India Fisher The Fan Site

After signing autographs and posing for photographs for over an hour, India Fisher graciously consented to an interview with me, exclusively for this website. As will become abundantly clear, I am not a professional interviewer, and was, quite frankly, rather nervous. However, India immediately put me at ease, and she was a real joy to talk with. A lively presence, entirely attentive, and very enthusiastic. India was a delight. It was amazingly generous of her to take time out of her busy convention schedule, and for that she has my undying thanks. So, sit back, grab a hot cup of cocoa, perhaps a Krispy Kreme or two, and settle in for a conversation with India Fisher...

Kevin: Let's start off with a quick life story.

India: My life story. I was brought up in the Staffordshire Moors, which is sort of the middle of England, and it was very, very beautiful. So my parents, they had a small holding, i.e., they decided to be self-sufficient, and we had cows and sheep, we grew our own veg and things like that. It was a beautiful, beautiful place to grow up. I stayed there til I was 7, so we were running around in woods and things. And then at 7 my Dad became MP, which is like a Member of Parliament, for something called Stoke-on-Trent, which is where all your china comes from. So we moved there, and that was great, because that was sort of like a city, but a small city. We lived there from 7 to 14, and then at 14 moved to London. So that was great, because it meant that when I'd just started to get bored with Stoke, then we moved to the bright lights, big city of London. I went to University of Manchester when I was 19, 20. That's in the north of England as well, and I do love the north, it's great. But as an actress, you have to live in London, really. So I'm back in London. And I love it!

Kevin: When is your birthday?

India: My date of birth is 10th of the 9th. September 10th.

Kevin: When did you become interested in acting?

India: Quite young, actually. I went to high school at 11, and my best friend that I met there, she did acting lessons, and she got me interested in it. So I went to her acting teacher, and it was private lessons. And then she put me up for festivals, and things like that, where you went and you did poetry readings, or you did little monologues and things like that. And I started to win quite a few of them. And I thought, “This is good, I like this! I can do this!” And it suddenly made me think this is something I really want to do. It was never a really conscious decision. I asked my Mum a couple of years ago, “Do you remember when I came to you and said, 'This is what I want to do'?” And she said, “No, not really, it just seemed that you've always wanted to.” [My sister] Francesca [Hunt] got into acting at University, and she's 11 years older than me. So we got into acting at about the same time, really, because I was 11 and she was at University when I decided. So you never know whether it's a chicken and egg thing, of my older sister doing it and made me think. But I think we both got into it at the same time.   It's been really useful for me, having her older and wiser. Having an older sister in the business is very, very useful because she's lovely, and she helps a lot. And I've learnt a lot through seeing her and her friends.

Kevin: What was your first actual acting job?

India: First actual acting job was a company called Physically Talking Theatre Company. It was a man called Ronnie Boorman.   He's a lovely, lovely one-armed man. He constantly used to smoke roll-up cigarettes, and he'd do it all with one hand. It was an amazing feat. He wasn't from a theatre background, he was just an ordinary guy who'd gone to the theatre one time and fallen absolutely in love with it, and had never experienced it as a child, never been brought up with that sort of a lifestyle. And he wanted to bring theatre to people like him who'd never experienced it before. So his idea was that we went and did little 10 minute sketches, and they were all character-based, character led.   You know, they were about a couple having an argument, or something like this, so it was accessible. And we went and did them in pubs. We had a little backdrop, and so you set up. And so it was a baptism of fire, it really was. Because if you can do a little scene in a pub, with people playing pool and people not wanting this. You know, the landlord may have said, “Yes, yes, yes, that'll be a good idea for Saturday night.” I do remember the first one. We walked in, and they had a huge plasma screen, and the boxing was on. And it was a huge Tyson fight.   And they said, “Yes, if you could just set up underneath the boxing...” We were like, “We're going to die! Everyone is going to kill us, they don't want to see us, they want to see the match!” So, yeah, that was quite a good first job. If I could do that, I could do anything at all.

Kevin: Had you watched “Doctor Who” before getting the part of Charley Pollard?

India: Yes, you can't not. For a person of my age growing up in England, I was fully aware of it. I was never a huge fan, but I remember being very small, and when we lived in the Moors, I remember definitely watching it. Tom Baker was my... if I have to imagine Doctor Who before I got all this, my image is big curly hair, hat, and a long scarf. I think his costume was better than a lot of others, it was the archetypal, what people imagine of Doctor Who. So I was always aware of it, but I never knew as much as I now know. It's amazing how much you learn over the years. You can't not be aware of it and be my age and British, I think.

