{"id":40505,"date":"2023-11-25T10:00:36","date_gmt":"2023-11-25T09:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/?p=1933215"},"modified":"2023-11-25T11:38:33","modified_gmt":"2023-11-25T10:38:33","slug":"doctor-whos-jacqueline-king-on-how-life-has-changed-for-the-nobles","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/rss_feed\/doctor-whos-jacqueline-king-on-how-life-has-changed-for-the-nobles\/","title":{"rendered":"Doctor Who\u2019s Jacqueline King on how \u201clife has changed\u201d for the Nobles"},"content":{"rendered":"

“Sylvia still has a huge mistrust of the Doctor!” <\/p>

By Louise Griffin\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Saturday, 25 November 2023 at 09:00 AM<\/p>

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As David Tennant\u2019s<\/a> Doctor and Catherine Tate\u2019s<\/a> Donna Noble crash-land back on our screens for Doctor Who\u2019s<\/a> 60th anniversary, there\u2019s one person they couldn\u2019t leave behind \u2013 the icon that is Sylvia Noble, played by Jacqueline King.<\/p>\n

Sylvia, Donna\u2019s mum, became known for never taking any of the Doctor\u2019s nonsense. Now, she\u2019s back, with King promising: \u201cThe fierce mother\/grandmother spirit is still there!\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking exclusively to RadioTimes.com<\/a> about what it was like to return with Tennant and Tate, King explains: \u201cThey are such lovely, genuinely lovely people, superb actors who I stand in the wake of and our parts had been written so clearly by Russell T Davies and he knows us so well and so brilliantly that we all just felt that we were putting on the old pair of shoes again and off we went.\u201d<\/p>\n

Love Doctor Who? Listen to our podcast interview about Doctor Who games!<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

She adds: \u201cI\u2019m so surprised that [the specials have] happened because I always thought the whole thing about Doctor Who was that of course he regenerates and that it becomes new and different.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I\u2019m so thrilled for them, that they\u2019re going to get another glimpse of something that they\u2019ve talked about, the fans, as being special in their hearts and I\u2019m so glad that they\u2019re going to have another visit that isn\u2019t just going down memory lane.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very much taking us into the future and taking us in an exciting route through different media and then, of course, we will launch into the next Doctor Who and it will progress from there. So I\u2019m just hoping that people won\u2019t think it\u2019s too much going backwards and that it\u2019s helping the forward propulsion of the series.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"David\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>
David Tennant as the Doctor, the Noble family, and the Meep in Doctor Who.<\/span><\/figcaption> BBC Studios 2023, Alistair Heap<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

Even all these years later, there\u2019s no one else in the\u00a0whole Whoniverse like Sylvia, with King adding: \u201cShe\u2019s the most grounded [character] that I\u2019ve seen. I haven\u2019t watched every episode of everybody else\u2019s. But I do love the fact that she gives them short shrift.\u201d<\/p>\n

This time though, things are different for the Noble family \u2013 it\u2019s 15 years on and the clan has expanded, with Yasmin Finney playing Donna\u2019s daughter Rose.<\/p>\n

As for how things have moved on for Sylvia and Donna, King teases: \u201cThey will be recognisably Sylvia and Donna as we knew them, on each other\u2019s case! Life has changed, life has gone on. But we have grown, and I think it is evident how much Sylvia loves her daughter.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Finney\u2019s Rose, King adds: \u201cOh, it\u2019s glorious. She\u2019s lovely. And what an upcoming star she is.\u201d<\/p>

It\u2019s been a long time since the Nobles last appeared in season 4, but King didn\u2019t want to revisit the episodes \u2013 and for a very good reason, pointing out: \u201cThe joy of Sylvia was that she was so grounded because she didn\u2019t know anything about what was going on in outer space. She hadn\u2019t got a clue.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll she knew was her house and her family and her father. And you know, it was a small world and I think I wanted to keep that innocence. So I didn\u2019t really become very knowledgeable about what was happening in the rest of the episodes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Plus, she\u2019s got many hopes for the specials, which she describes as \u201cexciting, vibrant, and full of love\u201d.<\/p>