"Hello!" "Wakey-wakey, it's Christmas!" "It's Christmas!" "Hi!" "Action!" "We're back." "It's the Christmas ep." ""Merry Christmas, Mr Sardick. "" "I despise Christmas!" "Confidential is back to bring you all the magic of a Doctor Who Christmas." "This is Doctor Who meets A Christmas Carolmeets Jaws." "It's a rich and Christmassy tale." "Yeah, right." "Get him out of here." "We got sleigh rides, we got maidens in ice and we've got monsters in the fog." "And Katherine Jenkins singing." "It's one of those moments again where you think," ""What is happening today?" "Here I am" ""on the floor with a shark singing to it. "" "And the festive fun continues when Cardiff is lit up by the Doctor." " Merry Christmas, Cardiff!" " Merry Christmas!" "It's not any old Doctor Who episode." "It's a Doctor Who episode you should only ever watch on Christmas Day." "And I will be watching it." "Confidential gets off to a dazzling start with a dollop of Christmas cheer." "We're about to go out and switch on the Cardiff Christmas lights!" "I mean, that's such a privilege." "Darvill." "Yeah." "Yeah, it's very exciting." " Button." " Yeah." "Oh, you got the sonic." "Merry Christmas, Doctor Who Confidential." "Before our special guests come out this evening, they're gonna want to know, if you watch a programme..." "Apparently, there's a programme called Doctor Who these days?" "Do we want them onstage tonight?" "Would you please welcome Arthur Darvill who plays Rory Williams," "Karen Gillan who plays Amy Pond, and, finally, the Doctor, Mr Matt Smith." "Hello." "Hello." " Merry Christmas, Cardiff." " Merry Christmas." "Happy November." "Thanks for coming!" "Are you having a nice time?" "Yeah!" "Is everyone right at the back having a nice time?" "Yeah!" "And are you looking forward to Christmas?" "Yeah!" " Yeah!" "Did you realise, Arthur, just how big Doctor Who was?" "No, I don't think you can realise how big..." "I mean, until you see..." "Until you walk out and you see this." "It's, uh..." "It's a bit..." "Oh, hello." "Yeah." "It's amazing." "It's constantly surprising." "I would just like to say quickly as well, thank you for making us so welcome in Cardiff." "'Cause it really does feel like home, so..." "Nice one." "Thank you." " So, how do we do this?" "Great thinking." "I tell you, the best thing we'll do, Doctor, I have an idea." " You've got the sonic screwdriver?" "I have." "If I get the crowd to do a count to five..." " Do we think a five, Arthur, Karen?" " Yeah, yeah, yeah, okay." "If I do a count of five, you have to raise the roof and we'll see if it's loud enough for the sonic screwdriver to work, Doctor." "What do you think?" "I believe it will." "Let's see." "I hope so." "'Cause we need to turn the lights on." "Okay, so why don't we do a five?" "Here we go..." "Five, four, three, two, one!" "Merry Christmas!" "Yay!" "It worked." "And, look, the lights!" "Ladies and gentlemen, the Christmas lights are on in the capital city of Wales, in Cardiff." "It's so beautiful!" " Would you join me in thanking" "Arthur, Karen, Matt, Rory, Amy, the Doctor!" "Thank you very much indeed to all three of them." "Cheers!" "So the stars have set Cardiff alight and the festivity begins." "But the real Christmas journey began way back in July, when the script came alive for the very first time." "Have we, do you think, got enough people here to start?" "Sometimes it's the only time when the entire team stand in the same room or sit in the same room." "Hello, everybody!" "Hello!" "We're all gonna start." "We're gonna dive in." "So, if you've got a name on the table, please sit at it, otherwise sit where you like." "The read-through is the very first time where it begins to come alive." "And, I think, the energy and the excitement that brings is a really, really helpful measure." "You, kind of, want to hear it aloud." "You want to hear it, um..." "You want to hear the story in sequence and the actors..." "And to match voices to faces." "I like to, sort of, sit there and listen." "Have the story told to you instead of just reading it in your head." "We have Steven Moffat reading the stage directions, which is the best thing ever." "Because he reads them like he's swallowed all volumes of Harry Potter" "I once described." "And it's a bit like that." "He's brilliant at them." ""Sardick Town, night." "The sky, foggy, boiling clouds." ""It's night, but the clouds are lit from below by the orange glow of the city." ""Flickering streetlamps and narrow streets." ""Foggy and frosty, but no snow." ""Hurrying figures wrapped up tight against the cold." ""Victorian in effect, but not in the details." ""This is a colonised planet several decades on." ""A city of iron girders and rivets and rust with narrow windows," ""a twisting labyrinth of slanting alleyways and raised walkways." "" Fog hangs over the whole scene" ""and looming mournfully through it, flamelamps." ""Like streetlamps but glass-enclosed flames at the top." ""Also Christmas trees, hanging decorations." ""Speakers hanging from the streetlamps and from them Silent N ight. "" "We got Michael Gambon." "I just couldn't believe it." "We had a conversation with Andy Pryor, our wonderful casting director, and said, " Do you think we could get Michael Gambon?"" "" No, we'll never be able to get him." ""Michael Gambon is not gonna do this!" "Are you crazy?" "He's Dumbledore." "" He's Michael Gambon!"" "And he just said, "Yes"." "I was never offered a role before." "So there's no "finally"." "I just took a role on Doctor Who." "I like Doctor Who." "I remember it when..." "Really, that's how old I am." "When it was Daleks and cardboard." "At the read-through, he just said his first line and the whole room just went still." "Me and