Showing posts with label Doctor Who Magazine. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Doctor Who Magazine. Show all posts

Tuesday, July 31, 2018

Production Still Photographs Exposed

For the third time during Series 11 production, some revealing materials were "leaked".

It would be accurate to call only the first instance a deliberate leak. An entire Episode 1 clip was uploaded to Tapatalk and eventually made its way to YouTube, Twitter and other forms of public media along with two photos involving the thirteenth Doctor seeming to construct her new sonic screwdriver. I've described the materials on this blog post.

The second instance involved a merchandiser called Calender Club, who posted images of a Series 11 Doctor Who Calendar by Danilo. Those images were also distributed further on social media. The images consisted of character portraits of the Doctor and her companions, with a larger photo of Yasmin Khan. The images were removed from the website and the DMCA removed the images from tweets so it would seem Calendar Club must have posted the images too early. Danilo has now released some of the images and is offering the calendars for presale. Calendar Club has now re-released the images. 

The third instance is the result of the way a production stills photographer posted his portfolio online. One thumbnail from each of the categories in photographer Ben Blackall's Doctor Who Series 11 portfolio were visible when accessed via the mobile version of his website. The thumbnails have since been removed from public view, but two more thumbnails were revealed during the process of reprogramming his website. The photos are not in their final form with the background drape and actor's marks visible and color grading for alien worlds missing.

Blackall's portfolio was accessed by a curious fan who learned of the photographer's involvement via a photo credit in Doctor Who Magazine #528, which published Blackall's photo of the thirteenth Doctor standing on a rocky outcrop in what looks like a landscape from the filming in Granada Province in Spain. This photo appeared in Blackall's portfolio with the TARDIS photoshopped into the foreground on the right side.

Two of Blackall's thumbnails featured two photos the brand new interior of the Thirteenth Doctor's TARDIS!  Your best bet in finding the photos would be to search "new tardis" on Facebook, which doesn't seem to be subject to the same corporate copyright pressure as Twitter. It is likely the other photos can be found on Facebook as well. The http://www.doctorwhotv.co.uk website has the photos in one of its posts under a spoiler tag.

The first photo shows the Doctor in the blue-shirt version of her costume inside the TARDIS, showing the entrance. This still is probably from late in Episode 1. Rather than the TARDIS doors opening directly into the console room, the entrance is three-dimensional with the two interior police box walls flanking the door visible from the inside. Only the wall of the police box facing the interior is missing, except the edges and the top with the "POLICE PUBLIC CALL BOX" sign. So the TARDIS has a police box vestibule of sorts. This would explain why it was unnecessary to have a flat photo of the interior just inside the prop door during location filming.

The interior wall near the door is beige with circles within large hexagons. The circles each have two concave-curved tri-"spokes", one overlapping the other. It is not a regular pattern, however, with some of the hexagonal units seeming to merge in places and intertwine in a somewhat organic fashion. This design is also three-dimensional with an alcove leading to the police box portion with and opening with angled edges formed by the hexagons.

Another photo showed more of the TARDIS interior from the outside through the doors. The doors open inward. Four director's chairs face the opening to the TARDIS console set with the names, "JODIE", "MANDIP", "BRAD" and "TOSIN". Black curtains conceal some of the undressed set exterior. Though the door, crew can be seen working on the interior. The hexagonal motif continues on the floor and light red walls with blue and purple hexagons. Some of the hexagons in the floor light up to a warm white. The rotor platform consists of two concentric circles forming steps going up. The step-rings are rimmed in black with white Gallifreyan symbols. I don't think the rotor was visible through the doors because of the camera angle, some of the crew standing in the way or because the set was unfinished.

Another Episode 1 publicity shot shows the Doctor in the Twelfth Doctor's costume in front of the the large cranes at HTC Crane in Sheffield lit up at night. It is labeled from a November 21 album.

I can place only some of the photos in episodes or filming blocks.

One character photo of a young, asian woman in a tan shirt and black trousers from the episode in the finale block which involves hostages. Part of this finale block episode was filmed in the Tredegar area. I've previously blogged about it.

