All language subtitles for D W V C S01E01 The Star Beast 1080p_track4_[eng]

Hello, faithful viewer.

My name is David Tennant, and in
this episode we're about to watch,

I will be assaying the role of the
Doctor.

Who's this next to me?

I am Phil Collinson, and I am
executive producer of Doctor Who.

And who's this?

Oh, hello.

I'm Vicki Delow,
and I'm the producer of Dr Who.

And we are going to be watching
The Star Beast.

David, it's a while since
we did one of these.

Well, really, it is. It is a
long time, like a lifetime.

And I've never done one,

so you'll have to tell me
what to do.

We're just going to give some
recollections, some reflections.

Cast your mind back to last summer.
Yeah.

At night. At night. In May.
In May.

In that heatwave. In the heatwave.
Yes.

So, obviously, this recap
is just for, it's kind

of for new viewers, isn't it,
really?

Just to remind them
of the story we told...

I mean, how long ago is it?
15 years ago.

Yeah, it's a while.
Yeah, it's a while.

I mean, obviously, the fans
among you will not

have forgotten this story.

It was one of the best stories
Dr Who's ever told. Oh, yeah.

We do pick up... We pick
up exactly where we left off.

Absolutely.

There's no mucking around.

There's no other place to
pick up, really. Yeah. Yeah.

Which, obviously, the Doctor's
story has continued.

But this particular Doctor
and Donna's story.

Doctor and Donna, and Donna's
Lottery ticket is very important.

Yes, of course.

The show is going
to be on the Disney+ platform.

Young viewers.

Who presumably weren't born when we
first did this!

I hope so. I hope so.

See, brand-new titles coming up.
Yep.

Erm, we're...

It's probably worth saying
to the viewers at home

that the version we are watching
right now is probably not exactly

the version that they will be
watching finally.

No, no, no.
So, we might...

Forgive us if we make references to
things that are not

quite the same in the finished
cut. Yeah.

Yeah, well, it's... No, it's a
finished cut, but it's just...

It might just have a few visual
effects missing, to be fair.

Here you are. Camden.

Camden Town.

I'm really excited we went for
Camden because it just felt...

People don't do this version
of London, ever.

Yeah, we talked a lot about where to
set this. We did.

There was a problem because it was
the Queen's Jubilee

when we were filming this.
That's right.

Much of Central London
was forbidden to us.

And so, when we started to think
about what other iconic bits

of London there were, Camden was the
kind of first candidate, really.

Yeah. It was, and that bridge
particularly.

We were all, like, "That's the one."

When we saw the bridge
we were, like, "That's it.

"That's where we want to go."

It's beautiful.

There's actually two bits of it
that we used, in the end.

Right in the middle of the market,
about four in the morning.

Yeah. Yeah.

A proper old night shoot. Yep.

In and out of the rain as well,
which I think you can maybe,

you can catch.

Eagle-eyed viewers will catch
the odd glimpse of the rain

on the cardboard box, I think.

I think we were lucky,
though, because I thought

it was going to rain the whole
time we were there.

Oh, no. We had a lot of very clear
nights. We were lucky.

I think we only stopped
once for the rain.

I love how the script just,
you know...

Because other writers

would build up to the reunion
of the Doctor and Donna

and I just love how Russell
just does not mess about.

It's, like, bang - act one, scene
one, bang,

they're back together again.

And here's a spaceship.
And here's a spaceship.

No messing about. No doubt where you
are, are you?

Here's a character called Rose,
which will also slightly wrong-foot

the long-term viewer.

Yeah. Yeah.

When we announced the cast list,
there was a lot of consternation

online about Yasmin resuming,
playing the part of Rose.

Oh, as if...
As if Billie had been recast?

"Has Billie been recast?"

A lot of that went on.

Yeah, there was a lot that went on.

Big, big shout-out to Untold, our
VFX team, for that spaceship.

Yes, beautiful. I think it looks
absolutely beautiful.

And very much based
on the spaceship designed

by Dave Gibbons, the comic book
artist.

Yes, indeed.
We should say that, shouldn't we?

This is... This episode was inspired
by a comic strip from

Doctor Who Weekly, which is a
magazine that started in,

I think, 1978. Something like that.
Something like that.

Yeah.
And I got that very first issue.

So did I. With the little transfers.
Yeah, little transfers.

I've still got the transfers on
mine.

I was THAT kid. You didn't pull...?

I didn't pull them off.

Oh, I did. Did you? I did, but I did
that...

I put them in exactly the place
you were told to put them.

What does that say about
our respective psychologies, Phil?

I know, right! I know!

Uh, have you still got
that magazine?

I think I've got it somewhere.

I've got mine still, in the loft.
Yeah. Yeah.

Sorry, Vicki! Vicki's looking...

Sorry, Vicki. No, no, it's fine.
It's fine.

It's fine. I'm enjoying the episode.

Yeah, you watch this.

We'll just, we'll reminisce. I'm
really enjoying it.

I did just have every single edition
of Doctor Who Magazine.

But I don't have them all now.

I've got them all in the loft.

Every single one?
Not every single one.

I stopped in...
I stopped, you know, in about 1990.

But everything up till then. Right.

I've started, now! Right.

I've started. And did you get them
all? Yeah.

I keep everything. I keep
everything. Now you're in it...

Now I'm in it, I've got everything.

Everything that's ever got
Doctor Who on it, I've got now.

But Nerys said...

Yeah, so, it was a comic strip
in the Doctor Who Weekly

and Russell always loved
that comic strip.

I mean, it's kind of, it's kind
of, among the sort

of Doctor Who fans,
it is a very, very celebrated comic.

It was about the third or fourth
story, I think, they ever did. Yeah.

And it was drawn by Dave Gibbons,
who has since gone

on to be one of the foremost
comic book... Yes. ..err...

..pencils in the world.

Yeah, yeah.

But I guess he was at the relative
beginning of his career then.

And he, and a lot of the designs
from that comic strip

are very faithfully reproduced here.
Yeah. Yes.

Oh, definitely. We did that.

The Meep, the Wraith Warriors and
the spaceship.

The spaceship. Yeah.

All of that was definitely inspired
by those, those designs.

And who wrote the story?

Pat... Pat Mills.

Pat Mills, thank you very much.

And they both came...
Didn't they come down?

