Doctor Who: On location in Cardiff for Season 9

For a Doctor Who fan, getting the chance to watch some location filming up close and personal is surely there on the bucket list? You get to see a scene or two played out in front of you, your favourite characters are in full costume and you might be able to grab a selfie and autograph or two. But by its very nature, you can’t plan for it, and that’s what makes the experience so sweet.

Crashing a location shoot relies on being in the right place at the right time. Having booked tickets for the Cardiff leg of the Doctor Who Symphonic Spectacular some four months previously, it was always a hope that the visit would tie-in with some filming, but what were the chances of finding out in good time, and what if they were in a private location or the studio those days?   

I’d already been alerted that filming had taken place on Friday 22^nd May at Canal Park, sitting somewhere between Cardiff Bay and the city centre. This felt like awful timing – why couldn’t I have been there that day? But then the word on the street was that filming at the location would continue on the Bank Holiday Monday (the same day as the concert) and minutes away from my hotel.

And so, at midday on 25^th May I joined a crowd of around 30-40 fans, locals and tourists in watching a series of takes focusing on the TARDIS as The Doctor (Peter Capaldi), Clara (Jenna Coleman) and Osgood (Ingrid Oliver) said their farewells. I won’t spoil any more of the story points which have already started circulating, and the BBC had already revealed in advance that Osgood was returning for this story.

The playground location has previously appeared on the show in Army of Ghosts and where Rose spotted the ‘Bad Wolf’ graffiti in The Parting of the Ways. This time round a mysterious alien ‘paw print’ had been added to the park signage. Friday’s filming had centred on a Zygon attack in the season 9 two-parter by Peter Harness, today it was all about fond farewells. What really strikes you about watching filming is just how long everything takes, just how many people are involved, and how the lighting crew are constantly compensating for the changing light – filling in, blocking and adding light sources where required as clouds break or the sun shines.

As has previously been said many times before, Peter Capaldi loves his fans. In the 2.5 hours I was present he came over and saw fans at the barrier on four occasions, signing autographs and posing for photos. He took time to talk to everyone, asking where they’d come from and generally being as nice as you’d want him to be. Jenna Coleman and Ingrid Oliver also visited the fans and were equally polite, though understandably it was Peter who was doing the lion’s share of the work. I’d met him twice before, but seeing him kitted in his Doctor gear made it extra special.

I can’t wait to see how the scenes appear in the final episode once edited, graded and placed in the right part of the running time. Unfortunately the actors were working until 11pm that night so wouldn’t get the chance to watch the Symphonic Spectacular, and they also had to work on a Bank Holiday! A big thank you to the cast and crew for indulging this fan boy, making it feel special to be a fan and being able to witness a part of this 50+ year old phenomena.  

Meeting the Doctors

Here's the continuing story of my encounters with The Doctor: With a bumper update for August 2018

William Hartnell - Sadly, I never met him or saw him before he died. I met his wife, Heather, at Longleat 1983 where she signed a Richard Hurndall postcard!

Patrick Troughton - My one occasion to see Patrick was on 4 April 1983 at the legendary Longleat Doctor Who 20th Anniversary convention. Luckily we had tickets, so weren't turned away at the gates as so many fans were. After hours of queuing outside the Orangery, I met Pat (and Sarah Sutton) and he signed a publicity photograph from The Five Doctors. Sadly, this postcard has been long lost.

(Update: August 7th 2018 - Special Edition of Doctor who Magazine has a photo of Trina and I with Patrick at the above event! This photo was taken 35 years previously and i never knew it existed. I never knew that I was in a photo with him. What an amazing discovery!

Jon Pertwee - I also saw Jon Pertwee at the Longleat event on 4 April 1983. Jon was being interviewed by Ed 'Stewpot' Stewart on a safari boat, docked on the river. I ran down to the water's edge, called his name and the photo was taken when he turned round.  

Tom Baker -  I first met Tom in August 1997 at a Longleat Doctor Who event for a news piece I wrote for TV Zone magazine, just a taster for a lengthy interview with him about his autobiography that September - Who on Earth is Tom Baker? I saw him again at a convention in Barking in 2009 where Andy and I posed for a photo, and again at the Time Quest 2 convention in March 2010.  

