Torchwood: Week One Filming

Sunday, 16 January 2011 - Reported by Chuck Foster

Filming for Torchwood: Miracle Day commenced this week, filming in Los Angeles, California.

The week saw the main cast assembling together for filming, with "US lead" CIA agent Mekhi Phifer kicking off proceedings, joined on Wednesday by John Barrowman, and from Thursday Eve Myles (Gwen) and Kai Owen (Rhys). Alexa Havins (Esther Katusi) was also present.

Though fan access to shooting is very restrictive (certainly in comparison to UK filming!), tantalising filming details have slowly trickled through via various members of cast and crew on Twitter, including Director of Photography Nathaniel Goodman, Fashion Designer Alana Stone and Costume Designer Shawna Trpcic - plus a commentary of tidbits from the official production office feed, BBC Torchwood!

A more detailed breakdown of developments during the week follows below; times have been quoted for the local Californian timezone.

Monday

Filming kicks off without a hitch, though for some it is an early start to the shoot!

21:14 Alana Stone:   Day one of Torchwood filming starts at 4:42am Monday morning... 
                     Here we go.
21:57 Jane Espenson: I have to be up early for Torchwood shenanigans in the morning.
                     So g'night, Twitter!
07:34 Jane Espenson: we start shooting new episodes today!
09:57 BBC Torchwood: Day 1. First shot 8:01am. Coffee pots are bottomless today.
12:32 Alana Stone:   Wow day 1= crazy good team work but crazy none the less!
17:24 Nate Goodman:  Great first day of shooting Torchwood done! 
                     But the really fun stuff yet to come..
09:18 BBC Torchwood: Day 1, smooth sailing, we're so lucky to have such a great crew.

Meanwhile, Kai Owen (Rhys) confirmed he'd start shooting from Thursday, alongside on-screen wife Eve Myles (Gwen):

Well my bags are packed! I fly to LA tomorrow and am on set with Eve on Thursday!!
Torchwood - Miracle Day is coming. I'm buzzing.

Tuesday

via Twitpic

Tuesday saw a report that Mekhi Phifer (CIA agent Rex Matheson) was filming scenes in a hospital.

Meanwhile, Captain Jack himself John Barrowman arrived for his costume-fitting, something that BBC Torchwood described as "a sweet new wardrobe", with the fitting being "revealing". As one might expect, the coat is back, "a beautiful new design that we all want to own. It's stylish and absolutely brilliant."

Alana Stone also provided us with the first of what might well be the US production team's version of "WhoSpy", showing one of the chairs that are in use for the cast/crew during the shoot.

Wednesday

John Barrowman returns as Captain Jack Harkness, kicking off in style for a Los Angeles night shoot. As BBC Torchwood put it:

17:07 Night shoots all action packed and it's John's first day of work.
      Really exciting night.
17:21 STUNTS! STUNTS! So many STUNTS!

Thursday

It's Eve Myles and Kai Owen's turn to be welcomed to the new production, another night shoot that this time takes place in CIA Headquarters.

07:10 Kai Owen:      Good morning from LA! 
                     I start work on Torchwood - Miracle Day. Tonight!!!
20:01 BBC Torchwood: She's here tonight everyone, the Eve Myles. 
                     Tonight we've got almost a full cast.
                     John, Alexa, Kai. Bill and Russell are meeting as well.
23:58 Alana Stone:   Day four... All night in CIA headquarters.

"TW-Spy" continues with a couple of shots of office boards and cast trailers from Shawna Trpcic and Alana Stone; the trailers seem to have an iconic image for each character:

(via Plixi)

(via Twitpic)

Meanwhile, Tom Price, the erstwhile former police colleague of Gwen, Andy Davidson, reported that he too would be joining the Torchwood crew:

Off to LA next week! That's about it really!

Friday

Filming for another night shoot took place at No 650 South Spring Street, an old bank building that has seen use in a number of film productions over the years, including Spider Man 2, Ghost, and The Mask.

