Filming in a Quarry Again

On June 6, a group of extras reported to Tredegar, a town near Brecon Beacons National Park in Wales, to portray hostages. I'm aware scenes involving this same hostage situation were also filmed at Roath Lock Studios the week of July 18-22.

I will share some social media posts from the filming but be warned that the posts may be deleted once they are given attention on this blog. I will share the text of the posts and describe the images but will not edit this blog if the posts are deleted. I will not include the identities of the extras in my blog text so their posts will be the only way to identify them.

First, my reason for knowing the scenes filmed involved a hostage situation from an instagram post with a Tredegar location pin.

"Selfie Setlife #blackeye #location #acting #hostage #behindthescenes#anotherone #Wales #valleys #model #smize#journey #continuation #KWL"

Selfie Setlife #blackeye #location #acting #hostage #behindthescenes #anotherone #Wales #valleys #model #smize #journey #continuation #KWL

A post shared by R Stevons (@kingswaylane) on Jun 6, 2018 at 10:34am PDT

Another post with the Tredegar location pin:

"That moment you get on location to find the entertainment is throwing rocks at a dead sheep #onset🎥🎬 #actorslife #rockthrowing"

That moment you get on location to find the entertainment is throwing rocks at a dead sheep #onset🎥🎬 #actorslife #rockthrowing

A post shared by Dan Woolf (@djwoolf84) on Jun 6, 2018 at 6:50am PDT

Another post from the same person, this time, the location pin says "Llandefalle, Rhondda Cynon Taff, United Kingdom".

"Bunch of [******] SAs , gotta love the #onsetlife #actorslife #onlocation"

Bunch of bloody SAs , gotta love the #onsetlife #actorslife #onlocation

A post shared by Dan Woolf (@djwoolf84) on Jun 6, 2018 at 7:08am PDT

In this case, SA stands for Supporting Artistes, another term for extra. A group of ten extras are sitting on the side of a road with automobiles and a typical aqua location truck in the background. They are all dressed identically in black baggy black pants, tan short-sleeved t-shirts and, curiously, black water shoes. I'm aware there were more than ten extras hired for this shoot.

The location is in a quarry in Brecon Beacons, according to this same person:
"Who knew quarries were so cool #onset🎥🎬 #salife #justchillin #breconisserious"

There was also an Instagram Story with the hashtag, #trefil.

Who knew quarries were so cool #onset🎥🎬 #salife #justchillin #breconisserious

A post shared by Dan Woolf (@djwoolf84) on Jun 6, 2018 at 7:24am PDT

I'm aware that Bradley Walsh was not there on June 6 because he was at 10 Downing Street in London for some publicity photos for Soccer Aid. Jodie Whittaker, Mandip Gill, Tosin Cole and some of the crew members went to the Beyoncé concert in Cardiff on the evening of June 6. The following week, July 11-15, the production moved to Granada Provence, Spain.

Lizo Mzimba and Bradley Walsh Give More Series 11 Details

Lizo Mzimba has today released his interview with Bradley Walsh from last month's BAFTAs.

During the interview, Mzimba revealed that, as of May 13, there were the "final few" episodes left to film. I would venture to guess that the finale block is currently being filmed.

The Doctor is Graham's boss, apparently.

"Well, she's my boss now so whatever she says, I have to do."

Walsh went on to describe Series 11 as "fantastic", "extraordinary", "epic" and "big, really big!", even by Doctor Who standards!

"It will double it! It will raise it to a completely different level. Higher than it's ever, ever been!"

Here is the interview in full:

A few people have asked me for this, so here's my chat with Bradley Walsh at last month's TV Baftas where he talks briefly about filming this series of Doctor Who pic.twitter.com/h4v5CaUkJT

— lizo mzimba (@lizo_mzimba) June 21, 2018

Filming in Spain/Finale Block Actress

According to a local news source in Granada Province in Andalucía, Spain, Guadix y Comarca en Elaccitano, a Doctor Who crew has been filming in the town of Aldeire.

