The first recording today starts with the end of an episode of The Underdog Show.
There’s a trail for Get 100 with Reggie Yates.
Then, yet another repeat of Totally Doctor Who. I was really keen on keeping these files.
Media Centre Description: Barney Harwood and Liz Barker present a show celebrating the the latest adventures of the last living Time Lord. They look at anything and everything that Doctor Who has inspired children to create and do – from TARDIS-shaped garden sheds to new alien designs, from DIY special effects to new versions of the theme music. There’s also the Companion Academy, in which eight young hopefuls who think they’ve got what it takes to travel with a Time Lord are recruited.
Recorded from CBBC Channel on Saturday 7th April 2007 18:28
BBC Genome: CBBC Channel Saturday 7th April 2007 18:30 (We haven’t had a CBBC show for a while, but it looks like the Genome listings are still broken.)
The recording stops before the programme ends in this case.
The next recording starts with the end of The National Lottery People’s Quiz.
There’s a brief look at Doctor Who and Any Dream Will Do.
There’s also another trail for Rush Hour.
Then, the next episode of Doctor Who – The Shakespeare Code.
It starts with a young man serenading a young woman at her window, with a lute. The Tudor equivalent of John Cusack standing outside Ione Skye’s window with a boombox. I once sang onstage with a lute. Well, the lute wasn’t real, it was mostly made of cardboard, by my wife, for a show we were in, but it looked fantastic.
The woman he’s serenading is Lilith, played by Christina Cole.
But after a kiss, her true face is revealed. She also introduces him to her two mothers, also witches, and they tear him apart.
The Doctor and Martha land in London, in Elizabethan times. She’s thrilled at the idea of time travel, but worried. “In those films you step on a butterfly, you change the future of the human race.” “Tell you what then, don’t step on any butterflies.” She’s also worried, as a black woman, she might stand out, but the Doctor points out there’s black people in London. “Elizabethan England, it’s not so different from your time.” Honestly, why is Doctor Who so woke?
They visit the Globe theatre, to see Shakespeare himself. The Doctor is very excited. “And now we’re gonna hear him speak! Always, he chooses the best words, new, beautiful, brilliant words…” Shakespeare comes on stage after the play to huge applause and his opening words are “Shut your big fat mouths!” “Oh, well! You should never meet your heroes.”
He talks to the audience about the play they’ve just watched, Love’s Labours Lost, and how it ends suddenly. In a box in the audience, Lilith the witch is watching, and playing with a small doll. Which she manipulates to get Shakespeare to announce that the sequel, Love’s Labours Won will be performed tomorrow, even though he hasn’t finished it yet.
The Doctor is curious about this, since Love’s Labours Won doesn’t exist, even though it’s mentioned on some lists, so he visits Shakespeare, who’s not interested in entertaining a fan, until he sees Martha. “Hey Nonny Nonny!” The Doctor uses his psychic paper, but it doesn’t work on Shakespeare who can see it’s blank.
Shakespeare’s use of various archaic terms to describe Martha and the conversation that ensues is quite amusing, especially when it lands with a Marx Brothers reference. “More to the point, who’s your delicious blackamoor lady?” Martha does a double take and asks “What did you say?” “Whoops. Isn’t that a word we use nowadays? An Ethiop girl, a swarth, a Queen of Afric?” “Can’t believe I’m hearing this.” The Doctor tries to smooth things over. “It’s political correctness gone mad. Martha’s from a far-off land. Freedonia.”
They’re interrupted by the Master of the Revels, who had the job of approving all scripts before they can be performed, who heard Shakespeare’s announcement and is angry that they haven’t submitted a script. He says the performance can’t go ahead. Lilith stops him as he leaves, steals some hair, and goes and does some magic on her little doll, plunges it into a bucket of water, and the Master of the Revels is killed, by drowning.
The Doctor and Martha discuss witchcraft. “It’s all a bit Harry Potter.” “Wait till you read book seven. Oh, I cried.” The advantages of being a time traveller – book seven wasn’t released until later in 2007.
Shakespeare is bewitched as he’s writing the ending of Love’s Labours Won.
Lilith is in Shakespeare’s room as he finishes the play, but she’s interrupted by the maid, who she kills. When the Doctor and Martha arrive, they find her dead, and Martha sees Lilith flying away on a broomstick.
Shakespeare says that the architect of the Globe theatre talked about witches so the Doctor wants to speak to him. He’s in the mental asylum, Bedlam. On the way Shakespeare flirts with Martha, and the Doctor tries to hurry them up. “We can all have a good flirt later!” Shakespeare replies “Is that a promise, Doctor?” “Oh, 57 academics just punched the air, now move!”
At the Globe, the actors are rehearsing the final speech, the one he wrote under Lilith’s influence. As they read it, wind starts blowing and something starts appearing in the air.
At Bedlam, they meet the architect, Peter Streete, who tells them of the witches who told him how to build the globe, with 14 sides. He tells the Doctor where they live, but one of the witches appears to stop him talking. He’s played by Matt King – Superhans off of Peep Show.