Kevin: It's a little tougher here in America, where they don't really show it as much.

India: Exactly! You've got to have made the concerted effort.

Kevin: Back in the 1980s, when I was first getting into it, yeah, it was a lot more visible. I mean, they showed it on a lot more Public Television stations.

India: Yeah. Now it's all... well, you know, next year! Or, rather, year after next! Yeah!

Kevin: Were you told of plans for Charley's future when you started?

India: No. When I started, no, absolutely not. She was just this new character when I started. They said, “We've devised this new character who's going to be Paul McGann's companion.” And I wasn't really told very much, but from the fact that she's Edwardian and she was... Well, I thought she was 16 to begin with, but then actually having listened to “Zagreus” they mention the fact that she's 18. So they've obviously decided that they need to make her 18. When I first started I thought of her as 16, 17, and a sort of vibrant young girl. But, no, I didn't know whether I would be there for the rest of the season, let alone four years later. They didn't let me in on that.

Kevin: What's it like working with Paul McGann?

India: Awww! He's an amazing man, he really is. I mean, I've learnt so much working with him. He's a brilliant, brilliant voice actor. I think he's a brilliant actor anyway, but his voice is of a quality, and he just effortlessly manages to convey what he wants to convey. And so it's amazing what you learn sort of via osmosis, really. Just being in the room with him you pick things up, and you run with it. And he's such a giving actor. Because a lot of the time you're reading a script, so you could have your eyes down, not really looking at anyone else, and he properly acts with you. You know, he grabs your eyes, and he focuses on you. It's amazing, it makes it so much easier for me, and you raise your game when you're in the room with an actor of that quality, you really do. He's made it a joy, it's brilliant. I'm very happy he's my Doctor.

Kevin: What was it like to work with Nicholas Courtney?

India: Ohhh! I love Nicholas Courtney! He's such a beautiful man, he really is.   He's a true old gent, he likes his young girls. He's just a charmer, from start to finish. I love him, he's a very, very dear, dear man. And again, a brilliant, brilliant actor. Working with him was brilliant. I do remember there was one time, after the first season, when he was working there, we'd all gone out to a Chinese restaurant. There were fourteen people there, it was big cast. And I'd just nipped to the loo when everyone was sitting down. And I walked back and there was this looong table, and Nick was right at the end of it. And there was an empty seat next to him, and he went, “Saved this one for you, little filly!” And it was so mad, because everyone had to get up and move so that I could get in to sit next to Nick!    But he was like, “No, no, no, India, come and sit next to me.” He's always liked his ladies, has Nicholas.

Kevin: Is there anything you'd like to do with Charley that you haven't done yet?

India: I'm really happy with the way she's progressed, I have to say. I think that I like the banter with her and McGann, I think they have a good strong relationship where she's not afraid to speak her mind, and she goes off and does her own thing. Especially in “Zagreus” and things like that, she's definitely a protagonist in her own right. I don't preempt the writers, I have to say that. I'm an actress, my job is to say what they give me as lines, and there are much more skilled people than me working on scripts and story ideas. So I leave it up to them. But, no, I think they're doing a brilliant job, and she's just a glorious character to play, so I'm happy to see how things unfold.

Kevin: Was it madness recording “Zagreus”?

India: It was, quite, yeah! And I think there was a point where I suddenly realized that Nick Courtney and I were the only people to get a full script.   Purely to save paper. They looked at it, and it's such a huge script, they suddenly went, “This is an appalling amount of trees we're killing.” And so just to save paper, we're not going to send that, you just send the bits the people are in. I had a full script, which was quite lucky, because a lot of other people were going, “What's going on? I don't understand, I'm doing what?”    So it was, it was brilliant, brilliant fun, though. It felt really like a family, everyone was back together and I felt for the first time I was really in the fold. It was lovely, really nice. And the Doctors couldn't have been sweeter to me.   Working with all the different companions, it really was a “I am not worthy!” moment. It was superb. There were some deeply talented people in the room.

Kevin: So you were in the studio with Colin, and..

India: Yeah, and Sylv, and Peter, and, you know, Lis and everyone. It was brilliant, really good fun.

Kevin: Did they behave?

