FIVE STAR

FASTEN YOUR SEATBELTS FOR A TIME FLIGHT INTO THE FUTURE WITH JANET FIELDING'S AUSSIE AIR HOSTESS TEGAN JOVANKA

- ROBBIE DUNLOP

WHEN SFX JOINS JANET Fielding for a natter, she's on a break from recording a Doctor Who audio play for Big Finish. But don't expect her to divulge anything about the plot. "I could tell you, but I think I'd have to kill you!" she laughs. However, she can reveal that "It's a fun story. It's more episodes than usual. And as per usual it's a great cast."

Secrecy is nothing new for Fielding. NDAS accompany virtually every Doctor Who job she lands, whether it's a documentary, commentary or audiobook. However, no project in recent years has been on quite the same scale as her return to the television series. A few white lies were told to ensure that the news didn't leak. "I had to," she stresses. "People all the time on Twitter were saying, 'Wouldn't you love to come back into Doctor Who?' 'Yes, I would!' You know?"

RETURN TO OZ

Tegan's long-awaited comeback in "The Power Of The Doctor" was seemingly a wishfulfilment for showrunner and '80s-era fan Chris Chibnall, who had expressed his desire to bring back the character in a February 2020 interview. Fielding was aware of his comments when Doctor Who casting director Andy Pryor contacted her.

"He asked whether I'd be interested in returning to the show. I thought about it for all of three seconds and then said yes," she says. "And then I worried on all sorts of fronts. Because I hadn't been in front of the camera for 37 years, would I be able to remember lines? I don't need to learn lines any more, so I'm out of the habit."