The Doctor can’t stop the witch killing Streete, but he does manage to banish her by naming her – Carrionite.
The Doctor realises that the final lines of the play, the ones Shakespeare doesn’t remember writing, are designed to release the Carrionites into our world. He tells Shakespeare to go to the globe and stop the play while he and Martha go to find Lilith and the others. I like the dialogue in this scene. “All these years I’ve been the cleverest man around. Next to you, I know nothing!” Martha says “Oh, don’t complain!” He says “I’m not, it’s marvellous! Good luck, Doctor!” “Good luck, Shakespeare! Once more unto the breach!” “I like that… Wait a minute, that’s one of mine!”
The Doctor confronts Lilith, she explains her whole plan then takes a cutting of his hair for her doll, and stops his heart.
Lucky he has two hearts. Once again, Martha has to help revive him.
They’re a bit late to the show – the final lines have already been spoken, and magic is swirling around the Globe.
The only way to send the Carrionites back is to use more magic words. The Doctor tells Shakespeare he has to improvise them. He manages, but struggles with the end. “And banished like a tinker’s cuss, I say to thee…” he’s finally lost for words. He looks at Martha who says “Expelliarmus!” “Expelliarmus!” he repeats “Good old JK!” says the Doctor.
The Carrionites are all banished to whatever place they came from and the play gets a huge ovation. Afterwards, Shakespeare is still flirting with Martha. His head still hurts from when Lilith knocked him unconscious to prevent him stopping the play so the Doctor suggests a Ruff collar. I’m not sure that actually does the same job as a neck bandage, but I’ll let it go. The Doctor bids farewell. “I’ve gotta take Martha back to Freedonia.” “You mean travel on through time and space?” “You what?” “You’re from another world, like the Carrionites.” “Martha’s from the future. It’s not that hard to work out.”
They’re interrupted by the surprise appearance of Queen Elizabeth, who has heard about the new play. But when she arrives, it’s not Shakespeare who interests her. “Doctor!” “What?” “My sworn enemy!” “What?” “Off with his head!” So they run to the Tardis, and get away just in time.
Media Centre Description: The Doctor takes Martha to Elizabethan England, where William Shakespeare is under the control of deadly witch-like creatures.
Recorded from BBC ONE on Saturday 7th April 2007 18:58
BBC Genome: BBC ONE Saturday 7th April 2007 19:00
After this, there’s a trail for Ruddy Hell! It’s Harry and Paul. Nelson Mandela? Really? In 2007?
Plus a trail for Superstorm.
Then the recording stops after a few minutes of Any Dream Will Do.
The last recording today is Doctor Who Confidential – Stage Fright. Phil Collinson talks about how they were filming the episode in the actual Globe theatre, and having to fit their filming around actual stage performances.
David Tennant enjoyed the experience. “The Globe itself is the most extraordinary place and when you walk in, and just see this beautiful space, recreated so painstakingly and so lovingly, it’s not like anything else.”
Location Manager Gareth Skelding explains how the Globe’s availability meant the scenes which were supposed to take place during the day had to become night shoots.
Writer Gareth Roberts was glad it worked out. “I think I remember saying to Russell and Julie, ‘You’re sure we can get it?’, and Russell was going, ‘Oh, yes, of course we can… I think.’ You know? So it was always there, and I think we sort of had a vague talk of a back-up plan if we couldn’t get it!”
Russell T Davies: “The Globe wasn’t easy to get, cos it’s not easy to get into there and it’s a long way for us to travel, but the whole script had been written around that place and to set a Doctor Who story there, to fill it in the way we’ve done, and to have the whole climax of the adventure, I think, brings Shakespeare to life.”
Director Charles Palmer describes the shoot as “logistically extremely complicated”.
Dean Lennox Kelly plays Shakespeare as a Rock Star.
Set Decorator David Morison talks about the great locations they used in Warwick which stood in for the streets of London.
Chris Larkin plays the Master of the Revels, and the programme looks at what he had to go through to film his “drowning” scene.
Paul Kelly explains how the water comes out of his mouth – a tube runs under his beard and into the mouth, and points out of the mouth.
Freema Agyeman found the special effects process fascinating.
Christina Cole enjoyed playing Lilith.
Sam Marks plays the ill-fated lute player from the opening. “It was fine. A couple of their fingernails popped off, cos they were getting into it, but we found them, so that’s OK.”
Stunt Co-ordinator Crispin Layfield explains the flying process.
Another Stunt Co-ordinator Tom Lucy takes Christina Cole through what will happen in the scene where she flies backwards out the window.
Dave Houghton talks about how they made it look like the Globe was filled with people.
TV’s all just lies, isn’t it?
You can watch it all on iPlayer.
Here it is on YouTube, although slightly cut for copyright.
Media Centre Description: Behind-the-scenes look at Doctor Who. The production team recreated some of the most breathtaking scenes to date as Martha’s first trip in the TARDIS takes her to Elizabethan England to meet William Shakespeare.
Recorded from BBC THREE on Saturday 7th April 2007 19:43
BBC Genome: BBC THREE Saturday 7th April 2007 19:45
VHiStory 