India: <laughs> Well, there's a lot of tomfoolery goes on, you have to expect that. But everyone's a deep, deep professional. And you do realize that poor Big Finish are working on a tight schedule, so you crack on. But, yeah, there is silliness that happens, it has to be said.

Kevin: Nothing printable, though.

India: No, no. <laughs>

Kevin: Unavoidable question here, who would you pick for the new TV Doctor?

India: Oooh. Now, see, that's a tricky one. I don't know, really. I mean, I'd love to see McGann do it, because I really think he didn't get a proper bite of the cherry, really. And I think he has such a good quality that is Doctor Who to me, that sort of slightly scatty, but incredibly focused. And he has this amazing ability to get it. But I think, as he says, that they're ask someone new. I think that, names like Bill Nighy have been bandied around. And he's brilliant and he's very good, but he seems a bit.. straight, you know. I don't know whether he's got the humor, and I think there's a lovely side of, sort of the humor side of him. So I'm sure, I mean he's a brilliant, brilliant actor, so I'm sure he'd be brilliant at it. But people like Eddie Izzard and things like that I think is going a little too far on the humor side. But, I don't know. I suppose Bill Nighy seems like the frontrunner, doesn't he? And he'd do a brilliant job, I think, because he's got the gravitas that you need.

Kevin: Would you be pleased to join the TV cast?

India: <slams hand onto table> Absolutely, absolutely! Oh, I make no bones about the fact, I make absolutely no bones about the fact I would love to do it. I really would. And I am going to certainly put my name into the hat, let's put it that way. But, yeah, it's all in the lap of the gods, I don't know. Again, I'm not a huge TV face...

Kevin: ...yet.

India: ...yet. You never know, you never know. They might have to go with someone better know. But I am certainly going to get my agent to put my name forward. We shall see, it's a long time off yet. I'm certainly going to plug for it as much as I can! <laughs>

Kevin: I'll see what I can do to help out.

India: Yes, thank you.

Kevin: How did you find out there was a website devoted to you?

India: How did I find out there was a website devoted to me? Do you know, I think I may have sadly put my name into Google. Isn't that embarrassing? I think I may have put my name into Google, or someone put my name into Google. Also, Francesca knew about Rebeccadoration, and so I think she may have said, “Well, hang on a minute...” In fact, I remember she did say, because she phoned me up one time, and it was quite late at night, and she said, “Well, it's finally happened. I see.” And I was like, “What? What?” And she went, “I knew it would happen one day, you've eclipsed me, that's fine.” And I was like, “What?” And she went, “You're internationally renowned.” It's because she was doing an internet chat after “Jules Verne” had come out. And you were on it, and you said, “Have you ever thought of doing Doctor Who?” And she said, “No, but my little sister does.” And you went, “No!” So she did, she said you went, “Not India Fisher!” And she phoned me up and said, “Well, it's happened. Everyone knows you.” And so I think I found out actually through that. It's a brilliant website, and I'm amazingly flattered that you've bothered to do it. But thank you very much.

Kevin: Someone had to, there wasn't one out there. I was like, “She needs one!” I mean, you see hundreds of sites out there for, like, Kylie Minogue...

India: Oh, bless you. Well, there you go.

Kevin: I do what I can. I try. I'm not a professional or anything.

India: It's a brilliant website, I think it's really well done.

Kevin: Thank you very much. <blushing profusely at this point> Are there any actors or actresses that you really admire, like the pinnacle.

India: Yes, absolutely. For me, actresses that made me want to be an actress, people like Maggie Smith. And Judi Dench. I actually just went to the National Theatre in London. I went to see McGann, he's in a play called “Mourning Becomes Electra”. And in the lead of that is Helen Mirren. And she is, for me... I mean, those three are the three sort of Grande Dames of English actresses. They really make me want to act, and they are just brilliant, I think, a kind of do-no-wrong. I like good theatre actors, I have to say. There are lots of really good movie stars, but I think the quality of a theatre actor is different from the quality of a movie star. For a movie star, you have to be sort of your own limited company, really, and it's all to do with the production and everything. But my hat off to them, they are amazing people that manage to create a career around themselves, and people like Sandra Bullock, who really pushed forward women producers, and she has a real say in all her work.   I that is really valid. But there's something about that real raw energy of people like Judi Dench and Helen Mirren that's like, just reminds me why I want to be an actress. There's actually a girl, who you won't know of, but I'm just absolutely blown away by her at the moment. She's in two things at the National, she's in “Three Sisters” and this play with McGann, and she's called Eve Best, and she is just super. I think she's absolutely brilliant, up and coming.

