Doctor Who’s Arthur Darvill talks Rory

Oh, Rory. When you first stepped onto the Doctor Who scene I thought you were just another Mickey Smith. How very wrong I was. Actor Arthur Darvill may be a third wheel in the Doctor/Companion relationship but he’s far forgotten by viewers of the hit sci-fi show and in the latest episode, “The Girl Who Waited,” he showed us exactly why.

Before the episode aired, BBC America held a press conference call with Darvill to discuss this thoughts on the fan-favorite character, the episode and the show in general. “The Girl Who Waited” is quite a Rory-centric/Doctor-lite episode and co-star Karen Gillan said it could have been named “Rory’s Choice” instead. “It’s a real one that tests Rory and Amy’s relationship actually,” he said. “[Amy’s] waiting for something and Rory basically has to go in and kind of find her and save her but something’s coming for us strictly wrong which really tests them and, you know, tests their emotions to the limits really.”

And about working almost solo in the episode? “I think he’s gotten to a point now where he’s so within this kind of world,” Darvill said, “the fact that he can go and travel through time and comes face to face with really horrific things. It’s just become almost normal for him.” He continued, “As much as Rory can be a bumbling idiot at times I think he’s proved to the Doctor and to everyone else around that when everything starts kicking off you can really step up to the plate and deliver.”

Darvill isn’t used to carrying a lot of the action but took joy in it this time around. “It’s funny the way Rory deals with things because he’s quite, you know, he’s quite nervous and quite – doesn’t really want to put himself in danger but as soon as it has anything to do with Amy being in danger he will just throw himself in straightaway,” the actor said.
Although he’s only been traveling with the Doctor on screen for a short time, Rory has actually experienced a lot during his time with the Doctor (thanks in no small part to his 2000 years as a plastic man). Darvill said the experience of traveling with the Doctor has completely changed Rory. “I think he has matured a lot and it’s proved to him that, you know, even though all of these incredible things have happened and these horrible things have happened that his relationship with Amy is still the strongest thing, you know, in the world,” he said. “And he’s still completely wildly in love with her.”
As for what’s ahead, Darvill mentioned that next week’s episode, “The God Complex” will be a lot like The Shining and include all sorts of creepy things. “If anyone’s kind of scared of clowns or ventriloquists I mean [they’ll] definitely want to hide behind the sofa,” he said. He also happened to mention a Doctor Who villain that will be returning to the show this season – the Cybermen. “And then the finale just blew my mind. And I can’t say too much about it but it was – it’s about as epic as Doctor Who has ever got,” he said. “And it answers some more questions which I think everyone’s dying to hear the answers to.”
Doctor Who airs Saturday’s on BBC America and will air its season final on October 1. Also, if you haven’t been checking out the official Doctor Who tumblr, you’re seriously missing out. They always have spoilers for the current episodes immediately but they find some fantastic stuff.