Idiot's Lantern Set Report 2

John Campbell Rees:

All this week, Florentia Street, in the Cathays district of Cardiff is being transported back to June 1953, doubling as London for Mark Gatiss' second episode for the new series of Doctor Who, episode VII, The Idiot's Lantern. I decided to take a few days off, so that I could go down to watch the filming.

Note the props van out of shot on Gower Street, and the anachronistic recycling bags hidden from shot. The HP Sauce poster and the George VII postbox are props for the series. All the modern streetlighting had Union Flags hung on them to discuise the modern lamps. The whole of the street was decked out with red white and blue bunting and on the factory at the end of the street (whose car park was being used as the temporary base for filming) had a patriotic mural chalked on its side.

The first thing I saw, after arriving on Tuesday (07-FEB-06) was Billie Piper in a huge fluffy pink circular skirt with layers of petticoats, a blue denim top and a pink ribbon in her hair. David Tennant was sitting on a Vespa scooter, wearing a white crash helmet. Just to show that he was getting into the spirit of the era they were visiting, when the helmet was removed, it revealed that the Doctor will be sporting a teddyboy style DA hair in this episode.

Earlier scenes of the Doctor riding the Vespa out of the TARDIS against a green background stapled to the interior of the prop had been filmed. Once Euros Lyn, the director was satisfied with the a shot of Rose taking a pink crash helmet from the Doctor, climbing onto the back of the Vespa and it ridiing off, the action moved further up Florentia Street. A long segment, roughly two and a half minutes in length was then rehearsed, in which having parked the scooter, showed Rose and the Doctor walking along the and talking to the locals, The Coronation of Queen Elizabeth was the first major event televised in this country, an it truely was the dawn of the television age in Britain, sales of sets, which had been fairly static went through the roof, so a man selling sets from the back of a van is doing a roaring trade. As the Doctor enthused at the dawn of the television age, the man is bundled into the back of an unmarked police car, and is driven away. This sparks the Doctor's curiosity, and so he and his companion rush after the car on their Vespa. This scene was broken down into segments, adn thoroughly rehearsed before the cast and crew broke for lunch at 2pm. From 3pm onwards, this scene was filmed.

Note Billie Piper and David Tennant in costume in the middle of the frame. This was shortly before the take, as between shots Billie would be bundled into a warm coat, it was bitterly cold out there, and a cover would be wrapped around her skirt to stop it getting damp in the intermittent rain.

Despite the fact that David Tennant reportedly had lessons last week, most of the long shots of Rose and the Doctor aboard the Vespa were done with stunt doubles, seen here preparing for the take.

Around 7pm, as filming drew to a close for the day, after night had fallen, another scene was shot, which shows the plainclothes policement bundling a woman into their car, the Doctor emerges and is seen heading towards the Vespa, however when the scooter moves off, it is the double aboard, with David Tennant remaining in the shadows.