August 2005

Actor Michael Sheard, one of Doctor Who's most prolific guest actors, died today of cancer at his home on the Isle of Wight according to a BBC News report and a statement on the actor's website. He was 65. Sheard appeared six times during the course of the series, with appearances in "The Ark," "The Mind of Evil," "The Invisible Enemy" and "Castrovalva" as well as his most familiar roles as Laurence Scarman in "Pyramids of Mars" and the Headmaster in "Remembrance of the Daleks". Sheard later returned to Doctor Who for Big Finish in the audio "The Stones of Venice" as Count Orsino. He was best known on British television in the role of Mr. Bronson on BBC1's "Grange Hill," and made his mark on popular film as Admiral Ozzel (who met his fate at Darth Vader's hand) in "The Empire Strikes Back", as a U-boat captain in "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and in a brief cameo as Adolf Hitler in "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade". He was also seen in roles in "Coronation Street," "Dixon of Dock Green," "Crossroads," "Auf Wiedersehen, Pet," "On The Buses," "The Tomorrow People" and countless guest starring roles. Sheard was also a very popular guest at Doctor Who and Star Wars conventions for the past twenty years -- his last appearance was just last month in St. Louis -- and was the author of four books about his memoirs, which included his recollections about years of conventions around the world.

The upcoming biography of Nicholas Courtney, "Still Getting Away With It" written by Courtney and Michael McManus, will have a special edition release at the upcoming Regenerations convention next month. A brand new cover, specially done for the convention, has been announced by Scificollector, who are publishing the special edition. "This is a limited edition that we have done in this special cover for the event," says Scificollector's Steven Scott. "However recognising that there will be some collectors who cant get to Swansea, we have reserved a quantity of 100 which can be ordered from our website (should be up by tomorrow). These will not be despatched until after the Swansea weekend, but we thought that Outpost Gallifrey's readers would want early notice of this new publication."

Amazon.co.uk has revealed two new cover images for the Doctor Who novels being released at the end of this year: Simon Guerrier's The Time Travellers starring the First Doctor, Ian and Barbara, and Andrew Cartmel's Atom Bomb Blues starring the Seventh Doctor and Ace. Also, there is now a new, revised cover image for Terrance Dicks' Second Doctor novel World Game; Outpost Gallifrey was informed that the cover illustration previously seen would change slightly at some point, the new cover possessing a different image of Troughton and revised background features. Click on each thumbnail for a larger image.

Warner Home Video has released the cover illustrations for the forthcoming North American DVD releases of The Claws of Axos starring Jon Pertwee and City of Death starring Tom Baker; click on each thumbnail for a larger version. Interestingly, it seems that the release of "City of Death" will be a few days prior to the UK release; a UK cover has not yet been issued.

There's a reason why there haven't been any new set photos the past week... the production spent a week filming at Clearwell Caves, finishing on Monday this past week, and have now gone back to the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, where they filmed last year's episode "Dalek". "The set is dressed up like a 'James Bond style' office with posh chairs and tables," says our correspondent Ian Golden. "A video screen is showing a loop of a satellite broadcast of the Earth and there is a big Union Jack in one corner... There's loads of extras, all dressed in black riot gear. No David or Billie today but maybe tomorrow - they are there until the end of Thursday. Doctor Who: Confidential was filming there today as well." The production is now said to be returning to the studios in Newport for indoor filming, as they are filming three episodes simultaneously: the Christmas special, episode 1 and episode 3.

David Tennant appeared today on Blue Peter to promote Doctor Who, and here's what transpired:

The "design a monster" competition received 43,920 entries, apparently the best response to a Blue Peter competition since 1993. The top five hundred were shown on boards in the studio, with the presenters pointing out some of them to a visiting Dalek which cast its opinion on them, and footage was also shown of the team with Russell T Davies at his home judging the entries. Following this some close-ups of runner-up entries were shown accompanied by the series theme tune. Then following a clip from "The Parting of the Ways," David Tennant was introduced in the studio, interviewed by the three presenters. He said that he didn't want to give too much away, but promised some 'Christmassy elements' in the Christmas episode.

