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mizgnomer · 1 year
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Behind the Scenes of Planet of the Dead - Part 24
Excerpt from TV & Satellite Week’s interview with Michelle Ryan:
She endured many a fight in Albert Square and in Bionic Woman, so battling aliens should be a piece of cake for Michelle Ryan as she takes on the role of the Doctor’s light-fingered companion Lady Christina.
The 24-year-old was required to perform a number of stunts for the role. “I got a real buzz when I was pulled on a wire 50 feet up. But I did once fall flat on my face when I was running down the sand dunes in Dubai.  Doctor Who Confidential has it all on camera.”
Ryan had never watched any of the new series before getting the role, but is now a firm fan. “I’ve got the box set and I can see why the show is so huge because David is a brilliant leading man,” she says.
“Being a Doctor Who companion wasn’t something I’d thought about, but when I was having photos taken to make the action doll of Christina, I thought, ‘This is really cool’.”
Link to [ Part One ] of this set, or click the #whoBtsPotD tag for all parts.  A link to all behind-the-scenes sets can be found [ here ].
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mizgnomer · 1 year
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Behind the Scenes of Planet of the Dead - Part 23
Excerpt from TV & Satellite Week’s interview with David Tennant:
Interviewer:  Did you have any particular concerns about doing all your own stunts after injuring your back playing Hamlet?
David Tennant:  I haven’t used a double for a single scene.  I have been through recuperation and everything seems to be working okay. Michelle did have slightly more to do than me in terms of action, though.
Interviewer:  Did she give you a run for your money then?
David Tennant:  She was terrific. We did a lot of running together. Usually I streak away, but with her it was a proper sprint
Link to [ Part One ] of this set, or click the #whoBtsPotD tag for all parts.  A link to all behind-the-scenes sets can be found [ here ].
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mizgnomer · 2 years
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Behind the Scenes of Planet of the Dead - Part 22
Excerpt from TV & Satellite Week’s interview with David Tennant:
Interviewer:  What would you like to happen before you go?
David Tennant:  I just want the scripts to stay brilliant. It would be a shame to go out in a blaze of novelty.  I know only two facts about what’s coming up and they are very exciting. There are some great people coming in.
Interviewer:  Have you had any input into how you leave?
David Tennant:  No, I leave that to Russell T Davies.  There are hints at the end of this story of a portent of doom, and that’s taken further in the next episode. But I don’t want to know the Doctor’s end yet. It will be sad to read the script, but exciting, too, because I know that Russell’s been building up to it for a few years now.
Interviewer:  Will you steal a sonic screwdriver before you go?
David Tennant:  It would be nice, but I don’t think I’d get away with it.  There are only two of them and they’re kept securely because the grand master of props looks after them with a paternal passion, so I would be lucky to smuggle one of them out.  I’ll probably get an old pair of trainers!
Link to [ Part One ] of this set, or click the #whoBtsPotD tag for all parts.  A link to all behind-the-scenes sets can be found [ here ].
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mizgnomer · 2 years
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Behind the Scenes of Planet of the Dead - Part 21
Excerpt from TV & Satellite Week’s interview with David Tennant:
Interviewer: You filmed part of the episode in Dubai. What was that like? 
David Tennant:  The landscape is breathtaking. When you need an alien planet in the middle of nowhere that can’t be achieved in a quarry outside Cardiff, you couldn’t ask for more.
Interviewer: What was the weather like?
DT: We had a sandstorm on our first day, but after that it was baking and I was wearing that ankle-length coat. I don’t think Time Lords sweat in the same way, though!