They both came to visit us.

It was a thrilling moment.
Really exciting.

It was this set.
This was one of those, kind of...

It was. It was this set.
That's right. The power station.

If the eight-year-old me could have
been there at that moment,

I would have just not believed it.

Did you get them to sign anything?
I didn't. Oh, I did.

Yeah, you did. I remember.
Shameless.

Oh, I should have done, shouldn't I?
But I didn't.

This looks great, by the way. Yeah.
Yeah.

I think we were setting
this up while you were inside

doing something else.
Not now, obviously.

Because you're here. Yeah.

All filmed at Uskmouth
Power Station, this.

Night shoots.

We had to do proper night shoots,
because... In May. In May.

..because the inside
walls had a big window,

which was really annoying.
That's right.

And they're taking this down now, I
think.

What, the, the...? The power
station. Are they?

They're knocking bits of it down.

So, we only had the bottom
of this spaceship.

Yeah, so, we built sort of about 15,
20 feet of the legs,

so that you could get a certain
amount of stuff in-camera.

And then obviously we had to extend
it up, to turn it into a rocket,

in visual effects.

It looks really cool,
now you can see the whole thing.

Really beautiful.

I think they did an amazing job.

But I also thought Matt lit
it really beautifully.

Matt, our DOP, lit it so
beautifully, because it looks great.

It looks... It looks like we built
it,

that power station, and we did not.
Yes.

Yeah, it worked beautifully,
actually.

And here's the first appearance
of Ruth Madeley...

Yes, indeed. Yeah, lovely Ruth.

..who is a new semi-regular,
I think I'm right in saying.

Yeah, she is indeed.
Scientific adviser number...

Oh, she says in a minute.
52 or something. Yeah.

I wonder if someone's got a list of
who all the others are.

I don't think we've met
that many of them.

I don't think we have, have we?

So, this is a street we had to find
very carefully.

It was Axminster Road.

Axminster Road in Cardiff.

We had to... We did
look at a couple of streets.

We did. And we were knocked back
by various residents' associations

who were not having it. No.

They thought were going to blow
their streets up

through the night
in the middle of the summer.

But this road loved us.

They were really up for it.

Oh, they loved us.

Yeah, they loved us.

And, you know,

I'm sure they'll love us forever
when all the coach trips come...

..from now on.

I mean, they certainly had a couple
of sleepless nights on this street.

They definitely did.

They did, but they knew we were
coming, like, we warned them

that we were going to be... Yeah.

And this was all... Oh, I love
to see Jacqueline again.

This was the first stuff we shot.
It was. This was day one.

This was day one.
Scene one, day one.

I remember so clearly, all
of this, because I was thinking,

"Oh, we're filming! Here we go."
Actually filming. Yeah.

Because I never got on set
on day one.

I got to do a rehearsal.
That's right. That's right.

I never quite got to film anything.
Yeah.

Of the, through the letterbox.
Through the letterbox, yeah.

But filmed the first thing
the next day, I think.

God, did we do that?

We made you come and do
a rehearsal then sent you off?

Just put me in my place!

Just reminded me of how it works.

And this garden is in the studio.

Yeah, this is the house and the
garden. It was amazing.

Because we had to blow
the whole thing up,

we weren't going to do
that to a real house.

So, we built the house in a studio
and the garden's actually

in the studio, which I've never,
I've never done that before,

um, you know, filmed outside,
indoors.

But they've done a lot of that here
at Bad Wolf Studios.

And then obviously we replaced
the sky with a real sky

and the houses beyond these, Old
Compton.

And it looks amazing.
It does. You'd never know.

I was really impressed.
Jacqueline King.

Catherine and I spent a lot of time
being very aware that we were 15

years older than when we'd last done
this.

Jacqueline King looks exactly,
exactly, the same.

I mean, like, she looks the same
as she does walking up that aisle

in the Runaway Bride. Yes.

Which is, which is more than 15
years ago.

I mean, she's got a portrait
in the attic, if anybody has.

Preposterous. It really is. Yeah.
Yeah. I love her.

Oh, she's great.

Did it still smell of curry,
that curry, that tuna madras?

It absolutely stank the place out.

Tuna madras, there was... There was
a bit of a debate about this.

Tuna madras. There was.

Didn't quite believe this
was a dish in Russell...

Oh, it's a big thing in Russell's
family. Yeah.

Russell's like, "What do you mean,
you've never had tuna madras?"

"What could be more natural
than a tuna madras?" he said.

I'd never heard of it before.

I think he's... I think he made it
up.

I think it's, like, a very much
a Mumbles-invented dish!

Mumbles Madras. Mumbles Madras.
Yeah. Yeah.

Russell's from Mumbles, in Swansea.

Yes, which is a place.

It's the unlikely name of a place.

Yeah, it's definitely a place
a writer should come from, isn't it,

Mumbles. Yeah.

I really love this scene
because it's that kind of...

It gives me chills, the first time
I saw it, that kind of idea

that Donna is just
haunted by what's missing.

Yeah. And, you know, it's all the
little bits he puts in, like,

oh, you know, "it's when I had that
breakdown," Yeah. Yeah.

And, sort of, the idea that
he just...just doesn't forget

how significant that moment
was for her. I love it.

So this alleyway is also inside?

Yes, indeed. With sky replaced.

Oh, is it?

Ah! I wasn't here for this bit.

No. No, this was right at the
very end, I think.

Right at the very end.

And... I think we were on episode
two by this point.

We were. We were shooting
episode two. Yeah.

Oh, my God!

It's empty, Rose.

That means it got out! There's an
alien on the loose.

This is amazing.

I'm going to get my phone.

Who's that?

Meep-meep!

Oh, my God.

So here's the first appearance
of the Meep. Hooray.

Now, this is... The Meep was
absolutely there and was a costume

with somebody inside it
and...and an animatronic face.

But you've added the face...

The face is digitally enhanced
as well as? Yes.

Or did you just get rid
of the animatronic?

No. No. So we've got...
There are...there are two

versions of the Meep. Yeah.

So obviously there was...there
was...there was a practical

Meep made by Neil Gorton,
Millennium FX.

Um, and that, that has a performer
inside, it, you know, runs around.

There was a gentleman doing
the voice and everything

and then we've added blinks
and changed the mouth.