20:12 BBC Torchwood: John and Alexa have an exciting scene to shoot tonight.
                     We're all taking turns to visit location. 
                     We love our Torchwood Crew!
22:08 Alana Stone:   Day/night 5... No rest for the wicked. 
                     Poor Alexa is running in 5 inch heels. Girl is a trooper!
01:26 Shawna Trpcic: Crew will shoot til 6 or 7 am time for me to sign off. Blessings.

The production vehicles were spotted by fan Timothy Cerjan:

Capt. Jack Harkness is shooting new Torchwood by my office.
The 21st Century is when it all changes. [pic]: http://4sq.com/g1Eibs

Had my first shot at running into John Barrowman this past week (to no avail) when I stopped by an on location shoot for Torchwood. They were filming at a building in downtown Los Angeles which was, as you'd expect, not open to the public. The security guards were all very nice though and they did confirm that Torchwood was filming there. I got a number of responses regarding what time they would start filming so I didn't end up seeing anyone. However, I did get a glimpse inside the building. The set up looked like a bank with a giant vault. I've heard that other films and shows have been shot there but I am unable to confirm that. It looked really great and while they wouldn't let me in to snap any pictures they were kind enough to let me shoot the backside of the vault...through a scratched up window. I know it's not much but I thought I would post it anyhow.

(with thanks to Dana Shukartsi from Barrowman Day - read her full reports on-site)

Next week sees the shoot continue in Los Angeles for another four days or so, with filming on Thursday to take place at City Hall. Directory of Photography Nate Goodman then reported that they fly out to the United Kingdom, where filming will continue in Wales the following fortnight (as reported in an interview with Eve Myles last year).

FILTER: - Torchwood - Filming Reports - Miracle Day (Series 4)

Competition roundup 16th January 2011

Saturday, 15 January 2011 - Reported by Marcus

Here is a list of the currently known competitions related to Doctor Who:

Site	Closing Date	Competition
DrWho Online	31st Jan	Win one of three copies of Meglos.
DrWho Online	31st Jan	Win the Series Five Boxed Set [members only]
Collectors Club of Great Britain	31st Jan	Win The Eleven Doctors Collectors Set.
Model Railways Live	31st Jan	Win a Bachman Class 221 'Dr Who' Super Voyager.
Whovian Net	n/a	Win one of three copies of the official 2011 Calendar when they reach 1000 Twitter Followers
Eye of Horus	31st Jan	Win one of ten copies of The Mutants.

FILTER: - Competitions

Lauren Ambrose in Torchwood: Miracle Day

Saturday, 15 January 2011 - Reported by Josiah Rowe

Entertainment Weekly has reported that Lauren Ambrose has been cast in the role of Jilly Kitzinger in Torchwood: Miracle Day. Ambrose is best known for her role as the sullen Claire Fisher in the HBO drama Six Feet Under. EW describes her Torchwood character as "a sweet-talking PR genius with a heart of stone who’s just cornered the most important client of her career … and maybe of all time."

Ambrose joins Torchwood stars John Barrowman, Eve Myles and Kai Owen, as well as previously announced actors Mekhi Phifer as CIA analyst Rex Matheson, Alexa Havins as field agent Esther Drummond, Bill Pullman as convicted murderer Oswald Danes, and Arlene Tur as Dr. Vera Juarez. Dichen Lachman has also been reported as having a role in the series, but her casting has not been confirmed by official sources.

Torchwood: Miracle Day is currently filming in Los Angeles, and will air on BBC1 and Starz beginning in July.

FILTER: - Torchwood - Production - Miracle Day (Series 4)

Norman Taylor

Saturday, 15 January 2011 - Reported by Marcus

Norman Taylor, one of the men behind the original iconic Doctor Who title sequence, has died.

Norman Taylor was a BBC Technical Operations Manager on Crew 9 based at Lime Grove in London. He was the man who, while experimenting with a camera looking at a monitor showing its own picture, made the serendipitous discovery of "visual howlaround" - the effect that was subsequently used for Doctor Who's original title sequence.

