1. Join Doctor Who Confidential
on a journey.
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2. A journey with a writer living his fantasy.
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3. It was just a great, big, colorful idea.
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4. I mean, really,
for the early '50s, that is the one.
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5. You can read a page of the script
and you can tell that it's Mark's.
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6. You can watch it. You can...
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7. There's an essential Mark Gatiss that creeps
through and it's a very enviable thing.
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8. And we're lucky to have him.
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9. It's time to put on
your blue suede shoes,
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10. bright-pink skirts
and take a trip back to the 1950s.
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11. Straight from the fridge, man!
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12. From a very early stage, I kind of wanted
the climax to be at Alexandra Palace.
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13. I thought with the huge mast remaining,
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14. it gives a kind of King Kong resonance to it,
which is quite nice.
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15. I remember getting that script for the first time
and turning that page
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16. when you realize the end battle is going to
be on the mast of Alexandra Palace,
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17. and thinking, "Oh, God!"
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18. You never know because of the constraints of
filming whether it's going to be possible.
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19. There was also a bit of,
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20. "Actually, we can do this
and we can do this really well."
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21. Look up to where Magpie is.
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22. Action.
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23. I can't do this!
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24. Please! Please, don't make me.
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25. This is the scene of my death where I get fried
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26. because I...
I suddenly, having been the intermediary,
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27. the servant of the monster
of Maureen Lipman...
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28. She orders me to kill Doctor Who
and I say, "No, I'm not going to do it,"
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29. and she fries me
with electric pulses and things like that.
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30. You promised me peace.
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31. Then peace you shall have.
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32. - Magpie's on that bit, isn't he'?
- He is, yeah.
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33. We're shooting on the helipad
in Cardiff today.
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34. There are a few technical issues
when we're looking down on the transmitter.
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35. We need to contain the actors
within a green screen.
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36. It's a composite shot
involving two or three elements, you know,
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37. a matte painting based on a live-action
element of Alexandra Palace,
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38. shots of the Doctor and Magpie
on a part of the transmitter.
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39. I was expecting it would be one of those days
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40. when you were harnessed up
with endless, kind of, safety wires.
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41. Which is always a bit boring, frankly.
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42. But because we were only on a stretch
of full pylon, which is only about 20 feet tall,
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43. we were allowed to climb up and down it
relatively freely.
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44. - Just climbing, no lines in this bit, is there'?
- No.
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45. You become very precious about lines,
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46. particularly lines you love, and it's always
awkward if you feel they've gone.
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47. But in the end, it's not for malicious reasons.
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48. There was a lot of wonderful stuff
in Mark's script
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49. which didn't make the final cut
just 'cause there was too much of it.
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50. There were some fantastic speeches that I had
that we just never got to film
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51. because it was such a rich and full episode.
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52. Cutting stuff is just an economy.
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53. It's a briskness. It's a confidence, actually.
It says, "This is working."
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54. The natural enemy of all writers
is blank paper.
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55. It's what offends us and scares us the most
in the whole world.
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56. The best way to overcome it, I find,
is just to write.
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57. And it means you write
quite a lot of nonsense at first,
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58. but you just have to
kind of plow through that.
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59. In any other drama,
you type scene 1, day, street.
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60. Or scene 2, pub. Scene 3, bedroom.
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61. And with Doctor Who,
you're sitting there going,
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62. "You can be on a space station
or a different planet."
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63. The brief was a '50s story,
uh, quite rock 'n' roll.
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64. Is there any other way to go, daddy-o'?
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65. Three, take 3.
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66. The main unit is filming
Maureen Lipman, as The Wire,
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67. inside the old TV studio
where she would actually have done it
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68. if she'd really been Sylvia Peters
or one of those people.
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69. Oh, dear. Has our little plan
gone horribly wrong, Doctor'?
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70. This is the place where television began
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71. and so, historically,
you can smell the buzz in this room.
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72. You really can feel the electricity.
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73. The role of The Wire in episode 7
is based on the archetypal BBC presenter.
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74. And everything's incredibly proper.
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75. We wanted an actress
who'd have some fun with it
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76. but who'd also be able to command authority
and be properly scary.
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77. And Maureen Lipman combined
those two things perfectly.