For more parts of this set, see the #whoBtsPotD tag, or the [ Masterlist of Doctor Who Behind-the-Scenes posts ]
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mizgnomer · 2 years
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Behind the Scenes of Planet of the Dead - Part 20
Excerpts from Doctor Who The Complete History:
While shooting took place in Cardiff, David Tennant was attending the Radio Times covers party at Claridge’s in London when he was approached by Lee Evans, who eagerly explained that he had been cast in Doctor Who at three days’ notice.  David returned to a sodden Cardiff in the early hours of Wednesday 21 to start work on Planet of the Dead, commencing with a special hour-long rehearsal session with Michelle Ryan conducted by James Strong from 4pm at the St David’s Hotel.  The main shoot was scheduled from 6pm to 5am back at the Butetown tunnel, with Doctor Who Confidential and BBC Interactive present... plus David kept his own video diary updated during the rain-lashed night, chatting to Tracie Simpson and John Bennett among others.
Thank you to anyone/everyone who shared set photos!
Link to [ Part One ] of this set, or click the #whoBtsPotD tag for all parts.  A link to all behind-the-scenes sets can be found [ here ].
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mizgnomer · 2 years
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Behind the Scenes of Planet of the Dead - Part 19
Interview excerpt from TV Week:
Interviewer:  The Doctor Who crew has left its usual South Wales location to film in Dubai.  Wasn’t that fun?
David Tennant:  Actually, it was very dramatic. We had a massive sandstorm early on, so it became something of an endurance test. We were caked in sand and my hair gel seemed to attract it, so I was like this bright blob.
Michelle Ryan: We didn’t really see much of Dubai, but that suited me. Driving along dunes in a 4x4 taking in the amazing views is much more me.
Interviewer:  Describe the chemistry between the Doctor and Lady Christina...
DT: They’re kindred spirits in a way. There’s a competitive gene between them and a sort of wanderlust, which they recognize in each other.
MR: Lady Christina’s super smart and super tough. A real tomboy. I’ve never really watched the show before, but I can gather from looking at the other assistants that there was more softness to them. I think the Doctor is really intrigued by her. She’s independent, mysterious, and quite closed off from people.
Link to [ Part One ] of this set, or click the #whoBtsPotD tag for all parts.  A link to all behind-the-scenes sets can be found [ here ].
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mizgnomer · 2 years
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Behind the Scenes of Planet of the Dead - Part 18
Interview excerpt from TV Week:
Interviewer:  This story features a bus ride. When was the last time either of you got on a double-decker?
Michelle Ryan: I use them all the time!
David Tennant: I used to when I lived in Ealing, in West London. And I get the Tube a bit. I don’t want to sound like a glamorous nob who doesn’t use public transport, but, well, we don’t have Tubes in Cardiff!
Interviewer:  What do you both think of Matt Smith as the choice for the new Doctor?
David Tennant: I’m really excited for him. Although I have to say it’s always hard giving up something that you love and then passing it on to someone else.
Michelle Ryan: I don’t know much about him although, weirdly, I was in a cafe near my house reading the script for this story when I started ear-wigging on two blokes talking about the new Doctor and saying how amazing he was. Of course, I made sure my script was well hidden!
Link to [ Part One ] of this set, or click the #whoBtsPotD tag for all parts.  A link to all behind-the-scenes sets can be found [ here ].
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mizgnomer · 2 years
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Behind the Scenes of Planet of the Dead - Part 17
Excerpt from TV & Satellite Week’s interview with David Tennant:
Interviewer: Lee Evans guest stars in this episode, too. Who does he play?
David Tennant:  He takes the role of Malcolm, who is UNIT’s scientific advisor.  I think the character will live in the memory. Lee has such incredible energy but he is also a lovely, unassuming man. He and his daughter have watched every episode several times, so we were happy to use and abuse his affection for our little show.
Interviewer:  Will you be jealous of Matt Smith when you see him as the Doctor?
David Tennant:  I hope I can just be excited to watch the show again as a viewer. It’ll be odd watching someone else do it, but it will be exciting not to know what’s coming. I’ve no doubt he’s going to be brilliant.
Link to [ Part One ] of this set, or click the #whoBtsPotD tag for all parts.  A link to all behind-the-scenes sets can be found [ here ]
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mizgnomer · 3 years
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Behind the Scenes of Planet of the Dead - Part 16
Interview excerpt from TV Week:
Interviewer: Catherine Tate used to complain that you ran too fast, David. Did you find this a problem, Michelle?