Well, Miriam Margolyes came
in afterwards and voiced,

revoiced the Meep. Yeah.

And then we filmed Miriam revoicing
the Meep and so that...that part of

her performance has been tracked on
to the Meep... Oh, I see! Oh, right.

..in...in visual effects by
the team at Untold.

And they then, erm...

Er, yes.

And then...and then there's
for reasons

that will become apparent soon...
Yeah.

There was a... There's another Meep
head that was a real practical

change of head when the Meep changes
mood and personality. Mm-hm.

And, erm, at that point... There's
a third version as well.

At that point, we have completely
changed the head of the Meep. Yeah.

And we've got one that is entirely
digital for some of the things

we couldn't do with the performer.
Oh, yeah, we can play that.

Some of the proper running upstairs
and things like that. Yeah.

This is... We should...we should
note this new gag

that the Sonic's got.

Well, and a new Sonic. Yeah.
A new Sonic

that can now create
screens in mid-air,

which seems... Yeah, yeah.
..seems perfectly...

I can't believe it's not
always done that.

I can't believe that either. Yeah.

I'm very thankful. Oh, she's 56.

The camera was just never
pointing at him when he did it.

Shirley's 56.

She's just said she's 56. She's 56.

I'm really glad I listened out for
that because it would

have annoyed me all day if I hadn't.

We're on the same side.

I don't know how many other unit
scientific advisers have we seen?

Osgood was one. Osgood was
definitely one.

Yeah. Presumably 55.

Unless there's been a bit of a gap.

Maybe there's been a bit of a
gap, yeah.

Erm... But yes, obviously I was just
pressing my fingers in space...

You were. ..on that screen and the
visual effect

people are very loyally giving me
buttons to press. Yes.
Retrospective.

In the right places as well. In the
right places, yeah.

And this is obviously,
this is an example

of how we how we save visual effects
money, because the whole

of this scene originally, as
originally written, was played

looking at that screen.

And so every single shot was
a visual effects shot then.

And then we kind of said to
Russell, Look, it's too many

visual effects shots.

And he said, Well, she'll have
an iPad, so we could use that.

Right. Or other similar
hand-held device.

Yes.

And, um, you could just grab
that and look at that

and carry on the scene.

I do feel like we had a conversation
on the day where I was...

Where we were really impressed
by the opening thing,

I feel like, you and me. The folding
tablet thing that she's got.

The opening tablet thing that
she's got. Yeah. I love that.

I wanted to steal that.

Is it... It's a real thing, it's
a real device?

It's a real thing. Yeah, it's real.

So we've not asked you
then, how does it feel?

How did it feel stepping back?

Did you feel like you'd never
been away?

I did. It felt peculiarly
comfortable.

Good, good.

It felt like that on set. It felt
like that watching you.

I mean, you always make it look
effortless, but it really did feel

like you just went, click.

It didn't feel like a long time.

I mean, I suppose ten years
ago I was back briefly

for the 50th. Yes, indeed.

Yeah, still a long time. But
that's...that's quite a long time.

But it's, yeah, it's 15 years since
I was doing it full-time. Yeah.

We're moving out to secure the site.

Good work, soldier. Go get it.

Er, yeah, yeah. Not you, mate.

I've got this. Off you pop.

Bye-bye.

Waited your whole life?

You wish.

But do you... I mean, what are you
doing that's different?

Why did it feel different?

I don't know but I... Are
you instilling him with

more wisdom and magic?

Not very consciously. I just sort
of figured, well, I'm...I'm older.

Yeah. So it will come through
a slightly different filter.

Yeah. But Russell writes
it with the same kind

of brio, I think. Yeah.

But then Russell's older, so
he will be writing a slightly

different version of the
character as well. Yes.

I think that was the thinking
that we'll just...we'll...we'll come

at it as the different humans
that we are. Yes.

As a writer and as an actor
and as everyone else.

And that...and that that will make
it as different or as similar as
it...

Because it... It... I suppose you
could argue I could come

and I could do it, I could be
dressed completely differently,

I could have a...a new hat and
a funny voice.

You know, he could have been...
Completely different.

..a completely different version,
but that seems to defeat

the purpose of coming back, really.

Yes, I agree. Completely agree.
Yeah.

This is a... This scene is
shot in studio.

Yeah, it was half half, wasn't it,
in the end?

With all... No, all of this is
studio, isn't it?

This is studio.

And I think we already shot plates.

Oh, that bit of roof is not studio.
No. You're right. Yes, that's right.

That's in... We did a bit of both
because we were worried

about how high up everybody was.

Whoa.

Possession. God, that looks
really good, that possession now.

It does, doesn't it?

Yeah. Sort of evil
snake-like tendrils.

Very Doctor Who. Yeah.

Whoa. Whoa.

Teeing you up for what has got
to be the biggest shoot-out

scene Doctor Who has ever had...
Look at the things...

..thus far, isn't it?

Did you see the things
on the stairs?

The art department were very proud
of those because every house

has things on the stairs.

Yeah, that's a big... It's really
important. ..a Russell thing.

Yeah. Right. Stairs must always
have things on them, ready,

like shampoo bottles and toilet
rolls... Clothes, shoes.

..ready to be taken upstairs. Yeah,
yeah. The ironing that's been done.

Oh, no, they're just toys.

These toys are brilliant. Oh,
they're brilliant.

Obviously a huge plot device
later on but...

And I love this shed.

I sat in this shed when I first
saw it and I just wanted

it in my back garden.

And as a child, I was like,
Oh, can you imagine

if you'd had this shed?

But no voice. Look, it's just my
little home-made business.

I'm trying to make a bit of money
for Mum and Dad, that's all.

These are toys.

Humans have toys.

They've got stuffing inside.

Ah! You pulled its tummy out!

No, no, keep it down.
Don't be so loud.

I want to go home, where Meep
is all alone.

Yeah.

I know that feeling.

Sometimes I think
I'm from a different planet.

That's what other people say.
You sound lonely.

So this was a huge challenge,
thinking about how we were going

to bring the Meep to life. Yeah.

You know, just the size of the
Meep how, you know,

because it's sort of, you know, we
really went, you know, the idea

that it would be an entirely CGI
creation just didn't feel right.

It just felt like you'd really need
something that would exist

in the room alongside you.

I love this shot.