Kevin: Any favorite TV shows, movies?

India: At the moment I really, really like “Dead Ringers”. And “League of Gentlemen”. And “Friends” I love, I have to say, I'm a big “Friends” fan. I think they're all superb, and really well-cast. What American things do I like? Oh, there are loads, gosh. We probably get all your really old things, though, don't we? But for films, my all-time favorites are things like “Star Wars”, and “Withnail & I”. Then getting a bit more arty, things like “Jean de Florette”, and “Manon des Sources” I love. They have a strong part in my heart because it's all about a Parisian, Gerard Depardieu, and he's a Parisian lawyer who goes into the country and tries to do a small holding, where he's self-sufficient, and fails horribly. So you see with my upbringing, you can understand why it's a poignant film for me. I love it. And “Lord of the Rings”! They're my new...

Kevin: See, I was never a fan of the books, but...

India: Oh, I loved the books! But I can't wait. December 17th. I absolutely cannot wait.

Kevin: Do you have a preference for working in a particular medium, i.e., TV, film, audio, etc.?

India: Do you know, I love theatre, and theatre is what made me want to become an actress. And it's to do with the immediacy of the response you get. You're on stage, and you can tell if something's working, or if it's not, because the audience are right there, and you get a whole buzz from them. There's nothing quite like it. But I haven't done enough TV or film. And audio I've said time and time again, I just love it. It's completely freeing, and it's a brilliant, brilliant medium. And I think I work quite well in audio, better than in telly. I'm quite a “big” actress, I've not ever knowingly underplayed, let's put it that way. So it works on audio, because everyone always says it's a running gag with Big Finish that people are told to “pitch it up”, and they go, “India, you're fine.” But I've just started to do a bit of telly. I did on telly last week, I did a small part in “Dead Ringers” on Wednesday of this week, actually, which will come out as their Christmas special.    And I did a corporate job. It was actually for people learning sound engineering, so they were there with the boom. But it was great for me, because it was time in front of a camera where the pressure was completely off me, because it was a course for these people, for whether they were getting the sound right. And it suddenly made me realize, “Actually, I'd really like doing telly, telly's good fun!” So I'm hoping that things like “Dead Ringers” will bring about a bit more. So it's ringing the changes, is the thing, I think, with acting. Always having different jobs and working in different things. But, theatre would be my one abiding love.

Kevin: Favorite: Connery, Lazenby, Moore, Dalton, Brosnan?

India: Oooh! Connery, every day of the week. Closely, closely followed by Brosnan. I think he's doing a very, very good job. My thing is, I think, Doc-- Doctor Who, hello, James Bond is, I think the sign of a good James Bond is he looks better after he's been punched a couple of times.   Because they've always got the slicked hair, and if they've been punched in the face a couple of times, Brosnan can do that very well. But Connery. Always, always, always. I mean, “That's a Smith & Wesson, and you've had your six.” He was a hard man, in those early films he was horrid. He shot people in the back, he beat up women, he didn't care, he was a proper spy. And Roger Moore, it all got a bit silly for me, really. It was all a bit too tongue-in-cheek. And actually I quite like the fact that Brosnan has brought it back to being a bit harder. But, yeah, Connery, then Brosnan. I love James Bond movies. I'd love to be a Bond girl.

Kevin: A-ha, that'd be the next campaign I can start.

India: <laughs>

Kevin: One of your siblings, Crispin, I believe...

India: Yes! You're very well informed.

Kevin: Yeah, I try and do my research. Um, he's been with a band. Any thoughts of a musical career for yourself?

India: Oooh, no, absolutely not. I leave that up to Crispin, he's a very, very talented young man.   I'm always amazed by people who can write, whether it can be plays or music, they give so much of themselves, more than an actor ever really gives, I have to say. Because you are laying your soul out there. My hat goes off to those people, I think they're amazing. I often listen to Crispin's songs and go, “How did you write this, this is just beautiful!” And as an actor, you work with what other people have given you, and you can do it very well, and you can be moving and beautiful. But there is something that I think is just phenomenally talented about being able to give your soul over and write stuff. He's a very talented man, and I think talent will out and his career will carry on. But, no, not for me. I'll stick with the acting. <laughs>

Kevin: Any chance of a musical episode with Paul?

