Here are some extracts from an interview with Arthur Darvill, aka Rory in the new series. Mild spoilers ahead, and you can see the whole interview here.
Q: When you went in for the part of Rory, how was the character described?
A: I got two scenes when I auditioned – no, I got three, there were two from episode one and then one tiny speech from episode six, that had so many details changed, it didn’t make sense. It was so secret. I knew that he was Amy’s boyfriend, because it was the scene on the village green that I had to audition with, from episode one. But I didn’t know much else.
Q: Did you already know Matt?
A: Yeah, we worked together on a play in London a couple of years ago, called ‘Swimming with Sharks’, with Christian Slater, which was fun. I think we did that for about five months, and we got on together really well, we kept in touch, and we always said we wanted to work together again. It was amazing when this came up, because what better place to work with someone than ‘Doctor Who’?
Q: How does Rory get drawn into the TARDIS?
A: Rory’s just kind of getting on with his life, really, and then the Doctor just suddenly turns up and says ‘Right, you’re coming with us’, and I don’t know what he’s talking about. As far as Rory’s concerned, he hasn’t seen him for two years, you know, all the stuff that happened in episode one… the Doctor hasn’t come back, and Rory’s like ‘We’re going to get on with our lives’, Amy was taken the night before so it’s only been a day since Rory’s seen her, so it’s quite a lot to take in. I spend most of episode six going ‘What is going on?’.
Q: What sort of companion is he?
A: Quite a bumbling one, I suppose. It takes Rory quite a while to get into it. I think someone deep inside he has an adventurous side, and Amy brings that out of him. It’s sink or swim, really, and he kind of doggy-paddles his way through it. And he has a few moments where he almost ends up being… more heroic than, in his mind anyway, he’s ever been in his life. But actually, in terms of what they’re doing, it’s not that much.
Q: We know there’s a kind of attraction between Amy and the Doctor. How does Rory deal with that?
A: Rory, throughout his whole life, I think has been quite jealous of the Doctor. Rory and Amy grew up together, and when Rory says ‘I used to dress up as him’, you know, he really did. I think one of the reasons he became a nurse was that it’s one step towards being a doctor, towards fulfilling Amy’s ideal person. So the fact that the Doctor is real, and that Amy’s gone off with him on these amazing adventures, is pretty hard for Rory to deal with. There’s a few moments of ‘Either I can leave her to get on with this, or I can step up to it’, and I think Rory steps up to it, eventually, in his own way.
Doctor Who Interview Archive 