Showing posts with label Filming Reports. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Filming Reports. Show all posts

Bookmark and Share Series Nine Update

1/14/2015 02:56:00 pm - Reported by Marcus

Credit: BBCThe BBC has released details for Series Nine of Doctor Who, which began filming in Cardiff at the start of last week.

The episodes currently being filmed are written by Toby Whithouse whose first worked on the series in 2006, when he wrote School Reunion, the story which saw the reintroduction of Sarah Jane Smith and K-9 into the series. He also wrote The Vampires of Venice, The God Complex and A Town Called Mercy for the Eleventh Doctor, as well as an episode of Torchwood.

Steven Moffat, lead writer and Executive Producer, said,
An amazing guest cast for a brilliantly creepy two-parter by Toby Whithouse. Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman are back in Cardiff, back in the box, and back in action - for one of our scariest adventures yet!
On set filming for the new series, Peter Capaldi added
The adventures begin again for myself and Jenna and I’m delighted to be back filming my second series of Doctor Who.
Joining the Doctor and Clara in the story will be Paul Kaye who is known for playing Thoros of Myr in the third series of Game of Thrones. In the 1990's he was better known for creating Dennis Pennis, the shock interviewer who ambushed celebrities with bizarre questions. Kaye is also well-known for being the voice of Vincent the fox on the puppet-based BBC comedy Mongrels.

Commenting on his role, Paul Kaye, said

As a kid of the 1970s, the two shows you always watched were Top of the Pops and Doctor Who, they were unmissable. I actually wrote a song called ‘Looking for Davros’ in my first punk band and I sang it like a demented Dalek. I got to present TOTP back in the mid ‘90’s and landing this role in Doctor Who completes the dream double.

Peter is a perfect Doctor and I’m loving every minute of the experience, even the five hours in make-up. What a treat, best 50th birthday present ever!
Also starring in the episodes will be Morven Christie who recently played the role of Amanda in the crime drama Grantchester and featured in Death in Paradise (2014) and Twenty Twelve.

Other guest artists in the story include Arsher Ali who played the part of Malik Suri in the critically acclaimed The Missing (BBC One) and Colin McFarlane who appeared in EastEnders as part of the Who Killed Lucy Beale? storyline. McFarlane provided an alien voice in the 2007 Christmas story Voyage of the Damned as well as appearing in Torchwood: Children of Earth.

Actress Sophie Stone also appears in the show for the first time. Stone was the lead actress in the play Woman of Flowers and has appeared in Midsummer Murders and Casualty. Also confirmed for roles in the double episode are Zaqi Ismail, Steven Robertson and Neil Fingleton.

While filming continues in Cardiff, plans are underway for location filming later in the series, with the show heading back to Spain according to a tweet from Director of photography Ali Asad. Last year's episode Kill The Moon was filmed on the Spanish island of Lanzarote, as was the 1984 story Planet of Fire. Spain has also been used for location work for The Two Doctors, Asylum of the Daleks and A Town Called Mercy.

The new series will be back in Autumn 2015.

Bookmark and Share The Magician’s Apprentice

12/18/2014 01:18:00 am - Reported by Marcus

The BBC has revealed the title of the first episode of the next series of Doctor Who will be The Magician’s Apprentice.

The name was revealed by showrunner Steven Moffat at the press screening of Last Christmas held at the BFI in London last night.

The series, the thirty-fifth in the show's history, and the ninth since the series returned in 2005, begins filming in early January.

Bookmark and Share Filming concludes on Series 34

10/04/2014 07:56:00 pm - Reported by Marcus

Filming has concluded on the 34th Series of Doctor Who, with the final shots of the 2014 Christmas episode now in the can.

Director Paul Wilmshurst tweeted The special stars Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman, alongside actor and screen writer Nick Frost, who posted Filming commenced on 8th September, following the cast's world tour, and took place at a number of locations including Vaendre Hall, an Italianate Victorian manor house in St Mellons near Cardiff.

The episode is expected to be screened on BBC One on Christmas Day, with broadcasts following around the world.

A wrap party was held for cast and crew on Friday evening to mark the completion of filming on Peter Capalid's first series as the Doctor.

