Gavin & Stacey star Joanna Page has defended her role as Queen Elizabeth I on Doctor Who, a performance she said has been "slagged off to high heaven" by fans.
Page is arguably best known for playing Stacey Shipman on the hit BBC sitcom Gavin & Stacey.
However, she also made a brief appearance in another popular BBC series - Doctor Who.
She appeared in the 50th anniversary episode of Doctor Who, titled The Day of the Doctor, back in 2013 as Queen Elizabeth I, alongside David Tennant and Matt Smith.
Appearing on comedian Russell Howard's podcast, Five Brilliant Things, recently, Page explained that her portrayal of the iconic British monarch has been "slagged off to high heavens" by fans online over the years.
Gavin & Stacey star Joanna Page defends Queen Elizabeth I performance on Doctor Who
Joanna Page, speaking to Howard, opened up as to why she may not have been at her best while filming for Doctor Who, explaining she'd only just had her first child (Eva) a few weeks earlier.
The Gavin & Stacey star explained: "I'd given birth, I'd hemorrhaged, I'd lost loads of blood.
"I was still in bed, and it was two weeks after giving birth, and my agent phoned and she said to me: 'There's an audition for this thing called Breathless, it's on ITV, it's all about the start of the NHS, can you go and audition for it?'
"I went and did the audition, all I did was talk about my placenta, so I got the job because I didn't give a s**t.
"Got home, walked through the door, and my agent phoned and said: 'They've just offered you the part of Queen Elizabeth I in Doctor Who'.
"I was really torn. But I just said okay, yep, I'll accept both jobs. And so I started doing Doctor Who."
Page added that playing the role of Queen Elizabeth I and learning how to take care of a newborn baby at the same time proved difficult.
She continued: "So I'm playing Queen Elizabeth I, I've got this long red wig on, and I'm first time ever breastfeeding.
"I'd feed for about half an hour, and then I'd express for about 25 minutes, I'd have one mouthful of food, and then I'd go back on set.
"Because it's my first baby, I'm trying to work out how everything goes. She's six weeks old, I'm Queen Elizabeth the f***ing first, running around being chased by a Zygon.
"I didn't know any of my lines, I couldn't work out what I was supposed to be saying, or why I was saying it.
"I knew I had to have an accent, I made no attempt at doing one.
"And then one of the first scenes, I'm on a picnic blanket, I'm lying on his (the Doctor's) lap, right, and I'm like this, and my boobs are so big that my chin is resting on them."
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The role received criticism online from viewers, but Page had a simple message.
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She said: "I've read stuff on the internet with people slagging me off about my accent and what I look like, and I've not put in the proper you know.
"All the different people, actresses who have played Queen Elizabeth I, and I'm always there, slagged off to high heaven.
"You have a bloody hemorrhage, and then you deliver a baby, you try to breastfeed with a f***ing corset on, and let's see what you'd be like."
Page and her husband, James Thornton, have four children - Eva, Kit, Noah, and Boe.
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