Beth, I think, exchanged a glance going," ""Yay!" "We've got Michael Gambon!"" "And Matt looked up at me and went..." ""On every world wherever people are," ""in the deepest part of the winter at the exact mid-point," ""everybody stops and turns and hugs," ""as if to say, 'Well done." "Well done, everyone." ""'We're halfway out of the dark. "'" "This amazing voice saying Steven's lines and it just really came alive." "And you could really get a sense of Kazran's character, and we knew that this was going to be very special." "" Back on Earth, we called this Christmas," ""or the winter solstice. "" "" But you know what I call it?"" "I call it, expecting something for nothing!" "Sir?" "Mr Sardick?" "We're only asking for one day." "Just let her out for Christmas." "She loves Christmas." "Does she?" "Oh, does she?" "Hello!" "Wakey-wakey, it's Christmas!" "It's Christmas!" "It's really exciting to work with somebody who's like a, sort of, walking legend, as Michael." "I've really liked his work in the past." "That was good." "I think, go for it." "I think if you wanna do a little tap on there, just tap there." "You know..." "And get really in there." "Look right down the lens if you can." "Hello!" "Wakey-wakey, it's Christmas!" "And you can go, "It's Christmas!"" "Get really annoying." "Come on." "Go on." "Really horrible." "I asked the director, who is brilliant, what I have to do today and he tells me, puts me straight." "So everyday he gives me a little guide to where I am and I play that day's work as much as I can." "And that's how it fits together." "And action!" "Hello!" "Wakey-wakey, it's Christmas." "It's Christmas." "I think she's a bit cool about the whole thing." "That's good." "And just one more, and do the "It's Christmas. " a bit less aggressively." "And action." "Hello!" "Wakey-wakey." ""It's Christmas." ""It's Christmas!" ""You know what?" "I think she's a bit cool about the whole thing. "" "That was funny." "And I think what we hadn't anticipated is just how good Matt and he would be playing opposite each other." ""Oh, it's you, isn't it?"" "Everyone else looks surprised." "You look cross." " "What the hell are you doing here?" - "There you see, cross." "" Don't be cross." "Have a Jammie Dodger. "" "There's this great cast and the crew are just..." "It's like a dream job, really." "They just bring a big sense of fun to this story." "And they are both very irresistible..." " Yes." "Yes." " Characters." "They've both got a brilliant sense of humour." "And it was amazing at the read-through because" "Matt is brilliant at read-throughs." "He always sets a wonderful tone." "'Cause sometimes you go to read-throughs and people are a bit shy." "They don't really want to put any welly into it." "But, Matt, you know..." "But Matt's first few lines he always says," ""I'm setting the tone for this read-through" ""by really giving it my all. "" " "So I need your help then. " - "Make an appointment. "" ""There are 403 people in a spaceship trapped in your cloud belt." ""Without your help, they're going to die. "" ""Yes. "" " You don't have to let that happen." " I know." "" But what the hell?" "I'm going to. "" "They plead to me for help." "The Doctor does, " Please help these people. " I say, " No. "" " "Why?" - "I don't know any of them. "" "" No?"" "" Never will either." "Bye-bye." "I'm bored now. "" "Chuck." "Kazran is an old Scrooge-like miser." "H is heart has been welded shut for Christmas." "There are 4,003 people I won't allow to die tonight." "You know where that puts you?" "Where?" "4,004." "Was that a sort of threaty thing?" "I'm sitting in my chair shouting at poor people with no money," "I'm going, "Get out of my house, you filthy poor people. "" "I don't like poor people." "I think in Doctor Who terms, Kazran is a totally atypical baddie." "'Cause the Doctor is usually up against someone completely wicked, without a redeeming feature." "He's never really tried to reform a Dalek or a Cyberman or a Sontaran." "Whatever happens tonight, remember you brought it on yourself." "Yeah, yeah, right." ""Get him out of here." ""And next time try and find some funny poor people. "" ""Meanwhile this little boy the Doctor was speaking to," ""he glares at Kazran and snatches up a coal and hurls it at Kazran," ""catching at the back of Kazran's head." "" Kazran freezes for a moment, then rises from his chair." "" Kazran is stepping fast across, raising his hand to strike the boy. "" "" No, stop!" "Don't!"" "There's just a critical moment in this show where the Doctor is thinking," "" Right." "You're a bad man." "You brought it on yourself. "" "And he's off to bring him down, do whatever he does." "And it would be easy for the Doctor to bring down Kazran Sardick." "'Cause he's nothing compared to the Doctor." ""And Kazran is towering over the boy," ""monstrous, his hand raised, ready to strike," ""and something odd happens." "He seems to hesitate. "" "And then he doesn't hit the boy." ""On the Doctor, watching. "" "Get him out of here!" ""Get that foul-smelling family out of here!" "" Now!" "Now!"" "And he thinks, "Ah, he's not completely bad." "" He's damaged, he's not bad. "" "Kazran has been affected by the loss of love and by his father." ""We zoom in fast, right into the Doctor's eye." ""Now cutting round, freeze-framing details of the room." ""The Doctor has already noticed an oil painting" ""of a man who looks very like Kazran. "" "He's had a horrible life, really." "H is father hurt him and beat him." "You're scared of him." "You're scared of being like him." "Good for you." "You're not like him." "Not really." "And it all comes back to him during the performance." "Merry Christmas, Mr Sardick." "I despise Christmas!" "You