El ayuntamiento de Aldeire (Aldeire Town Hall) put out a notice to residents on June 9. Here is my best translation:

It is reported that, during the next week, filming will take place in Aldeire. We hope that it will not be an inconvenience but any questions or doubts that arise should be addressed directly to the city council.
The filming will be outdoors and will only occur during next week.
The show is broadcast globally and is one of the most important British television shows. The name of the show is "Doctor Who" and they have chosen our city for the scenery. We encourage you to be tolerant of the filming which we believe will make Aldeire a key attraction for the province.
Best Regards

The cast and crew have been in nearby Guadix and La Calahorra in the same province as well. Some have visited Castillo de La Calahorra where other productions have filmed.

A spanish company that unclogs plumbing visited their filming base in Lacalahorra on June 13.


The head of the makeup department, Claire Pritchard-Jones, posted an Instagram photo which shows that the set is within view of Castillo de La Calahorra. She is married to the production designer, Arwel Jones, who is also at the location in Granada Province, according to one of her earlier Instagram posts.

Loving my brush buddy @mykitco #locationfilming #mua #hothothot #travels #keepthefliesaway xxx

A post shared by clairepritch (@clairepritch) on Jun 15, 2018 at 4:12am PDT

A fan managed to find the set on June 15. He was not allowed to take photos, meet the actors or come near the set. This is my translation of his report which can be found in the comments on the Facebook post below:

"We went to the set but they didn't let us in. We saw the Doctor behind some trees. They were filming a cart pulled by oxen. The Doctor was on the side, in costume."

The Papel Psiquico blog, with which I have been exchanging information, contains an account of filming and two photos of the TARDIS on location. I have translated as best as I can:

“Today, Friday, the crew were filming between the cities of La Calahorra and Alquife. Despite the fact that the crew did not allow him to get very close, he saw filming in a wood cabin and was able to recognize Jodie Whittaker dressed as the Doctor along with Ryan (Tosin Cole). He also spotted someone who looked like Graham (David Bradley, who was assumed to be in the UK). He also saw the actors board the wooden cart mentioned previously, which was pulled by a pair of oxen. He also said that the first day of filming was at a mountain near Aldeire.”

I can now confirm that Bradley Walsh, Mandip Gill and Tosin Cole were filming in Granada Province. They appear in this group photo at a party on June 15 celebrating Jodie Whittaker's birthday after the location filming had wrapped.

The end-of-Spain-filming fancy dress Thirteen party. Bradley Walsh and Tosin Cole in second photo. #dwsr pic.twitter.com/WsTxhfpDKg

— Girly Letters (@GirlyLetters) June 16, 2018

I will continue to update this blog as I get more information and again with some information I am saving until I am certain they are finished filming in Granada Province this week. The production returned to Cardiff the following week.

I can now share the identity of an actress who was filming Doctor Who in Granada Province. She is Amita Suman.

#lifeexperience. Wish I could say more ;).

A post shared by amita suman (@amita_ks) on Jun 15, 2018 at 7:51am PDT

I don't think Suman's Spotlight CV or the CV on her agent's website will be updated any further until her casting is official so, for now, all that is showing is "UNTITLED BBC DRAMA". Undisclosed BBC drama would be more accurate.

Series 11, Episode 1 SPOILERS!

I have some more information about the Doctor Who filming at St. Mark's Church in Gabalfa on November 15. What follows is information about the kind of scene filmed. I've mentioned this scene before on Twitter but there is more information I didn't mention before at the end of this blog post. It involves a character's family.

First, some background about the filming that day.

The first report was of Jodie Whittaker present at the church on Facebook. It was first mistakenly reported as a wedding scene.



The schedule did not permit the Jodie Whittaker photo op with the students.

It was clear later that it was not for a wedding, but a funeral with a wicker coffin.

They carried out a coffin when packing up, it was like woven straw...

— Megan Dee (@m_dee215) November 17, 2017

It was well made and structured like a normal coffin

— Megan Dee (@m_dee215) November 17, 2017

A bit like this pic.twitter.com/h4maFuHDEY

— Megan Dee (@m_dee215) November 17, 2017

I can now give you more details about this funeral. SPOILERS FOLLOW! Highlight the black bars below for the spoiler text.

The funeral scene filmed at the church involved a moving speech by Bradley Walsh's character, Graham memorializing his son, David. The scene is believed to occur early in the episode.

Edit: Sunday October 7:

The scene filmed was obviously Grace's funeral.