Bookmark and Share Cybermen to return in new series

6/30/2014 11:22:00 pm - Reported by John Bowman

The Cybermen are to return in the new series of Doctor Who, the BBC revealed today.

Following the announcement earlier in the day of the casting of Michelle Gomez as the Gatekeeper of the Nethersphere, the show's official Twitter account subsequently tweeted a behind-the-scenes picture showing Gomez with Peter Capaldi in Cardiff and Cybermen behind them.

It is believed they were shooting scenes for the Series 8 finale.

Doctor Who returns on Saturday 23rd August.



The picture was tweeted again a few hours later with the words: "In case you missed it … Peter Capaldi, Michelle Gomez and some familiar faces, earlier today!"

Bookmark and Share Christmas Special: read-through today

9/04/2013 11:30:00 pm - Reported by Chuck Foster

Hot on the heels of the report that Matt Smith starts filming on Sunday, the BBC reported that the read-through for this year's Christmas Special took place today, with a report on Twitter stating: "Christmas starts early for the #DoctorWho team! Here’s Matt Smith at today’s Christmas Special read through."

Matt Smith at the Christmas Special readthrough (Credit: BBC)

The BBC's Doctor Who website added:
Matt was in brilliant form at the read through for this year’s Christmas Special, written by Steven Moffat. In fact, seeing him back in action as the Doctor made us want to fast forward to November to see the eagerly awaited 50th anniversary special!

Tweets on the read-through were also made by DWM editor Tom Spilsbury: "The Doctor Who Christmas readthrough was lovely - and rather moving. Matt Smith has been a terrific Doctor, but he's also a true gentleman." Make-up designer Claire Pritchard said: "Quite an emotional day at the doctors today he was reading a story." Having been working on Steven Moffat's other series, Sherlock, she added: "Is it rude and disloyal to leave a consulting detective for a Doctor I feel dirty!xx"


With principal photography due to kick off on Sunday, the first indication of a filming location came from Labour councillor Dilwar Ali, who said: "Dr Who will be filming at Llandaff North next week."

Bookmark and Share Matt Smith to start shooting Christmas Special from Sunday

9/04/2013 09:20:00 am - Reported by Chuck Foster

Matt Smith with Richard Arnold at the GQ Awards, 3 Sep 2013 (Credit: Daybreak)Matt Smith has confirmed that he begins shooting for this year's Christmas Special from this coming Sunday.

Speaking to Daybreak's entertainment correspondent Richard Arnold at last night's GQ Men of the Year Awards, the actor responded to a question about his current hair style and on how this would impact filming:
I did it for a film, but it means I have to wear a wig in Doctor Who which is a nightmare. I'm excited, I start shooting the Christmas Special Sunday. It'll be sad - the end of a wonderful era!

Bookmark and Share Jemma Redgrave returns for the 50th Anniversary Special

4/08/2013 04:48:00 pm - Reported by Chuck Foster

The BBC have confirmed that actress Jemma Redgrave will return to Doctor Who for its 50th Anniversary Special, reprising her role as UNIT's Head of Scientific Research, Kate Stewart.

The announcement comes as filming resumes in London this week, with the crew spotted at The Tower of London this afternoon - the building was last seen in The Power Of Three as the exterior of UNIT Headquarters. Jenna-Louise Coleman was present at the location, along with actress Ingrid Oliver.

Bookmark and Share 50th Anniversary Special: the return of an old foe

4/02/2013 04:44:00 pm - Reported by Chuck Foster

The BBC have officially announced the return of an old foe to face the Doctor(s) in the 50th Anniversary Special.

Zygon revealed at filming. (Credit: BBC)
The return of the Zygons!


Filming has been taking place around Ivy Tower near Neath in South Wales today, though with filming taking place on private land there has been little activity observed by fans. However, comings and goings have been seen, with this tweet by Ryan Farell becoming very popular on the social medium: "I've been waiting for three years to post this tweet: Matt Smith and David Tennant have arrived on set." Earlier, Carwyn Jones had been luckier and reported: "Just seen the TARDIS and set for Doctor Who 50th Anniversary in Ivy Tower, Neath!!!!". Later, Olivia Morgan was thrilled to say: "Just seen David Tennant filming for Doctor Who in Neath". The Ivy Tower location setting was originally spotted by Erin Rickard yesterday, who wondered: "Walked to the Ivy Tower + found this...Asked what they're up to but were very secretive, my bet is Filming! But what?"