shouldn't." "It's very you." "It's what?" "What do you mean?" "Halfway out of the dark." "" Halfway out of the dark" simply refers to that's originally what Christmas was." "It was the halfway point of winter." "The " H urray, now we're climbing back towards the light," ""as opposed to deeper into the dark. "" "But it's also a metaphor for the Doctor, for Kazran." "Someone who is halfway out of the dark." "Not completely bad." "Saveable." "He knows there's a little bit of good in Kazran's heart, and he has to restore that." "And so, in a way, it's the Doctor's chance to do the Christmas Carol really." "A Christmas Carol." " "A what?" - "A Christmas Carol!"" " A what?" " "It's A Christmas Carol!"" "Dickens at Christmas." "A Christmas Carol is probably my favourite Christmas story of all time." "And, of course, we know that the Doctor's met Charles Dickens." " Charles Dickens?" " Yes!" "N ice to meet you." "Fantastic." "We can't pretend that he doesn't know the story of A Christmas Carol." "He actually has to..." "We can't do an adaptation of A Christmas Carol." "The Doctor must be consciously aware that he's sort of recreating the plot of that story." "'Cause Dickens is a character in his universe." "You're brilliant, you are!" "Completely 100% brilliant." "I've read them all!" "Great Expectations, Oliver Twist..." "And what's the other one?" "The one with the ghost?" "In the Dickens original, you've got the ghost of Christmas past, the ghost of Christmas present and the ghost of Christmas yet to come." "There is kind of time travel in that story." "It lends itself to Doctor Who." "Who are you?" "Tonight, I'm a ghost of Christmas past." "The Doctor comes back and takes him back in time to his younger self to try to soften that Christmas heart." "Get out!" ""Get out of my house now!"" ""Okay." "But I'll be back. "" "Way back." "Way, way back." "He's got a time machine, so he can take you back to the past." "Christmas past." "Who are you talking to?" "You." "He uses the story of the Christmas Carol and the idea of the past, present and future ghosts to rewrite Kazran's memories." "Now, your past is going to change, that means your memories will change, too." "Bit scary, but you'll get the hang of it." "I don't understand." " I'll bet you don't!" "I wish I could see your face." "But that never happened!" "" But it did!"" "The Doctor is absolutely altering Kazran's past." "He's rewriting Kazran's past." "New memories." "How can I have new memories?" "He's not revealing memories to Kazran." "Those things genuinely didn't happen." "The Doctor is constantly announcing that he cannot interfere with history or time." "And yet never does anything else." "Just because it's..." "Every time he arrives on a planet, he changes the history of that planet, usually by kicking alien invaders off." "He says he shouldn't." "He says he should never interfere in other civilisations, but he does." "So Kazran has almost two lives in his head." "He remembers what his life used to be, he remembers what it has now been rewritten to be and has to cope with that." "So we had to do the three different stages of Kazran's life." "So we obviously had three different actors." "And Laurence was playing the youngest version of Kazran." "Who's unnervingly better than me in every scene." "It's true, isn't it, Laurence?" "My character is young Kazran Sardick." "So the young version of Michael Gambon." "Turnover." "Turning." "Quiet." "Don't speak." "And action." "Right then!" "Your bedroom..." "Great." "Let's see, you're 12 years old." "Stay away from under the bed." "He had this great ability to capture the story and really draw you in with his big eyes." "Right, so, what are we gonna do?" "Eat crisps and talk about girls?" "I've never actually done that, but I bet it's easy." "Girls?" "Yeah?" "Are you really a babysitter?" "I think you'll find I'm universally recognised as a mature and responsible adult." "It's just a lot of wavy lines." "It's shorted out." "Finally, a lie too big." "Okay." "I'm not really a babysitter." "But it's Christmas Eve, you don't want a real one." " You want me." " Why?" "What's so special about you?" "Have you ever seen Mary Poppins?" "No." "Good." "'Cause that comparison would have been rubbish." "So, fish in the fog." "Fish in the clouds." " Okay and cut there." "Cut there." "When you're talking back to him, you say, "Why?" "What's so special about you?"" "I think that's the line you'd still be unsure about." "Like, "Why?" "What's so special about you?"" "Kind of like, he's really close to you." "You know, this weird guy is getting..." " You just don't know who he is." " Okay." " You know what I mean?" " Yeah." "Just feel disconcerted." "He was a real pleasure to work with." "And it came very naturally to him as well." "Okay." "No, I'm not a babysitter." "But it's Christmas Eve, you don't want a real one." "You want me." "Why?" "What's so special about you?" "Laurence was a dream." "For his age, I think he's 14, wonderful, wonderful actor." "Gonna be very interesting, I think." "So he just acted me off the screen in many scenes, reluctantly." "Merry Christmas!" " Doctor!" "Merry Christmas!" "Kazran?" "And the Doctor has to bring love back into his life." "You've grown." "Yeah." "And now you're blushing." " Sorry." " That's okay." "Well, Katherine Jenkins, what a perfect fit!" "She embodies a kind of princess and then she has the voice of an angel." "Well, I can't concentrate when I have to do a scene with her." "I can't do any of my lines." "I can't even think straight." "I get overwhelmed." "I got approached about possibly being in the Christmas Special of Doctor Who." "I think it was a couple of days before my 30th birthday in June, and I've never done any