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78. Now, are you sitting comfortably'?
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79. Good, then we'll begin.
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80. Feed me!
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81. And I'm hungry!
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82. It's quite good to be able
to just go round the corner to Ally Pally
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83. and be absolutely nasty.
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84. Really horrible. Horrid.
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85. I knew as soon as she said,
"I shall consume you, Doctor,"
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86. that she knows what to do
in these circumstances.
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87. Mark was on set a lot of the time, which is
just wonderful to have the writer there.
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88. You can never go back. That's your tragedy.
Is that personal to Magpie'?
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89. - No, it's about...
- it's general for the world.
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90. They're forging ahead
regardless of consequence, I think.
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91. Mark writes these fantastic characters.
Characters like Magpie.
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92. Please. You're burning me. Inside.
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93. Behind my eyes.
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94. There's a goodness that comes out,
um, in his characters.
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95. There's a marvelous
faded elegance about Magpie.
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96. He describes, you know, this man
who's been disappointed by life.
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97. He sat there in his vest,
kind of in his little shop.
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98. And it's incredibly evocative
and incredibly detailed.
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99. Well, the thing is,
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100. - Detective Inspector Bishop...
- How do you know my name'?
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101. It's written inside your collar.
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102. There's a particular scene
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103. between Bishop and the Doctor
which is an interrogation scene
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104. and it's, essentially, an inversion joke.
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105. He starts with a light in the Doctor's face
saying, "Tell me everything you know."
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106. By the end, the Doctor is standing up and
he's sitting down and the Doctor's saying...
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107. Start from the beginning.
Tell me everything you know.
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108. It was just trying to work out
what the tipping point was,
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109. where the Doctor could rise
and Bishop would sit down.
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110. Quickly, where was she
before this happened'?
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111. Seeing it realized is always a curious moment.
It's never quite the way you imagine.
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112. The detail's everything
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113. and I think that's what's great about
being able to visit the set.
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114. It's not just about the Coronation,
it's about the whole flavor of the time.
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115. Doing a period episode like this is probably
one of the most difficult things that we do.
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116. On this show, I've got a fantastic team
that, you know, I can absolutely rely on.
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117. So that scene is only as good as they can
manage. And they've dramatized it brilliantly.
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118. As you can imagine, this whole street
has had to be closed off now.
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119. Some of the doors have been replaced.
Some of the windows have had to be replaced
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120. so they look authentic and they look like 1953.
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121. We've got all these
wonderful motorcars, look.
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122. Cue the car, look. This looks fabulous.
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123. I thought we'd be going for the Vegas era.
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124. You know, the white flares and the chest hair.
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125. By having them think they were going to '57,
we get Billie in the beautiful dress.
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126. And we were always, all of us, so keen on this
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127. to get something really iconic with the two
of them to get the fun of the 1950s.
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128. Yeah, well, me and Mum, Cliff Richard
movies every Bank Holiday Monday.
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129. Cliff! I knew your mother would be a Cliff fan.
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130. And so ends the writer's tale,
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131. leaving the Doctor and Rose
once again united.
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132. From The Idiot's Lantern onwards,
it is the Doctor and Rose.
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133. - Hi!
- Hi!
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134. These two best friends traveling together
and what they mean to each other.
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135. The Doctor and Rose love each other.
I think it's that simple.
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136. That's what I like about you.
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137. Anyway, I'm the Doctor and this is Rose.
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138. Hell of a right hook.
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139. They have battle after battle
after battle to stay together.
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140. Magpie, help me.
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141. It's like the universe
is becoming rougher around them.
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142. The challenge to the two of them is
becoming tougher and tougher and tougher.
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143. They left her in the street.
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144. They took her face and just chucked her out
and left her in the street.
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145. The Doctor is beset by grief
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146. and that kind of drives him forward to...
You know, that's his big motivating factor.
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147. To save the planet and to save Rose.
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148. There is no power on this Earth
that can stop me! Come on!
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149. And there's just something
twinkling away at the back
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150. saying, "Are they actually
having too much fun?"
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151. There's an increasing feeling, a threat,
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152. that someone somewhere
is going to have to pay the price for this.
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153. Good night, children.
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