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Anna Calder-Marshall - Mathilda.

Introductions
  Could you tell us who you are playing?

My name’s Anna Calder-Marshall, I’ve been acting now for about 33 years. I’ve done a lot of classical work, I’ve done films, television, I used to do ingénue parts and classical ladies, and now I’m moving into a lovely area which is kind of slightly off-the-wall, mad, bad ladies, eccentric people, older people, so I’m having a ball.

The character I play is Miss Matilda Pierce who is an old bag lady who used to have 28 cats and because of this horrible being is now homeless, and I talk to the Doctor.

Brief encounter
  What has been the most unusual role of your career?

I once played a part where I had to age from a girl of actually 14 to 70 and I was about 24 years old. Celia Johnson, you know, Brief Encounter Celia Johnson, played a mad old woman who used to live in a house and I took over the house when she died and became as mad as she was.

There was this wonderful scene where I had to destroy a whole dinner table that was covered with beautiful food like roast beef, lamb joints, jellies, trifles. My character just went mad and wanted to destroy it and I had to pick up these bottles of wine and just pour them all over the table and then pile all this beautiful food with these society people around who were absolutely horrified and act very normally, but I wasn’t normal. That was lovely.

Top Doctor
  What’s it like working with the rest of the cast?

Well I’ve just been working with Richard. It’s the first time I’ve worked with him and we laughed a lot, and apparently we did the fastest take so far, so that was great.

I think he’s a wonderful Doctor actually. At the read-though I thought ‘God this is really exciting’ because he’s just got his own quality and he’s got a lovely urgency and I think he’s tops.

Ahead with a hat
  How do you think you should look in the animation?

Well I think I should be quite strangely dressed because I haven’t lived in my house for quite some time so I imagine I’m in layers. I think probably Matilda was quite an odd person to begin with because she did have 28 cats.

You see those people on television, don’t you, with 28 cats and you know that something’s missing in their life. She’s also called Miss so obviously there’s not a man in her life. I think she’s probably quite unruly in her house so she’s probably gone even stranger. I actually wouldn’t mind a hat, I don’t know why.

Dragons and Rings
  Do you think science fiction works best in audio?

I’ve never done one before. Oh no, I have, I’ve played a dragon. I find it quite exciting, I’ve just been asked to be a lot of worms and do a lot of different screams and I find that quite exciting actually.

I think it’s fascinating, I mean when I saw Lord Of The Rings and I saw, how they obviously used some of the actors’ mannerisms and faces and then animated that, I do find that very exciting. I know Andy Serkis very well because I worked with him and I could really see him in Gollum, so yes, I find it very exciting.

Victorian garb
  Where would you travel to if you had a TARDIS?

Two places. I’d either love to be in Shakespeare’s England or the Victorian Chekov times because I love the costumes, I love the feeling of that.

The two Doctors
  Do you remember the original series?

Yes I remember, I’ve worked with Tom Baker and I’ve worked with Colin - you know, we were at LAMDA together. I’ve just remembered the telephone box, there was a telephone box and the long scarves and just the weird eccentricities of it.

Memories of Tom
  What’s Tom Baker like to work with as an actor?

Well we did a Shakespeare play and I think that was sort of a bit confining for him. He was very nice, he lives near me in Kent actually. I often see him on the train coming up to London. He was a pleasure.