 I am here with Sam Hunt, another cast member from Time Fracture. Samuel Hunt. Samuel Hunt. That equity reason. Sorry. Of course. Sorry. I'm just saying what the email said. There we go. There we go. Well, first of all, immersive theatre. Let us speak before we go to Time Fracture, immersive theatre. How would you best describe immersive theatre? I think people have been to immersive theatre about realising it. I think for a lot of people, their first interaction with immersive theatre is something like Disneyland. As soon as you walk through those gates, you enter a completely different world. That is a world that is tactile. That is a world that you can play in. That is a world where you can interact with people. At heart, that is what immersive theatre is. It is an environment where you enter a storyline. You literally cross over a threshold, or even before then, it is from the point you buy your ticket. You are in the world. You are interacted with different levels of immersive theatre. Different levels of interaction. The world around you completely changes and is completely different to the outside world. That is perfect. That is a great description of it. Adding on to that, how much experience have you had personally before here with immersive theatre other than Disney? Other than Disney. Lots of Disney. Lots of Disney. Lots actually. I trained at a drama school. I did acting but I did contemporary theatre. It was a lot about devising work, creating new work and creating work in very unusual spaces. That was a big part of my training ten years ago. Since then, I have worked on numerous immersive shows. Everything from repeated sequences of five minutes over and over again for three hours straight to big pieces such as Doctor Time Fracture, I have done The Great Gatsby for a year and a half, The Wolf of Wall Street and various other things. It has been a large part of my career over the last ten years doing immersive theatre. No wonder you are here. On those lines, how did you become part of the Time Fracture family? I was not an original member of the Time Fracture family. I had a very strange four days in the fact that the rest of the cast did all the rehearsal period and they were starting their previews and everything like that. I think they got two weeks into previews and my agent called me up on a Friday night around six o'clock and they were like, Hi, they want your measurements right now. I was like, OK, say I'm running around at nine o'clock at night whilst doing a bar shift at the same time. Trying to find a measuring tape, measuring myself in a stock room and everything like that. Over the period of the next two days, did two-show watches, a costume fitting, 45 minutes rehearsal and then went straight on stage. I think this needed another person just to fill in certain parts just to help the running of the show. So I got it easy. I didn't do any rehearsals at all. I just stepped in and it was good fun. So you say that, but the two I just had, Simon and Jess, both said, well Simon specifically said, oh yeah, and it was like a few days before, I just sort of jumped in. So it's the same as you. And then both of them, how did you think your audition went personally? So I auditioned for it originally in the October, which was great fun. Again, it's one of those auditions where it's a workshop so you're improvising, you're giving a scenario. One of the great things we had to do, I think we were given a plant. And we had to, this plant wasn't a plant. It was something else and we had to interact with it and we had an audience member with us and the whole scene had to revolve around this plant, which was wonderful. There was other things where you had to play sort of like a Doctor S character or a unit scientist or a unit soldier or stuff like that and it's just about being in the moment and just bringing the world alive really. So yeah, so it's an interesting audition. You're on your feet a lot running out. It's more than sort of you've got a panel out of the shadow, Martin. Come on in, come on in, we can read that. We adjust, yeah. And suddenly there was a Bethany. Hi, hello. Now Bethany, I was told that you were out on the lash. It was a cast member's birthday party so an exuberance was had a little bit. Oh, there we go. There are no hot feelings. Well, we were just talking about the audition but I'm going to change the subject a little bit about the characters because you can play multiple characters. I didn't realise this until I think I saw your Instagram story. We're just like, on this day I'm playing this. So what, I'll start with you I suppose, what characters do you play in the show? So I play Queen Elizabeth and a Time Lord guide. You are truly the master of the multi-rolling ones. For most of us we just play two and we alternate each night between them for multi-multi-rollers like yourself. I'm Swing so I do have two main roles which is George who's a rhyming scientist and unit or I play a sideman but I cover, so I'm going to under study for another, hang on, let's go through this. Yates, Sullivan, Brian, Time Lord guide one, two, three, four, five. Suddenly guides. Who else do I play? Daleks, about to take on the... Spoilers. Spoilers. I'll bleep that out. The Gallifrey guide. So we're around 11 characters in total. Good Lord. All up here? Oh yeah, no easy. Easy to do. Well to be fair you're the, as you were saying, you're so experienced and you're amazing as he was just telling me all about this you see. He just is. Well out of those, I suppose you'll find this easier, what character is your favourite to play? They're both really fun in their own ways. I think Queen Elizabeth might just take it ever so slightly because you just kind of, people are brought to you and you sort of do this, do that, entertain me because it really is a mixture of like poised regal queen and then Queenie so it's sort of like bloodthirst. Yay I like that and it's really quite fun too. Is there a bit of Blackadder Queenie? Oh very much Queenie. Oh yes. Is the Blackadder Queenie so it's like ta-da. Well there we go. And how about you out of your dozen? I think that's partly why I enjoy being swinging under say the fact that it's just the variety of just playing different characters every single night. So yeah like Instagram stories like literally one night I'm playing Yates the next night I'm playing Brian and then I'm a TLG and then I'm a Sideman and I just love it you just get to explore the world through different eyes of lots of different people and it keeps it fresh which is really nice and I mean the audience do that in itself like they just know two nights at ever the same in time fracture for many reasons but yeah I can't choose one. No. Well I'm just going to slap a picture on screen and that's your favourite I've decided. Thank you very much. It's going to be the queen. That was all choice. Everyone's trying to get in Queenie's dress and everyone are buying for that and they're like one day I'll... Well before I leave I'll sneak backstage. Anyway well I'd