Bridgerton star Nicola Coughlan has said she had not seen Doctor Who prior to appearing in the sci-fi series’ 2024 Christmas special.
Coughlan, 37, said she “had no idea what was going on” during filming as the programme had not been shown on TV in Ireland when she was growing up. She was speaking on Friday’s episode of The Graham Norton Show.
She said: “I can’t tell you anything, not because of secrecy but because I had no idea what was going on.
“I was brought up in Ireland so didn’t see it as a child so when I got the part, I looked it up on Wikipedia – it was like reading War And Peace and it was so confusing with monsters and time travel.
“It was a fun experience, and I had a lovely time. If they want me back, I would do it again.”
In the festive episode of the BBC series, entitled Joy To The World, Coughlan will play a character called Joy, who will be taken on a time-hopping trip through the history of Earth by Ncuti Gatwa’s Doctor.
Joy To The World will air on BBC One and BBC iPlayer over the festive period, while on Christmas Eve, Catherine Tate will present Doctor Who At The Proms 2024 for BBC One Wales, BBC Two and BBC iPlayer, featuring soundtracks from the series at London’s Royal Albert Hall.
Coughlan went on to speak about being cast as Penelope Bridgerton in the Netflix series, saying her mother was not happy with the show’s sex scenes.
She said: “I was 35 and I realised I had never played an adult, and I was like, how do I do this?.
“It was then so weird having to play the romantic lead and getting up to sexy things.
“My mother was so mad at me about those scenes – as if they were my fault, so I didn’t go to the screening with her.”
The full interview will be shown on The Graham Norton Show on BBC One at 10.40pm on Friday December 13, and is also available on BBC iPlayer.