Rachel Talalay.

Director extraordinary. Yes. Yeah.

This is brilliant. Yeah, it makes
me...

That woman from Abu Dhabi who buys
your stuff, she'd love that one.

And obviously, Catherine, she's
giving it everything. Yeah.

You could charge her double.
Really cold.

Yeah, it's a great shot.

When it suddenly blinks.

It is definitely finding that, um,
you know, Russell, finding that, um,

uh, you know, mix of sort of drama
and spookiness and absolute fun.

Yeah. Is so brilliant.

I couldn't believe when the first
script arrived for these specials

and...and it was, and it had the
Star Beast adapted from

the Star Beast from
Doctor Who Weekly.

I could not believe that that's...
this story from my...

Oh, I don't know, I must have been,
I don't know, ten or something,

was being...was being put on
the telly.

Yeah. In... Yeah. In 2023. In 2024.
Yeah.

Yeah, I know, right.

2023. Yeah. It's mad. And yet,
it feels utterly perfect.

Feels completely perfect. Exactly.

The sort of, it's got that mix of
the domestic and the fantastical.

Yeah. That...that has always
worked for Doctor Who

and that has specifically Russell
has it's...it's a...it's a, sort of,

seam that Russell has mined,
hasn't he?

Definitely. From looking back,
by bringing the family

into the story and...

Well, it just fits around this story
so beautifully, doesn't it?

Yeah. You know, and how he
weaves kind of Donna into that,

and her family, it's so clever.

Yeah, so clever.

Here we go again.

Yeah. The recurring theme of the
Doctor being belted by the mothers.

And she's trying to hide it.
It's brilliant.

You can't see him. You can't see
him. It's brilliant.

None of this is real!

None of this is real. And then in
comes...

Oh, that's funny. I love
this moment.

Tuna madras.

Something smells nice.

Tuna madras.

Where are we here, Vicki?

So we're in a park just down
the road from Axminster Road.

And there were a whole bunch of fans
that stayed out all night... Yeah.

..to watch us do this. Oh, you
need to get used to that.

It was incredible. I was so
impressed that they had the will

to just hang out. Stay up.

How quickly did, when we were
filming, did...did the outside world

twig that this was an adaptation of
a comic strip that some people

would recognise? The night...

I mean, obviously, as soon as
we stepped onto the exteriors

of the street because the Meep was
out there and the Wrarth Warriors

were out there, and as soon as
the fans were getting pictures

of those two things, they
clocked that was...

"Oh, these look like Wrarth
Warriors."

I mean, absolutely they're,
you know, Doctor Who fans are...

They know. ..are proper Sherlock
Holmes, you know. Yeah.

They really...they really mean...

And obviously, the Meep
is just so distinctive.

Yes.

And the Wrarth are so tall
in the road.

So tall. Yeah.

They were like nine-feet-tall
on stilts.

Yeah. We...we couldn't hide,
we tried to hide them.

We just couldn't. Yeah,
there was no hiding.

Yeah, there was no hiding that!

Because they couldn't fit in the
houses.

So it's not like we could,
like, store them in a house

until we were ready to use them.

Yeah.

This is where the Doctor
thinks Wilf has gone.

Yeah. Oh, Bernard.

Yeah.

Bernard was still with us
when we filmed this.

He was.

Was yet to come back on to our set
as he did.

Although it was only a few days
after we shot this that we did

shoot with Bernard in Camden.

It was the following week.

And we managed to get

what turned out to be Bernard's
final scene.

Bernard's final scene. Yeah.

Which makes all this... So poignant.

All this all the more poignant.
Yeah.

Yeah. I'm so chuffed that we got
him, even briefly.

Me too. It means a lot. I think
he really enjoyed it as well.

It felt like he really came
alive in that.

Yeah, all the phone calls
we had with him and all of that,

I think it was lovely.

And a little moment
for applause for Miriam Margolyes.

Yes! Who just walked in to a sound
studio in Soho

and just immediately
embodied the Meep.

It was unbelievable.

She's a kind of vocal genius.
She can sort of do any voice.

And so much of this is, so much
of this is just her instinct,

you know, literally
just her instinct about how, um,

how it should sound
and the innocence of this,

of these early scenes being, you
know, juxtaposed against

what she does later.

Oh, she's just so clever.

I met her for the first time
quite recently.

Yes. I've always been a huge fan,

and then I read her book.
Have you read her book?

Yes, I have.
It's very entertaining.

It's hilarious. And then I met
her for the first time

and she does not disappoint at all.

She's exactly what you would hope
and expect. She is indeed.

Attack transformation.
Surrender the Meep!

Yeah, so here we are,

and we start blowing this road
to bits now.

Yes. We've done the downstairs
explosion and then we're going to do

something else in a minute.

It was really exciting to watch.

So this is another little thing.
Another new device.

Another new thing
Another new app

that the Sonic's got.
The Sonic can do, yeah.

Oh, yeah.

So clever. I think it's always been
able to do this. Yes.

You've just not seen it.

I like the look that Catherine
gave the Sonic there.

Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.

That was my note, actually. Was it?
Yeah. Yeah.

I remember the rushes that you'd
done that and it wasn't in

the original cut and I said, oh, can
we have that little moment in

with the Sonic just for viewers
who, you know,

are really clocking her journey
through.

Yeah. Yeah.

I really love it.

So this is the first example
of the CGI Meep now

as it runs across.

We also had, we also had a Meep
didn't we,

where there was somebody in an
entirely green suit

with a Meep sort of puppet
on their legs.

Yes, that was for the walking,

the running around stuff,

so when it runs up the stairs
and later on.

Yeah, I think a lot
of that's gone, though.

I don't think a lot of that kind
of worked so well, really.

'Course we had a third one,
flying Wrarth.

We talked about this for months!

What do you mean?

Trying to figure out how the Wrarth
would fly,

what it would look like
when it was flying.

Because at one point we were
going to put them on wires,

but then we realised
that we couldn't get wires

in through the back of the costume.

So actually he's on a sort
of see-saw rig, isn't he?

He's kind of pinned to a rig
and someone jumps on the other end

of it and he literally pops up
into frame like that. Right.

Against the green screen.

So that's not a CGI rendering.

That's somebody on a see-saw?

That's one of these costumes
on a see-saw.

The wings are CGI.