Another photo is a still from Block 3 filming in Sheffield on February 13 at the tram bridge. It is essentially this scene from a different angle. Tanya Fear is the guest star in this photo.
There are two photos of a young, red-haired man. One of the photos is a character shot in side view of him pregnant! Yes, a Doctor Who episode with a pregnant man! The character photo shows the man in an olive green jacket with many round black and sliver patches, blown, baggy knickers, brown tights, tan socks and hiking boots. The second photo is a still of the same man smiling while looking down at an infant swaddled in a gray quilted blanket in his arms. He appears to be in a hospital setting in a white t-shirt with one of the black/silver patches and a blue hospital gown.

There are three recognizable guest stars in the photos: Julie Hesmondhalgh, Mark Addy and Claudia Jessie. I cannot place any of them in any specific episodes.

Julie Hesmondhalgh is pictured in a production still in what looks like a vast storage facility. Her hair is short and blonde. She is wearing black-rimmed glasses and a grey shiny blouse and grey blazer of the types I would describe as futuristic. She is looking very businesslike holding a white tablet.

Mark Addy's character is dressed in tan and brown rugged clothing with a jacket, chaps, boots and lots of straps. He is holding a rectangular, hand-held instrument. He is pictured in two stills walking in a rocky setting (probably filmed in a quarry) with Graham, the Doctor, Yasmin and Ryan. The Doctor holds a translucent, white, irregularly-shaped object. There appear to be the ruins of a crashed flying vehicle in one of the photos somewhat resembling turbo engines.

Claudia Jessie is pictured in a character portrait wearing a white, long-sleeved shirt, black trousers and an open purple vest with three grey strips, vertical on the shoulders and horizontal at waist and hip.

Three of the photos show the Doctor in her costume with the burgundy shirt she wears in Episode 3. I think the Doctor wears this shirt for more than one episode. One photo is a character portrait of the Doctor walking. The second shows the Doctor with her companions at night surrounded by mounds of scrap metal. This is possibly from Episode 7 filming at HTC Crane in Sheffield. (There was definitely some Episode 1 filming at this location with the thirteenth Doctor in the twelfth Doctor's costume with her three companions plus Graham's wife, Mary played by Sharon D. Clarke.) The third photo is from the same episode as the second photo. It is a still of the Doctor, her companions and an unknown dark-haired actress dressed in a white, sleeveless futuristic outfit with trousers. All five people look down a white, circular corridor with astonished expressions on their faces. There is a damaged panel with dangling wires just behind the Doctor.

Some photos I can't place:

A still of the Doctor in a blue shirt with the companions in costumes I can't find in any other stills or video. They all look astonished as they peer down from a metal railing. In the background is a white wall with a large, circular doorway. Behind them on the wall through the doorway is a circular object with an unfamiliar (yet strangely somewhat familiar) red and black geometric design. It's possible this is a placeholder graphic for something which will be added to the photo later. I am unsure.

A still from an album titled "Dr Who Rumble" showing two men, one in a red tank top and another in a chef's uniform with raised fists about to engage each other. Graham can be spotted in the background.

Last, but not least, is a photo of Graham from an unknown episode. Graham is in a dark hallway lit by wall lamps. He his holding a copper-colored spherical object approximately a half meter in diameter which somewhat resembles the hovering security cameras in Silence in the Library, only more utilitarian and not quite so Art Deco.

That's it for the photo descriptions. A tantalizing glimpse into Series 11.


Wednesday, May 9, 2018

All the Doctor Who Series 11 Directors are Discovered

Thanks to @Ruther2 on Twitter, all the names of the directors of Doctor Who Series 11 can be named. They are Jamie Childs, Mark Tonderai, Sallie Aprahamian and Jennifer Perrott.

The director of the first filming block, Jamie Childs is the only director who was officially announced. Childs' involvement was first discovered by @Ruther2.

Childs was then officially announced in Doctor Who Magazine. Childs also directed Jodie Whittaker's reveal which premiered on July 16. Childs directed Episodes 1 and 7.
From Doctor Who Magazine 519 Gallifrey Guardian:
"Jamie Childs is the first director to be working on the 2018 series."

