TARDIS

the TARDIS

My journey into time and space began on a bright sunny morning in Cardiff. I stood in the carpark of the famous studios and looked over at the Welsh mountains; I knew it was going to be a good day. As it happens I’d never in the past thought to actually find out where the series was filmed, so

when we arrived at these non-descript warehouses I was a little surprised. I didn’t really know what to expect but it just looked ordinary.

We were driven round the back of the site and passed two very familiar red double-decker buses. At this point I was told to keep by eyes closed, so they could film all my reactions moments first hand. Trust me there were a lot of those ‘moments’ during the day! Parking round the back I was taken to my trailer, it had a big gold star with Sao Til on the door. This was cool enough, but they also told me it was Catherine Tate’s trailer and that John’s was next door.

Sitting in the air-conditioned coolness inside I was briefed on what was going to happen during the day. Part of the crew from the BBC studio were accompanying me to do the behind the scenes filming, so it was nice to see some familiar faces. After this they left me with a script to go over my lines. On a quick side note, I received my script a couple of days before, which I had rehearsed like mad, so I already knew the lines off by heart. It was surreal to sit there though reading a Russell T. Davies script with my name on it.

Soon it was time to begin. By now I had got used to being filmed talking and walking, but still listened to the producers as I didn’t want to get things wrong. So intently was I listening that I didn’t notice John saying good morning. Trust me, I was mortified when I realised he was talking to me and I was ignoring him! In my defence though he wasn’t wearing his showbiz gear and I was a little distracted!

Anyway, embarrassment over, we shot my ‘arrival’ and then John had a quick chat about what was going to happen. I also met Brian Minchin, the Producer for the shoot. He congratulated me and somehow we got on to talking about the various versions of Captain Jack’s coat, one for each type of weather, you know.

Back in the trailer for more nervous waiting, and then it really was show time. John, with camera crew in pursuit, took me on a tour of the site. We passed David’s trailer (a note to self it was open at the time but I didn’t put two and two together at that point), briefly paused so he could point out Tommy Knight from Sarah Jane going the other way and to show me the entrance to the main studio, I would see more of that later. First off was the prop warehouse.

As we approached I saw Russell T Davies for the first time. He was doing an interview, which turned out to be all the links you saw in the auditions. I had no idea he was going to be there and I hoped I would get to meet him later. The prop warehouse was massive, piled floor to ceiling with everything you could think of but all strangely in some kind of order. John said they use these props for all three shows and as we walked he asked me where various things had been seen. There were so many things I recognised such as the clowns from Sarah Jane, the cash machine from Run Away Bride and the TVs from The Idiot’s Lantern. Standing next to a very tall phonebox-like shape under a sheet (hmm), we did some more interviews then he took me to see one very special prop. Retrieving a silver box from one of the shelves, John passed it to me and asked me to open it. Inside was my alien arm, only upgraded! After leaving it with the team in London, I thought nothing more of it and certainly didn’t expect them to do anything with it. But looking at it now, it looked like a proper Doctor Who prop.

Next up was the TARDIS. I’ll admit I was nervous. Standing outside the door waiting to go into the main studio, I didn’t say much. John led me through and there were the iconic doors, the domed outside of the console room filled the remaining space.

As I opened the door and walked

up the ramp, it was amazing, I was actually in the TARDIS. The first thing I noticed was that yes it is bigger on the inside, a cliché I know. Rather it is bigger than it appears on TV. Approaching the console I realised that the detail was stunning, all the buttons and pieces in the console were workable and a lot were moveable. John wasn’t even sure what some of them were for or where they had originally come from. As I walked round the console I remembered all the history of the set and what had gone on there, it was a moment!

At this point Russell arrived on set and that was another moment, meeting and speaking to Russell about my character on the set of the TARDIS. I thanked him for writing a great script and he said he was impressed with the character. Out of everyone I met Russell is exactly as you see him on TV, a really funny guy.

John then introduced me to Alice Troughton, the director. She was so nice and friendly and put me at ease straight away. We sat down and went through the lines and discussed the script with John and how we were going to approach it, before blocking it out briefly on the set so we could see how it would flow.