Questions from viewers were given to him from viewers. The first question was, did he watch as a youngster? Tennant replied that he did, and one of the presenters asked if he watched from behind the sofa. Tennant questioned whether anybody could do this as sofa are surely against walls. The next question was, did he watch the last series, and if so did he have a favourite part? He said that he had watched, and would have done so even had he not been taking on the part ū although he did say his favourite moment was the regeneration when he took over! The third question was where would he go in time and space if he could choose... he said he'd like to go back and see the first performance of Hamlet and meet Shakespeare. He was then asked how his Doctor would be different from Christopher Eccleston's, to which Tennant replied that the clothes would obviously be different, but that they would have to watch and judge for themselves otherwise. He did use the phrase 'A bit down with the kids', however.

The live webchat after the show was then advertised. The Dalek then introduced the winners, clips from Davies' house shown again, and then the winning entries were announced for third, second and first places in the three different age groups. Tennant introduced first prize winners. Overall winner spoke on the phone about how he was inspired, asked Tennant who his favourite Doctor was. Tennant said Tom Baker, as he was the one he grew up with. Neill Gorton was then interviewed about how he was going to realise the design. The female presenter mentioned that it had been hinted there would be "evil teachers" in an upcoming episode, in reference to an evil school dinnerlady drawing! Some other monsters mentioned included a big green egg with a slurpy tongue protruding; the Indian god Shiva, except with more arms; a "broccoli" monster (which seemed to amuse Davies in the film clips); and Sad Tony, a pink and tearful version of the Ogron Monster from "Frontier in Space".

The winning monster from the competition, which will be used in the series, was called an Abzorbaloff and is described as a "hairy Sumo"... green, snarly, wild-eyed, with the faces of previous victims showing through its skin. William Grantham from Colchester was the winner of the competition.

Executive producer Russell T Davies was not present, despite pre-airing reports that he would join Tennant on stage; instead, he was shown judging the competition from his home, looking delighted with the entries.

Tennant then went to the CBBC Studios for a web chat which lasted approximately 15 minutes; many of the questions were in much the same vein as the ones asked of him on Blue Peter, with no additional information learned.

UPDATE: The Blue Peter BBC website now has a page of all winning entries; click here to see all of the finalists in all three age categories.

UPDATE: The BBC Press Office has issued a press release with full details about the contest, noting that the judges included Blue Peter editor Richard Marson, Blue Peter presenter Gethin Jones, Russell T Davies and David Tennant. There were also also a few brief answers from an interview conducted with David Tennant "during rehearsals" this afternoon posted here, and a transcript of this evening's webchat should be up soon at this site.

Blue Peter Screen Captures (courtesy Matthew Spencer)

Commentaries have been recorded for the forthcoming Doctor Who Series One Box Set due out in November. DWM notes the following commentaries have been recorded for each of the 13 episodes (noting that one, "The Long Game" had not yet been recorded at press time):

• Rose - Exec producers Russell T Davies and Julie Gardner, producer Phil Collinson
• The End of the World - Collinson, Will Cohen (visual effects)
• The Unquiet Dead - Mark Gatiss (writer), Euros Lyn (director), Simon Callow (Charles Dickens)
• Aliens of London - Gardner, Cohen, David Verrey (Joseph Green)
• World War Three - Collinson, Helen Raynor (script editor), Annette Badland (Margaret Blaine)
• Dalek - Rob Shearman (writer), Dave Houghton (VFX supervisor), Nicholas Briggs (Dalek voices), Bruno Langley (Adam)
• The Long Game - Langley, Brian Grant (director), Christine Adams (Cathica)
• Father's Day - Paul Cornell (writer), Billie Piper (Rose), Shaun Dingwall (Pete), Collinson
• The Empty Child and The Doctor Dances - Steven Moffat (writer), John Barrowman (Jack), Houghton
• Boom Town - Collinson, Barrowman, Badland
• Bad Wolf - Davies, Gardner, Collinson
• The Parting of the Ways - Barrowman, Gardner, Piper

DVD Giveaway! Outpost Gallifrey has received five copies of the Doctor Who Series 1 Volume Three UK DVD, just released by BBC DVD... autographed by JOHN BARROWMAN (Captain Jack) and BRUNO LANGLEY (Adam Mitchell)... and we're making them available to our readers!

