Nick Frost doesn't mind being Santa in Doctor Who

The Hot Fuzz star explained that he was a huge fan of the BBC sci-fi series, and because of his build expected to play Father Christmas at some point in his career.

He said: “I think being an English stocky actor, you’re eventually going to be cast as Santa and Henry VIII and Winston Churchill, so it’s just one of the three I’ve ticked off. It’s just ageing, isn’t it? It happens.”

Nick added of his portrayal: “We only see one side of Father Christmas, which is the nice man giving out toys to good children. If you’re going to play him as a human being, he has to have every emotion, like we do. So you see him cross and you see him joyously happy and miffed.

“There is a lot of ‘Ho Ho Ho’ and some sleigh work, but we wanted to make him slightly edgy at points, a bit like a gangster, I guess. I wanted people to be kept in the dark as to what this man’s intentions are. Is he good, is he bad? Is he there to help the Doctor and [his companion] Clara?”

Nick also spoke about his special outfit for the episode: “The little glasses are Richard Attenborough’s, that he wore on Miracle On 34th Street [the 1994 version, in which the late star played Kris Kringle], which is kind of amazing.

“I dropped them the other day. I was 15ft up on a hydraulic lift on my sleigh and we’d been there so long I nodded off, and when I woke up, the glasses were not there.

“But they were fine. I think the spirit of Richard Attenborough held them together…”

:: The Doctor Who Christmas special is on BBC One tonight (December 25) at 6.15pm.