Stood on set John said he wanted to give me some advice on how he prepares before acting. He turned me round so we were side by side next to the console. The camera was on us at this point, but I didn’t think much about it. John then asked me to close my eyes and go through this breathing technique and I did it….like a fool. We all know now that while this was going on David was sneaking up behind me. As we continued I felt a hand on my shoulder and thought ‘Ok, John is now giving me a massage’. Then I heard a very familiar voice. It registered but took a second or two for me to work out who it was. As I turned round it still really hadn’t dawned on me that he was there until I saw him and well, you saw the reaction!

Standing there with David, John and Russell all in the same room was out of this world. David had his revised script, now I was acting alongside John Barrowman and David Tennant on the TARDIS. Never in a million years did I think I’d ever be doing this. David complimented my alien design and he laughed when John made me tell him about the chicken fillets. Once again they instantly became the joke of the day!

As soon as that ‘moment’ had snuck up on me, I was then rushed to make up to prepare for the shoot. Changing into my costume was followed by being ‘blued up’ in make-up by a member of the Millennium FX team. Mask on, cane out and arm activated I did the most nerve wracking walk of my acting career as I walked onto the set of the TARDIS as Sao Til.

First off, it looked totally different. It looked like the proper TARDIS, like you see on the TV. The technical team had been working and they’d powered on the lights and effects. It’s amazing what just a few lights did and how they lit the TARDIS from behind the walls, very clever. Standing on my starting point at the console I turned and came face to face with Captain Jack Harkness. Another moment for me, facing one of my heroes, and he was in the full Captain Jack attire complete with the coat.

I had a chat with the crew, who as with everyone else I met were really nice. They had just come in from doing night shoots for the final episodes and they were back on again that night, so I was very humbled that they had took the time out to film me.

The next four hours or so was filled with acting out the scene over and over again. We started off filming mainly angles that focused on me but included John as well. Going from rehearsal to the actual recording, we performed up to the entrance of David then stopped for re-takes and slight changes. They then did the same but looking over John’s shoulder more so they could get his view of me, followed by more re-takes and changes yet again.

My first impressions were that filming for TV is very a stop and start affair. I know it was only a small scene but even then we stopped and started for camera changes, re-position or even just if the director wanted us to do it slightly differently. I can understand now why a full episode location shoot can go on for days. At one point Alice asked me to give my initial opening line and then follow with an evil laugh much like The Master of the classic series. So I channelled my best Anthony Ainley and threw a little panto villain into it too!

During the breaks between takes it was very relaxed and casual. I chatted to John and the crew about allsorts of random things. John kept asking if I was ok and whether I needed a break. To be honest I was fine, more than fine really. It was weird; through it all I didn’t feel tired at all.

David and John are really good to work with. I had fun working alongside them both on and off camera. During the rest of the breaks I stood with them and we chatted about everything. From my costume, the competition to Comic Con and Matt Smith’s Doctor. Looking back it was a surreal experience. People often ask me, did you feel nervous or star struck acting opposite John and David? To be honest it didn’t affect me at all. I’ve met many cast members at conventions and you get that little buzz when you first see them. But with John and David it was different. I can’t describe it. When I was acting it was just acting, I didn’t think about where I was or who I was with, just that I wanted to do the best performance I possibly could.

The filming continued with shots of the studio, something that has never been done before outside of a Confidential episode. David was only supposed to be there for a set amount of time due to the shoots later that night. So we went through this part of the scene as quick as we could and had to shoot some later reaction shots with a stand in. When David left I couldn’t shake his hand as one was blue and the other was in a wine cooler. So in the end he squeezed by chicken fillets! Yes, there they are again!

Then there was just the final piece of the scene to shoot and one of the funniest. Alice made us run around that console so many times, in fact a few of them she admitted to just letting us run and run with it because she was laughing so much. You could hear her laughing from the side of the set at so many points. The high kick was genius from John by the way!

Once we had finished there was just enough time for photos on the set and quick thanks with the crew before they, and John, were whisked away to the next project. I peeled off my mask and was escorted back to makeup to try and get my blue off. It kind of did, but I was left with a slightly cold looking hand and neck for the journey home. A quick change back into me and then I was whisked back to a car to make my way home. I did get one last look at the TARDIS as I left. The crew had all gone and it was left, all lit up, alone. I had a weird feeling as I stood there watching it from a distance. At that point it could’ve been the real thing.

All in all it was an amazing and surreal experience than I still can’t really describe in words. I had such a fun time and everyone was so nice and welcoming. John and David were so down to earth and friendly, working with them on Russell’s last script for Doctor Who and just this whole experience will be something I will never forget.

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