acting." "Not everybody thought that I could do anything like that." "And because of all the singing stuff that I've got going on I just..." "It wasn't something that I particularly wanted to do, but then when I heard about it being Doctor Who." "And it's such an iconic show." "It suddenly made me think, "That is something I would love to try"." "So I asked them if I could come in and read the script." "And I thought, "Well, if I'm rubbish," ""they're not going to trust such a big episode with me. "" "So I went in and I read." "And I got the news on my 30th birthday that I got the part." "And that was the best present ever!" " Best Christmas Eve ever!" " Ah!" " 'Till the next one." " I look forward to it." "Now I'd like to say good night to Kazran." "Of course, yes." ""Oh!" "Oh, yes." "Right." "I'll..." "I'll go then. "" "Good night." "Good luck..." "N ight." "Good night." ""And he stumbles away almost colliding with one of the cylinders. "" "Sorry." ""But Kazran is pursuing." ""Pulls the Doctor aside." "Whispered confab. "" "" Doctor, I think she's going to kiss me. "" "Yeah, I think you're right." "I've never kissed anyone before." "What do I do?" ""Well, try to be all nervous and shaky and a bit rubbish. "" ""Why?"" "" Because you're gonna be like that anyway." ""Might as well make it part of the plan." "Then it'll feel on purpose." "Off you go!"" "I don't want to talk about the kiss." "No, I don't mind really, it's just like..." "Oh!" "Oh, it's a chore having Katherine Jenkins fall in love with you." "It's a really hard job." "I've never done that kind of onscreen thing before." "And it's obviously very different when you've got a huge crew of people watching you." "We tried to have a bit of a joke about it." "And a bit of a laugh." "We're having a good time." "I mean, we'd both laugh a lot in between takes." "You know, it's all a bit ridiculous." "Her boyfriend's quite big as well, so..." " " Now?" "I kiss her now?" - " Kazran, trust me." ""It's this or you go to your room and design a new kind of screwdriver." "" Don't make my mistakes." "" Now go!"" "You don't just film it once." "It gets filmed again and again and again." "I think we probably had to snog for about an hour and a half." "Yeah." "It's great fun." "I'm gonna be a hero back home, I think." "So I know him very well." "I'm embarrassed now." "You've got to move on." "Yes, moving swiftly on to, uh, more kissing." "Once they got started there was no stopping them." "Psst!" "Guys!" "Guys!" "We've really got to go quite quickly." "I just accidentally got engaged to Marilyn Monroe." "How?" "Is it?" "How do you keep going like that?" "Do you breathe out through your ears?" "It's..." "Guys!" ""Sorry." "Hello?" "Guys, she's phoned a chapel, there's a car outside." ""This is happening now. "" "Yoo-hoo!" " Yoo-hoo!" "Right." "Fine." "Thank you." "I'll just go and get married then, shall I?" "Let's see how you like that." ""Marilyn, get your coat!"" ""And Abigail and Kazran part." ""And we now see that their faces are streaked with tears. "" "What are we gonna do?" "There is nothing to be done." "Of course, the tragedy of Abigail is that she was dying when she went into the ice." "And we're practically seeing her very limited afterlife." "She's got eight days." "And she happens..." "Lucky her, she gets eight Christmas Eves and falls in love and does all that." "But she is dying from the moment he meets her." "Now look at me." "Better a broken heart than no heart at all." "Try it." "You try it." ""Why are you here?"" "'Cause I'm not finished with you yet." "You've seen the past, present..." " " Now you need to see the future. " - " Fine, do it." "Show me. "" "What do you think?" ""Standing there next to the Tardis," ""watching, is his 12-year-old self." ""Young Kazran is staring at his own future in tearful horror." ""And Kazran just struck dumb with the horror of this." ""And now young Kazran is approaching, staring at his older self," ""eyes brimming, incredulous." ""Old Kazran doesn't know what to say, can find no words." ""Now his younger self is standing right in front of him." ""And he raises his hand to strike his younger self and freezes." ""And that's the moment it happens." ""He just changes." "He can't be this way any more. "" "That's what really this story is all about, is the defrosting of his soul." "I'm sorry." "I'm..." "I'm so, so sorry." "As the course of the story and the Doctor does his meddling, he softens and he starts to find kindness" "and love in his heart again." "It's a very bad man who eventually gets shown the light." "Merry Christmas!" "What are we gonna do?" ""In the street outside," ""young Kazran and Abigail are both working one of the rickshaws," ""fitting a harness between its shafts. "" "You are out of your mind." "This will never work." "Oh!" "Don't think shark." "Think dolphin." "The rickshaw was fun." "We harnessed the shark and we're riding through the sky." "And we filmed that on a greenscreen." "Just a bit of gentle rocking like that and then I'll go much more extreme for the last one where we shoot past." "We've got our actors in this rickshaw, which we've got on a gimbal here which we're steering from left to right, just so it gives that sensation of flying." "This is the centrepiece of the Christmas Special in a way." "It's where things really lift and are magical." "It's like a science-fiction sleigh ride." "We were being thrown all over the place, as if we were really being driven through the air." "And at the beginning I want you all tense like that, just as if you're going down the steepest, steepest hill." "And you're looking ahead, even though we're above you." "So, it lands and then as it lands parallel to us, boom!" "You all kind