That's the biggest change
in the last 15 years.

When we used to get - this is
going to sound, I'm going to sound

very old and from another century
now -

but when we first had scripts for
this show, there'd be,

a CGI shot
would be in big capital letters.

Yes, it would. There was seven an
episode, five an episode?

No, there'd be more than that.
But they were sort of spelled out.

But Russell would spell out
when it was a CGI shot,

very, very specifically.
Really? Yeah, yeah.

Well, that's how we used
to cost it up.

I mean, I mean, when we first
started this,

we would spend on CGI and visual
effects in a whole

13, 14-part series, what we're
spending on an episode now.

Oh, wow.

So, you know, it was very,
very tightly controlled.

I mean, the truth is, it's still
very, very tightly controlled.

We still go through
every single shot.

You know, I mean, in this story,

I mean, virtually every shot's
a CGI shot, you know.

Certainly in all of this, all these
bolts of lasers.

You get more for your money now,
though, don't you?

I suppose so. Or has the budget
just had to expand...

To some extent, to some extent,

but then the sort of the ambition
of it is much bigger.

So there was just much more,
many more... Look at this!

Look at it all. It's all going on.

And here comes another
flying Wrarth. Whey!

And then another two.
Three of them! Loads of them.

This is such a great...
And this, this is obviously -

there's lots of different shots
being stuck together here.

Yeah, lots of bits. This was all
a studio set now,

painted into drone plates of the
real roof, on location.

Yeah. And then... There we go. Never
seen that in Doctor Who before.

We definitely did that at 4:00 in
the morning. Yes.

Yeah. And that was really exciting.

I loved this moment. Me too.

Murray Gold's brilliant
score stops for a second.

I love it when the Meep goes past.

I love it.

I love it.

Again, a little moment
for the direction here,

because it's so brilliantly
directed.

I love how all the soldiers
get stunned

and, I mean, all of that stuff,
you know, in the hands of another

director, would just be a bit
sort of hammy

and maybe wouldn't quite work.

But somehow it all just...
It's so beautifully directed.

How were they to act against?

Well, they were a bit wobbly
at times, weren't they?

Yeah, it was hard on those stilts.

It was tough, and the guys inside
did an amazing job.

But you were always slightly
feeling for them, you know.

We had to do special seats
for them. Yes.

Like saddles that they could sit on.

Yeah, they were on sort of blades,
weren't they? Yeah. Yeah.

Which meant that they had to keep
shifting their weight around.

Ah, the underground car park.

The underground car park.

So this used to be set
on a recreation ground outdoors.

And it, it...

We just, we just could not...

It was like a whole night shoot
of its own.

There wasn't enough night.
On top of a lot of night shoots.

And obviously we were shooting
this right in May, June time.

So we were only getting sort of
five or six hours of night...

..of night a night.

So we actually shot this during
the day in an underground car park.

That's my car on the right.

Was this during the day?

No, no, it wasn't.

It was, it was through the night,

but we were using it to bring us
back.

We only shot till midnight, though,
didn't we?

Yeah, because we were using it
to bring us back.

We started in the day.
It was like a split of days.

We started at like six and went
till midnight or something.

Yeah, yeah.

Because the second day it was only,
it was a day and a half,

do you remember, in the car park?
We were thinking,

"Where are we going to put this?
It's a day and a half

"in a car park." Well, also, the
madness of it is it's a car park

in London. Yeah. I mean, when would
we ever do that?

But obviously
it meant that we could,

it was right at the end
of our Camden shoot.

For people who are interested in the
logistics of filming.

Yeah. I think if you've watched
this far, you probably are.

Yes, I agree. Yes, yes, yes.

And so, what's the significance of
the judge's cap here?

Do you know? The sort of,
sorry, the lawyer's wig.

The barrister's wig?

Tom Baker did it, didn't he,

in an episode where Tom Baker
does exactly the same thing,

in an episode where he plays,
plays a similar kind of role.

And I think it's in the comic strip,
actually, I think it was the same

in the comic strip possibly.
Oh, does he? I think he might do.

Maybe I've made that up,
but he certainly does it in a story

called The Stones of Blood.

Yes, right.

Yeah. I mean, it plays havoc
with my hairdo.

You'll see.

You see the moment it goes on,

we had to, we had to get that right,

because it was a big reset
every time it came back off again.

Oh, my word. And you'll see as the
wig, as the barrister's wig

comes off, it's a very quick cut
because you don't want to be looking

at the mess that that's left.

Oh, right. Flat, flat bed hair.

Stevie Smith, who does my hair
and make-up in this

would be off camera tutting
furiously at the idea of having...

Huffing. Yeah.

Hauling his big bag of make-up on.
Yeah.

Harrumphing. Yes.

Meep. Meep.

Now, let's be fair.

I just... It works, though,

in the underground car park.
It does.

You wouldn't hold a courtroom scene
on a busy recreation ground.

Yeah. So this is a complete
replacement of the Meep's face now

by Untold, our VFX people.

And obviously it's instilled with
the spirit of Miriam Margolyes...

Right, yes. ..who was filmed.

But we did have a different...
We did. There was another Meep head.

It was like a reference head.
Like a reference head,

so you had something to play to,
but also the odd glimpse

in the back of shot.
You still survive.

Yes, because the mouth... The mouth
moved and it had sharp teeth

and the eyes changed
and the ears were different.

So it's very different.

I mean, we would, yeah,
we could play scenes with,

because as you said,
we had a voice artist on set

who was also controlling
the animatronics, wasn't he? Yes.

So you could play the scene.
Yeah.

I mean, it was quite noisy,
all the servo motors

all chugging away.

It's a great piece of work, though,
I think now.

In the end,
the combination of everybody's

brilliant work is just amazing.

Never quite been a, certainly
in the time I was making Doctor Who,

nothing quite as brilliant as that.

Yeah.

Just real, and the fur
and the fur work

that the Untold people have done.

It's really difficult,
complicated work.

Oh, yeah. We just missed you
take the cap off.

Great. This is...

Not moving, isn't it, the back of
this trailer?

Just great acting, all of you acting
like you're moving,

being rocked around.

I think we were being rocked
slightly by people outside,

weren't we? Yeah. Yeah.

Electricians? Yeah, the grips.

Anyone passing by.
Anyone who was passing.

