Kaine Zajaz Interview

On December 14th Doctors will air a special episode. Instead of the usual medical emergencies the cast will star in a retelling of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.

We spoke with Series Producer Peter Lloyd, who adapted Dickens’ story for the show, about how and why they’ve tackled this timeless classic.

Can you describe the episode?

Viewers will see in the run-up that the Mill gang are mounting a production of A Christmas Carol for slightly dubious reasons. This is a full version of that production, shot in a theatre and performed ‘as live’.

What made you decide to do this in the first place?

First of all, we tend to do something special around Christmas, whether it’s the Panto a couple of years ago, or the Calendar last year. Originally we were just going to see glimpses of the performance, with a lot of backstage stuff, but as we storylined, we realised that a lot of the fun could be had during the rehearsals and when we finally got to the actual show, it might be fun to play it ‘straight’. We had to find a venue, props, costumes etc. anyway, so why not do the whole thing?

What’s special about it?

Every so often we do an episode that is slightly different, and this is one of them, since it’s ‘as live’ and some of it is performed to camera. It’s a filmed theatre piece, with some television trickery, music, songs and even a dance. It’s slightly longer than the usual episode (40 minutes) and I like to think of it as our Christmas gift to the audience this year.

Was it difficult to produce?

Yes, we were asking a hard-working cast and crew to work even harder! We had to schedule in rehearsals and record the songs as well as raiding the budget for costume, make-up and props. It was exhausting and strange for the cast, who are playing their character, playing another character - but they really went with it and I think that shows. Plus, we were filming in August and they were all in wool! What troopers!

But from all of us, to all our viewers – Happy Christmas and we hope you enjoy our production.