look great but now I was talking about this with you earlier about knowledge of the universe how much did you know going in and how much did you have to learn? So for me I've been a Doctor Who fan for 26 years. You have won over the audience with that one sentence? Yes I was 7, 6, 7 years old. So when I was around 6 my uncle was a big fan. I very vividly remember being at their house being like oh they're daipol toys my dad made them a Comet Dalit kit all the VHS and everything like that and then when my uncle was... when I was 7 my uncle sadly passed away but he'd already got me into Doctor Who he'd already given me a VHS of Nightmare of Eden filmed on UK Gold so that was my very first entry Doctor Who sadly when he passed away he gave me a load of VHS as well and I just worked my way through Classic Doctor Who and yeah so I've got my own fandom taking forwards I've got his fandom I take with me as well I've worked in retail to do Doctor Who I've done yeah so all over the shop so I had a lot of knowledge going in which probably why I could get away with 45 minutes rehearsal for my first show Yeah I bet that audition was interesting Oh do you want me to play this character maybe? Hey you're in God! How about you how much did you know going in? I didn't actually grow up in the UK so I didn't grow up with it as sort of a staple like I think a lot of people did but I'd come back over Christmases and I think did the thing that a lot of people who sort of had it in their background like watched the Christmas specials and I'd be told the stories from my mum and my dad and like oh and the Daleks oh God hiding behind the couch from the Cybermen and I think a lot of people's parents have those stories about growing up with it and you hear that and then when I got the audition and then the job I obviously just kind of absolutely mission wise like immersed myself, watched everything and it's just brilliant the storylines are fantastic like watching the really really early stuff I was just blown away with how awesome the writing was and also just like the sets and the props was glorious as well I mean comparing the classics to where we're sitting now even that is truly bizarre how we've managed to get to this I mean shing it on camera it does not do it justice sitting in it is bizarre especially because there's spoilery things out to frame well I say spoilers it's in every picture can't read my own writing there we go well with the show being so different all the time and all these revolving guests and different characters being played there has got to be some ridiculous either behind the scenes stories of like rapid changing in costume or interesting guest stories where they're like either too into it or they're not into it enough so tell me what's some favourite stuff I can see the smiles growing with still being kind of course there was this one I can definitely think of this one happened quite recently and was just glorious where I was full on serenaded with a song by Henry Cain Glacius like sort of I will be your hero baby and like this was to the queen and he was like I am a master singer and songwriter and here is a song of my people from Henry Cain Glacius from my people he was endowed as a lord of such a land so he really got into this part and was just fully committed and serenaded me well did the queen like it? he kept his head well Sam how about you? I think for me it was very impulsive and on a whim is when the unit scientists managed to make their way through the time fracture into the rest of the show so they went rather rogue and when the audience went through the time fracture spoilers I think that's a given three scientists went with them and found themselves in the quarter queen Elizabeth and an alien market and into the future and beyond clean at that point? I was not I was a time guide at that point which was amazing cos then we sort of had these handovers of audience members that the scientists had been with over to me and you can just really play some beautiful parts there was this girl her name was Beth which was amazing I was like Beths those had pigtails and we were like mate and I was like oh I've just been exploring I've come from Queen Elizabeth's Court and she went pulls up her shirt and she's got all the Tudor Kings and Queens in Queen Elizabeth and I was like I know where I'm taking you and because you know the timings of this show like that came straight into Queen Elizabeth's Court as the Queen is coming out so she's presented and we get messages from each other from backstage so we know who to look for maybe or to have these moments with people and Charlie who was playing the Queen had this note about Beth so was able to address this small girl with her name and have this little moment and this girl was just and was curtsing it was the sweetest thing in the world I just went all the way through with her it was great that must be the fun part as well you hone in on those people cosplayers are an easy get there are so many cosplayers coming in which is absolutely beautiful we've had everything from David Tennant we've had numerous Romanas come in we've had of course McCoy's Jody's we had Tom Baker's we had one from the Happiness Patrol I think someone came as one of the in the pink the not Daisy Kay we have a Centaurian full on that must have confused the other guests yes we've had someone cosplay someone from the show which is brilliant that must just be baffling they clearly want a specific route just like you can see what I've come upon it was the Curse of the Fatal costume wasn't it? yes it was inspired by the Ron Atkinson when I saw that poster I was so confused cos I was like I know that costume that's so specific and I was like no that can't be right and I was so happy when I saw it in person and I was like I got very lucky seeing that one cos you won't always see the same person I'm speaking like I'm an expert once and I'm here well we're on to our final question as fun as this has been must come to a close I brought the jacket and I must know in your short interaction with me cos I sent my CV in I got ghosted but I sent my CV in hoping for an audition it never came you see so I'm curious to know from your perspectives what character would best suit this mess of a human I mean I feel you're trying to influence us with the scientist jacket but either way I don't mind whatever you think what energy am I giving off Sam I'd say definitely like scientist but you've also got that fun energy of a time will guide you're like come with me on an adventure totally agree with that totally agree with that I'm with you there I think if you're going to be in the show I think your Dr Yeats portrait guide that's your casting oh I could see that one ok I like that you made it yes this is actually just a whole ploy to get employed this is now an audition oh no where's the plan well thank you so much for coming along it's been great to chat to you too and I just hope the other two show up fingers crossed there we go don't forget to like and subscribe no