India: He said, actually, because apparently Big Finish did a musical one, and they were telling him about that. And he went, “Aw, I'd love to do it!” But he wants to do it jazz. So then I was going, “You can count me out of that one, that's fine, Charley can go on holiday for that one.” <laughs> You never know.

Kevin: What has been your most embarrassing moment whilst working?

India: My most embarrassing moment... I suppose it was quite embarrassing, the whole when they told me I would put my hands on my hips to play Anti-Charley, that really was. And then when I realized I couldn't do it without putting my hands on my hips, that was quite embarrassing. I very nearly passed out on stage once, that was good. I've given up smoking, I gave up smoking a year ago. And I had to do a play with Nick Briggs, actually, he was directing it. It was up in Durham, in the northeast of England. In the play the character has to smoke. They were going, “Look, we can cut it if you want.” But it was really critical for the part. And you know I'm not one of these precious actresses, I was like, “No, look, I can do this.” But the headrush I got! I had to smoke three fags in the second half, and I was sitting down for all of it, apart from the very end scene where I leap up and go, “Get away from me!” and scream. And I really nearly, I was like <gasping> “I'm gonna pass out, I'm gonna pass out!” That was quite scary, that was like, “Ooh, Lord.” Luckily, I had about four lines and I had to run round the sofa and then die, so that was OK. So I thought, “Keep it together, keep it together, and then you can collapse on the floor!” <laughs>

Kevin: Any other work in the future, apart from the “Dead Ringers” Christmas special?

India: The “Dead Ringers” Christmas special is coming on, I don't know whether, do you get “Dead Ringers” on BBC America?

Kevin: We do, but I don't think we get them like right away.

India: Well, this is the thing, so like next Christmas or something. But other than that, no, it's the usual usual. Same old same old. Just sort of seeing what comes up, really. And luckily there'll be more of these [Doctor Who audios] in the new year. God bless Doctor Who. They keep me gainfully employed. And hopefully more stuff. I'll keep you informed.

Kevin: One last question. How tricky is it to balance a “world famous Doctor Who star” with your other life, i.e., temping at, what was it, Royal College of Physicians?

India: <laughs> It's not tricky at all! Royal College of Physicians, yes, well done.

Kevin: I think it was in the “Inside Story” book.

India: Ah, yes, I temp for the President of the Royal College of Physicians. I am a copy-typist. And it's not very difficult at all, actually, because outside of the wonderful world of Doctor Who, no one knows who the hell I am! It actually makes my friends really laugh when I do get stopped by people, because they're just like, “How do they know what you look like, it's audio!” “Well, actually, there is a picture of me in the cover...” And so, I think my friends find it weirder than I do, because I know if someone stops me in the street, and I do have sometimes people on the tube... There was one time a couple of weeks ago, I was rushing, I was really late getting to work. And someone just went, “I'm really sorry, I'm really sorry, but... you're India Fisher, aren't you?” And I could instantly go, “And you're a Doctor Who fan.” Because they're the only people who will know who I am! And so it's lovely, but luckily I can keep my feet on the ground with this lovely adoration that I get, because I go and do a “proper” job. Someone's got to pay the mortgage.

India Fisher, thank you very much!!

Thanks also to the organizers of ChicagoTARDIS 2003 for bringing India Fisher over to America, and to Jason Haigh-Ellery for allowing me to steal India away for a short while during the weekend (and for hiring her in the first place! Jason rocks!)!

I finally caught up with India during Saturday afternoon, just before a Rob Shearman session which we both wanted to attend. Retiring to the hotel's restaurant for some coffee, we sat down to catch up with each other.

Kevin: So how has your year been since we met last?

India: My year's been very good, actually. When did we meet, this time last year it was, wasn't it? A year ago, yes, so what have I done this year… I still live in my little flat, which is very nice. I'm having major renovations done to it at the moment. Scarily, as we speak, in fact, it's a bit worrying being out of the country while someone's ripping your kitchen apart. I'm getting a new kitchen, and a new bathroom, which is very nice. So I'm back at home for a month. Which is not so nice. I love my mum, bless her, but, you know, I'm 30 now, and living back at home for a month while they do this is…

Kevin: Nice of her to let you.