I got the usual effect of diminishing images of the monitor disappearing into limbo, when suddenly some stray light hit the monitor screen and the whole picture went mobile with swirling patterns of black and white. Later I repeated the experiment but fed a black and white caption mixed with the camera output to the monitor, and very soon got the Dr Who effect.

The original titles for Doctor Who are believed to have been recorded in August 1963 in an empty TC5 at Television Centre. Bernard Lodge, who was credited for the sequence, was in the gallery and Norman Taylor lighting matches to trigger the howl-round. Hugh Sheppard was on the camera at the time.

Taylor was later given a Technical Suggestion award of £25.00 for his howl-round idea which featured in various forms in the title sequence until 1980, when it was replaced by the star-field effect.

You can read more about his contribution to the series on the Tech-Ops History site.

FILTER: - Obituary - Classic Series

Doctor Who Unlimited

Saturday, 15 January 2011 - Reported by Anthony Weight

The latest issue of Doctor Who Magazine contains the news that the popular publication is to gain a North American spin-off title from April. Produced in the UK by Panini, as the original magazine is, Doctor Who Unlimited will apparently not be a versioned edition of DWM, but will be a separate publication in its own right, containing "100% new material".

Unlimited will be edited by John Ainsworth, who has contributed various features to DWM in the past, and has recently been credited as the magazine's "Editorial Assistant". He explained to DWM that "Doctor Who Unlimited will have slightly more of a focus on the fictional side of Doctor Who and will also be giving regular coverage to the fans themselves."

The first issue of the 44-page magazine will be available on newsstands in the US and Canada from the 7th of April. There is currently no information as to whether readers outside of North America will be able to order copies.

FILTER: - Canada - USA - Magazines - DWM

People Roundup

Saturday, 15 January 2011 - Reported by Marcus

David Tennant is to become a father according to a report in the British tabloid, The Daily Mail. Tennant is expected to marry his long term girlfriend Georgia Moffett early next year. The paper claims that the couple's first child is expected this spring.

Sean Pertwee the son of Third Doctor Jon Pertwee, has made a sci-fi foray of his own with Ultramarines: A Warhammer 40,000 Movie, based on the tabletop game. A DVD of the film has just been released, with Pertwee voicing the character of Brother Proteus. In an interview with the Sunday Mercury he talks about the film and of growing up with his dad as Doctor Who.

James Corden, who played Craig Owens in The Lodger, will present the 2011 Brit awards on 15 February. He last presented the awards with Kylie Minogue in 2009. Peter Kay who played Victor Kennedy in Love & Monsters presented the awards in 2010.

FILTER: - People - David Tennant

Panic Moon

Friday, 14 January 2011 - Reported by Marcus

The January 2011 issue of the fanzine Panic Moon is now available.

Included in this issue:

Reviews of the Christmas special, the recent series of The Sarah Jane Adventures, Doctor Who Live, Wiped!, the latest fanzines and Big Finish audios;
A look at what the recent changes at the BBC mean for Doctor Who;
Articles giving fresh perspectives of the recently/soon to be released on DVD stories The Mutants, The Ark, Meglos and The Seeds of Doom;
A reappraisal of Daleks in Manhattan/Evolution of the Daleks;
A examination of the TV career of Don Taylor, the man who was first offered the producership of Doctor Who in 1963, and how the series would have differed if he’d accepted;
A guide to writing a Steven Moffat episode and an old fashioned letters page;

The zine is A6 format, black and white, 32 pages and lavishly illustrated with original art. The price and ordering details are the same as for previous issues:

UK: £1.20
Elsewhere in Europe: £2.00
Outside Europe: £2.50

All prices include P&P. Please pay using paypal (www.paypal.co.uk) to panicmoonfanzine@googlemail.com. Please use the ‘gift’ rather than ‘goods’ option, and add the address for the fanzine to be sent to in the comments section.

FILTER: - Fan Productions

DVD 2011 Update

Thursday, 13 January 2011 - Reported by Marcus

2|entertain have confirmed the classic Doctor Who stories currently being worked on for release in 2011. The stories will follow the previously announced releases of The Mutants, The Ark, Mara Tales and Revisitations 2.

