Anthony Head

Anthony Head to star in Doctor Who

SFX caught up with him to find out how things are on the Who set...

Had you heard about the rumour in the newspapers that you were playing The Master...

[Shocked] No!! I love it when papers say things stridently, whether they’re right or wrong.

How was Doctor Who then?

It was fantastic. And he’s a blinding Doctor, David Tennant. For the first time in a long time, it’s effortless. He’s got it all, he really. He’s literally born to play the part. He’s got such an edge yet at the same time the humour, the comedy’s just perfect. You’re not watching anybody trying hard, it’s just there. For me, this guy is just bang on!

How did you get the gig?

I suppose once you’re in the genre, I suppose people just say, oh, you’d be good! I went up for the American TV movie, I went up for that a couple of time, and I saw various executives, but when I came back from Buffy, people would ask if I’d do it and I said, well, I think to do one sort of iconic sci-fi character every decade is probably enough. People’d get confused otherwise!

Were you approached for this role?

Yes. I don’t know if they wrote this specifically with me in mind, but I think they thought it’d suit me. I must admit I enjoyed myself immensely.

So, who do you play it?

I can’t even remember the character’s name. Now I’m on tour, all my energies are channelled into that. Hmm, I don’t know how much I’m allowed to say. My name is stamped all over the script so if anybody ever gets the script, they know it comes from me!

Russell’s a big Buffy fan, isn’t he?

We met at the read-thru. He’s a great writer, Russell. He said how much of a fan he was and how pleased he was that I was doing it. I did the commentary for the Making Of on Radio 2 and there was a bit where they said they’d watched Buffy and modelled storytelling techniques on it.