Peter Davison - I've met Peter on many occasions. First was a signing event at the Stamp Centre in central London, followed by autographs at The Doctors convention in Time Quest 2 and Projects MotorMouth 1 and 2 in 2013. I also saw him live on stage at the Doctor Who Prom 2013 and the Excel 50th Anniversary conference. He was also be host at the Doctor Who Symphonic Spectacular and I saw him at the launch of his autobiography in October 2016.

Colin Baker - I first met Colin on Bournemouth Pier after a performance of farce Run for your Wife in 1995. I then interviewed him for TV Zone at a Doctor Who Longleat event in August 1998. Further autos were picked up at Fleet Air Museum, Time Quest 2 and PMM1, though sadly he was too late to be in the group photo for the latter. I also saw him as Inspector Morse in the touring stage play in September 2010 and at the Excel November 2013. I finally got his photo at convention in Salisbury in July 2017!

Sylvester McCoy - I first met Sylv at the RSC Stratford following his performance as a Fool in King Lear in September 2007. I then saw him as Mushnik in The Little Shop of Horrors musical in Brighton October 2009. He was at Time Quest 2 and PMM1 conventions, as well as Fleet Air Museum. I also him on stage at the Excel, November 2013.

Paul McGann - I met Paul at the bar in Shakespeare's Globe August 2009 following his performance in Helen. He was also at The Doctors and PMM1. 

John Hurt - I met John Hurt at Brighton Film and Comic Con in November 2015. I had tickets to see him in  Kenneth Branagh's production of The Entertainer in summer 2016 but he had to pull out due to illness and sadly passed away soon after. 

Christopher Ecclestone - I met Chris at the Donmar Warehouse stage door following his performance with Gillian Anderson in A Doll's House June 2009. I also watched him on stage at National Theatre in June 2012 for Antigone (which also starred Jodie Whittaker in the lead role), but he didn't come out to sign that time. Finally got his photo at a fund-raising event in April 2016 in Newbury and at the RSC Stratford in July 2018.

David Tennant - First saw David on stage at the RSC Stratford after Hamlet in October 2008, where I grabbed an autograph among the throng of admiring fans at the stage door. The same month and at the same venue venue I saw him in Love's Labours Lost? I also also saw him on stage with Catherine Tate in Much Ado About Nothing. It was PMM1 in Jan 2013 when I finally got a decent autograph from him and a group photo with the other Doctors present. I also saw him at Stratford RSC again as Richard II in October 2013 and in Don Juan in Soho in April 2017.

Matt Smith - I first saw Matt in person at a BAFTA event for the premiere of The Pandorica Opens June 2010 though I didn't get his autograph until the official BBC convention in Cardiff May 2012. I got a photo with him at the 50th Celebration on 22 November 2013. Elsewhere I saw him on stage at the July 2011 and 2013 Doctor Who Proms, the lead in American Psycho the Musical at the Almeida in December 2013 and Unreachable at the Royal Court in July 2016.

Peter Capaldi - I joined the scrambling masses at the barriers of the Deep Breath premiere in Cardiff and was lucky to get an autograph from him (and Sam Anderson) in August 2014. There's also a photo of the back of my head next to him - though that hardly counts. So it was great on November 30th 2015 to get a decent photo and less scribbly autograph. In May 2015 I watched Peter filming The Zygon Inversion in Cardiff. In November 2015 I was lucky enough to interview Peter at the BBC and have a photo with him at the Doctor Who Festival at the Excel.

 

 

Jodie Whittaker - And now Doctor 13. I was lucky enough to meet Jodie in March 2015 at a Broadchurch event in Bridport. Dorset, where she signed my BluRay sleeve. She's also the first Doctor I've seen in a play (and with a former Doctor - Eccleston) prior to being cast. On 11th August Jodie presented a special Behind the Screen: Films of My Life event at Somerset House. At the end she agreed to pose for selfies for all 60 people. What a star!   

Doctor Who Season 8: End-of-term report

And so, just three months after Peter Capaldi met his adoring public for the first time as Doctor Who at the Deep Breath premiere in Cardiff, we've had the opportunity to enjoy his entire first season. None of this split-season nonsense - a full batch of 12 episodes to give him a run-in, and what a season it has been. Spoilers  follow.

