Will Thorp first set the nation's hearts fluttering when he landed the role of Woody in the TV drama Casualty. He then proceeded to dress in figure-hugging suits and shake his booty in Strictly Come Dancing.
He's now coming to the end of a 13 week tour of the UK in the psychological thriller Strangers On A Train, which includes Colin Baker [the sixth Doctor] in the cast. Will happily admits he could hardly believe his luck when he received the offer to join the cast of Doctor Who. It didn't take much for him to decide to accept the role in the two-part story - The Impossible Planet and The Satan Pit - where he played Toby Zed, an archaeologist in a team of space explorers from Earth trapped on a planet in the orbit of a Black Hole. During an interview with BBC Norfolk's entertainment webTV, Will admitted that landing a role in Doctor Who was like a dream come true. MB: How excited were you to get a part in the series? WT: It was fantastic, it was a little boy's dream. Anything you do that you use to watch as a boy is surreal. It was just really exciting and a fantastic experience. MB: What was it you liked about watching Doctor Who? WT: It's full of surprises. They've set up something there which can just go anywhere. They can be in space, on Earth, back in time – it's just really exciting. You have this lead guy in the Doctor who would be really charismatic and for an actor to watch, that is just fascinating. MB: What was the most challenging thing about working on the two-parter? WT: It's interesting. You get used in TV acting to playing everything very small and naturalistic, but you do something like Doctor Who and you have a bit of leeway to colour it up and make it a little more larger than life.
 | | Will Thorp in Doctor Who |
It was an interesting thing to do, to play this normal guy, this irritable uptight archaeologist and then play this mad, possessed guy. It was interesting to be able to do big acting on screen. MB: OK, from the most challenging, what was the funniest thing that happened? WT: The funniest thing is seeing the Ood in those episodes. They're all ex-dancers, and they stood around on set having a cup of tea with their masks on. It was just surreal to see them chatting away and having a really animated conversation. Occasionally one of them would be jigging away listening to music or something and they'd always be bumping into each other as they couldn't see anything – which was always good value. [he laughs] MB: What do you think David Tennant brings to the role of the Doctor? WT: I think David oozes charisma naturally, he doesn't have to put that on. When he's the Doctor it just oozes out of him. He's very watchable, very believable and on top of that he's fantastic to work with. A lovely guy, very professional. MB: Do you have a favourite Doctor? You don't have to say Colin Baker just because you're working with him at the moment. WT: [He laughs] Actually I am going to say Colin Baker. In fact I've been borrowing episodes from him over the last couple of weeks. I was a big fan of him and of Peter Davidson also, partly because they both had blond hair and as a kid there wasn't any role models that had blond hair… That wasn't the only reason, he was also a fantastic actor. I used to like Colin. MB: Would you like to return to the series? WT: I'd definitely like to be back in it. There aren't many job on TV where you're playing and having fun… You've got a fantastic team behind it. They believe in that project so much, so when you're in it you feel you're in something really special. I think it's one of the best things on TV at the moment. - This transcript is an extract from an extended webTV interview in which Will also talks about starring in Strangers On A Train with Alex Ferns and Colin Baker, and his time on Strictly Come Dancing.
Will Thorp starred in Strangers On A Train at the Norwich Theatre Royal in August 2006. | 
