It is only a matter of days before the world witnesses Matt Smith’s first festive stint as The Doctor, with some fans still a little nervous about what to expect following the critically mixed fifth season of the series.
However, no one is more nervous than Welsh singer Katherine Jenkins, who will join The Doctor on his travels for the Christmas-themed adventure of “Doctor Who.” Her appearance on the series marks her acting debut, leaving the singer anxious about what fans will think over her portrayal.
“I haven’t had any training and I’ve not really had any experience of this kind of thing,” she told BBC News.
Unlike previous years, the 2010 special (entitled “A Christmas Carol”) will be broadcast internationally on Christmas Day with fans in the United States being able to watch the episode only hours after its premiere in the United Kingdom on BBC America.
Although that may be a good thing for the series, it adds pressure to Jenkins, who admitted she may require a “large glass of wine” to calm her nerves before the episode airs.
“I hope that people will also be moved by it and can relate to it,” she said. “I didn’t set out to make people cry over their Christmas dinner, but it is heart-warming. Everyone in the whole ‘Doctor Who’ team was brilliant and so encouraging and supportive that they made me feel like I could do it.”
In the episode, The Doctor will take on a Ghost of Christmas Past-type role to a character who has a lot in common with Ebenezer Scrooge (played by Michael Gambon, whom viewers may still think of as Albus Dumbledore from the later Harry Potter movies).
Gambon will play a reclusive man who controls the skies, and has frozen Jenkins’ character (Abigail Pettigrew) because her family cannot pay their debts. Surely The Doctor will be able to breach his icy veneer?
“Doctor Who” airs on Christmas Day and will return in spring for its sixth season.
