Gareth Roberts talks 'Who', 'Sarah Jane'

Here there best bits of an interview with who and Sarah Jane writer Gareth Roberts taken from Ds .With his first episode for the Eleventh Doctor due to air this weekend,they caught up with him for a quick chat he also talks about The Sarah Jane Adventures

What can you tell us about 'The Lodger'?

"The Doctor has to pass himself off as an ordinary human being - what he looks like on the surface level. He's got to pretend to be an ordinary 27 year old bloke. So he moves in with a real, ordinary 27 year old bloke - Craig - who's played by James Corden."

How did you come up with the idea for the episode?
"When I was a kid, [The Doctor] was often on Earth, but in an establishment with a bomb or in the headquarters of some organisation. We never really saw him pop to the shops. And even in the new series, we've seen him in domestic situations with families, but we've never seen him having to realise the very everyday experience of human life. I came up with the idea years ago as a comic strip in Doctor Who Magazine, so the idea's been there for a very long time. And as soon as Steven Moffat got the job as showrunner of Doctor Who, he turned to me and said, 'We've got to do The Lodger'."

What do you think of Matt's Doctor?
"I love him. It's peculiar - we've got the youngest actor ever to play The Doctor but in some ways he feels like the oldest sometimes. If you look back, the older Doctors from way back - William Hartnell, Jon Pertwee - could be incredibly childish sometimes. With Matt's Doctor, you really do feel as if he's 900 years old, which is an incredible acting achievement."

Do you know if you're writing for season 6?

"I can't talk about that!"

You've also been heavily involved with The Sarah Jane Adventures since its inception. Can you tell us anything about your contributions to season 4?
"I can tease you a couple of things, yes. I've written one story which is quite unusual and that's got some amazing monsters in it. We don't have a very big budget on Sarah Jane and when I saw these creatures, I was amazed. Neil Gorton and his monster-making team have excelled themselves. The other one, which is the series finale, I've co-written with Clayton Hickman, former editor of Doctor Who Magazine. They're filming it now and it's a storming, emotionally-charged adventure. I wouldn't say "armageddon", but it's full-blooded and dramatic, to show that children's television can be like that. We asked to the director to pretend it was the last one ever! So it's got a sort of doom-y feel to it

The Lodger' airs this Saturday at 6.45pm on BBC One.