India: Yes, exactly, God bless her for being so understanding. But apart from that, work-wise it's been very good. I've been doing "Dead Ringers". I was just playing bit parts in the last season, which I think you've got pictures of me on your website. I've seen me as a burglar, and Jane Eyre. But this season they've asked me back, and I do some impersonations now. Which is terrifying, because I'm not an impersonator…

Kevin: Don't you do a great Margaret Thatcher?

India: No! [chuckling] But I've never done anything like that before. Nev Fountain, who writes for it, said, "Well, think of some people you can do, and get back to us." Which is too big an opportunity to turn down by saying, "Oh, no, I'm sorry, I don't do impersonations." I was like, "How hard can it be? I'll have a go." But it is quite hard and they [the "Dead Ringers" regulars] are all so brilliant that it's very intimidating. You sort of wonder whether you're going to be really bad, but hopefully they're all right. I've done Kelly Osbourne…

Kevin: I've seen pictures of that, but not the actual scene…

India: Oh, really? You've seen pictures already? That's very quick.

Kevin: Actually, Leon Horton, who says "Hi!"…

India: Oh, Leon! Aw, bless him…

Kevin: He's sent me a couple of sneak peeks of your performances.

India: Really? That's very good. He could give them to me, actually, I could do with them. So, yes, I did Kelly Osbourne, last Monday I did Sonia from "EastEnders." It's a great character, so that was very funny, and they did that on Monday. I've also done Charlotte Church. Are you aware of Charlotte Church?

Kevin: Yes, really? Wow…

India: She's Welsh 16-year-old singer. But luckily I didn't have to sing, because I don't sing. That was very funny, it was a spoof of "The Sopranos," but it's with Charlotte Church and Lesley Garrett as sopranos. So it was a quite funny sketch, I don't know when they're going to show that. And also an "Exorcist" sketch. We have a program in England, I don't know whether you have an equivalent over here called "Little Angels", which is where a child psychologist comes in and tells you how to deal with your bratty children. So it's a spoof of that with the child being the girl from "The Exorcist" and I play her mum in a very bad 70s wig. I think they're going to use that on the Christmas special, because the producer said to me, "There's nothing that says Christmas to me like demonic possession."

So that's nice, I've been doing that. And on the back of that I got a new agent. Which is great, I'm getting some good auditions, which is all you can ask. I've got a specific voice-over agent now as well. It really feels, career-wise, that things are starting to move in the right direction now, and I'm quite happy. I turned 30 in September, I'm really enjoying 30, but it's a definite sea change, I think. You're a lot more secure in yourself when you stop worrying so much about what other people think. I don't know whether it's because of that that suddenly things have started happening, but certainly, since 30, life is turning for the better. Which is great.

Kevin: What can you tell us about "Ghosts of Albion?"

India: Oh, yes, "Ghosts of Albion," that's come out on the internet now. That was great fun, that was with a great friend of mine, John Ainsworth, who worked on it. He does lots of Big Finish things, like "Sapphire & Steel." That's for BBCi, so that was nice, another BBC job, very good fun. And for some reason, they've made me look like Helena Bonham Carter.

Kevin: Yeah, that was kinda weird. I'm expecting to see something India-ish, and then...

India: Yeah, I was like, "Oh! I didn't expect that!" It was quite interesting. But I've only seen the first episode. And there's an interview on there, but my computer wasn't good enough and I couldn't download it.

Kevin: Still at the Royal College of Physicians?

India: I am, bless them. They allow me to go away when I need to. I arrived here on Thursday, but I actually took Wednesday off because I had to pack up my entire house because of the builders. So I haven't been in for a week. They let me have any time off I need, so, God bless them. But I think it's probably going to come to an end at Christmas, because the person I was covering for has come back. But we're hoping that maybe come January I'll get some acting lined up. The thing with Dead Ringers is that it's recorded on Sunday, so you can work all week and then do "Dead Ringers" at the weekend. And of course the Big Finish stuff is all weekends. It means I'm a busy bee. You don't get much time off.

Kevin: How do you think the new Doctor Who series is shaping up?

India: I think it sounds brill! I'm really, really intrigued to see it. You know, I was never a Doctor Who "fan", but I'm really intrigued to see this, and I think it's going to be really good. Billie Piper's meant to be excellent in it, and Chris Eccleston is very good, I mean really good.

Kevin: I saw him in the film "28 Days", which was on TV recently here.