Update: you can read a locations reports from Phillipa Collins here, plus some additional photos of the foe on set via Adrian Cole: 1 2 3 4

Bookmark and Share An Adventure in Space and Time wraps

3/01/2013 10:24:00 pm - Reported by Chuck Foster

After some four weeks of recreating the 1960s, today finally saw the completion of principal photography for An Adventure in Space and Time, with producer Matt Strevens saying: "So that's a wrap. It's off down the pub if someone will let me out of this box. Goodbye AAISAT it's been special.". Meanwhile, writer/executive producer Mark Gatiss reflected: "Sadly, the end of the Adventure. But it's far from being all over..."

Outside the TARDIS (Credit: Mark Gatiss) Inside the TARDIS (Credit: Matt Strevens)



Nicholas Briggs has spoken about his experience filming the drama in the latest Vortex Magazine from Big Finish:
Mark Gatiss suddenly told me he wanted me to come to the set of Doctor Who: An Adventure in Space and Time and be Peter Hawkins, the original voice of the Daleks. How could I refuse? The production team had already confirmed they wanted me to provide the Dalek voices for this amazing production (Mark’s script is superb!), but now I was given the joyous task of actually being Peter Hawkins. Off to the Wimbledon Studios I went! On went the wig and make-up and the 1960s suit! And there I was, on a studio floor with an amazing facsimile of not only the corridors of the Dalek city from The Survivors, but of the original TARDIS control room and the Totters Lane junkyard. I really did feel like I’d been rocketed down that time tunnel.

Bookmark and Share An Adventure in Space and Time update

2/28/2013 11:26:00 pm - Reported by Chuck Foster

Into the last couple of days of filming, with Matt Strevens commenting: "The penultimate day and a very busy one. Lots of v exciting stuff to shoot. Been saying goodbye to our lovely cast as we wrap them out.". The producer reported earlier in the week about new creatures, and today seems to be centre around events during The Web Planet, with Thom Hutchingson tweeting: "Today I've mostly been menacing Wimbledon Studios dressed as a winged insectoid alien. My TV debut!". As a follow-up to this, Mammoth Screen apologised to actor Sam Hoare: "So sorry if you were stalked by a giant bee creature today."

Hoare, who played opposite Matt Smith in Bert and Dickie last year, has been confirmed by his agent as playing "Douglas". Other cast members involved today include David William Bryan, who said: "Ready for a long Dr.Who day!" and afterwards commented on his experience meeting another creature seen previously: "Just had a fight with this little fella...... And lost"

DWM were also present at today's filming, with editor Tom Spilsbury commenting: "Today, I had an amazing and unforgettable adventure in space and time. Thank you, Mark Gariss!" As usual, activities at the set drew attention from other parts of the studios, with Chris Presswell commenting: "Have just had a meeting in the same studio complex as where An Adventure in Space and Time is being filmed. 60s costumes galore. Awesome."

Tomorrow is the final scheduled day of principal photography, and tweets today indicate that it may well include another iconic recreation, this time for the TARDIS (de)materialisation! Natasha O'Keeffe asked Matt Strevens: "if there's an old scabby piano on any of your shoot days as part of set, that piano is from my parents/childhood home!". To which he replied: " I think there is tomorrow. What, why, how?"

Bookmark and Share An Adventure in Space and Time enters final week of filming

2/25/2013 11:57:00 pm - Reported by Chuck Foster

It's the last week of principal photography for An Adventure in Space and Time, with producer Matt Strevens commenting: "So the final week begins. It's flown by. Some big, moving scenes to come and perhaps a new creature or 2.". Doctor Who wouldn't be Doctor Who without corridors, but this time of the real kind as a couple of Dalek props are left "lurking" - as Matt observed: "These Daleks do like to gossip on a Monday morning."

Meanwhile, Waris met Waris as Sacha Dhawan caught up with original director Waris Hussein; the actor intimated that his time on filming was coming to an end, saying: "What a journey through space and time..loved every minute of it.x" Additional photos of the two together can be seen courtesy of the Radio Times, published when the initial casting was announced at the end of January.