Michelle Ryan: I was shocked, because I was once the Bionic Woman and I can sprint really fast. But David’s like a panther - and I fell on my face running after him down the sand dunes. My legs just kind of buckled under me.
David Tennant: But I was actually having a bit of a wobble after I’d done my back in - so Michelle got all the stunts that were originally meant for me.
Michelle Ryan: Yeah, I had to be dangled 50ft up from the top of a building. But, after the initial ‘oooh’, you kind of get over it.
Link to [ Part One ] of this set, or click the #whoBtsPotD tag for all parts.  A link to all behind-the-scenes sets can be found [ here ].
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mizgnomer · 3 years
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Behind the Scenes of Planet of the Dead - Part 15
Excerpt from Doctor Who - The Complete History
David Tennant started making a video diary of his final days as the Doctor on Wednesday 14 January, as he returned to his Cardiff flat.  “The beginning of the end for me as Doctor Who,” he ruminated as he prepared to leave London.  “It’s a slightly odd feeling today heading off to start that. It’s been a mad old four years...”
Arriving at the readthrough at St. David’s Hotel later that day, David introduced himself as “Matt Smith”, and then chatted on camera to Julie Gardner, Russell T. Davies, and guest-star Michelle Ryan.  “It’s a relief to be back because I’m coming home,” he commented.  In the months since he had recorded Music of the Spheres (the short produced especially for Doctor Who at the Proms), David discovered that he had to remind himself of the voice he had used as the Doctor, by re-watching DVDs of his early episodes.  “I found it quite tricky to get into the mindset again,” he admitted to Doctor Who Magazine.
Link to [ Part One ] of this set, or click the #whoBtsPotD tag for all parts.  A link to all behind-the-scenes sets can be found [ here ] .
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mizgnomer · 6 years
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Behind the Scenes of Planet of the Dead - Part Fourteen 
Excerpts from Benjamin Cook’s set report in DWM 408
[after the last day of shooting celebration - in Dubai] Later that evening, in the bar of the Holiday Arabian Resort, we watch Wales beat England at rugby on a giant TV, in a “thrilling Six Nations encounter” (copyright all commentators). DWM doesn’t understand rugby, really. Neither do David [Tennant] or Michelle [Ryan], so we all play cards instead, along with Paul Kasey [monster performer] (”It’s like an extended family holiday,” he enthuses) and other rugby dissenters.
“It became a sort of huge card-playing thing on that shoot,” relates Michelle. “Is it a Doctor Who tradition? David won quite a few games, didn’t he?” Like Daniel [Kaluuya, who plays Barclay and who beat Michelle in a race in the desert], David isn’t particularly gracious in victory. “I know, he had a victory dance! I was like, ‘I’ve got to get my sharpness back. I’ve become too comfortable.’
“Although, a few of us did jump in the pool,” she reveals.  “That was kind of a last-night-jumping-in-with-all-your-clothes-on thing.” Or was she depressed because Wales won the rugby?  “No, I just had the urge to jump in, I think, with David. We weren’t drunk!  It was freezing.  I climbed out and got changed, and then I was like, 'I’m ready to play cards again now.' But others were like, 'WE’RE GOING IN AGAIN!' So I did as well.  It was one of those spontaneous things.  Yeah, they’re good to do.  It was a great way to finish the shoot.“
Other posts from this set [one] [two] [three] [four] [five] [six] [seven] [eight] [nine] [ten] [eleven] [twelve] [thirteen] All of my previous behind-the-scenes photoset posts can be found here. 
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mizgnomer · 6 years
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Behind the Scenes of Planet of the Dead - Part Twelve 
Excerpts from Benjamin Cook’s set report in DWM 408  [on the end of shooting in the desert] One more take... and that’s a wrap!  Two cool boxes full of beer arrive on the set - cue cheering - and there’s just time for a company photo in front of the bus before the sun sets.
