Joanna Page has shared how hard it was for her to film the 50th anniversary episode of Doctor Who. The Gavin and Stacey actress talked about it on Fearne Cotton’s Happy Place podcast. The special aired in 2013 to celebrate fifty years of the sci-fi show.
Stream every episode of Doctor Who Series 15 for free on BBC iPlayer
It had a big cast, including Page as Queen Elizabeth I. But the Welsh star shot the episode, called Day of the Doctor, soon after giving birth. She was learning to be a new mother while keeping up with her acting career.
I’m off straight away filming with this little baby with me and it’s mad because as a woman, you’re there and you’re trying to deal with the biggest thing that’s ever happened in your life. Physically and mentally and all of that. Then you’re still straight into this working environment which you’ve been in for years and years, which doesn’t cater to having a baby with you. And you’re trying to struggle with all of that and oh my God, it’s just so difficult. It’s so bonkers again like you say when you’re programmed to always say ‘yes I won’t turn down this opportunity, that you push yourself that much.’ I did exactly the same and it is absolutely wild. You did make a decision a bit further down the line to say actually, do you know what? Enough’s enough, I don’t want to work for a bit. That must have been a big scary gear change. I was breastfeeding and I was in this corset and they were gorgeous, they were really lovely, they couldn’t have been nicer but I was adamant that the baby was going to be with me on set and this is what I’m doing. But oh my God, we’d be in a hotel in Cardiff, I’d be cluster-feeding all the way through the night, she’d finally finish about four in the morning.
Fearne replied, and The actress said she was breastfeeding her baby while filming as Queen Elizabeth I.
Then at five in the morning, I’d have to get up, go on set, have my red wig put on, be shoved into this huge, big corset with these boobs, which got bigger and bigger and bigger as the day went on. I couldn’t remember any of my lines because my head was all over the place. Lunchtime would come and I’d go into my trailer. I’d feed for half an hour, express for 25 minutes, have one mouthful of food and then go back on set. Then after you feed, you just want to cwtch them. I was just like, ‘I just want to be with her’, and everybody would say, ‘she’s not even going to remember it doesn’t matter’, but you’re like ‘I will remember and this is my experience as well’.
She added
Joanna acted with some of Doctor Who’s biggest stars and said she felt shy about how she performed in front of them.
Then you’re on set and you can’t remember your lines, you’re playing Queen Elizabeth with a Welsh accent. They were all gorgeous but I’ve got Billie Piper, Jenna Coleman, David Tennant, John Hurt and you’re there and you’re doing Queen Elizabeth with a Welsh accent and you can’t remember your lines. It’s really embarrassing and so I got through that, but we tried to make it work and it was just awful.
She explained
Source: Walesonline