The Doctor and Me

Since I was not able to get a photo with Peter Capaldi when I worked on Doctor Who last year, I have instead drawn this picture of what a potential photoshoot with Peter, me and Derek may have looked like.

Screencaps

I have now managed to find some screencaps of Derek’s appearance in “The Magician’s Apprentice”.

And here he is in “The Witch’s Familiar”.

Plus, here are some shots from the end of “The Witch’s Familiar” in which I played the bronze Dalek behind the Doctor and Clara (from which I was able to take my sneaky onset photos).

A Dalek’s eye view of the above scene.

Finally, here are some screencaps from the Doctor Who Extra episode interviewing Nicholas Briggs, the voice of the Daleks.

If you look closely on the monitor in front of Nicholas here, you can see a rehearsal shot from the episode; thusly, Derek has his top removed and you can see my face (though it is something of a blur)!

This shot here was from my third day of filming, where I was in the bronze Dalek up on the stage (though he wasn't actually in shot in the final episode).

Shooting - Day 4

Wednesday 25 March 2015

The fourth and final day was spent shooting pickup shots of all the scenes we had shot previously, with only one or two new actions involving the Daleks (such as the shot where all the Daleks fall to one side of the room, and the cracks in the floor begin to appear); there were no other actors on set that day.

Whilst shooting these pickups I noticed that a couple of the Dalek heads had been put on the wrong Daleks – the black dome from the Evil Dalek had been put onto one of the original silver and blue Daleks. The mix-up had probably happened when they were being cleaned after shooting the sewage scene. However, my OCD got the better of me so I pointed this out to Hettie the director, who checked the footage she had shot on day one and concluded that yes, the heads were on the wrong Daleks. The mix-up was swiftly reversed. Now, it’s quite possible that this mistake would have been spotted even if I hadn’t pointed it out; but I certainly feel better knowing that I possibly averted a glaring continuity error that would have caused endless discussion on the internet forums! On the other hand, it could have meant the birth of a new style of Dalek, never before seen on the show! (Edit: It turned out that these mixed up Daleks did in fact make an appearance on screen; in the final scene in the Dalek corridors where they apprehend Missy) 

Despite not being on set with the other Daleks, towards the end of my final day these two New Paradigm Daleks appeared near the set: the Blue Scientist and the Red Drone (and if you look to the right of the Drone, you can see another mid-section and dome for another Drone). The small red Dalek in front of the Paradigms was a random prop that had been there on all four days, but had never been used (it looked like one of the Daleks from the Peter Cushing films, except for its smaller ‘ear’ lights).

As it happens, the New Dalek Paradigm White Supreme is currently housed in the reception area of the BBC Roath Lock studios (I passed it every day as I left).

Incidentally, on the subject of the New Paradigm Daleks, I asked Nicholas Pegg why we never see them anymore. His answer was that because of the negative response they’d received, they were now being quietly swept under the carpet, so I doubt that we’ll be seeing them on TV again anytime soon.

So that was it. My four days on the set of Doctor Who came to an end. It was a once-in-a lifteime experience, and I had a wonderful time. Everyone at the BBC was very professional, and extremely welcoming. It was a joy to meet Peter, and Jenna, and Michelle, and see them in action, and I met some wonderful characters in the Supporting Artists who were the uncredited Dalek operaters. It was also a pleasure to meet and interact with the three people who I call the Dalek Triumvirate; Barnaby Edwards (Dalek Operator), who gave me hug on my last day, Nicholas Pegg (Dalek Operator), who said that it had been “great to waggle plungers with you”, and Nicholas Briggs (voice of the Daleks), who shared his Cadbury’s Mini Eggs with me!

I’d also like to say that Nicholas Briggs is clearly a man after my own heart – he turned up for work on set everyday dressed in a tweed jacket and silk pocket square!

My only regret from my four days of filming Doctor Who, is that I didn’t get any photos with the cast. Naturally I would have loved to have had my photo taken with Peter, or even Jenna and Michelle. But I’d also have liked a photo with Barnaby, Nick and Nick. But ho hum.

As a finale, I shall relay this amusing anecdote:

Nicholas Pegg often referred to the Dalek Supreme as Diana Ross (as in Diana Ross and the Supremes; he joked that Doctor Who should have “Davros and the Supremes”). He made the comparison, however, because of the red dress worn by Ross in the Chain Reaction video. He thought that the Red Supreme up in his podium was like Ross in her red dress up on a podium. One can see his point.

I would like to end my musings by extending a heartfelt thank you to EVERYONE involved in the production of Doctor Who, for making my time with them so memorable.

Shooting - Day 3

Monday 16 March 2015

On the third day, we shot the scene where Missy comes into the control room and tells the Supreme that she can give the Daleks the means to control the Doctor; namely Clara Oswald (“Canned”), at which point all the Daleks go dead. Missy then asks what the Doctor has done and runs off, followed by the ‘Clara Dalek’. The Daleks then all come back to life using “regeneration energy”.

After lunch we came back on set to find that all the Daleks had been covered in ‘sewage’, which was actually garden soil mixed with water and brown food dye. We then shot the scene where the Doctor and Clara race through the control room while the Daleks are trapped in their own filth. The Daleks try and exterminate them, but the TARDIS reconstitutes itself and saves them. This scene also involved a beam falling from the ceiling and destroying a Dalek, and an explosion in the ceiling that caused debris to fall down onto the Daleks.

Oddly, despite being safely housed within the Dalek casings, all the Dalek operators were required to wear goggles for all the explosion shots, due no doubt to Health and Safety regulations.

The two scenes we shot on day three did not include clear shots of the stage, so Derek did not actually make any appearances on camera that day (luckily for him, as this meant that he avoided being covered in sewage). Luckily for me, however, I was not sat idle; instead I was put into one of the new bronze Daleks for the day, which made a nice change (and they are much more comfortable than Derek, on account of the fact that the new Daleks have larger bases that makes them a little taller, allowing for a higher headroom). On screen, I was in the Dalek that you might be able to see just peeking out off the edge of the stage in the scene with Missy, and then the one that was positioned behind the Doctor and Clara when they are stood waiting for the TARDIS to rematerialize.

Here are some sneaky photos I took through the Dalek grille:

Looking down on the Dalek control room.

Rehearsal shots of Jenna and Peter (“The Doctor and Clara Oswald in the TARDIS”).

Here are Jenna and Peter, discussing the scene with the director, Hettie MacDonald (in these shots you can see the ceiling beam that fell down and destroyed a Dalek).

Peter Capaldi with the Supreme and the Dalek gun.

Derek up on stage with all the camera equipment

This was Nicholas Briggs, the voice of the Daleks, chatting with Dalek Supreme (actually he was talking with Nicholas Pegg who was inside the Supreme). The Special Weapons Dalek is in the background.

This silver Dalek was empty and had a pump inside to spew the sewage out through the grille.

The TARDIS being assembled (you can see Derek on the stage too).

The TARDIS placed on the spot where Jenna and Peter were stood, for the shots after it had materialised (as you can see, I had to move my eyestalk out of the way to get this photo).

Peter Capaldi loves the Daleks and between takes he was on set taking photographs on his own camera. Here he is, up on the stage, next to Derek.