How Doctor Who is fighting climate change season by season

According to actor Alexander Devrient, who plays Colonel Ibrahim on the show, there's also a passionate commitment to sustainability behind the scenes, with the show's carbon footprint being lowered from season 14 to season 15, and the aim being to do that again for the new spin-off.

Devrient is a supporter of Green Rider, an actor-led movement that uses "contractual and cultural influence to create a fairer and greener TV and film industry". As part of Green Rider, actors can make pledges and ask for commitments from productions they're part of.

For Devrient, a hugely important part is the feeling of collective action, which he felt was represented on the Doctor Who set.

"Obviously, train travel was a huge thing," he tells RadioTimes.com.

"We would all come in with trains, we would travel back with trains, and share cars. There were a lot of electric cars around. [We were] paperless, having your scripts on your iPads or your phones, and when you come on set, you're just standing there with your little machine just scrolling through.

"Lots of these little things - bringing your own water bottles, having labeled water bottles that you're reusing. And cutlery, of course - it’s recyclable plates and cutlery."

On a larger scale, UNIT HQ played a big part in ensuring that no materials on set were wasted.

"The Doctor Who sets that you see, sometimes they get reused, and then they get transformed and become something else which is also super cool," Devrient explains.

"Specifically thinking about UNIT, for example, where I spent a lot of my time, just seeing how often they managed to transform UNIT into all kinds of different things - the last battle we just had in season 2, I walked in after a couple of days of the battle scene, and it was just completely destroyed.

"And then I walked in another day and it was just back to how it used to be, and then it became a '50s set or a '60s set. They're really skilled at reusing sets, which I think is amazing."

Ahead of shooting the spin-off, the cast were also briefed about sustainability.

"We actually had a workshop - it was about an hour and a half - before we started shooting the spin-off, where we where we sat with the main cast and a gentleman came and he showed us how they were going to reduce the carbon footprint shooting on The War Between the Land and the Sea," Devrient recalls.

"Obviously, I can't give anything away, but [the show] goes heavily goes into the way that we treat our planet and the consequences that it can have if we don't treat it right.

"And so I think that was very important as well for us, even before we started shooting, to gain an awareness and understanding what production is doing in order to do that."

He adds: "They showed us a little bit of what happened in season 1 [of Doctor Who], what the carbon footprint was like in season 1, what was used, how it worked with the sets, what we wanted to do with cars.

"They were just explaining to us a little bit what the structure was, and then how it had already shifted in season 2. And they managed to reduce the carbon footprint for season 2 quite a bit. And then for The War Between, they wanted to lower it again, especially because of the themes of the of the show itself."

At the moment, conversations about Doctor Who's future are at an all-time high after that shock final scene from last season, which saw Ncuti Gatwa regenerate into Billie Piper ("I shed a tear!" Devrient admits).

While he's keeping tight-lipped on the upcoming spin-off, Devrient does want to make one thing clear: "As it stands, I haven't left! We are here, UNIT is here, Kate [Stewart, played by Jemma Redgrave] is doing her best!

"It's stressful and there's never boring day in UNIT. We're still here, and there's still lots of work to do, as you'll see in in the spin-off as well."

Outside of Doctor Who, Devrient has been passionate about sustainability for a long time - but he's quick to point out that absolutely no one is perfect, especially in an industry that sometimes requires plane travel.

"It's been something that has been on my mind for many years," he explains.

"I remember going to [a Fridays for Future protest] that was walking along Westminster, and I was looking at the average age of people, and there were lots and lots of young kids, classes with their teachers.

"And there was something so inspiring and beautiful to see the young generation turning up in such numbers and really caring about the environment, about where we're going, about how fossil fuels are being used, and gaining an understanding that possibly I didn't have when I was a kid at 10 years old, and really standing up for something."

He adds: "I work in lots of different markets, because I speak all these languages, and so sometimes I have to jump on planes, and my carbon footprint is not necessarily the best."

However, he's conscious that individuals can only do so much - despite what some big companies might tell you.

"This whole concept came about [because] BP [popularised] this term in the early 2000s - carbon footprint," he points out.

"[It's the idea that] everybody has to look at themselves and their responsibility. And they put the onus back on us, that it's our fault as individuals, and if we're not doing things right, then it means that it's our responsibility, shifting the responsibility away from them, whereas actually it's a collective responsibility, and obviously them, as a big oil company, they play a huge role in it as well."

Devrient is also grateful for his fellow actors who have spoken out about sustainability, including Bella Ramsey, who was open about their Green Rider on The Last of Us season 2, and Benedict Cumberbatch.

"We had Bella Ramsey, who just spoke about her Green Rider, which was very cool, and that appeared in a wider context in lots of different interviews, and then obviously you've got Benedict Cumberbatch, who’s very vocal as well.

"But it's just the little things. It's just the little efforts that everybody has put in. It's a slight shift in behaviour, a slight shift in attitude, a shift in awareness as well."

Obviously, there's a lot more to be done worldwide when it comes to sustainability. So, what needs to happen next?

"I think it's just keeping that conversation going and not being afraid to listen," Devrient muses.

He advises fellow talent in the TV and film industry: "If the Green Rider people get in touch with you, be open to that, have that conversation…

"The onus is not just on the actors, the onus is not just on production, the onus is on everyone in between as well."

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