Wanted to wiggle the set for a bit.

So, obviously, now in the plot
she's starting, you know,

you're starting to wonder
if she's remembering...

Is she beginning to remember, yeah.

And definitely Sylvia is starting
to worry about that.

..Far away from here. Monte Carlo.

Switzerland.

She gave all the money away!

And you'd be safe, Rose.

It's all my fault. I gave away that
Lottery money.

A big shout out to Yasmin as well.

Why?

It's quite... You know, one of
her first jobs after Heartstopper

and she's just lovely.

A lovely story to tell.

..And fear.

And I could help.

It just felt like the sort of thing
he would do.

I love how he tells that,

how he weaves that sort of story

of Donna having a transgender child,

who... And how Russell weaves that

story into Donna's story and Donna's
story with the Doctor's.

So clever.

I think it's also quite, I think
it's lovely the way Sylvia

is in that story as well,
sort of trying, trying to sort

of cope with something she's finding
a little bit difficult,

but I think, I think

that's a very relatable story.

Yeah, completely. And then, and
Shaun's just been fantastic. Yeah.

The different reactions the family
are having as they all

sort of try and support this girl.

I think it's, I think it's
beautifully written.

It is. It really is.

This was a much-discussed
moment as well.

How were we going to carry the Meep
in, in the costume, on the top

of that thing? And obviously,
we don't do that at all.

We just, we just... CGI.

Oh! Oh, right! Yes!

We did also film the Meep
once it was put down,

but I remember Russell had a really
specific way he wanted them to say,

"All hail to the Meep,
hail to the most high."

So I stood in the middle of Usk
power station

at 3:00 in the morning,

telling the SAs how
to... Performing it.

Really? I don't think... I wouldn't
have done it in front of you.

No, I would've been too embarrassed
because I'm not an actor.

It was... I was really embarrassed.

Activate the initialiser.
Initialisers activated.

It's such an evil little thing.

Yeah, it's brilliant.

I love this shot, looking
up at the spaceship.

In this little Miriam twist,

"Gravity stanchions!"
Gravity stanchions!

Does anybody know what a stanchion
is? Stanchion? I don't.

Stanchions. Gravity stanchions.

I like that they're brandished.

Yes, yes. Me too.

Whatever they are,
they're brandished!

And I like that the Meep
hails itself!

It's brilliant!

This is very clever because...
Nothing moved. ..nothing moved

at all. Nothing moved at all in a
decommissioned power station.

And we don't even move... No.
...from one place to another.

And then, open the gate
and off we go.

You see, they were doing
things like that in 1963

and we're STILL doing them.
Still the same.

And this is a completely different
part of the power station.

Yes, it is.

You've got weapons in your
wheelchair?!

We were so thrilled to have a
weaponised wheelchair. I think...

I just love that line,
"We all do."

"We all do." That's just brilliant!

Imagine... Just brilliant.
..you know,

wheelchair users all over the globe

being thrilled to bits
by this idea.

She wanted to keep them.

She wanted to keep all of this.
We said no. Yeah.

Well, it's just so, so
action movie now.

I love it so much.

Off you go. Running down some
corridors.

Always a good runner down the
corridors, David Tennant.

Nothing's ever changed.
You are so fast. Yeah.

I don't think we were prepared for
how fast you are. I thought,

"If I'm coming back 15 years later,
I'm not going to be any slower."

"I'm not slowing down." Yeah.

And you didn't. We couldn't keep
up with you!

I don't want anyone accusing me
of my joints seizing up.

I love you, Shaun.

And she's remembered.
She remembers. Oh, this bit.

It's, it's, it's Sylvia's line.
Sylvia's line, yeah.

She called him Doctor.

Oh! "She called him Doctor."
Brilliant, isn't it?

Yeah. And she knows how to
deliver it too. Yeah. Yeah.

So this is a set in the studio.

Quite a small little set.
Tiny little set!

Well, obviously, the rocket's
built for a Meep...

It's got to be.
..or a few Meeps, right?

So everything was sort of
built at Meep height.

No, no, no, no! Don't do the door!
Just don't...

No, it's fine.

Yeah, you see all those little
panels are sort of... They're there

to be controlled by, like, three or
four Meeps, aren't they? Yeah.

Intergalactic Meeps.

Hail to the most high!

Maximise....

That's a great shot! Yeah!

That's a James Bond shot.

It's all CGI that. Awesome.

Yeah. Well, the Meep
spinning round in a chair,

we filmed that little element,
but everything else

is completely CGI.

So you had, like, two or three
nights in this ship, didn't you?

We did. It was quite a long
time, yeah. Yeah.

You liked the buttons, though.

Well, yes. It was good to have
so many buttons,

but also, you're just thinking...
There was a lot of button pressing

and so you're trying to find
different ways of using

the different levels.
And there was a bit...

I don't think it's made
the final cut.

There was a bit where I was actually
sitting up on one those. Yes.

You were. We're a bit like, "Oh,
he's up there. OK. Is that...

"Am I OK with that?
Yeah, I think I am."

It's quite good, actually, isn't it?
But it never made it.

It's on the cutting room floor
somewhere. It's a shame. It is.

No! You can't get involved.

Oh, she's really...

That's... This make me really sad.

..a real piece of glass that really
came down in between you.

I mean, a big shout out to
Phil Sims, our production

designer as well, who's
new to this episode.

Just all, every set, every
piece of design,

absolutely beautiful, I think.

And the way he knits the sort
of Uskmouth and the spaceship...

And the studio, yeah.
..and all that together.

So this is all pretty epic
stuff now.

Just thinking about what was cut,
it was longer to get to this.

There were more scenes
cutting back and forth, I think,

before, before the glass
wall came down.

Erm...

Do you know what? I can't remember
that really now.

I can't think what they were. I
mean, maybe there was a bigger...

Oh, I know. There was much
more in, there was much

more with Fudge and Donna...
Yeah. ..I think, definitely.

I think we felt that the, the flames
were spreading so quickly

that the whole world would
have exploded.

The timing just didn't quite work,
so that's why we speeded it up.

Yeah.

And then it all comes down to just
the two of you,

two of the finest actors
in the world,

giving it everything.
Oh, honestly!

I love this stuff.

But it will kill you.

I love this stuff.

