through and what happened when we were separated so we do touch upon that, we don\u2019t just forget about the distance and the years that we spent apart. At the same time, they are just thrown into a new adventure and they don\u2019t have time to think about the gravitas of the Flux at that point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How was it working with the Daleks this time around and what makes them so fun as a villain?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The Daleks have been around quite a few times since I\u2019ve been in Doctor Who <\/em>but every time you become more familiar with them. In the beginning I didn\u2019t really speak to the actors and questioned whether there was anyone in there, but we\u2019ve become so familiar with the actors playing the Daleks that we have chats in between scenes. John was like, \u201cCan I get in?\u201d and I was like, \u201cHe\u2019s so brave, I\u2019ve been here for years, and I\u2019ve not asked to get in, but I wish I was more that person!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They\u2019re just brilliant aren\u2019t they? They don\u2019t look like the scariest of creatures but they are so dangerous, so I can only assume that\u2019s why people like them. Every time they come in, they create chaos and turmoil, sometimes we beat them and sometimes we haven\u2019t. I\u2019m not saying audience want us to be exterminated, perhaps they do, but I just think that\u2019s what you tune in for, the trepidation and you know when these things come something is about to go down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Were there any other stand out moments from filming this special in particular?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was really fun to be working with Aisling and Adjani. They\u2019re very funny people. It was just us five in this wet tunnel and we get on so well with the crew but you\u2019re in a storage unit, there\u2019s only so much space and they\u2019ve got shelves up. Aisling created these characters from my life and played them for me, just for me, it was like having a one woman show every time we cut camera.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019d be acting, then we\u2019d cut and I\u2019d turn around to Aisling every time we cut and ask \u201cwhat else have you got for me then?\u201d and she\u2019d turn it on, start doing this performance, I\u2019d be laughing my head off thinking \u201chow has she thought of this, where has this come from, how does she have so much energy?\u201d And then at action we\u2019d go again and then at cut I\u2019d basically look for her to entertain me the whole time!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This episode is all about time loops. If you could go back in time and relive any one event in your life, what would it be?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s a very deep question. I\u2019m thinking \u201ccould I go back and do something better?\u201d The answer is probably no. We went to Canada as a family when I was 7 or 8 and you have those performances where someone gets up and starts performing and I for some reason said I\u2019d be Elvis Presley, and I absolutely loved it. I was in my element and my family thought it was the best thing that ever happened. They were cheering me on. There was no other audience, just my family, and I remember thinking \u201cI am absolutely brilliant!\u201d For me if I could go back and relive that moment, those are the moments where I probably realised I loved performing. I had a guitar and everything. Very random because I definitely wasn\u2019t listening to his music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What would Yaz\u2019s New Year\u2019s resolution be at this point in the story?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think Yaz\u2019s New Year\u2019s resolution at this point should be to talk about her emotions a little bit more with people in the TARDIS and people back in Sheffield. She\u2019s a very emotionally intelligent character and she always bangs on to the Doctor to talk about what she went through and open up but all the while she\u2019s been hiding this turmoil she went through when she was younger. She\u2019s got mixed emotions and is toying with things at the time of this episode and yet really when someone confronts her, she doesn\u2019t answer so I think I\u2019d say to Yaz to take her own advice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What will your own resolution be? Do you believe in them?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think resolutions are brilliant. It doesn\u2019t matter if you don\u2019t stick to them. Also, I tend to make resolutions throughout the year. I think it\u2019s really nice to give yourself a goal because prior to me giving myself goals, I used to say I have no willpower and I have to eat all the cakes and cookies I see! I\u2019m going to make a resolution I think, I don\u2019t know what it is but it\u2019s definitely going to be along the lines of exercise or something. Make time to move, even if it\u2019s just to walk. I\u2019m always too busy but this year I\u2019m actually going to do it as a New Year\u2019s resolution and see how long it goes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eve of the Daleks<\/em> screens at 7pm, New Year’s Day, on BBC1.<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Eve of the Daleks will be the third New Year’s Day Doctor Who episode featuring Jodie Whittaker’s Thirteenth Doctor, the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":34189,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_publicize_message":"Mandip Gill: #DoctorWho Eve of the Daleks Is \"the Funniest Episode We've 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