We have some photographs and a brief set report from the filming at The Hayes in Cardiff on the Christmas special on Monday night, 8 August. The photos, from Rob Stickler, were shot with a phone camera so they're not the best quality: "All I really saw happening was extras getting off a red London bus and Mickey and Rose walking down the street, looking quite chilled. Lots of market stalls and a big Christmas tree. There were some Santas hanging about but I didn't see them do anything. Did see Noel and Billie rehearsing a scene where they darted off like they were being chased. No sign of Tennant." Interestingly, he notes, "Someone at Waterstones must have deliberately on purpose forgotten to take the 'Doctor Who' novels out of the window. I happen to know that they were specifically asked to make sure they weren't visible." The pictures note that the Henrik's Department Store, used in the opening moments of "Rose," will be back in this episode.

     

Paul Mount

It's a balmy Monday night in August in Cardiff, current home of Dr Who and the Hayes area of the city centre is undergoing an amusing transformation as filming continues on the sixty-minute Christmas special "The Christmas Invasion". Afternoon preparations continue into the early evening and by around 7.30pm Howell's store has once again been transformed into Henrik's (location of 'Rose') courtesy of a well-placed banner covering the Howell's sign and with posters advertising the Henrik's Christmas sale. Out on the pedestrianised area outside the store a huge Christmas tree - thirty feet or more high - is being carefully adorned with coloured lights and tinsel. Clustered around the tree are a number of market stalls selling Christmas paraphernalia and, curiously, a newspaper hoarding for the Evening Standard proclaims "Soccer Star's Divorce Shock" or words to that effect. Christmas lights stretch between the buildings, a congestion charge sign has been erected in the adjoining Wharton Street where an illuminated 'Merry Christmas' sign hangs between Howell's and its neighbouring building. For a while not a lot is happening - production crew are hurrying to and fro and there are security guards and Police aplenty. There's a noticably large crowd gathering - dozens of people, many clearly hardcore fans, others families with young children, others just new fans drawn to the first new series. They're all happily hanging on to security barriers (again more numerous this year) slyly taking photos of the set and the props. As the night draws in there are signs of increased activity. Filming is due to start around 10.30pm, I overhear - and I also hear that our hero, Mr Tennant, won't be here tonight although he was present - in civvies - watching filming and happily signing autographs earlier in the evevning at another nearby location.

The action moves to Wharton Street. Several scary burly men in Santa costumes take position outside the door to Henrik's. A red London bus is manoeuvred into position in the perilously-narrow street and a coach disgorges what seems like a hundred extras dressed in their best winter clothes. Some of them are laden with Christmas parcels. Billie Piper and Noel Clarke, who were apparently on set earlier rehearing an action scene (see an earlier post in this thread) are back, getting on brilliantly as they repeatedly rehearse a scene where the bus crawls along Wharton Street and Billie and Noel walk hand-in-hand through the throng of shoppers. It's midnight and the scene is repeated until director James Hawes is satisfied. Billie is delighted to spot an old friend at the edge of the set and she spends a few minutes animatedly chatting to him. Producer Phil Collinson watches the action from a nearby monitor. Over-enthusiastic photographers are distracted by a huge arc light shone in their direction and one photographer with a particularly long lens balanced on a tripod is thwarted by two production members who block his view by holding up two huge white boards!

That's it for tonight, I'm afraid.

Chronic Hysteresis

Ok, here's what I saw [on August 8]. I got there at 8pm and the crew were setting up still. Around 9.30ish Billie and Noel turned up and went into rehearsal mode later on. There was a coach-load of extras too who were all dressed into winter coats and they were givn shopping bags full of prop-presents. Filming started after 11pm. The group of santas stood outside the Dept store pretended to play trombone (sound to be dubbed later). Billie and Noel walked up the street and Billie and Noel walked up the street through the xmas shoppers. Although I didn't see this next bit being filmed, I did see Billie and Noel running through, as though chased, through the market stalls in rehearsal. The only other bit of action I saw was on the monitor which was of the boom-arm coming down fast to one of the santas...whether that was an arty shot or whether it could be some kind of aerial threat I'm not sure. I stayed til 2pm as Billie and Noel were sat down whilst most of the equipment was taken down prior to a final bit of filming that they were to be in (perhaps the running around the stalls bit?).

So, you see, a bit light on the story itself. At a guess I would say they got about 5 minutes in the can...and believe me, watching 6 or more takes for a 20 second section of film is not nice when it's cold, you're tired and there are the Cardiff chavs shouting exterminate. Which reminds me...there were a few police there which was quite a good idea I thought. A tthe start there were about 40 fans but as the action didn't start til about 11pm, it was a big ask to expect people to hang around. There were approx 3 press photographers there, one from Starburst mag. They had HUUUUUGE lenses and probably got some good shots as the filiming was near enough but maybe a little too far for pocket-digitals cameras. I have to say, they were well behaved....although their shutters were lots louder than my digital, whilst filming was taking place. Fan-wise, people kept to those they knew mainly but there was a wide range of ages from a baby to about 60ish.

