Jemma Redgrave On The Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Special



Jemma Redgrave appeared on Graham Norton's BBC Radio 2 show yesterday morning and talked a little about reprising her role as Kate Stewart in the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Special. Unsurprisingly, as with her co-stars, she was coy about revealing too much about the episode.


"I can’t tell you anything about it. If tell you anything about it this studio will spontaneously combust and we’ll both go up in smoke," she joked to Graham, "I wasn't allowed to tell anybody that I was doing it. It was very difficult to tell my children I was going off filming and not tell them what I was doing, but then we filmed in Trafalgar Square a few weeks ago and it was on Twitter within three seconds flat, so I'm allowed to say I'm in it! And it’s brilliant!”

The episode is being given a limited cinematic release prompting speculation that it would be of feature length. Jemma, however, could not shed any light on the subject; the final episode length could be at the mercy of BBC schedulers.

"It’s slightly tricky because the BBC want it between something and Strictly Come Dancing, so I don’t know how long it’s going to be," was all that she could say.

One thing that is known is that the episode was being filmed in 3D. Graham asked Jemma what the experience was like. 

"It’s slower," she said. "There are two cameras filming on you at the same time, and it’s the distance between those two lenses that creates the 3D effect. It’s like being in a lab. There were people with dark glasses – it’s a bit like Willy Wonka, like the Chocolate Factory and that TV thing, it was extraordinary!

"But it was fantastic fun," she concluded, "And Steven Moffat has written the most extraordinary script. I mean, he is so brilliant. But it is everything, it’s the adventure that children will get caught up in, it’s philosophical, it’s deep, it’s funny, it’s heartbreaking, it’s just great and it’s got an extraordinary cast."

The Graham Norton Show is available on BBC iPlayer until Saturday 18th May. Click here to listen - Jemma joins Graham from approximately 1hr 36m.


Filming on the 50th Anniversary episode wrapped last week. It is believed that it will première on BBC One on Saturday 23rd November. The episode stars Matt Smith and Jenna-Louise Coleman with David Tennant and Billie Piper returning to their roles of the Tenth Doctor and Rose.


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