Nigel Planer

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• Publication: Belfast Telegraph
• Date: 2010-10-09
• Author:
• Page: 32
• Language: English

Nigel Planer will be starring in the Doctor Who Live tour, which is coming to Belfast -- and reveals what it's like to be Neil in The Young Ones, recounting an unfortunate incident with a snowball ...

For more information on tour dates for the show, visit doctorwholive.com

WHAT CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT THE TOUR? It's the monsters and me. You literally have all the visual effects and the music, and then 11 different types of monsters. But it also has a story. I'm playing Vorgenson, who's the host for the evening. He's the greatest showman in the galaxy. He's invented a minimiser that can shrink creatures to microscopic size. He claims to love the Doctor, but he wants to put him in the minimiser too. He loves him possibly a bit too much -- sort of how a butterfly collector loves his specimens.

HE SOUNDS VERY SIMILAR TO VORG, A CHARACTER WHO APPEARED IN THE 1973 ADVENTURE, A CARNIVAL OF MONSTERS. ARE THEY RELATED? That's right -- I'm Vorgenson, Vorg's son! That was in a Jon Pertwee episode. He's part of the Doctor Who heritage, as it were. He's using the minimiser to do a new carnival of monsters.

FROM THAT LAST QUESTION, YOU MIGHT BE ABLE TO TELL WE'RE BIG DOCTOR WHO FANS ... Nerd might be the word, might it?

WELL, YES ... ARE YOU A FAN TOO? I must be one of the few people still alive who can remember the trailers for the very first Doctor Who episode starring William Hartnell. And I remember being scared at the end of it and being quite shocked. When it first came on, it was quite radical in a way. But my favourite when I was a kid was Patrick Troughton. I think it was when he came in that a slightly wittier, eccentric, more affable Doctor Who character started to develop.

DID YOU KNOW THAT PATRICK TROUGHTON IS MATT SMITH'S FAVOURITE DOCTOR? No, I didn't know that. How interesting! I think he's doing a brilliant job. People were worried because obviously David Tennant is an incredibly difficult act to follow, but Matt's done a very difficult thing for an actor, which is to grab it and make it his own.

ARE YOU WORKING WITH HIM ON THE TOUR? I will be working with him in a funny sort of way; he'll always be on a screen -- I'll be working with a digital Matt.

IS THAT A BIT WEIRD? I'll tell you when I've done it ... I'm sure it will be weird!

WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE IN THE TV SERIES? Yes, I'd love to, obviously. I don't know if after this I'd be able to play a different character. I think I'd have to wait until Vorgenson found his way into the series. I suppose I could beg via this interview. Do you think it'll do any good?

YOU NEVER KNOW. IT'S WORTH A TRY. Jolly good. Because being in Doctor Who, it's sort of the ultimate really, isn't it?

YOU DO REALISE THAT FROM NOW ON, YOU'LL BE KNOWN AS 'THAT BLOKE FROM DOCTOR WHO'? Actually that would be quite refreshing, rather than being recognised as 'that hippie', you know, Neil.

DOES THAT BOTHER YOU? Oh no, I brazen it out. I just go to the shops and use public transport and talk to anybody.

NEIL WAS SUCH A BENIGN CHARACTER, SURELY NOBODY COULD TAKE OFFENCE AT HIM? Well, Neil was the character who got bullied in The Young Ones. Once when it was snowing, these kids were shouting 'Neil, Neil orange peel' at me and threw a load of snowballs. One went down the back of my neck, and I thought 'This is a character who got bullied and now everybody thinks they can bully me'. Luckily, it only happened that once.

AT LEAST IF YOU WERE IN DOCTOR WHO, THERE MIGHT BE AN ACTION FIGURE MADE OF YOU. Oh, I'd like that -- I'd never thought of that. I wonder how much I'd cost?

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• APA 6th ed.: (2010-10-09). Nigel Planer. Belfast Telegraph p. 32.
• MLA 7th ed.: "Nigel Planer." Belfast Telegraph [add city] 2010-10-09, 32. Print.
• Chicago 15th ed.: "Nigel Planer." Belfast Telegraph, edition, sec., 2010-10-09
• Turabian: "Nigel Planer." Belfast Telegraph, 2010-10-09, section, 32 edition.
• Wikipedia (this article): <ref>{{cite news| title=Nigel Planer | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Nigel_Planer | work=Belfast Telegraph | pages=32 | date=2010-10-09 | via=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=19 May 2025 }}</ref>
• Wikipedia (this page): <ref>{{cite web | title=Nigel Planer | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Nigel_Planer | work=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=19 May 2025}}</ref>