of go, whoa!" "Like that and then you'll be like..." "Like that." "Just controlling, okay?" "The camera goes..." " Oh!" "So it starts there." "So we're back, back, back, back, coming forward, forward, boom!" "Okay." "And so we go like..." "Yeah, that's brilliant." "Yeah." "The rickshaw was great." "The wind machine was great." "Just a lot of screaming and hanging off really, with me and young Laurence and Katherine." "But it's great." "When do you get to do things like this in television?" "You never." "Doctor Who is the only show where you can really do full-blown adventure." "A shark sleigh ride." "It's never been done before in television and here we are with our rickshaw doing it now." "You get that sort of rush from like a rollercoaster." "It's really cool." "I got to do it with Matt and I also got to do it with Michael Gambon, so I had two goes." "Sir Michael Gambon!" "What I love best is when you're both laughing." "It'll be nice just to get you both looking at the same time, almost simultaneously, so we do a visual cue." "When you..." "It doesn't matter when, 'cause when the camera comes in there..." "Are you looking at Ciaran?" "Do you ever see him?" "Ciaran, when you feel the camera come into there..." "Yeah, oh, oh." "Yeah." "And then we..." "What do we do then?" "You look at each other." "Just a brief look at each other." "When the camera comes..." " When Ciaran sticks his tongue out." " Oh!" "Okay?" "Good." "Whoo!" "Because we can't get underneath this rickshaw here, we built a model, that we can raise up very easily and then we can do all the shots looking underneath." "Three, two, one, lift." "'Cause we can either do this in CGI or we can try and get something that's a bit more physical and a bit more real." "And there's a sense of realism about it." "Something so fantastical as a rickshaw being pulled by a shark, it just needs every help we can get to make it feel as real as possible." "It's great fun being able to do it in a more traditional way, just like the old Doctor Who series, you know, when they used models back then." "Also, it's like there's a tradition of model uses in science fiction, with Star Wars and stuff like that." "I've never been able to do it before and normally it costs a lot of money and you use motion control rigs and that kind of stuff." "But we're just doing it our way, with like, uh..." "Our camera operator just pushing along the track." "Getting all the timings right, getting a bit of puppeteering in there." "And the whole thing would just, sort of, come together and give it this natural feeling and hopefully look fantastic." "Three, two, one, lift." "Yay!" "Whee!" "It's one of those things you'd go home of an eve, and you say "What did you do today, dear?"" ""Well, I was doing this and I did this and this and this and what did you do?"" ""Well, I was on a rickshaw with a wind machine," ""pretending to be flying through space. "" "We had a new designer, Michael Pickwoad, who started his time with Doctor Who with the Christmas episode." "And for Michael, creating the look ofA Christmas Carol, involved sketching the whole episode, scene by scene." "Confidential went back to the drawing board to reveal where it all began." "It was rather pleasing, 'cause in fact now, there are three generations of my family who have been working on Doctor Who, 'cause not only has my daughter painted the portraits, but I'm designing it." "But my father, who was an actor, his stage name was William Mervyn and he, in 1966, he was in an episode of Doctor Who with William Hartnell, called The War Machines." "Michael really brought his own sense of eccentric-ness to the whole piece." "It took an interesting, sort of, while to say what makes this planet strange." "Together we worked out a kind of image system of how the village would work." "You know, that the town was, kind of, amphibious world, where it's half water and half land, basically." "Creating the town and the feel was a really vital element, because you always have to create a truthful world." "No matter how unreal or surreal or excitingly different these stories are," "I think finding the truth to it is incredibly important." "And we just tried to think through what it would be like if you had to share your daily life with fish flying around in fog." "You know, you'd want grills on your windows." "You'd want to cover the chimney pots, so they wouldn't swim down." "So all those elements of logic, we tried to bring into it and give a reality to this fantasy world." "We had used the metaphor of round windows, which has a slightly nautical feel, which then, of course, links with the fish." "It's a sense of some strange pattern of building, that all the windows we ever see are round or half-round." "And having been to the Mir steelworks as a possible location, we came to the conclusion that this planet was constructed of metal." "Everything was very, very metal, so it's harsh and the whole town was built of iron and a slightly rusted feel." "The strange fog that pervades everywhere." "And so, once you put rivets and steel, it made the steelworks look inhabited." "The production value out of a steelworks, you know, the years and years of heavy industry being here has built up metalwork on the walls, which is exactly what we were after." "The colonisers basically built the town out of the ships that they came in, so, you know, it's that feel of everything riveted, plate riveted together." "We've had to bring in the elements that make it busy and Christmas-like, with the twist of it, obviously, being on another planet, so we've tried to create a classical Christmas with a little twist." "We kept this Dickensian industrial air and people living in poverty, in rather