Daleks at Wimbledon Studios (Credit: Matt Strevens, via Twitter) Sacha Dhawan with Waris Hussein (Credit: Sacha Dhawan, via Twitter)

Speaking of cast, last week Reece Shearsmith got to grips with becoming the Second Doctor: "Tried the hobo costume on the other day. Oh my giddy aunt ..."


Some additional members of the production team have been confirmed, with script editor Richard Cookson telling us: "I am indeed lucky enough to be working on An Adventure in Space and Time. Thanks for the congratulations! All I can really say is that it's a huge honour to be involved in the programme and to work with such a fantastic and talented cast and crew." Other confirmations include Pippa Suren as production coordinator, Catriona Scott as production secretary, and James Metcalf as a floor runner.

Bookmark and Share An Adventure in Space and Time: The Voice of the Daleks

2/21/2013 12:23:00 am - Reported by Chuck Foster

Nicholas Briggs, on TwitterA new voice encounters the old as Nicholas Briggs confirmed last night that he had taken on the mantle of one of the original voices of the Daleks! Making the announcement on Twitter, the man who has voiced the Daleks since their return in 2005 commented: "Just did my Peter Hawkins cameo today. Beyond exciting..." He later added: "Well, you can never tell what will make the edit... But I had a costume and a wig and everything! :-)".

Speaking to Doctor Who Magazine back in 2006, the actor/voice artist/producer for Big Finish paid tribute to Hawkins: "All of us who've provided Dalek voices over the last 40 years owe him a massive debt. None of us have been as good as Peter, but he supplied our inspiration. He was truly the Emperor of the Daleks."
 

Filming Update

A number of classic series moments are being "captured" for the drama. As well as filming of Daleks across Westminster Bridge from The Dalek Invasion of Earth filmed last weekend, iconic moments from the pilot episode have also been recorded as photos released but subsequently removed had revealed, including recreations of the junkyard where the TARDIS is first encountered, and the interior itself (credited to Peter Brachacki, who we reported last night as being played by David Annen).

The look and feel of the 1963 studio environment has been provided by Golden Age Television Recreations, which reported on its site: "Dr Who- An Adventure In Space And Time. GA-TV is supplying all the 1960s vintage tv studio and gallery equipment for a movie-length drama from the BBC, about the early days of the Dr Who tv programme."

Bookmark and Share A Dalek Adventure (In Space and Time)

2/17/2013 09:51:00 am - Reported by Chuck Foster

This morning saw a re-enactment of an iconic moment in the early history of Doctor Who - Daleks invading London! Filming for An Adventure in Space and Time took place on Westminster Bridge in London to recapture scenes from The Dalek Invasion of Earth.


This marks the fourth time Daleks have crossed the bridge in their pursuit of world domination (and publicity!): as well as the 1964 incursion, the scene was recreated in 1993 for the 30th Anniversary documentary (More Than) Thirty Years in the TARDIS, and then again in 2011 as part of the publicity for the Doctor Who Experience.

Filming on Westminster Bridge. Photo: Mark Gatiss Daleks on Westminster Bridge. Photo: Matt Strevens Mark Gatiss on location. Photo: BBC Daleks on Westminster Bridge. Photo: BBC


This weekend marks the halfway point in filming of the drama, which during the course of last week has focussed on scenes set in BBC Television Centre.

Filming at BBC TVC. Photo: Bill Thompson Filming at BBC TVC. Photo: Bill Thompson Filming at BBC TVC. Photo: Nick Lawton A familiar name ... Filming at BBC Television Centre. Photo: Matt Strevens

Cast and Crew updates

As well as the actors that portray William Russell, Jacqueline Hill and Carole Ann Ford, other members of the cast are expected to feature in some way. Speaking at The William Hartnell Years convention, Peter Purves mentioned that he would be represented in the drama, and observer Nick Lawton commented on Friday's filming: "'Vicky' [sic] was actually sitting in reception talking with Mark Gatiss, as Bill, Waris etc were filming scene. 'Vicki' was wearing her 'The Rescue' outfit, which is why I think it was her".

