WHEN the nation sits down to watch the Christmas Day night special edition of Doctor Who eager to see what surprises are in store, star Arthur Darvill will be with them all the way.
And positively tingling with excitement.
That’s because even though he plays the Doctor’s companion, Rory Williams, our very own King Arthur of Brum claims to have successfully avoided learning about most of the story’s secrets.
“I haven’t got a very big part in this particular episode,” he says of what is already the seventh festive special since the series was spectacularly relaunched in March 2005 after a 15-year break.
“When I was reading my part, I tried not to spoil it because I just want to sit down and watch it like everyone else.
“I made a point of not reading a lot of it because I want it to be a surprise.
“I just read bits so that it would make sense and decided not to watch or read too much of the rest of it.”
So how does Arthur find seeing himself in such a high-profile show?
“It’s very odd, still,” he muses. “I don’t think I’ll ever get used to it.
“I’ve got all of the DVDs, but they are all still sealed – my mum is quite a hoarder and has kept everything. I’m rubbish at it.”
The action begins on Christmas Eve in 1938 when Madge Arwell (Claire Skinner) helps an injured spaceman/angel.
Three years later, she has to move her children from London to Dorset.
Will her kindness be reciprocated in a Narnia-style adventure called The Doctor, The Widow and the Wardrobe?
Even if Arthur knows, his lips are sealed about an episode which guest stars musical comedian Bill Bailey as Droxil and Arabella Weir as Billis.
Which is as it should be. If we can’t be surprised on Christmas Day, when can we?
For the boy from Balsall Heath and later Bournville, Christmas still has a special meaning.
“Because I’m working around the country and abroad all of the time, I don’t get home as often as I should do,” he says.
“So I’m really looking forward to being at home this year, meeting up with friends and joining my sister Lily on her 23rd birthday on December 28. We get on really well and she’s one of my best friends.”
Their mum, Ellie, trained as a puppeteer in the halcyon days of John Blundall at the MAC and voiced the character Why Bird in the BBC’s Playdays, while dad Nigel played keyboards for Edwin Starr, Fine Young Cannibals and Ruby Turner.
As a boy, Arthur would always be taken to his Nan’s in Redditch at Christmas.
“I used to sit in front of her fire circling things in the Argos catalogue, then I’d ask for it to be sent to Father Christmas,” he says.
“Basically, I was just greedy!