nasty conditions." "And also, we had Bob Cratchit's house." "You know, Abigail's house was the iron version of that." "And we made it look as though it was in a basement, that they looked down into it." "And in one of the shop windows I made rather like a bay window, so it had touch of Old Curiosity Shop." "There were elements of Dickens sort of floati ng with i n it." "And, of cou rse, the natu re of the story is not..." "It doesn't ta ke m uch to rea lise where it's come from, wh ich is rather n ice." "It's a n a llegory on Dickens i n a nother world at a nother ti me." "At the centre-piece of h is desig n, is Kazra n's study a nd that has to be a g ra nd space." "There were goi ng to be a lot of scenes where we had Michael on h is own i n th is space a nd we wa nted it to feel, at ti mes where he cou Id feel dwa rfed by it." "Where he's a sma ll ma n i n a big space." "At other ti mes, he wa nts to be a ble to show that he's a powerfu I ma n, that he's a rich person a nd he's got g ra ndeu r a nd money a bout h i m." "It needed that tota lita ria n sense." "So you'd go for that classica I style, wh ich a ll d ictators use a nd you create someth i ng that says, "I own th is place. "" "And here we a re." "We a re i n Kazra n's study." ""I don't ma ke the ru les. "" "Oh, no, ha ng on." "I do!" "And th is is obviously, Kazra n Sa rd ick's big, evi I cha i r." "We had th is cha i r extended, so that we had th is more loom i ng, rega I q ua lity a bout it." "The cha i rs." "Of cou rse, a cha i r." "Stu pid me." "The cha i r." "Th is cha i r..." "And the idea is that these were a ll made of copper that's a ll been oxid ised a nd tu rned sort of g reen a nd we've got the red cu rta i ns." "All com bi ned to ma ke the Ch ristmas colou rs." "Here is the portra it of Elliot Sa rd ick." ""The Doctor has a Iready noticed a n oi I pa i nti ng" ""of a ma n who looks very li ke Kazra n. "" "Oh, there's a big portra it of me over there." "And they took a pictu re of me." "They were photog ra phed a nd then we pri nted them very pa lely on ca nvas." "But I d id n't have my bea rd on, so she's pa i nted the bea rd over the pa i nti ng." "And here we've got the weather mach i ne." "" Now, what's th is a nd..." "Oh, I love th is." ""A big, flashy, lighty thing. "" "Th is is based on a ch u rch orga n." "These controls a re a ll isomorph ic." "That mea ns it responds on ly to me." "I'm the on ly person i n the world, i n the whole u n iverse, who knows how to use th is." "On." "Off." "Even Doctor Who doesn't know how to use it." ""Isomorph ic!" "There's no such th i ng. "" "" Kazran flicks the switch, the lights all go on again. "" ""These controls a re isomorph ic. "" "We've got th is logo that a ppea rs q u ite a few ti mes." "Through Sardick Town, that's, sort of, the Sardick emblem." "And that's a Iso i n here, a bove the fi replace." "Here we've got the sta i rs, a nd u p those sta i rs, goes u p to you ng Kazra n's bed room." "Confidential." "They don't lead a nywhere." "So, as you ca n see, they j ust lead u p." "And action!" "But they j ust ma ke it feel less li ke a set." "So, here we a re." "Th is is ou r big set a nd I th i n k it's looki ng fa ntastic a nd I hope you enjoy it." "Yea h, rig ht." "Get h i m out of here." "Filming is about to heat up, as the Doctor makes an explosive entrance." "Are we doi ng a fa ll down the actua I ch i m ney as well?" "Oh, yes." "That was one of my favou rite moments, read i ng the episode," "I thoug ht, "Yes, Steven, tha n k you." "One of the best entra nces ever. "" "J ust doi ng Matt's big entra nce, the Doctor's big entra nce for the Ch ristmas Specia I." "He's su pposed to come down th is ch i m ney here a nd fa ll i nto fra me down there." "That was g reat, you know, you get to be Sa nta." "And I th i n k it's a g reat idea for the Doctor." "The Doctor gets to come i n li ke Sa nta Cla us." "'Ca use he loves Sa nta, I th i n k." "He loves Ch ristmas." "So I was j ust..." "I felt a h uge sense of persona I satisfaction at that bit of writi ng." "So, we' re goi ng to cover you i n ash." "So the moment you get u p, you' re ki nd of comsu med with..." "You' re li ke," ""Ah!" "Oh!" "Hello. " You then rea lise." "You' re sort of busy with you rself a nd then rea lise where you a re." "It's ki nda fu n ny." "Yea h, yea h, yea h." "B ca mera, ma rk." "And ca mera!" "We j ust put the soot down." "Soot!" "Everyth i ng j ust li ke, ka boom, li ke that." "Fa ntastic looki ng shot." "Well, I d id n't actua lly get to do the roll or the la nd on the hot coa Is." "That was a ll Gordon, ou r wonderfu I stu ntma n." "I was goi ng to ask, do you wa nt that spri ng u p aga i n li ke I d id on that rehea rsa I?" "Yea h, may as well." "Yea h, yea h." " Fi lls the fra me aga i n, doesn't it?" " Do you need the fla mes?" "And then sti ll as soon as you la nd." "Yea h, do the roll a nd then spri ng back to you r feet." " Yea h." " Good luck." "Hopefu lly, he'll j ust come down here, knock a ll these coa Is away, a nd j ust la nd i n a g reat big hea p." "And then I j ust, sort of, roll u p at the end a nd pop i nto shot." "So I fi n ish it off." "Rea lly, that's a ll you get of me, sad ly." "Smoke a nd m i rrors." "Okay, g uys, j ust sta nd by please, to shoot th is." "2-6- 1, ta ke one." "A ca mera, ma rk." "Action!" "Cut it there." "Well done, Gordon." ""You ng Kazra n's bed room." "On the door as it's slowly eased open." ""The Doctor peering around, the sonic hanging where we last saw it." ""And absurdly, hanging in midair, facing him, a fish is nibbling at it." ""J ust a sma ll one, li ke a cod or someth i ng." ""The room is fu ll of fog d i rectly beh i nd the fish." "" He moves slowly, carefully into the room, fascinated. "" "Interesti