The details came in an interview with the members of the classic Doctor Who DVD team in the new issue of Doctor Who Magazine. In the interview Commissioning Editor Dan Hall revealed an additional title was considered for re-visiting, but was dropped after review. Hall has revealed via the ClassicDW twitter account that this title was the Sixth Doctor story Vengeance on Varos. Hall has indicated he would be willing to reconsider this decision should there be a groundswell of opinion favouring this re-release.

Stories due for release during 2011:

The swansong of the third Doctor, originally shown in 1974. The story written by Robert Sloman and Barry Letts features Jon Pertwee in an epic battle with the Giant Spiders of Metebelis 3. The story also features Elisabeth Sladen as Sarah Jane Smith, Nicholas Courtney as Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, Richard Franklin as Captain Mike Yates, John Levene as Sergeant Benton, Gareth Hunt as Arak, Kevin Lindsay as Cho-je, John Dearth as Lupton and John Kane as Tommy.

Extras include:

Commentary
90 minute compilation edition
Jon Pertwee on Wogan
John Kane remembers
The Final Curtain - Documentary
Directing Doctor Who: Barry Letts
Now and Then: Locations

Mannequin Mania - Spearhead from Space / Terror of the Autons

A double release featuring an updated version of Jon Pertwee's first story re-released alongside the debut story of Roger Delgado as The Master and Katy Manning as Jo Grant

Spearhead from Space
The TARDIS arrives on Earth in the middle of a meteorite shower and the Doctor is found by UNIT troops and taken to a nearby hospital. Originally shown in 1970 the story, written by Robert Holmes, introduces the Autons as well as the third Doctor. Alongside Jon Pertwee it stars Nicholas Courtney as Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, Caroline John as Liz Shaw, Hugh Burden as Channing, John Woodnutt as Hibbert and Hamilton Dyce as Major General Scobie

Extras include:

Regenerations: Documentary
UNIT Recruitment film
Down to Earth: Documentary
New Commentary

Terror of the Autons
This 1971 story introduces The Master as who arrives on Earth at a circus run by a man named Rossini and steals a dormant Nestene energy unit from a museum. Written by Robert Holmes the story introduces Jo Grant played by Katy Manning as The Doctor's new companion. Also featuring Nicholas Courtney as Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, Richard Franklin as Mike Yates, John Levene as Sergeant Benton, Harry Towb as McDermott, Michael Wisher as Rex Farrel and Roger Delgado as The Master.

Extras include:

Extra Footage
Commentary
Plastic Fantastic: Documentary
The Doctor's Moriarty
Life on Earth: Documentary

The Fifth Doctor faces danger when the TARDIS is dragged down to the surface of the planet Frontios and apparently destroyed during a meteorite bombardment. Originally shown in 1984 the story written by Christopher H Bidmead stars Peter Davison as The Doctor, Janet Fielding as Tegan, Mark Strickson as Turlough, Peter Gilmore as Brazen, Lesley Dunlop as Norna, Jeff Rawle as Plantagenet and William Lucas as Range.

Extras include:

Commentary
Isolated Score
Driven to Distraction

Earthstory - The Awakening / The Gunfighters

A Box-Set containing two stories set on Earth

The Awakening

An alien war machine, the Malus, is affecting the inhabitants of the English country village of Little Hodcombe in 1984 so that a re-enactment of a Civil War battle turns into the real thing. Originally shown in 1984 the story written by Eric Pringle stars Peter Davison as The Doctor, Janet Fielding as Tegan, Mark Strickson as Turlough, Frederick Hall as Andrew Verney, Glyn Houston as Colonel Wolsey, Polly James as Jane Hampden, Denis Lill as Sir George and Keith Jayne as Will Chandler.

