Doctor Who: Writer Phil Ford On Into The Dalek

By TGT | 30th August 2014

Writer Phil Ford has shared his thoughts on tonight’s episode of Doctor Who, Into the Dalek, which marks Peter Capaldi’s second outing as the Twelfth Doctor following his full-length debut in last week’s Deep Breath.

Speaking to RadioTimes.com, Ford described his experiences of writing for a Doctor that at the time had yet to be cast, revealing that he had been told to think of the Twelfth Doctor as a ‘raging Billy Connolly’ as well as drawing on previous Doctors:

“It was entertaining but really difficult. I mean, it always is. When you write for any character that is completely new…. Steven had fed me guides, though. When I did the first draft, I think, we were kind of talking more about Tom Baker’s Doctor. So I basically wrote the first draft for Tom Baker! Then we started talking about a raging Billy Connolly, and that was much more of a guide! I think I’m right in saying they were the first scripts to be delivered, so Steven was still getting his head around the Doctor, I think.”

Ford and executive producer Steven Moffat share writing credit for Into the Dalek, something that Ford is no stranger to as he also co-wrote 2009 special The Waters of Mars with previous showrunner Russell T Davies. For Into The Dalek Ford explained that it was important the two worked together to ensure that the Doctor’s personality fitted what Moffat had in mind for the overall direction of the character and the series:

“Obviously Steven had a lot of influence in that script because he’s getting the Doctor right at the time… He did warn me that there would be a lot of drafts, but I was fine with that. In the end there was about four drafts. Then Steven came in and did a polish with the Doctor, then I did a small draft after that, and then Steven came back in and put some new scenes in. It was a very collaborative thing, and obviously Steven was really at that point where he knew how the Doctor was going to be. But I was just thrilled to be part of the second episode.”

Ford also hinted at what we can expect from Into the Dalek, and how it compares with the rest of Series 8:

“Into the Dalek is more an adrenaline-fuelled story. I’m sure that’s the case throughout the series. Stories are different paces, different tones, because at the end of the day – that’s what makes an exciting, varied series.”

Into the Dalek airs tonight at 7:30pm on BBC One – check out everything you need to know about the episode here!

[Source: Radio Times]