People Roundup (The Angels Take Manhattan)

Please note: the following round-up focuses on interview discussions of tonight's episode, The Angels Take Manhattan, which could be considered as spoilers.


Karen Gillan talks about life after Amy: "Well, I feel like I’m prepared for all the possible genres after playing Amy. And I certainly want variety, that’s for sure. What I enjoy most about acting is being versatile. I like actors like Robin Williams, who can do crazy, absurd characters. I would love to be an actor like that. The one I am really getting into recently is Olivia Colman. She does Peep Show and is brilliant at comedy, but I just watched Tyrannosaur – oh my god! I was on a train going through the Highlands of Scotland crying my eyes out. I want to play character roles, generally. That is my main ambition." And on how she'd want Amy remembered: "I love this girl. I would be too scared to act like her, but I get this artistic licence playing her. I love her dry sarcasm, wit and grumpiness. I'm not a grumpy person. I want to see her go out in flames of glory, where we see her at her absolute best. I just want people to look back over the Pond era fondly. I have had the best years of my life on this show, hand on my heart..." [Big Issue, 24 Sep 2012]

Similarly, Arthur Darvill on his departure from the show: "I can't really conceive that I've even been in it, yet! Do you know what I mean? When we're filming we concentrate so much on making each moment good. Then you see a screen with your face on or a big poster and you're like, 'Oh, that doesn't quite compute in my mind.' I just get on with my job, I don't think it will hit any of us – all three of us, really – until we’ve been a few years out it. Then we’ll realise what we’ve been doing for the last few years. I can't really speak for anyone else but I'm so proud of what we've done on this show, and it's been the best job I've ever had." And next: "I don't know if you can have a plan really. I do have a vague plan – I want to play some horrible people and I want to do some comedy, and I want to do some more theatre. Variety." [TV Choice, 25 Sep 2012]

Matt Smith got some parental feedback on the episode: "I showed my mum some of the rushes, the last couple of scenes, and she was in tears ... so that's good. That's a good sign. I think it's a fantastic farewell. I think it's hugely dramatic. There are wonderful twists. There's a great backdrop for a city. I think it's a fitting end to two of our greatest companions ever. ... I think Steven has written them out heroically, which is fantastic. You sort of want to go with a bit of a bang, don't you?" [TV Guide, 28 Sep 2012]

Steven Moffat talked about writing the final episode for Rory and Amy at the BAFTA preview in Cardiff earlier in the week: "After showing Amelia Pond in the garden as a young girl in The Eleventh Hour, Karen's first episode, the final shot in Saturday's The Angels Take Manhattan is a punchline I have been waiting to tell for two and a half years. This weekend's episode is more devastating for the Doctor, at certain points he becomes useless and emotional. It was torment and hell trying to write the episode, I struggled for ages to work out a fitting ending and changed my mind until I finally got it right." [Press Association via Google, 28 Sep 2012

The writer continued: "I must have rewritten it 20 odd times. I kept changing my mind about the exact way they’d leave, alive or dead? One or both of them? Their fates kept changing every five minutes until I hit on what I thought was right. Hopefully, there are scares AND emotion." [Daily Record, 29 Sep 2012]