Extras include:

Commentary
Outake
On the Cutting Room Floor
Kamelion deleted scene
Barry Newbury - Designer: Documentary
Location Footage
Now and Then

The Gunfighters
The 1966 story has the First Doctor visiting the town of Tombstone where he attempts to locate a dentist and gets caught up in the feud between Doc Holliday and the Clanton family. The story is written by Donald Cotton and alongside William Hartnell features Jackie Lane as Dodo, Peter Purves as Steven Taylor, Anthony Jacobs as Doc Holliday, William Hurndall as Ike Clanton, Laurence Payne as Johnny Ringo and Sheena Marshe as Kate. It features the voice of Lynda Baron

Extras include:

Commentary
End of the Line: Documentary
Tomorrow's Times, The First Doctor

Previously reported in November, the story has the Seventh Doctor battling the inhabitants of Paradise Towers a run-down and dilapidated tower block where gangs of Kangs roam wild, the apartments are inhabited by cannibalistic old ladies, the Rezzies; and the building is managed by a group of dictatorial caretakers, presided over by the Chief Caretaker.

The 1987 story was written by Stephen Wyatt and stars Sylvester McCoy as The Doctor and Bonnie Langford as Mel, alongside Annabel Yuresha as Bin Liner, Catherine Cusack as Blue Kang Leader, Richard Briers as Chief Caretaker, Clive Merrison as Deputy Chief , Julie Brennon as Fire Escape, Judy Cornwell as Maddy, Howard Cooke as Pex, Elizabeth Spriggs as Tabby and Brenda Bruce as Tilda.

Extras include:

Commentary
Girls Girls Girls: 1980's
Horror of the High-Rise: Documentary
Rejected Score
Jigsaw

Revisitations 3 - Tomb of the Cybermen / The Three Doctors / Robots of Death

The third box set in the Revisitation series, comprising stories which were released near the start of the DVD range and now released with additional restoration work and special features.

Tomb of the Cybermen

In this 1967 Second Doctor story, once thought to be lost forever, the TARDIS arrives on the planet Telos where an Earth archaeological expedition, led by Professor Parry, is attempting to uncover the lost tombs of the Cybermen. The story by Kit Pedler and Gerry Davis is the earliest surviving complete story with the Second Doctor. Joining Patrick Troughton in the cast are Frazer Hines as Jamie, Deborah Watling as Victoria, George Roubicek as Captain Hopper, George Pastell as Eric Klieg, Clive Merrison as Jim Callum, Cyril Shaps as John Viner, Shirley Cooklin as Kaftan and Roy Stewart as Toberman.

The story has now been through the VidFire process designed to restore the look of the print to its original condition.

Extras include:

New Commentary
Tomb and the magic of VidFIRE: Documentary
Sky Ray promo
Lost Giants Documentary
Curse of the Cybermen: Documentary
Cybermen: Documentary

The Three Doctors

The tenth anniverasary story unites the first three Doctors in a battle against renegade Time-Lord Omega.
Written by Bob Baker and Dave Martin the story stars Jon Pertwee, Patrick Troughton and William Hartnell as The Doctor alongside Nicholas Courtney as Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, Katy Manning as Jo Grant, John Levene as Sergeant Benton, Rex Robinson as Dr. Tyler and Stephen Thorne as Omega

Extras include:

Making of Documentary
When Doctor Who was Uncool: Documentary

The Robots of Death

The fourth Doctor story sees the TARDIS materialise on board a massive sandminer vehicle combing an alien world for precious minerals. The miner is run by a small human crew with the aid of numerous robots split into three classes: Dums, Vocs and a single controlling Super Voc but the crew are being picked off one by one by an unseen killer. Written by Chris Boucher the story stars Tom Baker as The Doctor, Louise Jameson as Leela, Brian Croucher as Borg, Tariq Yunis as Cass, Rob Edwards as Chub, David Bailie as Dask, David Collings as Poul, Pamela Salem as Toos, Russell Hunter as Uvanov and Tania Rogers as Zilda

Extras include:

Sandmine Murders: Documentary
Robophobia Documentary
Girls Girls Girls 1970's

The Solar System - Ambassadors of Death / The Sun Makers

A box-set comprising two stories set within our own Solar System.