The official Doctor Who website has brought back WhoSpy, their continuing series of 'preview' photos that show bits of the action from the set. Last year, the WhoSpy feature ran a series of photographs that started rather obtusely (props and such) but later developed into behind-the-scenes production and shots of the cast.

Last week's edition of "The Bookseller" focuses on Film and TV Ties-ins, previewing several previously announced forthcoming titles. A Teaspoon and an Open Mind: The Science of Doctor Who by Michael White is published in hardback by Penguin on 3 November, about which the trade magazine says that "This entertaining guide to the real science behind the fictional world of the cult series delves into some of the most fascinating areas of contemporary scientific enquiry in an accessible way. Topics include time travel, alien life forms, telepathy, teleportation, cybernetics, crystals, regeneration, and (naturally) eternal life." Listing it in its "Ones to Watch" section for November, The Bookseller notes that the author will be promoting the book. One of four titles selected for the Film and TV Tie-in "Big Sellers" this Christmas, Panini's Doctor Who Annual 2006 is listed alongside books by Sir David Attenborough and Alan Titchmarsh and another new edition of The Da Vinci Code. Says The Bookseller: "Doctor Who has undoubtedly been the TV success story of the year. Through the simple strategy of making the new series really good Russell T Davies and friends have turned the good Doctor from a low-budget laughing stock into essential Saturday evening family viewing. The spin-off novels have already been a huge success and there is a further slew of titles out in time for Christmas. This is the pick of them, featuring all-new stories from the show's writers, comic strip adventures and behind-the-scenes information. It's guaranteed to be the essential annual for tiny timelords throughout the galaxy." The "Top Title" in the "Children's TV" section is Justin Richards' Doctor Who: The Legend Continues ū "Yet more Whoviana, this is a richly illustrated history of the series over five decades. It has features on every one of the TV stories and includes previously unseen photographs. Should appeal both to hardcore fans and more casual purchasers looking for a Who-related gift." And of Doctor Who: Only Human, the magazine says, "One of three new ęDoctor Who' novels featuring all-new adventures available in time for Christmas. The first trance sold very strongly and there is no reason to suppose that these won't do just as well. The other titles are The Deviant Strain and The Stealers of Dreams." (It's worth noting that this level of coverage of and interest in Doctor Who books is unprecedented in the trade press, and it is very likely that it will be reflected in the presence and visibility of all these titles in bookshops over the next few months.) Finally, Mark Gatiss's novel, The Vesuvius Club, gets another lease of life in November, this time as a graphic novel.

Doctor Who is a huge success in New Zealand according to a report on The Scoop: "Cult classic Doctor Who is proving to be a ratings success for Prime Television. In only its fifth week on screen, the programme's ratings have placed the network in third place amongst the four commercial channels for the 7:30pm time slot. Last night's figures reveal that Doctor Who achieved an all time high, boasting a channel share of 15% for AP 18-49. The programme also performed strongly against the network's core demographic 25-54 achieving a 14% share. Doctor Who is particularly strong with male audiences 18-49, achieving a channel share of 20% last night." Also important is the comment that "Prime Television has scheduled series two of Doctor Who to screen in Winter 2006."

The Mirror has taken the words of the new series production team asking fans to keep from disrupting photography... and as usual, turned it into a story. "Doctor Who fans are wrecking the new series by turning up on set with their own special effects," says the article. "The BBC has pleaded with 'Whovians' not to take pictures as the flashes and even the sound can ruin recording. TV bosses do not announce where the hit series will be filmed - but hordes of devoted fans have descended on Cardiff to watch David Tennant and Billie Piper in action." Interestingly, the Mirror has also reported in the same story that Zoe Wanamaker is returning, "but it isn't known if she'll play Cassandra" (once again, your editor wonders where the Mirror is getting their news from!)

