Meeting the new Doctor
On the evening of Thursday18th March, the press assembled in Cardiff to witness new Doctor Who Matt Smith’s maiden episode. We were there – of course, and it was brilliant! – but better than that, earlier in the day we enjoyed a special tour of the Doctor Who studios in Upper Boat, three miles outside Cardiff. And here’s what happened…
After a quick briefing, Doctor Who’s executive producer Beth Willis led us into the wardrobe department where costumes from this year’s run were on display. As for the Time Lord’s togs, Beth revealed she was initially against the idea of a bowtie, and balked when she saw how Matt had rolled up his trouser legs. ‘But then,’ she says wryly, ‘[co-executive producer] Piers Wenger pointed out I’ve got no dress sense at all, so I let it go’.
From there, it was on to the set of the newly remodelled Tardis. Built in the studio which formerly housed sister show Torchwood’s hub set (a painted Welsh dragon, a remnant of that design, still lurked in the backdrop) we were greeted by Doctor Who’s show-runner Steven Moffat. ‘Anyone who’s trying to look cool about this has to go home now!’ he roared.
‘The Tardis rebuilds itself in the very first episode,’ he says to explain the new look. ‘We saw it getting damaged when David Tennant so carelessly regenerated at New Year. Because the Doctor is completely mad, the Tardis rebuilds around his madness, so the console’s got a typewriter, it’s got a bell. It’s got foot pumps! We were originally thinking we could have a very modern Tardis, but then we realised there’s no such thing as “modern” to the Tardis. Every single moment is modern to it, and every single moment is history. So it just uses everything and anything it thinks the Doctor will need.’
The result is a huge space (nearly three times bigger than the previous design), with walkways leading off into other parts of the ship. ‘One of the things I was very, very keen on were the exits off from the control room,’ explains Steven, ‘cos I used to love that as a kid. So you know there’s a whole other world in here.’
Our favourite detail? A plaque at the console base, which will probably never be seen on screen. The inscription is one long Doctor Who in-joke: ‘Time and Relative Dimensions In Space. Build site: Gallifrey black hole shipyard. Type 40, build date 1963. Authorised for use by the Shadow Proclamation for qualified Time Lords only. Misuse or theft of any Tardis will result in extreme penalties and possible exile.’
Leaving that set, it was off for a confrontation with a Dalek, bedecked in khaki for an upcoming episode set during World War II. Having been introduced to ace Dalek operater Barnaby Edwards, Matt Smith sauntered in dressed in full Doctor garb. ‘Barney’s like the best Dalek driver ever!’ he smiled. ‘Show us your shoes’.
Clambering out of the machine, Barnaby revealed his well-trodden trainers, wrapped with black gaffer tape so his frantic paddling is never caught on camera. ‘It’s like the Flintstones’ car,’ he said. ‘You operate it by your feet’.
After that, it was a final debrief with Piers Wenger and Beth Willis. Talking about the opening episode – The Eleventh Hour – Piers said: ‘It is a big, glorious romp. It’s Independence Day on the village green. It’s wonderfully daft in places, but that makes you love it all the more. Over the course of this series, I think that’s what people might take away. It is extremely funny.’
By Graham Kibble-White