I think we all cried when we watched
you do this. Yeah, we did.

Because it's really sad...
It's beautiful.

..that he's got to do this, he's
got to make her...

She's got to remember. Yeah,

which is sort of the opposite of
what he did the last time

he was with her. So epic.

What we waited 15 years for.

Yeah. Yeah!

Yeah. Just Katherine as well.

I just love how heartfelt

and committed her performance is,
you know?

Yeah.

Brilliant.

Doesn't disappoint,
any of this stuff. No.

Westerly.

Pelican.

I wonder how - it's hard to be
objective about this -

I wonder how quickly,
as a new viewer, you realise quite

what this sequence of
weird words means.

Yes. Yes.

Cliff tops.

Andante.
Get on with it!

I think once she says...
"What's he going on about?"

As soon as she starts repeating it,
you're like, "Oh, OK."

Yeah, once she joins in...

And obviously the music's helping.

Yes. Brilliant. Very bold.

Dance.

Mexico.

Binary.

He's got her spellbound.
Binary, binary, binary.

Absolutely back in 2009.
Yeah.

Yeah, it was very much,

"You must go back, faithful viewer,
and have a look at those episodes.

"The last two episodes of
season four." Yeah.

And then maybe watch this one again.

I mean, all that's great.
Epic stuff. Look at that.

I love that. God, that road
collapsing is amazing.

The what? The road collapsing.

Isn't it good? It's amazing!
Yeah, it's great, right?

I don't think I've seen it in its
final version. It's amazing.

Yeah. Brilliant VFX team.

Oh, I love this.

This is so funny.

I gave away my money.

The first thing she says!

I gave away all my money!

And do you know why, Doctor?

Triple rollover.

That's my favourite bit!
It's a triple rollover.

It was 162 million, wasn't it? Yes.

Yes. Yes.

I had a subconscious infocutaneous
retrofold memory...

I don't know how she said that line.

I don't know how she says that
either, I really don't.

She got it right every time.
She did.

Even at the read through,
she got it right.

Well, you're reading it
at the read through,

that's the easy one! I know,

but it's still, it's still...
No, pronouncing that word!

Say that to me, I'd still
stumble over it.

I wouldn't be able to
pronounce that. Yeah!

Definitely.

..The hyper...

The Doctor Donna is back. Yes.

Channel up the booster drive!

Was this fun? Yeah.
"Shutterfy the positrons."

How long have I got to live?

55 seconds.

Just so heroic as well.

That's what I love about these two.

Best 55 seconds of my life...

So heroic.

..because I get to do this.
Five, four, three, two...

Donna Noble is descending.

Is descending.

Ignition reversed.
Ignition reversed. No!

The Meep's not happy about that. No.

The road knits itself back
up again, which is handy.

Yeah, it is really. It is really
for people in that street.

Yeah. They actually made us promise
that we'd do that.

Yes. Quite right, too.

Oh, but this is heart-breaking
now because she's dying!

Kill him! Eradicate him!

We did it.

She's fine.
She's safe.

You saved her.

Always wonder with Russell...

He's very good at making things feel
like they were planted.

You know, like all these bits
of plot that are all now

going to dovetail together
so perfectly,

it feels like he's known them
since 2005. For 15 years, yeah.

I know, right?

I mean, he probably had.

Well... You know, he probably had.

We'll never get a straight
answer out of him. No, you won't.

He's had a long time walking
around, working out

how he would tell this story,
I bet, I'm sure. Yeah.

Yeah. How would you bring her back
and what would you do?

Do what you want.

This ship isn't going anywhere.

Oh, you saved the world
but lost your friend.

Now feel the wrath of the Meep!

Destroy him!

Yeah, the ears have been replaced
as well.

You see, the ears are sort of
moving a lot more and there's a lot

more sort of life in them, yeah.

What?!

I love that. "What?!"

What?

But...how?

Closing down all psychedelic
light wave emanators.

Oh, it's just brilliant. ..and we
reveal that she's got the power...

And it's all about Rose! Yeah. Mum!

Can you hear me?

Mum? Doctor?

I think it's safe for you to come
down now.

It's a lovely bit where they figure
it all out. Yeah.

Too much power for one person,
but you had a child

and the metacrisis passed down...

'Course! ..a shared inheritance.

Of course...! Binary...

Nonbinary.

Binary.

Whoa...

I love all that regeneration...
Yeah. So dramatic.

I love the eyes.

It was always there, shining
out of her!

A bit used to all of that now,
David.

You've...had a few of those!
Oh, I...

I'm lousy with regeneration energy!

The toys. The toys!

I love this, the garden shed.
And the toys!

On the first cut, we had clips of
the monsters, as well, in here...

Oh, yeah? ..but it...just slowed it
all down, so we just...

..added the sound and it works
beautifully. Yeah, it works fine.

What, to sort of show people
what...? What they were... Right.

Remind people what the tie was,
in the end.

Actually, I think the truth is,
the toys are so brilliant. Yeah!

You just get what they are, you
know? It's so brilliant.

Obviously available in all
good stores close to you.

I'm going to have them all. All of
them. I want them all as well.

I wonder where they are, the
originals... Great badges and...

I think they're just great.

Ah-ha!

Aw...

There's a word for you, Doctor,

and that word is "jammy"! Yeah...

Jam on toast.

Calling the Meep!

You forget I still...
What a team.

..and if I have to
explode the engines...

And, of course, it's all been
isolated down to one final switch.

Yeah. Yeah...

Yeah, yeah... Oh, I love this.

This is brilliant.

It's so Hanna-Barbera, isn't it?

Argh....!

Trying to explain to Miriam what,

"Snashin', rashin',
catch 'em..." means.

Very much like... In the script,
Russell wrote that, you know,

the Meep's cursing like Muttley
from Dastardly and Muttley.

That was the first time we saw
UNIT Tower, I think.

Yes. Oh, was it? Yes, it is.
So faithful.

It won't be the last.
It will not be the last.

Keep your eye out for what's
in the skyline there.

Yeah, the UNIT Tower. Ah...

Oh, hi... And now another
cryptic line here.

Do you now know what this...means?
Yes. I do. Oh, I don't!

Because there's one more thing...
Still cryptic to me.

You'll get to find out,
with all the viewers. I know!

This is amazing because it looks
like it wasn't...