In the Scotsman, a comment about David Tennant: "It is transfer season once again, that dangerous time when fans have to put up with the misguided decisions of their team's management. In a trice, hopes can be dashed beyond recall and dreams destroyed totally. So it is with the cruel announcement that Scottish actor David Tennant - misguidedly referred to as a "heart throb" - is replacing that genuine alien, Christopher Eccleston, as the Doctor. When Doctor Who was revived after a 16-year absence, I was both excited and dismayed. The return of a cherished British sci-fi hero after decades of American Star Fleet political correctness was welcome. But would the BBC bureaucrats ruin it? Would the new Doctor be so updated that he ceased to be the delicious combination of alien maniac and sexy subversive that made the character plausibly different from real human beings. And God knows whether Billie Piper could even act. But the return of the Doctor proved a super nova (including Piper's acting). The plots were up to their historic best, the Daleks more frightening than ever. And Eccleston emerged as a candidate for the best-ever Doctor if only he could hang on a couple of seasons to own the part. Then disaster struck just as if the Master had interfered yet again with time itself. Eccleston had quit because he did not want to be typecast - too late, Christopher - and BBC Cardiff had found a replacement. And who did we get to play the greatest alien in the universe? The being we need to save Earth? The son of a former Moderator of the Church of Scotland better know for playing Andy Crawford, the wimpish sidekick of Dixon of Dock Green in the radio revival of the cosy 1950s police series. Yawn. OK, I know lots of interesting folk come from Paisley and I did see bits of Tennant when he starred in the television version of Casanova. He's a passable actor and clearly more in love with playing the Doctor than was Eccleston. But as another disgruntled fan put it: 'Somebody who looks like a weasel could never play the Doctor. It's over!' Just to prove the nightmare is official, the BBC has announced what it calls a "striking" new outfit for Tennant's Doctor. This turns out to be a striped suit and trainers. Golly gosh! How spiffingly trendy. The Daleks will be impressed."

Says the Sydney Morning Herald of "Bad Wolf" this weekend: "With just two episodes to go, a series worth of loose ends are about to be tied up - but before that, writer Russell T. Davies is going to have some fun. ... Australian viewers might not appreciate how spot-on these send-ups are, as our versions of the shows are subtly different. The Big Brother spoof uses the real music and logo and the android hosts of The Weakest Link and What Not to Wear are voiced by the actual people - Anne Robinson, Trinny Woodall and Susannah Constantine. There are plenty of sly digs at reality TV here, but Davies is not about to bite the medium that feeds him."

The Dominion Post of New Zealand reviews the final performances of the "Inside the TARDIS" stage show that toured Australia before coming to this country. "In an attempt to cash in on the recent resurrection of Doctor Who, an arm of the BBC convinced doctors six and seven -- Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy -- along with Katy Manning, who played third doctor Jon Pertwee's assistant, to undertake the stage equivalent of a talk show. ... The host was Australian radio and television presenter Tim Ferguson, who, while occasionally funny, was a bit like getting a $ 2 Shop version of Rove McManus. While Manning's excitement sometimes came across like a child in need of Ritalin, the anecdotes, clips with her as assistant Jo Grant in 1970s clothes and her enthusiasm were funny and entertaining. It also nicely set the show's tone, which was largely irreverent. But why no one bothered to give her a glass of water as she struggled with laryngitis was a mystery. Did this show have a stage crew? At one point, with coughs almost exploding the microphone strapped to her head, she even had to flee the stage to find water. No one bothered to turn off her mike, so she could still be heard hacking away off stage. ... Despite this, it was obvious from the number in the mostly male, middle-aged audience photographing and videotaping the show to the large number lining up for autographs afterwards that most were hardcore fans who would settle for anything just to glimpse their heroes. There's nothing wrong with that, and as Wellington's Writers and Readers Week shows, some of the best stage entertainment can just be people talking about their work. The show's lapses could also be forgiven at a sci-fi convention, where a level of relaxed amateurishness is expected and can actually improve an event. But when people are asked to hand over as much as $ 65, there is only one way to respond to whoever came up with this idea: 'Exterminate! Exterminate! Exterminate!'" The article also appeared at The Stuff.

Monday morning's The People says of Billie Piper, "Her turn in Doctor Who as Rose got better and better as the series went on. She's really become a good actress. And with time, she'll probably get better at rejecting utterly rubbish movie scripts, too." The article refers to her appearance in "Spirit Trap," the debut of her film this week. "With this (and a tiny role in last year's weak The Calcium Kid - well, it was never going to be great, Orlando Bloom had the lead role), Billie has proved you can be in the hottest TV show of the day, and can still find the time to make movies that everyone will hate. This one's a teen-horror movie that'll have you cowering in terror afterwards in fear you might accidentally end up watching it again. ... It's all a bit of a misfire, but I do like Billie. So she gets a couple of rashers by herself. It's the ratings-system gift that every girl wants."

