Bruno Langley left Coronation Street a star, only to find himself cast in another British institution, Doctor Who. He tells David Richardson about Adam Mitchell's adventure with a Dalek and an implant or two in the brain…

Funny to think that in March 2004 Bruno Langley was a high profile guest on Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway. Just one year on and he's got a recurring role in the show that has officially exterminated them in the primetime ratings war.

Langley is introduced in the sixth episode of Doctor Who, Dalek, as Adam Mitchell, a young scientist in the year 2012 who works as an agent for American billionaire Henry Van Statten (Corey Johnson). Adam is a self-proclaimed genius ("Sorry, but I can't help it," he tells Rose. "I was born clever"); at eight years old, he nearly caused World War III simply by logging onto the US defence system. Now it's his job to scour the globe for alien artefacts. He's a passionate believer in life on other planets because he's seen the evidence, and his wish to journey to the stars is about to come true...

It's an attractive role for the actor, and a great contrast to his stint on Coronation Street as the straight-turned-gay Todd Grimshaw, who kept the tabloids so busy for three years.

"I auditioned for the part the same day as doing television interviews that tied in with leaving The Street," Langley tells Starburst. "You know when you've done something really well, so I thought, 'If I don't get it [then I did my best]'. I found out a few days later that I'd got the part and I couldn't have asked for a better next role because Doctor Who is another great institution."

Russell T Davies is a self-professed fan of Britain's longest-running Soap Opera. Was he instrumental in bringing Langley aboard the TARDIS? "Well, Russell wasn't in the casting," Langley explains, "but obviously as an executive producer he does have some say. It was with the director and producer."

At just 22 years old, Langley is part of the generation that grew up without Doctor Who.

"I was born in 1983 so when I was becoming aware of TV it was coming off," he says. "I knew about the TARDIS and the Daleks. I do remember Tom Baker wandering around with his long scarf, but not much else."

Joining the series for the return of the Daleks was, he admits, sheer serendipity.

"Oh yeah, tell me about it. It's that whole thing like The Terminator films of something chasing you that you can't get away from. Everyone can identify with that."

However, the creature did not always appear quite so indestructible on set... "There were a lot of times that the Dalek's rotating head would get stuck in a doorway," he laughs. "I'm sure there'll be loads of out-takes on the DVD."

Given that so much of Langley's professional career has been spent on Coronation Street, how did he adapt to a series full of action and effects?

"On Doctor Who you're working with different things. You read interviews with Ewan McGregor where he says he was really pissed off he had to work with nothing in Star Wars. I could understand a lot of that would get annoying, but we didn't have that many [effects scenes]. "There was a lot of running, but I'm a good runner. The only problem is you don't get the sound, so you have to go and do ADR [in the dubbing studio] and pretend you're running and that's quite tedious.

"I'd never worked with someone like Chris before, so I was always watching him, trying to figure out what he does. When you see him on the screen it looks easy, so simple, but it's not. There's a way of doing things, and this was a good learning experience indeed."

At the end of Dalek, Adam is granted his wish to see the stars, and joins the TARDIS crew - albeit for just one journey to the far future. Nevertheless, it's a chance for the audience to enjoy a different chemistry, as a frission grows between Adam and Rose.

"Obviously she's a very pretty girl and Adam hasn't seen any girls for a long time. He's a bit nerdy and takes pride in showing Rose all the artefacts that he has been working on.

"Through the two episodes the Doctor does become increasingly annoyed that I'm in the middle of them both. By the sixth episode they've got a team going, they're working together, and I'm upsetting things a bit. Three's a crowd."

Asked to compare and contrast his Dalek debut with the following episode, The Long Game, Langley notes they are tonally very different. "The Dalek episode was quite action packed and it was cut very fast. In episode seven you get to see all the human aspects between Rose and the Doctor and Adam."

Langley is blessed with a generous amount of screen time in The Long Game; seduced by greed, he attempts to use Rose's augmented mobile phone to feed knowledge of scientific advancements into the past. After meeting with Satellite 5's medical advisor (played by Green Wing's Tamsin Greig), he has surgery to have an 'info spike' implanted.

"I saw Simon Pegg [who plays The Editor] on set, and I was annoyed that I didn't get any scenes with him. But I did work with Tamsin. I've been an actor for five years and I've never gone into a laughing fit apart from with her. I just cracked up during the take because she's so funny."

At the end of The Long Game, a shamed Adam is returned to Earth - the only companion ever to be thrown out of the TARDIS. Yet the way remains open for the character's return, and as far as we're concerned the 'Bring Back Bruno' campaign starts here...

"I guess it is open for me to come back, because of the way that I'm dropped off. I'm not exactly a normal Human anymore; I have this 'upgrade' from way in the future.

"If they want to write me in, then I’ll do it!"

Life after Corrie

After filming Doctor Who, Langley went straight to a role in The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse (in which he plays the young target of Herr Lipp's affections), and is currently making his stage debut in Romeo and Juliet in Stafford. Clearly he's remained busy since finishing as Coronation Street's Todd Grimshaw, but does he still watch the Soap?

"If it's on I'll watch it," he admits. "I don't stay in for it. It's funny because I miss all the guys on it when I see it. I still live in Manchester, and you'd think that I'd bump into them, but I've only seen a couple."

© Starburst Magazine, 9/6/05

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