A few minor roles that have been cast include child actor Reece Pockney playing Alan, Elaine Andrews playing "1960s Vintage Mum", and Philip C. Francis playing "Restaurant Customer"; model/actor Ernest Gromov also reported his appearance in the drama, which he has now confirmed to us to be a "BBC Designer". On the production side, Matthew Patnick (who worked on Spies of Warsaw alongside David Tennant) is Line Producer, whilst Daniel Bishop (who also worked on The Empty Planet) is Camera Operator.

Bookmark and Share Christmas Special to begin production

8/03/2012 03:26:00 pm - Reported by Chuck Foster

The read-through for this year's Doctor Who Christmas Special took place yesterday (2nd August), with the show's Facebook page releasing a tantalising glimpse of the cover page for the script (title redacted!). The Special will see the series debut of Jenna-Louise Coleman as Clara, though a number of episodes have already been recorded with the newest TARDIS traveller. Guest stars for the Special have yet to be revealed.

Principal photography is expected to kick off in the next couple of days, with a number of 'familiar' locations being pressed into action. Monday-Tuesday next week will see Cardiff's Coal Exchange in use once again; the building has appeared in a number of episodes over the years, including the 2007 Christmas Special Voyage of the Damned where it became the Titanic passenger lounge. Wednesday-Thursday will then see a visit to Fields House in Newport; though used as the Angels' haunt in Blink, this time filming will instead take place in the renovated half of the building (the lounge of which can be seen in Steven Moffat's other series Sherlock's A Scandal in Belgravia as Irene Adler's apartment). And at the far end of the month the production team will descend upon Treowen Manor on Bank Holiday Monday, whose notable staircase played a 'starring' role as part of Torchwood House during Tooth and Claw.

Bookmark and Share Production: first official Matt/Jenna photo released

6/08/2012 11:16:00 am - Reported by Chuck Foster

Publicity:

The BBC have released their first publicity photo of Matt Smith and Jenna-Louise Coleman together on location, which is available to download as wallpaper in both 4:3 and 16:9 format:



Further images of the pair are due on the BBC website next week.

Filming Update:

Meanwhile, filming has continued on the series, with Matt and Jenna seen together on location at Margam Country Park last week. A clapperboard confirmed that this episode is being directed by Jamie Payne and Director of Photography is Mike Southon.

Filming took place over a couple of days, with scenes involving characters dressed in Victorian attire and in 'spooky' parts of the park. This was the first time Jenna had been seen in 'costume', and it was also reported that her character is called Clara, confirming the name rumoured back in March.





With thanks to Ryan Farrell, Phillipa Collins and Steven Price - click on their links for more photos.

Filming then returned to another old haunt for the weekend, with the interiors of Hensol Castle playing host to the cast and crew.

Wednesday saw a read-through take place, as reported by casting director Andy Pryor: "Mega readthrough day, Block 1 of ‪Call The Midwife‬ (fantastic to be back) and a marv new ‪Doctor Who‬ ep. No spoilers for either!" This was followed yesterday by an early morning scene taking place in the Plan Cafe in Cardiff and featuring Matt with series regular Barnaby Edwards - normally enclad within a Dalek, the actor commented: "It's a welcome change not to be in one for this. :)"


With thanks to Dan Wills, Gareth Bundy and @CardiffTimelord - click on links for more photos.

This week also saw a surprising couple appear on location - Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill! The pair officially completed filming in May but were back for interior pickups for their last episode. Additional exterior work on episode four continued with scenes with Matt Smith outside the former couple's "home". Scenes were directed by Saul Metzstein and Douglas Mackinnon, with director of photography Sarah Bartles-Smith.

Filming took place back at Church Road in Penarth (Amy/Rory house interiors) and at Bute Esplanade (Amy/Rory house exteriors), with Ood pieces spotted at the former! Scenes were believed to be pickups for those that couldn't be completed before due to weather conditions (not that this had improved much since then!). Some dialogue overheard helped set the (probable) context of the Ood: "Hello Pond, me again...I've dropped your Ood back home, he's been missing his Hive Mind. Yeah... The Helmic Regulator's on the blink again, it got hit by an arrow!"





With thanks to @CardiffTimelord, Gareth Bundy and Ryan Farrell - click on their links for more details and photos.

