When asked recently about Richard E. Grant’s upcoming appearance in the Doctor Who Christmas Special, Matt Smith spoke in glowing terms:

“He’s such a pro and such a brilliant villainous actor as well and I’m a huge fan of his.

“For our generation you watch Withnail [And I], and that defines so much for all of us as a film. He very kindly did an impression, ‘Booze. I must have booze! Give me booze!’.

“He’s just a wonderful, kind, clever, brilliant actor. He’s got a lovely spirit and nature and I think he’s perfect for Doctor Who.”

REG’s appearance is his first canonical Doctor Who performance after his voice work on animated webcast ‘Scream of the Shalka’ and appearance in Steven Moffat’s comic sketch Doctor Who And The Curse Of The Fatal Death.

Richard Getting Into The Spirit Of Christmas

Meanwhile, according to the Exhibition News website, Richard was spotted at the latest Clarion Spirit of Christmas Fair at Olympia, which also had its highest-ever visitor and exhibitor numbers.

The event staged between 30 October and 4 November had an attendance of 37,344 people and 685 exhibitors.

The fair was opened by Christopher Buckmaster, mayor of Kensington and Chelsea and Belinda Donovan, mayor of Hammersmith and Fulham. Other celebrities in attendance included Mary Berry, Lord Coe, Nadia Sawalha and Lynda Bellingham, who were variously spotted sampling the show’s food halls.

Clarion will host The Spirit of Summer Fair at Olympia from 15 to 18 May 2013.