ng." "Crysta lli ne fog, eh?" "Maybe ca rryi ng a ti ny electrica I cha rge." "Is that how you fly, little fishy?" "What is it?" "What ki nd?" "Ca n I see?" "J ust stay there a moment." "Is it big?" " Na h." "J ust a little one." ""A step closer, he now bends," ""a Imost nose to nose with the ti ny little fish. "" "So, little fella, what do you eat?" ""And wham!" ""The little fish d isa ppea rs, as a m ig hty pa i r of jaws sla m sh ut over it." ""The Doctor stu m bli ng back now," ""a nd a sha rk is ha ng i ng i n the centre of the room. "" "Yay!" ""It's j ust come crash i ng th roug h the wi ndow." ""And now is just hanging there staring at the Doctor. "" "I was very, very frig htened of sha rks when I was a kid, but I had a very pa rticu la r n ig htma re that sha rks cou Id come out of the sea." "I used to worry a bout that." "I'd read a bout evolution, I hea r a bout evolution i n school." "I'd th i n k, "What ha ppened if sha rks evolved so they cou Id actua lly" ""come out of the sea a nd chase me?"" "It's goi ng to eat us!" "It's goi ng to eat us!" "It's goi ng to eat us!" "The actua I idea of a sha rk tu rn i ng u p i n my bed room, is from my ch i Id hood n ig htma res." "I a bsolutely had that as a n ig htma re, there m ig ht be a sha rk i n my room." "It was q u ite a com plicated, layered effect that we had to ach ieve a nd what we d id was a n a ma Iga mation of physica I effects of the pa pers blowi ng a rou nd." "And th ree, two, one, action." "Also, we had to do a layer where we d id the actua I son ic screwd river aga i nst g reen screen." "Welcome to the aq ua ri u m." "Getti ng the son ic to move was rea lly, j ust ta ki ng..." "In th is case, it's a pen." "It cou Id be a pen that's g reen." "And j ust ta ppl ng the front of the son ic screwd river, as if it's a n i bbli ng fish." "So, we had the screwd river over a g reen screen, a nd then we had one of ou r g uys j ust off set, j ust q u ite low, i n a certa i n i nsta nce, j ust ta ppl ng the top li ke that." "So, little fella, what do you eat?" "The most i m porta nt pa rt was Matt's performa nce a nd how he i nteracted with the sha rk that wasn't there i n the room at the ti me, but that's..." "He, sort of, bri llia ntly evokes the fea r a nd the..." "The Doctor's su rprise at seei ng such a h uge predator i n the room with h i m." "How little?" "U m..." "Ca n I come i n?" "No, no." "Maybe j ust play dead for a moment." "Oh, what colou r is it?" "Big." "Big colou r." "What's ha ppen i ng?" "Well, concentrati ng on the plusses, you've defi n itely got a story of you r own now." "What?" "Well, Clive is ou r newly fou nded code na me for the sha rk." "H is na me's Clive." "N ickna med Clive, so people don't fi nd out a bout h i m." "Secret." "Top secret Clive." "Clive is one of the best-g ua rded secrets on the Ch ristmas Specia I, so that's why we ca me u p with the rea lly odd-sou nd i ng na me for h i m." "Where do you wa nt the ta i I?" "U p that i n there." "You ca n't rea lly put sha rk on you r ca ll sheet, or sta nd outside a location where the pu blic may be nea rby to say," ""Oh!" "Ca n we get the sha rk i n, please?"" "Down there, that's good." "Beca use you rea lly ru n the risk even more so to g ive it away, so, we gave h i m a na me a nd he j ust looked li ke Clive or Clyde or..." "Well, we loved h i m." "I don't th i n k he had a second na me, then it swa pped rou nd to someth i ng else." "Clive, was it Percy or..." "Then back to Clive." "I don't know, but I th i n k Clive was the one that stuck." "And then we' re goi ng to put bla n kets a rou nd it, a ren't we?" " Yes." " Do you wa nt me to do it now?" "U h, well, no, we ca n j ust do that." "Let's j ust rehea rse." "Do a q u ick rehea rsa I, cha ps." "When you come to fi Im a scene, the fi rst th i ng you do, is a Iways the li ne ru n, wh ich is j ust a cha nce to go over the li nes" "for the fi rst ti me, to hea r them out loud a nd to get a sense of the sha pe of the scene before you actua lly attem pt to block it a nd to sta rt wa Iki ng a rou nd a nd act it." "Doctor, I th i n k she's dyi ng." "Ha If my screwd river's sti ll i nside, but yea h, I th i n k she is." "Well, 'ca use, I mea n, I was doi ng it as I'm concentrati ng on th is." "And then I notice h i m." "As thoug h, "Oh, ha If my screwd river's sitti ng i nside it." "Yea h, I th i n k so. "" "Oh, I dou bt they ca n su rvive for long outside the cloud belt." "Oh, yea h, that's good." "That's rea lly good." "'Ca use I see that he's cryi ng." "Ca n't we get it back u p there?" "I j ust wa nted to see it, I d id n't wa nt to ki ll it." "It was tryi ng to eat you." "It was h u ng ry." "I think that should be really soft and still sad." "Not, ki nd of, com bative, you know, it's li ke you' re not havi ng a n a rg u ment." " You know, " But she was h u ng ry. "" " Okay." "You know, you' re j ust defend i ng it." "It was j ust a n a n i ma I, it d id n't mea n to h u rt you." "I j ust wa nted to see it, I d id n't wa nt to ki ll it." "She was tryi ng to eat you." "She was h u ng ry." "Yea h, that was my fi rst day with the sha rk." "And it's j ust a mazi ng." "It's rea lly lifeli ke," "a nd it's rea lly easy to get u pset 'ca use it feels li ke a rea I a n i ma I." "We ca n't save her." "We cou Id ta ke her back u p there, but she'd never su rvive the tri p." "We need a fu lly-fu nction i ng life su pport." "Okay." "Well, I si ng to the sha rk." "And it's my singing of In The Bleak Midwinterthat, sort of, gets the shark better." ""And then faintly, growing in volume, you hear singing." ""A lone female, absolutely pure and beautiful. "" "Take it away." "Yeah, that's exactly what it's going to be like." ""And the young Kazran's hearing