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Diana Quick - Prime.

Introductions
  Could you tell us who are you playing?

I am Diana Quick and I am playing Prime, who is the ultimate evil in the universe. I head a bridgehead force which is trying to conquer earth by melting through the earth’s crust into its inner core with my cohorts, who are worm like creatures called the Shalka.

We are going to gradually turn the entire world into a dead planet and then we can live happily within its core, as we have in a billion other worlds.

Scream queen
  What's the weirdist thing you've had to do?

The craziest thing I’ve had to do so far is many variations of a scream, because, although as the leader of the Shalka I am able to morph myself into human form, the way that we communicate is sonically, so I have screamed loud, soft, high, low, backwards, raucously, shrilly, in fact it’s amazing that I’ve got a voice at all, because I’ve done so many screams in the course of the last five hours.

Sky's the limit
  Do you think science fiction works well on audio?

I think it’s great to be doing this on sound because the sky’s the limit really. You can leave everything else to the imagination of the animators and of the viewers or the web users in this case. All we have to do is try and make the voices as complicated and creative and imagination loosening as possible.

Working with Derek
  What is the most bizarre role you’ve ever played?

I think this is close to the most bizarre role I’ve ever taken really. I mean I’ve had to do some pretty wacky things one way and another.

The last time I worked with Derek Jacobi, who plays the Master in this, was last year when we made a film of The Revengers Tragedy and we had to have an orgasmic scene and I had to make orgasmic sounds for four minutes on a wild track. That was pretty weird too.

Getting on famously
  How have you found working with your fellow actors?

It’s good. Today is the first day and it’s always strange the first day because you’re kind of trying to invent the thing as you go along. Famously, when you do audio recordings, by the end you’re very fluent and quite often you want to go back to the beginning and re-do some of the takes because you just know who you are and also what your relations are with the other characters.

I haven’t worked with Richard before but we’ve known each other for quite a few years now and we like each other. I also know Sophie who plays Alison, and Derek who plays the Master, so it’s quite cosy in the studio.

In the beginning
  Where would you travel to if you had a TARDIS?

Oh god, there’s a question. Well if you give me absolute freedom to go anywhere I think I might go back to the creation.

Could be hot though, I should think!

Yes it could be a bit hot, perhaps I’ll wait until night and day and sun and rain are established and a nice bit of green forest to go into, but I think that would be pretty interesting, to be in the primeval world or even the Garden of Eden would be pretty good wouldn’t it?

The look of the Shalka
  How do you think your character should look?

Well it’s an interesting question about how I should look, because it’s changed even today, the first draft of the script that I was sent had me as a, well my sort of native form is worm-like or green goo, which can morph into various manifestations. It’s principal one is as a sort of worm-like figure, even though I’m able to assume a plausible human shape

Today we’ve been talking and it now sounds as if, instead of being worm-like, I’m going to be crustacean-like, so I’ll be more like perhaps a lobster crossed with a snake. I find it very hard to imagine, and Wilson, the director, chatting to me just now, said, ‘Well of course you’re going to be a lobster crossed with a jaguar,' and I got very excited about that. I said, ‘Oh I’d love to be the jaguar bit,’ but I think it’s going to be more scaley than that.

Playing Evil
  Have you thought about doing a Doctor Who before?

No, I’ve never thought of being in Doctor Who in the past but was really excited when the phone call came and I immediately said, ‘Oh yes’, especially playing the ultimate evil.

It’s always more fun playing baddies than goodies I think, although I think that Doctor Who and Alison have a pretty good adventure in this one.