Here's my review of the episodes in transmission order:

Deep Breath (8) - An accomplished introduction of Capaldi, and by the end we were in no doubt (if ever there was any) that we're in safe hands. The scenes of Clara in the clockwork robot's lair are very tense, as is the meeting between Clara/The Doctor in the restaurant. Great direction by Ben Wheatley, and by using THAT cameo and surrounding The Doctor with the Paternoster Gang this helped the transition. It looked and felt very different to what we were used to.  
 
Into the Dalek (7) - Fab Dalek spaceship action and some great battles. The inside of the Dalek itself didn't quite feel right, as evidenced by various bits of cheap tubing. Sam Anderson makes a great intro as Danny Pink (we'll be seeing more of him!)

Robot of Sherwood (5) - I love Mark Gatiss as a writer, but this one just seemed a bit inconsequential. The bickering between The Doctor and Robin soon grew very tiring, and even if Clara looked great in her flowing robe, this just didn't work for me. It could have been any Doctor playing this one and the resolution with the golden arrow just felt lazy. 

Listen (9) - Now this is more like it. Moffat doing big, creepy ideas. Addressing the monster under the bed, some timey-wimey science and a flashback to The Doctor's childhood, What's not to love?  

Time Heist (6) - Ocean's 11 in space, or sci-fi Hustle, the premise is sound and familiar, and this rates as one of those solid episodes that just sits there, filling the season's quota. Keeley Hawes is notably OTT, but The Teller is a fun monster with the ability to turn your brain to soup. The ending is just a variation on the previous season's Hide and was anyone really surprised at the identity of the mastermind behind it all?    

The Caretaker (6) - Less The Lodger/Closing Time and more like his Sarah-Jane Adventures, Gareth Roberts' Grange Hill with a robot is actually more fun that it initially promises thanks to some clever dialogue and a great performance from Ellis George as rebel school kid Courtney. Danny really comes into his own here, which helps divert you form the pretty rubbish big bad - the Skovox Blitzer

Kill the Moon (7) - Taking the show completely into the realm of fantasy (the Moon is an egg?) this boasts such huge conceits that it wins points for its cheek. Great monster, nice cool supporting performance from Hermione Norris, an allegory for abortion and The Doctor showing his ruthlessness. Wow!
 
Mummy on the Orient Express (8) - No-one expected this to be good, so what a treat that it not only ticked all the right boxes but also proved to be a rollicking adventure with a cool high concept idea (the clock ticks down on-screen as the monster sees you) harking back to old Who. And a great new writer in the form of Jamie Mathieson.

Flatline (8) - Proving that he's no one-trick pony, Mathieson's other script this season again confounds initial fears that it's going to be a ho-hum Earth-set filler. Instead we great some neat ideas about a 3D menace, some amazing CGI effects, comedy gold around the shrinking TARDIS and a cool hero moment at the end. Spooky and fun.

In the Forest of the Night (5) - Frank Cottrell Boyce's fairy tale about a magic forest just didn't work for me. Not enough jeopardy, some very dodgy animal CGI, a reset switch and a general lack of pace - this was the season's lop point for me. And what was it with the missing sister appearing from behind the bush at the end? WTF
  
Dark Water (9) - Loved this. Great pace, a fantastic reveal, a labyrinthine plot, some huge shocks and a wonderful performance from Michelle Gomez as Missy. This is what cliffhangers were invented for - a story that fully deserves its long running time.

Death in Heaven (8) - Inevitably, this cannot match the power of the first-part, mainly because the big surprises and twists have been revealed. Great set-piece on the plane and in the graveyard, though not happy about the Brigadier Cyberman. Just seemed a bit macabre. The final departure is very well done, with the double-lies of Clara and the Doctor meaning that they are both in a bad place. Really not looking forward to the Santa meets Alien Christmas special.

Average season score – 7.2

I loved Capaldi. He’s just wonderful as The Doctor. He hasn’t set a foot wrong all year. Jenna Coleman has also been given the chance to shine as Clara – right from Deep breath and up to her departure. Has this been at the expense of developing The Doctor? Maybe, but it also meant she could become more than The Impossible Girl. Kudos also to Sam Anderson as Danny Pink, the man with demons who paid the ultimate price. 

In all, a solid season with plenty of evidence that even at 51 this programme is still willing and able to take risks.