I think, with so many people in the crew and the many extras hired to fill the church, Bradley Walsh spoke some altered dialogue for the filming which was later changed in ADR (additional dialogue recording) in post production. Specifically, "Dave" was change to "Grace" and "he" to "she". The beginning of the scene was filmed from a distance so there was no need to make the words match his lips so he probably said "son" when he filmed that scene, which was later changed to "wife".

This is interesting in and of itself and I will certainly keep this incident in mind when reporting on Series 12 filming.

May 11 Doctor Who Series 11 Character Shoot

Stills photographer Simon Ridgway was busy with a Series 11 character shoot at his new studio space at the Pinewood Wales studio complex on May 11.

All set up for some character portraits at Pinewood Wales. Nice to have a bit of space for a change :-) #cardiffphotographer #unitphotographer #specialsphotographer #pinewood #studiophotographer #filmstills #productionstills

A post shared by Simon Ridgway (@simonridgwayphoto) on May 11, 2018 at 4:03am PDT

I know this shoot was for Doctor Who because he said as much in his blog here and here.

I realize there isn't much to see here but it tells us two things; Simon Ridgway remains the stills photographer for Doctor Who, and a character shoot occured on May 11 with an unspecified prop crucial to the shoot.

I'm sure we all look forward to seeing the official photos of the characters along with the "crucial" prop once they are released.

Exclusive: Doctor Who News and Merchandise at the Licensing Expo

The Thirteenth Doctor is on the cover of The Bugg Report, a publication released in conjunction with the expo. Unfortunately the publication does not impart any new information about Series 11.

This is what I've been able to find so far for Doctor Who merchandise at the Licensing Expo in Las Vegas. I hope to have more news soon.

There is a new line with an attractive coat, a handbag and some jewelry featuring Gallifreyan symbols and, most importantly, stars. I hoped there'd be stars!

BBC Dr. Who at licensing expo #travel

A post shared by Anne Toole (@tisamely) on May 22, 2018 at 11:02am PDT

Do the stars look familiar? They should! There are stars on the Thirteenth Doctor's earring.

This is the highest resolution image I could glean from the PocketMags version of #DoctorWho Magazine of Thirteen's earring. You can now see the delineation of the fingers in the gold hand. #JodieWhittaker pic.twitter.com/C6osFJQNis

— Girly Letters (@GirlyLetters) January 11, 2018

The simplified rendition of the thirteenth Doctor's earring for comics shows only four stars. The number of stars on her upper ear seems not to matter. Note the lighter color at the (fingertips?) of one of the (shaking hands?). A gem of some kind? pic.twitter.com/4bY9FXIBsf

— Girly Letters (@GirlyLetters) May 6, 2018

It appears I was fortunate to find what little I did about BBC Studios' presence at the Licencing Expo. While other booths featured pieces of television sets, puppets, a live cat, and people dressed in character costumes including Power Rangers, a Velociraptor, Godzilla, etc., BBC Studios quietly offered space featuring several of their programs for convention goers to explore. I'm told there are two Doctor costumes in the far right of the second photo in this tweet.

Bbc booth pic.twitter.com/zRIskPS4la

— Floyd Lu (@FloydmoneyL) May 22, 2018

ITV posted a video of an accelerated walk-through of the convention which briefly included the BBC Studios booth.

It’s a busy first day here at #licensingexpo2018! Pop by stand L204 to chat to us about our licensing and merchandising opportunities. @licensingexpo pic.twitter.com/fvUrBRufZa

— ITV Studios (@itvstudios) May 22, 2018

Here is a screenshot of the video which shows the outside of the BBC Studios booth with a poster of the thirteenth Doctor.

So, with Doctor Who Series 11 premiering in October, it's too early for a huge thirteenth Doctor merchandising promotion.

Three Things I've Learned About Doctor Who Production from the BAFTAs

Jodie Whittaker and Bradley Walsh attended the television BAFTAs Sunday night, May 13. They were both interviewed by several media outlets. First, the filming is "midway through now," according to Jodie Whittaker at 1:28 in this BAFTA video.



Second, According to Lizo Lizo Mzimba at 0:25 in another Jodie Whittaker interview for the BBC, "We spoke to Bradley Walsh earlier. He said Chris Chibnall is giving it just a huge cinematic canvas."



Third, in a Reuters interview at 0:15, Jodie Whittaker said "I'll be probably regretting my night out tomorrow when I'm on set running about but yeah, it's really good." So production resumes today, Monday, May 14.