Ambassadors of Death

This third Doctor story was recently tipped for release having been restored to full colour using a similar process to that used on the 2009 release of Planet of the Daleks. The Malcolm Hulke story, first shown in 1970, sees the Doctor join a UNIT investigation into a mystery surrounding Mars Probe 7. It stars Jon Pertwee as The Doctor along with Nicholas Courtney as Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, Caroline John as Liz Shaw, John Levene as Sgt Benton and Ronald Allen as Ralph Cornish.

Extras include:

Battle for Mars Probe 7: Documentary
Tomorrow's Times, The Third Doctor

The Sun Makers

The Fourth Doctor story by Robert Holmes sees the TARDIS arrives in the future on the planet Pluto where there are now six suns, a breathable atmosphere and a large industrial community. The Company controls the planet and exploits the workers, pays them a pittance and then taxes them on everything imaginable. The Doctor and Leela join forces with an underground band of rebels led by a man named Mandrel.

The 1977 story stars Tom Baker as The Doctor with Louise Jameson as Leela, John Leeson as Voice of K9, David Rowlands as Bisham, Henry Woolf as Collector and Michael Keating as Goudry.

Extras include:

TX Trail
Running from the Tax Man: Documentary
Doctor's Composer: Dudley Simpson

Previously announced at Time and Space 2010.

Extras include:

Blasting Past Documentary
Blue Peter
Cheating Memory; Documentary
Nationwide - Win a Dalek
UNIT: Dating Conundrum
View from the Gallery
Teaser

FILTER: - Classic Series - Blu-ray/DVD

2011 Episode Update

Wednesday, 12 January 2011 - Reported by Marcus

Steven Moffat has announced changes to the episode order for the 2011 series of Doctor Who.

Speaking to Doctor Who Magazine, the executive producer revealed he has shuffled the running order of the series with the Mark Gatiss penned story moving into the second half of the season, due in the Autumn.

The story was originally scheduled to run in the first part of the series due in the spring. The empty slot will now be filled by an episode written by Steve Thompson. Although new to Doctor Who, Thompson is an established writer who is best known for his work with Moffat as the author of the second Sherlock episode, The Blind Banker. He won the Arts Council's Meyer-Whitworth Award for new writing for his first play, Damages, in 2004.

Thompson's script will run as the third episode in the series, with the long awaited Neil Gaiman script moving into position four.

Moffat told the magazine the changes are purely to balance out the look of the series and to combat worries in the production team that there was "not enough outside" in the first half of the series.

FILTER: - Steven Moffat - Doctor Who - Series 6/32

Verity Lambert: Life of the Day

Wednesday, 12 January 2011 - Reported by Chuck Foster

Oxford University Press have updated their Oxford Dictionary of National Biography this month with the biographies of some 216 people who died during 2007; the list includes Doctor Who's original producer Verity Lambert, who died on the 22nd November of that year.

Though much the Dictionary is only available free for users in subscribing institutions (and most UK residents with library cards through their local library and via the remote access scheme), their Lives of the Day articles are accessible to the general public for a week, and you can read the article on Verity Lambert on the ODNB site until next Tuesday (alternative link to the article may be found here).

The article has been illustrated with a photo of Lambert with the alien delegates from Mission to the Unknown; previous entries on the ODNB that have included images relating to Doctor Who include William Hartnell (the Doctor with Sensorites) and Jon Pertwee (publicity shot with the Daleks).

The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography is a collection of more than 57,000 specially written biographies, which describe the lives of people who shaped the history of the British Isles and beyond from the 4th century BC to the 21st century. Online since 2004, the dictionary is updated three times a year, with January concentrating on those who died four years previously.

FILTER: - People

Previous 10 Stories

Torchwood: Week One Filming

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Competition roundup 16th January 2011

Lauren Ambrose in Torchwood: Miracle Day

Norman Taylor

Doctor Who Unlimited

People Roundup

Panic Moon

DVD 2011 Update

2011 Episode Update

Verity Lambert: Life of the Day

This Week in Doctor Who

ARCHIVE

FILTER