“We should have got a bottle of champagne,” says Mark the gaffer, “and smashed it against the bus.”
“Yeah, and then Danny [Hargreaves, special effects supervisor] could have set fire to it,” laughs James [Strong, director], “and we could all bash it with sticks.” But before he leaves the desert, he says, “Let me take one last look...”
David [Tennant] clocks this. “You getting sentimental, James? Over a bus?!”
“No! Well, maybe. Um...”
Does David reckon he’ll be sentimental on his last day as the Doctor? It’s not that far away now. “I don’t know how I’ll feel when I get there,” he says. “It’ll probably be very scrutinised. I don’t know if the last day will be anything like the last in story terms. Usually you’re so out of sequence that your final scene is something very unimportant - walking down the street or opening a door - so time will tell. But it’s - what - 12 weeks away, so I’ll cope. I’ll find ways of coping. I’ll be knackered by then, so I won’t care.”
Other posts from this set [one] [two] [three] [four] [five] [six] [seven] [eight] [nine] [ten] [eleven] [twelve] [thirteen] [fourteen] [ Masterlist of all Doctor Who Behind-the-Scenes Photosets ]
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mizgnomer · 6 years
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Behind the Scenes of Planet of the Dead - Part Eleven  
Excerpts from Benjamin Cook’s interview with Michelle Ryan in DWM (#407)
The director, James Strong, told DWM that - unusually for Doctor Who - Michelle and David Tennant had a rehearsal period before filming.  We want to know more. “James said, ‘Let’s find those moments between you where we see Christina’s vulnerabilities,” she explains. “He wanted David and I to find those nuances so that it wouldn’t be full-on and fast-paced - which it was at the readthrough. The Doctor and Christina are a good match. I don’t think she’s like an assistant in as much as she isn’t really in awe of his presence or status. She’s used to meeting incredible people. He can’t quite believe how she takes charge. But there’s something about the Doctor that’s humble and genuine and caring that maybe she hasn’t come across before. That’s what we were working through in rehearsals, delving deeper into the character.”
DWM asks whether there’s sexual tension between the Doctor and Christina. “Yeah,” Michelle grins, “and I think it’s a real meeting of minds. He’s bowled over by how sassy and witty she is, and how she’s completely not in awe of him. It’s only as time goes on that she’s thinking, ‘There’s something special about you. You’re different to guys that I’ve met before.’ He doesn’t really want to go there, but... yeah, there’s definitely a chemistry. And David is one of the best actors that I’ve ever worked with.  He’s so professional, so lovely, so giving to everyone… and it’s genuine.  I cannot speak highly enough of him.  It’s almost like ‘here’s how to be a leading man.”
Thank you to everyone who shared set photos!!
Other posts from this set [one] [two] [three] [four] [five] [six] [seven] [eight] [nine] [ten] [eleven] [twelve] [thirteen] [fourteen] [ Masterlist of all Doctor Who Behind-the-Scenes Photosets ]
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mizgnomer · 7 years
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Behind the Scenes of Planet of the Dead - Part Ten  
Excerpts from Benjamin Cook’s set report in DWM 408
[after their disastrous first day of filming in a sandstorm] How far is David’s patience tested on a day like this? “Although it’s been miserable today,” he replies, “and obviously everyone’s tense, people haven’t collapsed into depression about it - maybe because we’re away and it’s novel. It’s pretty grim, the sand being blasted in our faces all day, in your eyes and mouth, but everyone has to look to exactly what they need to do to make this machine that’s malfunctioning run as efficiently as it can under the circumstances. That’s all I’ve hoped to do, to try to keep it together.”
“It was a day of days,” says James [Strong, director], “but we staggered to the end. The worst thing about it, knowing how beautiful that desert is, was the thought that perhaps we’d go home to Cardiff with this really quite average footage. What an absolute shame.”