Like we put this in, and it wasn't.
That was all really there.

Who's the boss, David?
Who's the boss?

Who's the boss? Cryptic...

I hate that.

But...

We've still got to fix you two.

Because the metacrisis might have
slowed down, but that thing...

Oh, I love all this.
..wrapped around your cortex...

Such fun!

We know everything. Thanks.
And you know nothing.

It's a shame you're not a woman
any more...

Those soldiers were all good, as
well. They had to be drilled,

didn't they? Yeah. We had them all
out in the car park, drilling them,

working out how to hold weapons
and hold themselves.

A whole episode could have been
ruined by one slumping soldier.

Mapped with this interactive
lighting. All brilliant... Yes.

Like I said, mate...

Yes, that's right - they had some
real actual lamps on the set,

which would help mirror... Mimic...

..mimic the regeneration energy,
which then helps the CGI later...

Yeah, definitely. Yeah.

And obviously, as you can see,

all of that bottom of the spaceship
in the background

is all there for real, the legs...

Mm-hm. So you see those
two extras there? Yeah?

That's my mum and my sister.
Aw! It is, yes! Ye-e-s!

It's was my mum's birthday,
so I brought her along.

She had a lovely day.
Yeah... She did, actually.

She did. She came and said hello...

I had a nice chat with your mum that
day... Don't you dare...

Do you know...

And just at the back there,
on the right-hand side,

was a massive cordon

that we had to put up...
Like, hundreds and hundreds of fans

all turning out with their cameras.

It was really busy.
I was so worried.

I was so worried because
there were so many people,

but they were brilliant.
They just wanted to watch. Yeah!

They didn't want to disrupt it.

Just to catch a little glimpse...
They just wanted to watch.

..of the magic. Yeah. It was nice!

It felt like we were doing it
for them live, in a way.

Well, you were, I wasn't.
But you know what I mean.

Well, you were making it happen.

Imagine his face, Mum!

Oh, he would be so happy.

It was quite early on in this shoot

and I sort of felt... There was one
of those times when I thought,

"Oh, my goodness, we're back..."
"We're back doing this madness..."

It was really exciting,
all the stuff in London.

It really was. Mm-hm. Yeah.

Like a little road show.
..one trip, that's all. Just one!

A little glimpse...
Teeny little trip!

..of the TARDIS. A glimpse
of the new TARDIS.

It's like the old days.

And this... That is...
That's just a translate, isn't it?

No, we've actually... Put that in...

That's a green screen
that we've popped in.

We did! It's not quite finished,
I don't think, that shot...

We did have a chance, like. We did.
But it didn't...

The translate is just when
you literally have a picture

and you light it from the back
and you stick it on the back wall.

Yeah, so you get a glimpse of it.

So, tell us what you think of
this.

I mean, it's just the greatest set.

Look at this!
Look at the scale of it.

Yeah, isn't it brilliant?

And you'd... And you run around it!
It's brilliant.

It was Rachel.

I thought you just did this...

Rachel sort of proposed it.

And then I thought,
"I've had to find a route",

Yeah, because there's so many!

This is... I love it!
This is just...such joyous...

And I don't really think
you're acting there!

I'm not acting at all!
I'm having the time of my life.

I mean, it's a long way, though.

It is! I had a bit of a recovery
between takes. I was going to say.

It's massive. And the lights!

That's all... That all happens.
That all really happens. Yeah.

None of that's CGI.
Yeah. The bottom's not CGI.

The dome at the top... Nope.
It's all... It really is the set.

And it really is as big as it looks.

All the lights work independently.
They can spell-out words...

Yeah, so every single
one of the round lights is...an

individually controlled LED light.

So it's just...

Viewers, you are going to see this
set do amazing things

through the series. Yeah.

It really is... Just... It's just so
cinematic, isn't it?

I snuck on set - today.

You saw it when it was not finished,
you saw it early on. I did!

I saw it being constructed,
but then I went on set today

where Ncuti and Millie were filming
and there was a beautiful shot

as a crane sort of passes across it.
Yeah...

It's just... It's just a...

It's such good value, isn't it?

It's one of those,
you see directors...

You see directors just walk on there
and they just love it.

Yeah. They just love it.
We have to pull them off, actually.

We do. We have to keep... Vicki
keeps, you know, tapping her...

My watch! ..watch... Oh, because
they keep wanting to do...?

Oh, they just want to go on
forever... "Oh, we can do this..."

Yeah, yeah. You can't...

It's like a roller-coaster. It looks
like a roller-coaster, I think.

Lots for you to press, David.
Oh, yeah.

It was a great honour
to get to be the first person

to fiddle with it. And it is...

It's a significantly bigger console
as well. Oh, yeah!

That kind of running around it, it
takes you a bit longer now as well.

With my family...

We could do outrageous things!

Yeah, I like how it's all sort of...

Dinner! And a laugh...

..cracked...

That Japanese cracked porcelain
kind of look to it all. Yeah.

It's so beautiful.
I like that it makes tea.

Brilliant. Phil... Coffee. Coffee!
Not tea.

Tea is not a problem to a TARDIS.

Tea is not a problem, but coffee...
Coffee would terrify...

And I just could not believe,
you know, we'd spend so much money

and we'd get this brilliant,
gleaming, beautiful TARDIS.

And then in the first scene
we spend in it, Russell blows it up!

Yeah.

I was absolutely furious with him.

You know, I phoned him up
and I said,

"You have got to be joking!"

Here we go! You know, and he said,

"And I don't just want it to be like
a little thing..."

No, it's got to be massive.

..the biggest explosion there's ever
been on a TARDIS. Yeah!

So look at it. Oh, my word.

Mum. Mum! Donna!

I said so!

It's all going on...

And we're off. And you're off.

Back off into adventure again. Yep!

Who would have thought it, eh?

Who would have thought it?

All these years later,

we're still at it.

We're still adding
fire to those shots. Yeah.

We're still making it bigger
and bigger. Right.

I think we'll still be adding
fire to those shots

the night before it goes...
I think so too.

Oh, I really enjoyed that!
Really enjoyed that!

Again! Again! Again!
Again! Again! Again!

What a fantastic episode.

Thank you for coming back, David.
Oh, my...! Thanks for having me.

What a treat.

Thank you so much for listening.

See you next time! Thank you!