Listen Doctor Who Extra

'Listen - what a spooky episode!

'This time we got to see the Doctor battle

'against an invisible creature, travel to the end of the universe...'

Help. Send the Doctor.

'..and we even get a special glimpse into the Doctor's childhood.

'Yes, this episode is guaranteed to scare you to the bone

'and leave you in a state of shock.

'So hold on tight - we're going to show you how we put it all together.

'With such an eerie tone to this episode,

'it really does manage to send shivers down your spine.'

I've got hairs standing on end.

'And it appears that this creepy episode actually came from

'an innocent meeting with the executive producer.'

Listen came about as a conversation between me

and Brian Minchin talking about what can we do with sound in Doctor Who.

BANGING CLARA: What's that?

That just set off something in my head. Let's try and do a story

that's just about what the Doctor thinks about a monster

in which the monster never actually appears.

'But how do you go about filming such a unique creature?'

Steven Moffat told me that he had a very special creature

lined up for me for this episode, one that you couldn't see or hear.

I said, "So what are we going to film, then?"

I think the trick is

understanding that the creature is so special that we all have one.

'So, with sound being so vital, the director Douglas worked closely

'with the sound effects editor to create the sinister atmosphere.'

If you can imagine, with Doctor Who, there's quite a few monsters

and quite a few creatures that are quite self-evident

within the episodes,

but with Listen, a lot of it is to do with what's in your mind.

For example, Douglas asked for a specific feeling for the scene

when the Doctor and Clara are about to take Orson off the space station.

You don't really know what's attacking them,

whether it's an animal, whether it's a creature

or whether it's actually just the space station

going through its motions of the night.

HISSING

So when you get the steam hisses, as if the space station is cooling down,

you also have animal noises underneath that

the audience subconsciously hear

and then you start to think, "There's something out there."

'We caught up with Peter and Jenna at the read-through,

'back in February 2014.'

Sorry to keep you waiting.

We were stuck down a tunnel, covered in gloop.

'But what did the cast think about this creepy episode?'

Often, Doctor Who becomes quite epic and big.

"How could you know it existed? How would you detect it?"

Listen was quieter and smaller, and almost like a ghost story.

"What's that footstep following, never passing by?"

There was a supernatural influence in it,

which I always love in Doctor Who.

'What will Clara be faced with in this story?'

"So, the famous drink, at last."

It's a bit more of a domestic episode.

"Do you have any other way to make this more surreal

"than it already is?!"

We really see Clara leading a double life

and how that is going to get out of control.

- Where's your coat? - My...my what?

It all goes completely wrong, and she's there trying to

kind of keep everything together and totally calm.

'Yes, only on Doctor Who would you have a spaceman

'gate-crashing your first date.

'Time to travel to the end of the universe

'to meet this lonely astronaut, Orson.

'He may be lost in space but he still loves his spaceman look.'

To infinity...

I'm like Tom Jones.

Or Soul Train. Remember that?

'So, other than your nice new hairdo,

'what's it like being a spaceman?'

It's partly the reason I got into acting.

I didn't have the scientific brain to really become a spaceman,

so I'll act like one instead!

Seriously, there was a time when I thought, "What a job, yeah."

'OK, so if you were a spaceman, what planet would you visit?'

Some of those moons on Jupiter seem pretty fun,

but I think I'd go further afield.

'Any resemblance to Danny Pink?'

Who's Danny? He looks just like him, the spitting image of him.

I mean, the DNA, the bloodline is strong.

'And if you could travel back in time,

'what would you tell your past self?'

The lottery numbers from a nice, big rollover week,

and that England won't win the World Cup any time soon.

'Time to look around the spacecraft with our special tour guide.'

Orson's spaceship.

They wouldn't let me take a tumble-dryer with me -

they said it weighed too much.

So I have to do my washing myself and hang it up inside.

Here's my garden.

For obvious reasons, we can't have the garden outside.

The kitchen. This is where Orson does his rice and peas, jerk chicken.

It's all meals for one up here, I'm afraid.

Down there is not for your eyes!

HE CHUCKLES

Front door. It probably should be closed.

I've no idea why we're not getting sucked out into outer space.

My hammock.

If I can't get up there, I've got that,

and this...

..is where I watch TV and make my spaceship go.

Bienvenido a mi casa. Casa de Orson.

My spaceship.

I've been stuck here for a while. Help.

Send the Doctor. Please.

'Lucky for Orson, the Doctor did turn up,

'and he seems to be spending most of his time hanging about.'

Hanging about!

I've never done wire-work before,

but I'm becoming quite an expert in it now

because Doctor Who seems to demand a lot of it.

It's great fun - you know, having an air lock suddenly open

and everything being sucked out

and you're having to hang on to the furniture in order to stay there.

Yeah, that's...like a childhood dream, isn't it?

We've all done that. Except lying on a chair!