India: I actually thought that was his least good performance. It put me off him as an actor for quite a while. But he's very good, he's brilliant. He was in something we had in England called "Cracker" with Robbie Coltrane. He was excellent in that, really phenomenally good. And apparently he's brilliant in Doctor Who. He's really good, and brings a whole new harder edge to it. It's definitely modernized, let's put it that way. There's no frock coats and such. It's done by people who love Doctor Who, and they're doing it because they want to be bringing it back. I think they're going to do it well. You're not going to please everyone all the time, but I think it'll open it up for a whole new generation of people. Like "Star Trek: The Next Generation" did. I think. I hope.

Kevin: Sorry we weren't able to get you the part of Rose [the companion in the new Doctor Who TV series]..

India: Aw, you tried your best, bless you. Well, I'm hoping maybe next season, I might get a little bit part which would be nice. But no, that's fine, I didn't want Rose, I'm absolutely fine. I mean, I wouldn't have minded a big telly part, but I don't know… I'm happy doing this side of Doctor Who. But I think my days of convention attending are numbered.

Kevin: Since you're not the "current model?"

India: Yeah, I think also when they've got TV people they can get, they're not actually going to be spending money on me (not that I charge, but you know what I mean). There's only so many people they can get in. So I think my days of conventions are coming to an end, I reckon. But that's all right. I'm all right with that. You know, Big Finish are no longer doing the big week sessions, where we used to do the whole season, whereas now it's just going to be like two a year. So that in itself will be sort of "less Doctor Who" in my year.

Kevin: Do you know if future Eighth Doctor stories from Big Finish are going to be set after the current run, or will they be like past Doctor "missing" adventures?

India: You know, I don't know, actually.

Kevin: My personal thinking is since they're supposedly bringing everything back to "normal" that they'd just continue on, which is what they seem to do with their other Big Finish companions.

India: Exactly, it's the idea that this is what this Doctor is doing at that time. So it doesn't actually matter that Christopher Eccleston is obviously doing something else in his world.

Kevin: Unless, of course, he regenerates at the end of "The Next Life." But I think we're all doubting it.

India: Well, I wouldn't say.

Kevin: Does Charley regenerate at the end of "The Next Life?"

India: Yes, I regenerate into C'rizz.

Kevin: Oh. That's rather unsettling.

India: [laughs]

Kevin: Has it been fun working with Conrad Westmaas, who plays C'rizz?

India: Conrad, I love, he's a really good friend of mine. We've become really close. He's just the sweetest man you could ask to meet, he's absolutely lovely. And he's a brilliant actor, working with him is just great.

Kevin: C'rizz has grown on me. At first, I was like, "I don't know..."

India: Yes, he had an uphill struggle as well, because of breaking into something that was a relationship that people liked and were used to, and he was always going to be the third hand. And I think, we laugh about it, but I don't think Gary did him many favors in that it was almost literally when the Doctor and I were just about to kiss or something, C'rizz would burst in. Conrad was thinking, "They're gonna hate me!" And he's tried to kill me about four times. He's always either trying to kill me or being rude. I think he had an uphill struggle, let's put it that way. But he's such a lovable man.

Kevin: I have been impressed by Conrad's work in the role.

India: He's brilliant. He's a really good actor. And I think… I admit I was slightly dubious about it to begin with, but I think it does work. It needed something, otherwise it would just get staid with just the Doctor and Charley the whole time. It needed someone as a little bit of a kickstart. And long may it continue, I say.

Kevin: How is your sister, Francesca Hunt, doing?

India: She's doing very well, she's got the two babies, the twins are now two years old. So they're talking and they're running around everywhere, but they're very sweet. Nat, the boy, at the moment his new big phrase is "Course you can!" Which is very cute. Don't know where it came from. So you say, "Can I do this?" "Course you can!" They're very sweet, I see quite a lot of them, which is nice. Francesca's very well. She's just done "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" with Tim Burton. She plays Veruca Salt's mum, which is only just the one scene, which is just the setup scene before the kids go into the Chocolate Factory. But poor love, she missed the wrap party, because her daughter Georgia got rushed to hospital with pneumonia. And at the age of 2 it's very critical. Georgia's fine, babies bounce back, I mean literally. She went down of Friday, she was out of the hospital Saturday night but still not good, but by Monday she was bouncing around absolutely fine. Babies do have amazing resilience. But Saturday night was the wrap party, so poor love. Johnny Depp would have been there and everything. I felt for her. I almost said, "I'll go!" But I thought that was a little unfair.