Casting Update:

The media covered filming at Margam Country Park, with items appearing in The Sun and Daily Mail; the latter reported that Dougray Scott was also on location - the actor (originally tipped to be the next James Bond after Pierce Brosnan) has recently appeared with David Tennant in United and starred in the BBC remake of The Day of the Triffids.

Bookmark and Share Production Roundup

5/30/2012 01:07:00 pm - Reported by Chuck Foster

Filming Update:

As reported last week, Jenna-Louise Coleman has now joined the Doctor Who "family"; speaking on the Richard Bacon Show, BAFTA winner Steven Moffat commented on the impact her arrival has had on the series:
It's just very exciting. When a new companion comes in it sort of reboots the show a little bit, it makes you look at the Doctor differently, it makes the show feel different, that's already happening. It's literally a new beginning, you're back to chapter one, in a way it's always a story of someone getting to know the Doctor, and now it's Jenna's character. There's a lot of ways (her character) will be different, but I'm not telling you what they are! Jenna is just wonderful and spiky and salty and clever: again - just as Doctor Who always does - it becomes a different show, and I'm thrilled with her, everyone's going to be.
The complete interview on Doctor Who, Sherlock, and the Kennedy assassination is available to listen to worldwide from the BBC iPlayer until next Monday afternoon.

The episode currently being filmed is not Jenna's first episode - that will be this year's Christmas Special (which Moffat reports is still being written and well overdue!) - but will be one of the 2013 episodes; it has been written by Neil Cross (Spooks/Luther), and is being directed by Jamie Payne (Ashes to Ashes, Primeval and the recent Call the Midwife). Locations filmed thus far have included the Manor House at Plas Llanmihangel, Margam Country Park and Gethin Woodland Park - the latter eliciting a comment from alternative rock group Let It Fall, who tweeted: "Soooo.. We was going to write some music in the woods, but we bumped into the Dr. Who film crew, cool ay?". Other unconfirmed reports indicated another trip 'across the bridge' to England late last week, possibly to Bristol's historic harbourside.

Writers:

During a school talk, writer Steve Thompson mentioned that he would be writing an episode for the forthcoming series, and commented that he needed to read the scripts of the first five episodes. With the Christmas Special known to be the sixth episode, this would place his story firmly within the second half of the series.

Mark Gatiss confirmed that he was writing a story for 2013 to Digital Spy at BAFTA, saying that "it's for the new companion, Jenna-Louise Coleman, that's all I can tell you or I will actually be shot!"

As well as Steven Moffat, Mark Gatiss and Neil Cross, other writers believed to be contributing towards the eight episodes featuring new co-star Jenna-Louise Coleman are John Fay and Tom MacRae.

Cast:

Some of the recent names to be confirmed in the next series include: for episode two, Riann Steele (Death in Paradise) as Queen Nefertiti; for episode four, Mark Williams continues his role as Rory's father Brian, Steven Berkoff (The Borgias) as Mr Shanks, Stephen Blything as Henry, Ruthie Henshall (The Case), Jemma Redgrave (Cold Blood, Bramwell) as Kate Stewart; and for episode five, Rob David (Rome) as Sam Garner and Michael McShane (Robin Hood Prince of Thieves, Clerks, Spawn) - the latter said on Twitter: "Getting ready to leave for Cardiff to be a villain in Dr.Who!! YEEESSSS!!!«. In my episode the Doctor finds he's got a;:/;;zapppppp GACK. sizzle,hissssss......« Most fantastic time doing Doctor Who; best cast and crew I've been with in a while! Long live Gallifrey...« Can't say what I did In Doctor Who, or Steven Moffat will ride in on a horse and crush my head with a mace, like Mel in "Braveheart"..sorry.«"

Caitlin Blackwood, aka the young Amelia Pond, was a guest at last weekend's Timegate convention, and when asked about possibly appearing in the next series she avoided the answer, instead miming having her lips zipped shut and saying "spoilers"...