it, too." "Looks up." ""That doesn't make any sense." "On the Doctor, elsewhere in the cave" ""clambering to his feet, clutching his head." ""He's hearing it, too, from somewhere in the mist. "" "# Earth stood hard as iron" "# Water like a stone #" "The singing calms the fish." "As it would, to hear Katherine Jenkins sing, I think." "That is a calming experience all around and envigorating one as well." "It's one of those moments again, where you think," ""What is this?" "What is happening today?" "" Here I am, on the floor, with a shark, singing to it. "" "# In the bleak midwinter" "# Long ago #" "The climax of the story, you have Katherine's song that comes out," "Abigail's song." "When we first read the script, Steven had written," ""And then she sings a new Doctor Who carol, just for Christmas. "" ""And we hear Abigail's voice singing purely and beautifully." ""It sounds like a carol." "A brand-new lovely one," ""but not one we've ever had before." ""A brand-new Christmas carol written especially for Doctor Who. "" "And we all went, "Yay!"" "And then thought, "We've got to film this" " "in about three weeks. "" " How the hell are we going to do that?" "I got a call from Beth, saying, " Have you've read the script?"" "And I said, " No. "" "And she said, "You know, there's a song?"" "And he went, "Yeah, no problem. "" "And I thought, "Well, that was a bit of a short response." "" Does he actually get what I mean?" ""It's not singing a carol that already exists. "" "And I said, "What song?" And she said, "One you've written. "" "And I said, "Oh, that's interesting. "" "And she said, "So, if you could get it to us. "" "And then about three weeks later, she rang again, little bit more anxious." "And I said, "Yeah, yeah, yeah." ""It's fine, it's fine, it's for Christmas. "" "And she said, "Well, we're filming it next week. "" "And I said, "Oh, when do you need it by?"" "And she said, "Well, also Katherine Jenkins is in it. "" "And I said, "Oh!" "That's nice." "Wouldn't it be nice if she sang this?"" "And she said, "Yeah, she is singing the song." ""And she needs it before she goes away, which is on Friday. "" "This was on Wednesday." "So, uh..." "I had a quick read of the script and put something together." "She recorded a demo in Cardiff of what I sent through, so that she could mime to it on set." "I did a very rough vocal that we used when we were filming and I was actually singing as well, when we did the filming." "# When you're alone #" "Because I always feel that, that is what looks more honest." "I think you can always tell when somebody's vocal chords aren't quite moving." "It was supposed to be a demo, but you get this track back and you press play and she's got an amazing voice." "Her demos blow most people's finished work out of the park." "So..." "We did it on the first day." "I couldn't think..." "I had to stand right next to her." "Really close." "And she was singing." "And she's a beautiful singer, as everyone knows." "I couldn't think straight, so when you have to ask me a question about that scene," "I couldn't tell you anything about it." "I just couldn't take my eyes off her." "Cut it!" "She really does deliver the sort of voice that you believe" " could somehow save the universe." " H mm." "So, with the demo in the can and the filming all complete, there was one thing left to do." "Get in that studio and record it for real." "I'm here in AIR Studios in London, because I'm going to be doing some of the singing, the revocaling of the songs for the Christmas Special of Doctor Who." "# When you're alone" "# Silence is all you know" "It's a lovely warm, mellow, mezzo-soprano." "# When you're alone" "From the point of view of a composer, it's really the sort of voice, you sometimes hire other people trying to emulate, and Katherine's the genuine article." "# Let in the noise" "# And let it grow" "# When you're alone" "It's a great episode, but the end is..." "We haven't done this before." "We haven't made someone sing a song in Doctor Who in that way." "And here we have something where the song is integral to the plotting." "And that's going to be really nice to watch." "# Silence is all you'll be" "# Give me your hand" " We're flying normally." " Can you land?" "I can even land well." "I still need conducting." "Can you bring me in when it's time?" "So we take this to the National Orchestra of Wales." "The whole thing needs a new arrangement." "# When you are here" "# Music is all around" "It's going to have really fluttery strings and flutes, so it'll be much gentler and softer." "# When you are near" "# Music is all around" "My plan is that at the third and the fourth verse, the big crescendo-ing moment brings in all the guitars and drums." "Sort of aiming for it to sound a bit like Muse." "# Let in the shadow" "# Let in the light of your bright shadow" "# Let in the the shadow" "# Let in the shadow" "# Let in the light of your bright shadow" "# Let in the light" "The feel of the orchestration for this is just very fluid and very gentle." "# Let in the light" "# Let in the light of your sweet shadow" "It's very fluid and it's very feminine." "# Silence is all" "I think it's touching and it's beautiful." "It's very special." "# All around" "And it's perfect for Christmas Day." "It's something for everyone and it's a real..." "I think it's a classic." "# Silence is all around #" "Where are they?" "Kazran and Abigail?" "Off on a little trip, I should think." " Where?" " Christmas." " Christmas?" " Yeah." "Christmas." ""The Doctor looked up at the sky." "" For a moment, we almost seem to see a shark darting through the clouds," ""pulling a rickshaw with maybe two passengers." "Hard to tell. "" "" Halfway out of the dark. ""