Doctor Who guest star teases “fantastic” Jodie Whittaker performance later in the series
Art Malik, who plays a mysterious role in series 11’s second episode, says The Ghost Monument is well worth a watch
This year’s series of Doctor Who is unusually secretive – which is why guest star Art Malik, who plays an unknown role in this year’s second episode, is having to keep schtum about his adventures with Jodie Whittaker’s new Doctor.
“Everyone in it was great. It was a lovely, lovely experience,” Malik told RadioTimes.com.
“I wish I could talk more about it, but the BBC has asked us not to say too much about what's about to come.
“And in a way that's kind of right and proper because those people who are ardent fans don't want any spoilers really.”
However, Malik was able to hint at one or two details about his time working on the show, and even if we’re still not quite sure what to expect from his episode The Ghost Monument, it sounds like it’ll be worth the wait.
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“There is a female Doctor which is always going to be exciting,” Malik teased. “And Jodie is fantastic in it.”
And Malik also revealed that despite the episode filming in South Africa he never went out there, instead completing his scenes in the UK.
“I never went to South Africa, sadly, but yes, it is set in that sort of landscape, which they went and shot in,” he told us.
“What appealed to me [about Doctor Who] was that I remember being a child watching the first episode go out,” he added.
“I remember being terrified when I first heard the Daleks say exterminate. When I was asked earlier this year, would I like to be involved in an episode, of course I would! Why would I not?”
Malik says the diverse line-up of companions this year also encouraged him to join the series, with the veteran actor saying he felt positive about the increasing visibility of actors from his background in the industry.
“As you live your life, you bring from it certain things from each of your tribes,” Malik said of growing up in England in an Urdu-speaking family. “What's important is that we are a multicultural nation.
“When I started out maybe there weren't that many people on television who represented my tribe. That's got better and better.
“Now there are so many actors coming out of our drama schools from my ethnicity. From the subcontinent, or parents who came from the subcontinent, or grandparents who came from the subcontinent. These are British Indians, Londistanis, whatever you want to call them.
“They are from here. And there's some fantastic actors on that stage.”
And Malik is currently working with some of them on his new project, The Village, a play adapted by April De Angelis that stars him as a brutal police inspector.
“The Village is an adaptation of a Spanish play called Fuenteovejuna by Lope de Vega,” Malik explained.
“It was written in the 17th century and it dealt with tyranny back then, and we're dealing with it again today, of course.
“It's set in modern-day India. It deals with a police inspector who's terrorising this village, and especially this young girl called Jyoti.”
“To me it seemed very relevant. It seems relevant today, when people feel so disenfranchised, whether it's by the elite as in people who have more money than them, or just the elite as in those that we've elected to represent us.”
“It's always about the script,” he concluded of the theatre role.
The Village is at the Theatre Royal Stratford East until Saturday 6th October
“Is it a script that I want to be involved in? And this was a script that I just read and I thought 'Yes, I can see this working. I can see how this would be relevant today.'”
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Doctor Who airs on BBC1 on Sundays