Kevin: I was going to ask you about the mysterious fourth sibling. I believe there is a fourth person?

India: Yes, there is a fourth person. There's my brother Rhydian, I presume is the one you're referring to.

Kevin: What was the name again?

India: Rhydian, it's Welsh. It means "rushing torrent." Quite apt. He's two years older than me. Then it's Crispin, whom you're probably aware of from the Longpigs, and then Francesca is the oldest. Rhydian's a sensible boy, he's not into any of this. He's going to be the one who makes money, and the rest of us will just live off him. He's in business, he designs websites and viral marketing, as it's called, where you do little games and things like that, people play them and they're sponsored by Sony or whoever it is. Yes, he's the sensible one, he's going to make money, rather than the rest of us with our silly thespian tights.

Kevin: So no singing career for you either?

India: No singing career for me, no. I used to have a very lovely voice, and then I smoked a lot of cigarettes. But I've given up now.

Kevin: How long have you been smoke-free?

India: I gave it up just after my 28th birthday, and then did 9 months and then slightly slipped, and been doing a very good impression of being a smoker for about the last year. But I've stopped again now. I found it so easy to give it up. I didn't find it a problem. And then I ended up going, "Well, I'll just have one…" And I find that the minute you have one, the minute you put nicotine back into your body, then the little voices start going again, saying, "Go on have another, go on have another." If you don't put it into your body, you don't miss it. You just don't. But the problem is, because I found it so easy, you sort of just go, "Oh, all right." It's never a massive craving for a fag, as we call them, that makes me smoke. It's always that I've just been with someone that smokes and I go, "Oh, yeah, all right." Which is just stupid beyond belief. So I've given myself a stern talking to to not do it again. So we'll see. I've stopped for now. And the reason that I stopped when I was 28 was because that was when the babies were born. And I didn't want to be known as "Smoking Auntie India." Not good. The other day I was sneaking a cigarette outside, and Georgia came running out, going, "Why are you outside? Why are you outside? Come in, come in!" And was sort of trying to hide my cigarette, and I thought this is exactly why I gave it up. She's completely in worship of me at the moment, everything I do is great, so I don't want her to see me with a cigarette.

Kevin: Especially at that impressionable age.

India: Exactly. You just don't want to put the slightest seed that "smoking is good" into her head.

Kevin: "But Auntie India is doing it!"

India: Yeah, exactly. It's like, "Ooh, what's that special thing that she's hiding?"

Kevin: Then Nate goes, "Course you can!"

India: [laughing] Yes, exactly! So I've stopped again, so we shall see. But it did ruin my voice.

Kevin: But your voice is good, you're in audio work, so of course it's good voice for that..

India: Ah, well, it ruined my singing voice. I might do lessons and try and get it back. But it did improve my speaking voice, otherwise I'd be high and squeaky.

Kevin: Another project you've done recently is "The Tomorrow People."

India: Oh, yes.

Kevin: [quoting a line spoken by India's character] "It's like something out of Doctor Who!"

India: Yeah, I know! [giggling]

Kevin: I heard that in the trailer, and I thought, "Oh, good grief, how did she keep a straight face when she said that line?" Or did she?

India: Well, I thought it was no weirder than some of the other scripts I've done, to be honest. It was quite nice to play a different character. She was a very different character. Jason Haigh-Ellery allowed me to something different with her, which was nice. I enjoyed it, the people who do "The Tomorrow People" are really lovely.

And I've also done something else for them which hasn't come out yet, called "Luther Arkwright," with David Tennant in the lead role. He's brilliant, he's just a really, really good actor, and will be a name you will know. He will be a huge star.

Kevin: He's been in a couple of other Big Finish releases, I think.

India: He was the lead guy in "Dalek Empire." And he's just all over England at the moment. He's in two TV series at the moment, and he's just filming "Casanova" for the BBC. Which you'll probably get over here on BBC America.

Kevin: Probably eventually. We get most things eventually. Although we still don't know when or where we'll be getting the new Doctor Who.

India: Oh, really?

Kevin: No, nothing in America is signed officially yet.

India: I'm sure it will be seen eventually.

Kevin: Indeed.

India Fisher, thank you very much!