Then gradually, the other directors were discovered.  Mark Tonderai directed Block 2, Episodes, 2 and 3, which was filmed in part in South Africa."

Sallie Aprahamian directed Block 3, Episodes 4 and 6.


Jennifer Perrott is currently directing Block 4, most likely Episodes 5 and 8.


Which would leave what is likely the the finale block to Jamie Childs, who will return to direct the final block, Block 5, likely Episodes 9 and 10.

Wednesday, May 2, 2018

Chris Chibnall's Different Kind of Relationship with Doctor Who Magazine

I received the latest issue of Doctor Who Magazine, #525, via my digital subscription. I contains some interesting articles on scenes and characters cut from various episodes of Doctor Who.

What it doesn't contain is Production Notes or news of any kind regarding Series 11 production.

This is a significant departure from the type of news the magazine used to report on series production during the times when Russell T Davies and Steven Moffat were the showrunners.

The editor of Doctor Who Magazine, Marcus Hearn was interviewed by Doctor Who: Panel to Panel podcast, which became available on February 3. It seems he couldn't stress enough how important Doctor Who Magazine is to Chris Chibnall, Matt Strevens, the BBC and BBC Worldwide (now BBC Studios). Below are a few excerpts from the podcast I've transcribed. All of it is interesting but I've highlighted the parts where Hearn is emphasizing how important Doctor Who Magazine is to the people producing it.

“I had a long meeting with Chris [Chibnall] and Matt [Stevens], I think in September were it was clear to me that both Chris and Matt are very enthusiastic about the magazine, have a very detailed knowledge of the magazine’s history and I’m please to say that both Chris and Matt and all their colleges and our colleagues a BBC television and BCC Worldwide value the magazine very highly, which is lovely to know.”
“It is the official Magazine. One thing I was delighted about was that Chris and Matt and all their colleagues at the BBC do actually recognize that we have a role to play as the official magazine and actually helping them to promote the series. We have, I hope, inside information.”
“It’s probably too early in the game to actually say. ‘How is the magazine going to help, or to work alongside of colleagues at the BBC to promote the new series because, as I’m talking to you now, we’re only in very early February and so we’re some months away from that but we have had a number of conversations about how much they value the magazine and about how they’re going to be working with us to help to promote the series when that comes around. So yes, we’re talking to Chris and Matt, we’re talking to the cast of the new series. I haven’t been on set but my deputy editor Peter Ware and as well assistant Emily Cooke have been spending some time in Cardiff. I’m planning to go next week for the first time. And so we are gathering material for when the time comes for outright transmission.”

Since issue #521, published after Jodie Whittaker's Doctor appeared on Twice Upon a Time and featuring the thirteenth Doctor on the cover with the caption “Jodie Whittaker is the Doctor", there hasn't been any production news of note. In past series, the magazine provided the names of the directors and writers, information on what block was currently being filmed and the occasional name or two of some of the actors who would appear in the series. The absence of production news is a very different approach with the new showrunner.

I look forward to seeing the material gathered by the magazine staff once they are given the go-ahead to publish it. here is another quote from the podcast which gives you an idea of the Hearn percieves the magazine's directive.

“That we will be breaking news, I hope. We the time comes later this year when the new series begins but I don’t necessarily feel that’s our primary function. I don’t think, as Series 11 approaches, I would hope we get the opportunity to do that but I think people will look to Doctor Who Magazine more for a detailed and accurate representation of what’s actually happening. I think they will look to Doctor Who Magazine for a detailed and accurate representation of actually how the show is actually coming to the air. They’ll look to Doctor Who Magazine for an accurate and detailed representation of the people who are actually making the show because that’s the sort of thing we do on Doctor Who Magazine, we talk to the people, not just the actors, who are obviously terribly important, but we talk to the people who actually the writers, the directors, the behind-the-scenes people that maybe other magazines may not be interested in but that’s what we do on Doctor Who Magazine. I see Doctor Who Magazine not just as a source of accurate news of that sort buy also as a journal of record.”

Doctor Who Magazine is available at UK Newsstands Thursday, May 3. It is also available right now via a Kindle digital edition and on Pocketmags at 12:01 a.m., May 3.