'What did Samuel think about Peter's wire-work?'

Yeah, he was hanging out like my washing.

He did some brilliant wire-work actually.

I'm hoping to get up on some of them myself soon.

'Sounds like someone is a bit jealous.'

No, not jealous, but, you know, I'll bide my time.

'So, moving on from the excitement of wire-work on set,

'in this episode we also got an unexpected surprise -

'a very rare glimpse into the Doctor's life.'

She ends up in the Doctor's childhood, mistakenly,

and then sees him as a child, and speaks to him

and tells him these words that she's already heard from the Doctor,

so it's kind of one of these... We call it a Moffat loop.

It's a Moffat loop that happens again.

'And the Director, well, he was thrilled to be part

'of such a significant moment in Doctor Who history.'

When I realised that the little boy in the bed

was actually the young Doctor, I had a shiver down my spine straightaway.

Directing that moment, and knowing that Doctor Who fans everywhere

are just going to be exploding with amazement

that we've got the youngest Doctor ever on the show, that was my moment.

'This was a rare glimpse,

'because even though we've been travelling with the Doctor

'for over 50 years now,

'we still know surprisingly little about his early life.

'We know he attended the Academy on Gallifrey,

'where he had a least two tutors.

'Borusa - this strict teacher would later become the schemer

'in search of immortality and power.

'Then we have Azmael, one of the Doctor's favourites,

'who would ultimately sacrifice himself to stop the evil Mestor.

'The Doctor, or Theta Sigma as he was informally known back then,

'did graduate from the Academy, but not exactly with flying colours.

'According to his old companion Romana,

'he scraped through with 51%, on his second attempt.

'Maybe he was distracted from his studies by his friends.

'After all, they did include the Master.

'After that, all we know is that

'he got tired of watching the universe pass him by.

'So, going against the strict policy of non-interference,

'he stole a TARDIS and set off to travel throughout time and space.

'As well as an insight into the young Doctor's life,

'we also get to meet a young Danny Pink.

'And this budding actor is incredibly excited to be part of the show.

'So then, Remi, did you have any favourite scenes to be in?'

The scene when I'm out of my window,

and working with all the cameramen and all the actors.

Yeah, it's really fun.

'Getting such a big part,

'did you manage to keep it a secret from friends?'

I've told a few. Some of my friends don't believe me,

so I want to shock them and say,

"Well, it's not like I'm going to be on TV, is it? No."

'What did Peter think about working with young Remi?'

Yeah, Remi was great from day one, from the start,

so that was wonderful - to know that right at the centre of it

you had this wonderfully natural performance... Where is he?

..and good fun. He was very good fun to have around.

'Peter obviously enjoyed working with Remi,

'but what did Remi think about working with Peter?'

Are you scared?

It's really fun just knowing that you're actually with the Doctor.

It was really cool, cos it was actually my first job.

I didn't know it was his first job. He didn't appear that way,

but, no, he had a very natural quality about him,

which is very valuable.

The end.

'Well, this little cheeky chap gets all the luck.

In his later years, he'll even grow up to go on a date with Clara.

'Jenna, give us the gossip. How was it?'

It's terrible. It's really bad.

She says stupid things because she's very, very nervous.

When I'm nervous and I've got a mouth on me,

seriously, it's got a mind of its own. I'm worried it wants to go solo.

It's literally making me feel a little bit cringey now.

SAMUEL: He's been a bit of a bumbling idiot so far.

Why can't I talk today?

You know when you really, really like someone

and you don't want to mess it up,

and you end up just messing it up by trying not to?

I think there's an element of that.

Thankfully, she has a bit of a heart and likes him anyway.

He probably needs to learn just to say less.

'Things didn't go that badly,

'as Danny and Clara did finally have a kiss in this episode.

'We caught up with Danny preparing for the big day.'

Perks of the job. Got my chewing gum ready...and my mouth spray.

'So, have you been practising?'

Ha-ha! Ha-ha! Yeah, I've pra...

I've drawn a little picture on here, practised like that.

'Anyway, you must have been a little nervous?'

No, I'm not nervous.

As an actor, the first time I did it, I was petrified.

It was worse than the first time doing it in real life.

'So, will you tell us how the filming goes?'

There'll be no kissing and telling. Mr Pink is a gentleman.

'In this episode, Rupert is terrified of what's under his bed.'

We caught up with the cast to find out what's under THEIR beds at home.'

There's no monsters, as far as I know.

Oh, it's just full of stuff. Shoes, boxes...

Floor?

I used to be scared of what was under the bed.

Games you get at Christmas that you think it'll be a great idea to play,

but you never get round to playing.

There's a few stuff under there.

I always had to be like completely in the quilt.

If anything was out, I got scared.

'Well, like Clara told the Doctor, there's NOTHING under the bed,

'but it's OK to be afraid of it.'