THE NEW series of Doctor Who is due to have a new royal, Scottish, and historical, angle.
The Thirteenth Doctor is due to pitch her wits against James the VI and I in a new episode of the current series.
The Scottish actor Alan Cumming, who received a special BAFTA Scotland award this weekend, revealed he is playing the role of King James as part of the new incarnation of the time travel drama series.
King James, son of Mary, Queen of Scots, was the 16th century monarch who ruled both England and Scotland from 1603 until his death in 1625.
Cumming, who has made his support for Scottish independence well known, said he had based his performance on two Conservative politicians who he personally dislikes: Sir Malcolm Rifkind, the former secretary of state for Scotland and Foreign Secretary, and Michael Forsyth, Baron Forsyth of Drumlean, who was also Secretary of State for Scotland in the 1990s.
Of shooting the episode of the series, which now stars Jodie Whittaker is the Doctor, he said it had fulfilled a boyhood fantasy.
The episode is likely to be called called The Witchfinders, and sees the Doctor, and her accomplices, arrive in 17th century Lancashire, and become embroiled in a witch trial, with King James personally involved.
READ MORE: Doctor Who, reviewed
King James VI was greatly concerned about witches, and wrote a book about them, Daemonologie, in 1597: a book that may well have inspired Shakespeare's witches in Macbeth.
Cumming said: "I shot it earlier this year.
"It was great - it was cold and wet. It is one of those things where the script says: 'Exterior, night, forest' or 'Exterior, field' - you know it is going to be [filmed in] Wales in February.
"But it was such a childhood, little boy fantasy to actually be in it."
The new series of Doctor Who, the first with the titular role played by a woman, has utilised historical settings before, including Alabama during the era of segregation in 1955, when the characters meet and interact with Rosa Parks, the woman who played a key role in the civil rights movement.
A new episode, Demons of the Punjab, is set in India in 1947.
Mr Cumming, who lives in the US but retains a home in Scotland, said: "What was great about it is that I played James I and VI, and I decided to do him, his voice, like those politicians who are from Scotland, like Malcolm Rifkind or Michael Forsyth, who are from Scotland, but pretend to be from England and have a strange sort of hybrid accents.
"So I did that, I played King James in honour of my loathing of Malcolm Rifkind and Michael Forsyth."
READ MORE: Everything you need to know about the new Doctor
Cumming, who was introduced on stage by the First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, said he still may return to the country for good.
He said: "I come back a lot, I have a place here still. I have this fantasy that I want to end up on an island.
"And living in America with Trump it daily gets more and more palpable and plausible that I might do that.
"A couple of years ago I said I wanted to go and live on an island, and I was in Barra, making this documentary, and all these people were saying 'it's true, it's true, he's coming'.
"As I get older I feel I want to get away from everybody more, but I come back all the time."
He added: "I miss the sense of humour. The commonality thing: when I am with a Scottish person you make a joke about a Tunnocks Tea cake or something, stuff like that."
There was much talk about the potential for a new plan for a film studio in Scotland, with Ms Sturgeon urging the BAFTA audience to "watch this space".
It was revealed recently that Creative Scotland has a new plan for a studio which is shortly due to be opened to private tender, although no location has yet been announced.
READ MORE: The Herald reviews the new Doctor
Cumming said on the subject: "I have a strange sense because of the person I was sitting next to [Ms Sturgeon], that something will be happening soon.
"I think its a really important thing, it's been on the cards for a long, long time.
"But people love coming to Scotland, there is scenery shooting, but to have a studio - sound stages where you could shoot other parts of the film as well as the location stuff, it is really important.
"It would be a great investment for Scotland.
"You could train crew there and give more work for the industry...it's a no brainer and I am just glad we are finally getting round to it."
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