WorldScreen has a report on a BBC Worldwide sales showcase in Rio this coming September, with "Doctor Who" apparently due to be one of the featured programmes being promoted to potential buyers: "BBC Worldwide Targets Latin American Buyers. This September in Rio de Janeiro, BBC Worldwide will host its second annual BBC Showcase Latin America. The event will be held September 11 to September 13 at the JW Marriot Hotel Rio de Janeiro. The first BBC Showcase Latin America took place in Buenos Aires. The event will allow Latin American broadcasters to screen programs, attend producer presentations and meet with production teams. Featured programming will include Top of the Pops, Dancing with the Stars, Charlie and Lola, Little Robots, Doctor Who and Bodies. Those slated to attend include representatives from HBO Ole, Discovery, Canal 22, Televisa Networks, Canal 4, TV Azteca, Canal 11, Globo TV, Teleamzonas, and Bandeirantes TV. 'BBC Worldwide Americas is committed to bringing the very best of British programming to Latin America," said Jose Sanchez, the regional director of Latin America television sales, at BBC Worldwide. 'BBC Showcase Latin America is an excellent opportunity for us to reach out to Latin American broadcasters and to build on existing relationships and establish valuable business partnerships within this market.'"

Also: DigitalSpy reiterates the filming disruption story; an article in The Age (Australia) discusses television becoming a "woman's world", referring to Billie Piper and her relationship with the Doctor in the first series.

According to the fan club list for her official website, actress Zoe Wanamaker, who voiced Cassandra in last year's "The End of the World," is set to make a repeat appearance during the second series. It is unclear at this point as to whether or not she will reprise the role, do voiceover or be seen in the flesh, or perhaps something else entirely. Wanamaker is apparently taking part in the series early in the season, possibly in the first episode. More details soon.

Below are six new photographs Outpost Gallifrey has obtained of on-set photography over the past few days. The first, by Dave Greenham, was taken today (Monday) in Cardiff, while the other five are more of Stephen Watts' photos from last Friday's shoot. As always, click on the thumbnails for larger versions.

     

John Williams:
As luck would have it, filming was taking place today (and has been since the early hours apparently - we were there just after 3pm) right opposite an ice-cream parlour, in the former bistro bar/restaurant under Signor Valentinos Italian Restaurant.

We approached the bay from the direction of the Millennium Centre. My suspicions and excitement were first roused when to the left, in front of the Pierhead building (Red church), we spyed an open-backed rental van containing all sorts of standard furniture, lighting equipment, and two large police-box sized colour prints of the TARDIS interior (presumably interior rear wall prints for the TARDIS prop).

As we made our way round towards the bistro area and Terra Nova bar where Boomtown was filmed last year, huge blackout screens had been hung from the railings around Signor Valentinos, obscuring everything in the building beneath. Despite our best efforts, we were unable to glimpse anything within. However when we arrived, there was quite a scary looking character wearing a black hooded cloak with a whitened face and dark eye sockets outside the screen waiting for his queue. We were then rewarded further when both Billie and David came out at that moment to take a break. David was wearing his new crumpled brown pin-stripped suit (no coat) and cool shades, Billie in tight black trousers, a purple silk short sleeved blouse and in full make-up with her hair tied up. There were also a couple of kids wearing modern clothing who Billie and David spoke with and also some guys wearing DJ's and black bow ties.

A couple of minutes later they all disappeared back inside. We chatted up the guy closest to us, who happened to be the location manager. We spoke about the Duffryn High School shoot, and he confirmed it for us as being for Doctor Who. He was then called away to choose a TARDIS landing spot, just as Billie and David broke out from the screens again (David this time wearing his coat). A red Volvo estate had already reversed up, and they both dashed over to it and jumped in the back, apparently off to a late lunch.

David certainly looks great in his new costume, and I think he likes it too. There was a very noticable and accentuated degree of coat flapping going on as he made his way to the car! My daughter was chuffed as she managed to catch a wave from Billie before she fastened her seat belt. The car then drove off, and the location manager told us that they would be returning to Newport later for some filming in one of the squares (didn't catch the name, regrettably).