[the next day] “BLUE SKY!” shouts a delighted David Tennant, as the sun rises in - yes! - a crystal clear sky. “Let’s get going.”
The plan is to re-shoot yesterday’s wide shots first, including the abandoned stuff with the crane. Bizarrely, nothing much goes wrong. Michelle grazes her finger, but only slightly, so she puts on a plaster. “I’ll sell it on eBay,” she says. DWM gets its shemagh [the red-and-white head-covering the crew used to keep blowing sand out of their faces] caught in its zip. Um, that’s about it. This can’t be right. Where’s the catastrophe?!
Other parts of this set:  [one]  [two]  [three]  [four]  [five]  [six]  [seven]  [eight] [nine] [eleven] [twelve] [fourteen] [ Masterlist of all Doctor Who Behind-the-Scenes Photosets ]
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mizgnomer · 7 years
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Behind the Scenes of Planet of the Dead - Part Nine
Excepts from the podcast with Julie Gardner (executive producer), James Strong (director), and David Tennant
David: Can I just say, Adam James, I’ve known for 10 years. We did a play together at Manchester Royal Exchange, and he’s been banging on to me about getting him into Doctor Who since I started - to get him to come and play a part - I’ve had no joy whatsoever, but then...
James: Then I met him last year doing Hustle
David: Yeah
James: ...and then he banged onto me 
David: [laughing] Yeah, and you managed to get him in!
James: And there he is!
Julie: Also, I met him last year when we all went on a little trip together
David: Of course, yes, yes
Julie: He is hilarious. He’s one of the funniest men I’ve ever met!
James: Bless him.
David: There he is. Very pleased to finally be in Doctor Who.
Julie: He’s great, and he just kept going on these cold nights.
James: Yes, he did - and his bits were always right at the end. He was always sat in his little police car with Norman the extra, pull out right at the end.
Julie: David, you can’t have had much time with him
David: No, that was the only slightly disappointing thing. We have sort-of one scene together at the end, a tiny little thing, yeah.  So no we didn’t really.  We hung out a bit between
Thank you to everyone who shares set photos!
Other posts from this set [one] [two] [three] [four] [five] [six] [seven] [eight] [nine] [ten] [eleven] [twelve] [thirteen] [fourteen] [ Masterlist of all Doctor Who Behind-the-Scenes Photosets ]
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mizgnomer · 7 years
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Behind the Scenes of Planet of the Dead - Part Eight
Excerpts from Benjamin Cook’s set report from DWM 408
Outside the airport, the 40-strong cast and crew pile into three minibuses. (Routemasters would have been more appropriate, surely?) As we head north out of the city, the mirrored glass skyline recedes to make way for an enormous expanse of desert. This will be our home for the next four days.
DWM’s minibus is the first to arrive at the Holiday Arabian Resort (no seven-star city hotel for us)... and that’s when we get news that the minibus carrying David Tennant and Michelle Ryan, amongst others, has been pulled over by armed police! No, really! Something to do with a broken tail-light. Apparently, everyone’s had to get off and stand on the verge, in the dark, while the driver slips officers a fistful of dirhams. (Some of this story turns out to be true.) Meanwhile, minibus number three is missing in action. It took a wrong turning and is heading for Oman.
[The next day] Today is ‘Prep Day’, a recce in the desert, the first chance for the cast and crew to check out the location at which they’ll be filming for the rest of the week. We travel the final five minutes on an open-backed army truck, because the terrain is too demanding for our coach. “We’d make the worse army ever,” chuckles special-effects supervisor Danny Hargreaves, as one by one we struggle up the stepladder onto the truck. David and Michelle aren’t even allowed on board, for health and safety reasons. That annoys them. They travel by four-by-fours instead.
Other posts from this set [one] [two] [three] [four] [five] [six] [seven] [eight] [nine] [ten] [eleven] [twelve] [thirteen] [fourteen] [ Masterlist of all Doctor Who Behind-the-Scenes Photosets ]
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