UPDATE 2:11 PM CST USA - 11 AUGUST 2014
Here’s a new promo for Deep Breath, the first episode of DOCTOR WHO Season/Series 8 - the first episode to fully star Peter Capaldi.
DOCTOR WHO returns August 23.
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We’ve known for a while now that American filmmaker Rachel Talalay (ALLY McBEAL, FREDDY’S DEAD: THE FINAL NIGHTMARE, TANK GIRL, SUPERNATURAL, HAVEN) would be helming two episodes of DOCTOR WHO’s upcoming Season/Series, which debuts August 23.
In an interesting interview with The Globe and mail, Talalay reveals more about her experience on the show - discussing exactly which episodes she’s shooting.
What can you tell me about the episodes you worked on?
I am doing the two-part finale. Both parts were written by Steven Moffat, which is fantastic. There’s so much action and effects and emotional material. It’s a Cyberman episode. We shot in London for two days. One day we shot outside St. Paul’s Cathedral. There were a billion tourists circling us while we were trying to film. Part of what we were tasked to do was replicate some classic shots – from the sixties show – of the Cybermen outside St. Paul’s. It’s a whole new story.
What was that day at St. Paul’s like?
We had a big scene with Peter Capaldi and Michelle Gomez – a dialogue scene. We had about seven hours of shooting and quite a bit of material to cover. I didn’t factor in that we were basically given five-minute periods to shoot, then we had to let pedestrians cross. So for every five minutes of shooting, we had about 20 minutes of moving pedestrians. It was very hot as well, which made it also very hard. The Cybermen were scorching hot in their suits. You’re all the time worried they’re going to pass out.
You’re trying not to have all your scenes prerecorded and posted on people’s iPhones and on the Internet before you have finished your own shooting. You’re trying your hardest just to keep focused. You just go, ‘Here are my priority shots. Here’s the absolute minimum we need to get, and let’s just stay concentrated on that.’
You can read more insight from Talalay HERE, including show overlord Steven Moffat’s comments as to why she was hired, her assessment on Peter Capaldi’s assumption of the lead role, DOCTOR WHO’s overall longevity, and more.
Talalay’s involvement with S8 is very, very interesting indeed. Yes, she is clearly and notably a woman…and female directors seem to be in painfully short supply both here in the US and in the UK…and on DOCTOR WHO. Perhaps more consequential to DOCTOR WHO on the whole, however, is the fact that she’s North American and not British - which very much goes against the show’s long-standing tradition of sourcing directors from either UK, or relatively nearby.
Over the weekend, I commented in a Docback regarding how wonderful it was to see BBC acknowledging the impact of DOCTOR WHO’s global fan base by way of livestreaming the current World Tour of Season 8’s stars and showmakers. It’s hard not to wonder if, perhaps, injecting an American director into the series - especially for what is sure to be a high-profile, two part episode - represents increased a similarly synergy between The Powers That Be in the UK, and their contingents across the pond. And, if this ultimately proves to be the case, might other American directors find their way to DW’s director’s chair? Who would be fun to see take a stab at an episode?
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Glen Oliver
"Merrick"