On the other hand, John Simm commented: "in reply to many, regardless of what it says on imdb, No i'm not returning to Dr Who. Got absolutely no plans to do so.«"

Scheduling:

Addressing recent concerns over scheduling and a potentially shorter series in the future, Moffat assured listeners on the Richard Bacon show:
You're not getting shorter and shorter seasons, we're just splitting it over Christmas; we're making the same number of episodes as usual - I can tell by the grey hairs on my head - but we delayed it a few months to start it later in the year, that's all that's happened.

There's no chance of the BBC giving up on Doctor Who: it's a huge money spinner, it's doing better than ever abroad, the global number of people watching Doctor Who has just gone up and up and up, it was the most downloaded show on American iTunes last year - not a chance of the BBC giving up on Doctor Who, not at all.

Roath Lock Studios:

The BBC have released a video to introduce the new Roath Lock Studios at Cardiff Bay, presented by the 'current' cast of Arthur Darvill, Karen Gillan and Matt Smith; the video (originally shown to visitors at the studio's opening tour) includes facts and figures and a look behind the scenes within the new studios.



(With thanks to: Ultrapunch, CallistaRieekan, Ruther)

Bookmark and Share Production: Jenna-Louise Coleman begins filming

5/24/2012 09:52:00 am - Reported by Chuck Foster


Photo: Gareth Bundy
"We were really lucky to catch her. As we arrived, literally, she was leaving."
Jenna-Louise Coleman began her tenure as the new co-star of Doctor Who this week, with the actress spotted yesterday at the end of filming her first scenes on location at Plas Llanmihangel Manor House, South Glamorgan.

The read-through for her first episode to be recorded took place on Monday, with the BBC's official Doctor Who Twitter feed stating: "History has been made! A new era begins! Jenna-Louise Coleman has just completed her first Doctor Who read-through. One word. Brilliant!"

Details of her character are being kept under wraps, at least for present. Speaking to Digital Spy, Steven Moffat said when we could expect to learn more:
Christmas! But don't expect to learn everything! We've got a good story and there are some proper legitimate surprises in it. I'm excited by it. I think we're going to do some fun stuff.

We can't really contain everything, because people will crawl all over us with cameras and sneak views of scripts and call-sheets. Something will get out. But we've been fairly sly, so let's wait and see.


Moffat also explained the later launch of the new series this year:
I don't know, on this occasion, that the thinking particularly came from me, actually. I've always been open to anything that shakes [the series] up. I think that decision actually came from the BBC. But I've been well up for anything that we can do to shake up the transmission pattern, the way we deliver it to the audience and how long we make the audience wait, simply because that makes Doctor Who an event piece.

The more Doctor Who becomes a perennial, the faster it starts to die. You've got to shake it up, you've got to keep people on edge and wondering when it will come back. Sherlock is the prime example, as far as that goes. Sherlock almost exists on starving its audience. By the time it came back this year, Sherlock was like a rock star re-entering the building!

So keeping Doctor Who as an event, and never making people feel, 'Oh, it's lovely, reliable old Doctor Who - it'll be on about this time, at that time of year'. Once you start to do that, just slowly, it becomes like any much-loved ornament in your house - ultimately invisible. And I don't want that to ever be the case.

Bookmark and Share Production: Angels in Manhattan!

4/13/2012 06:26:00 pm - Reported by Chuck Foster

This week saw the cast and crew 'go west' as they travelled to New York to continue filming scenes for episode five in the new series of Doctor Who; during the course of the week, the Doctor, Amy and Rory were seen to visit a number of recognisable landmarks, such as Central Park, Brooklyn Bridge Park, Tudor City Plaza and Times Square.

The BBC have published some images of the cast and crew during the shoot:


Versions of the wallpapers are available to download in 16:9 and 4:3 format from the BBC Doctor Who website.


Talking about choosing the location for the episode to BBC America, Steven Moffat said:
It's just that it's a different backdrop for the story. Something about Weeping Angels in New York seems to make sense to me. It's not to appeal to an American audience, particularly - they don't come to Doctor Who to see themselves, they come to Doctor Who to see us.

We're not going to go there and film in the backstreets like we'd find in Cardiff, that would be a mistake!

A number of other photos of cast and crew on location were published on Twitter by Arthur Darvill (@rattyburvil), playing a "peg game" with his photographs! The week saw Karen Gillan finally join the social networking tool (@KarenGillan2) too, publishing her first photograph on location!