Thursday, April 19, 2018

A Typical Day for Chris Chibnall at Roath Lock Studios

In the new Doctor Who Magazine Special Edition number 49, In the Studio, Chris Chibnall speaks of his current experience with Doctor Who production.

“I love Roath Lock. It’s the best facility I’ve ever worked in. I can walk in to say hello to costume and makeup, then go across to one of the four studio spaces for Doctor Who, where worlds are being built and shot on. Then up the stairs to the production office to discuss future schedules and pre-production and post-production and marketing and social media, a meeting with the script team in the Dalek room (yes, there’s a Dalek room), then down the corridor to the edit suites where half a dozen episodes are being worked on simultaneously. In fact, I just described a typical day there for me.” 
The Doctor Who Magazine Special Edition is in newsstands in the UK now and a digital version is also available.


Friday, April 6, 2018

When Does Doctor Who Series 11 Premiere?

Update: The initial reports of October and rumors about Sunday were correct.

On September 5, the BBC officially announced that the first Series 11 episode, The Woman Who Fell to Earth, will air simultaneously in the UK and the USA Sunday, October 7. No word yet on the exact time.


What follows is my journey to the truth:

All signs point to October but no specific date in October.

From Chris Chibnall in Doctor Who Magazine 523:
"I’ve been in Liverpool, along with other members of that team and the Thirteenth Doctor herself. For 72 hours at least, all roads lead to Liverpool – for Doctor Who and the global television industry.
We come here to talk, to tell people a little bit about what we’re doing and what this new series of the show will feel like. We come to meet with treasured commercial partners, like Big Finish and Penguin Random House, with broadcasters from all the territories, with iTunes and Amazon and Netflix, all of whom are massively important to taking Doctor Who as far around the world, and to as many people, as it can go."
Here is a photo from the Doctor Who panel at BBC Worldwide Showcase, which was on February 20. If you look at the slide behind Chris Chibnall, Jodie Whittaker, Matt Strevens and Sam Hoyle in the second photo, you will see text that states, "Delivers October 2018"


Another source is BBC Newsround, which says,
"Doctor Who fans might have to wait until October for the new series - but the show's makers have revealed its brand new logo."
There is also this from the former editor of Doctor Who Magazine:
Update: One more source has confirmed an October premier date for BBC One:
"The new season of the acclaimed TV show will feature ten 50-minutes episodes and is set to premiere in October 2018. Crackle will add the eleventh season following its premiere on BBC One..."
Second Update: Now the Radio Times magazine says its August 18-24 issue that the BBC has confirmed that Doctor Who will air "by October".

Third Update: Ooh, Sunday???



Fourth Update: Sunday, SEPTEMBER 23? 

The SideReel website has Episode 1 premiering on Sunday, September 23, a huge departure from the October delivery date given at BBC Worldwide Showcase back in February. I'm told SideReel has been accurate in the past.

Now the Sunday Times Culture magazine is also saying Sunday, September 23.


Fifth Update: in relation to news received on September 4

On September 4, CultBox reported that the air date, Sunday, October 7, could be found on every iTunes website offering Doctor Who Series 11 for presale. BBC Studios promptly sent them a stern letter asking them to take down the story because the air date they reported (which was obviously accurate) was "classified" and a "trade secret". CultBox complied.

Wednesday, April 4, 2018

News from Doctor Who Magazine 524

News from the magazine is scant. In the Gallifrey Guardian section, it stated, "Work on the new series of Doctor Who continued throughout March, despite the unseasonably snowy conditions that affected much of the UK, and principal recording on several episodes has now been completed."
I can tell you, based on several online CVs, three filming blocks are complete, consisting of two episodes each, directed by Jamie Childs, Mark Tonderai and Sallie Aprahamian.
In other news, Russell T Davies took over the Production News column and wrote, "NO WAY!!!!!! Oh my GOD!!!!!!!!" in reaction to learning the name of a Series 11 guest star after a "No, not him", reportedly from Chris Chibnall when Davies stated, "Naah, too late, he blew it.", likely referring to Alan Cumming.