From Thursday

Filming took place in the city centre again tonight. They were filming scenes in front of the entrance of Queen's Arcade (used as a location on Tuesday night). It was dressed similarly, with the same vehicles around, but this time the location seemed to be dirtied down with many bin bags and other rubbish scattered around. The scenes filmed included a group of extras running away from Autons. There was then a period when they seemed to be fimling closer shots of two Autons in wedding dresses plus other shots around the exterior of the police station (Exhibition pub). This was in the distance so it was hard to make out any details, but at one point there seemed to be a group of Autons surrounding a black London cab. Various small fires were then lit around the area, and a scene of the Autons dying was filmed. This was followed by a scene of a group of dazed extras starrgering though the carnage. During this scene, there may have been stand ins for Billie and Chris, as two extras of similar build and dressed in similar clothes to the costumes we've seen were fairly seperate to the main group of extras.
Anna Roberts

From Wednesday

Arrived on St Mary Street at 5pm and already production staff were busy. Howells department store was changed to 'Henriks' and there was a 'Henriks' Sale sign put up. The windows were being changed. The Police Station set had been up all day, Classic Bride had been taken down. Walked through Queens Arcade and a false window was being put up over a shop doorway. Went back to Howells after late Lunch (Cheese Burger in Toad (Police Station)!) to see Billie Piper! Wow! There were two London Buses, lots of extras and a bus sign. Billie recorded a scene getting off the bus and running into Henriks. Suddenly the Sun pushed a Gold Dalek to the location and was immediately stopped. They took lots of photos of the Dalek on the set. The crowd loved it. Billie ran onto the bus and hid! The Dalek was escorted off. Said hello to Billie who said 'Hiya'. She's lovely. Back to Queens Arcade for 10pm and saw an Auton chase some shoppers. He was wearing a grey suit. Very scary. Talked to the guys who had the Auton hands (four in total, I think).There were some explosions and the crew clapped. Back to St Mary's Street for a window to explode, but the crew stopped for break. Dont know what happened after 11.30pm as Id left. Great day!
Gregory Jones (courtesy Antony Wainer/DWAS)

Drove past the back end of CRI tonight around 6:30 after dropping a mate off in Orbit Street and saw two blokes and half a dalek lurking around the back entrance where all the vans and lorries had been parked over the weekend. My first thought was, "They've been lying to us all along!" but then I realised it was probably some fans just mucking about, at least that's what I hope... For the record the dalek was a normal one as we all remember it, but yellowy / gold with black bumps and it didn't have a top half. Unfortunately I didn't stop for reasons which now escape me, but I can't help wondering who it was.
Andy (aka Sparky)

Just got back from Cardiff city centre. I stayed for about half an hour from 10 pm on. ... When I was there, they were filming outside the entrance to Queen's Arcade using it as the entrance to a shopping centre. Again, it had been dressed to look like London, with an Underground sign by the entrance. It had also been prettified a bit with a couple of new, small iron lamp posts, but otherwise they didn't seem to have changed any of the shop fronts... There were assorted vehicles about the area, including two red London buses (the Routemaster type - one was route 74 to Putney Heath for those who really like their details), a couple of black cabs, an Evening Standard van, post van, and what seemed to be a small fire engine. Plus a massive crane to light the scene. RTD was in attendance and they were filming a couple of scenes with a female actress, who was wearing blue trackie bottoms with what looked like Adidas stripes, a pink top/jumper and a blue denim jacket. She was also carrying a blue, sequined denim handbag, a mobile phone and a white A4 piece of paper/envelope. The scene consisted of the actress (likely NOT Billie Piper) walking across the road talking on her mobile, while a couple of the vehicles drove past and the best part of a dozen normally dressed extras carrying shopping bags milled about. I could hear most of the dialogue, and following a line about where are you, she was talking to somebody she referred to as darling (boyfriend). As best I can remember the dialogue it was "I can't hear you, the signals breaking up. I'm just going to do some late night shopping." Gripping, huh? A second scene was quickly rehearsed where the same actress ran back out of the shopping centre followed by a tightly packed group of the same extras marching oddly. I have a suspicion that this might have been put on for the benefit of the audience though as the crew then broke for a meal without filming it. Hope that keeps your appetites whetted.
Anna Roberts

Just to give some extra info on last nights Cardiff shoot. On speaking to some of the film crew, four stuntmen were on hand as pyrotechnics were planned. A London bus was being organised to slide down the street, with many of the cars on either side set to explode. This was all set to take place around midnight.
Chris Thomas

I saw five bald headed masks (with splits up the back) being delivered at 10.00pm by a woman and a man in a white van. The Evening Standard hoarding said 'Proper Rigmarole' as its headline. A local trainer shop, on Working Street was turned into 'Classic Brides' at 6.00pm (I watched). A taxi was due to drive into a false window later that night. I left at midnight. The false window covered the doorway. Various rehearsals for a skidding taxi and bus (9.30pm approx). When Billie ran out of Howells (Henrika's in the story) she snatched a clear A4 wallet from a security guard. Various plant pots were placed outsside the fake tube station.
George Duffield

There was a shoe shop on Working Street; it was filled with an artificial shopfront and now it's called "Classic Bride" -- a bridal wear dealer. The windows had mannequins in them; the fake doors didn't even open, and I think only external filming would take place. The London bus-stop sign, the fake one, that appears in one of your photos was right next to the shop, and from the lack of further dressing I would assume that it was only used to evoke a sense of place in one external shot, probably from quite a high angle. The Exhibition pub (one half of the old library building), directly opposite, became a police station, with two hanging POLICE signs, and a billboard filled with public information/awareness literature. Elsewhere in the street were warning signs for the London "congestion charge zone" - a traffic toll recently imposed on drivers in central London, so it can be assumed that at least some scenes were set in the heart of the city, and in the present day or thereabouts. The entrance to Queen's Arcade (the curved stairway shown in the preview shots on your website) became a London Underground station, complete with the fake sign another of the photos shows, and a vendor stand for the "London Evening Standard" (a real newspaper), bearing the headline "Proper Rigmarole" - dunno if that's an exclusively British term? Just in case, my best international translation would be "Big Fuss, Probably Over Nothing".

Producer Russell T. Davies says he won't be releasing any further episode titles until transmission of the show, but episode 7 has the working title "The Long Game". He describes Rob Shearman's script as "thrilling, brutal, and epic" and says that they've chosen a new logo (but it's not seen) and that there will be a "proper title sequence".

Director Keith Boak's "block" consists of episodes 1, 4 and 5 -- which means they're shooting "Rose" and "Aliens of London" as one package. He is quoted in DWM as saying that the new series is "powerful, it's emotive, it's sh*t scary, it's chilling, it's fun, it's warm and it's adventurous. All those things pulled together.....all Ican hope is that it will be completely different to anything anyone's ever seen on TV before."

Among the new names are Neill Gorton, who is in charge of special make-up and prosthetics (he's worked on "Tomb Raider," "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" and "Red Dwarf") and Mike Tucker, writer and visual effects artist, who is handling models and miniatures. So far he's the only direct link on the production team with the old show.

The issue also confirms the writers for the upcoming hardcover Doctor Who new series books: "The Deadly Game" is by Jacqueline Rayner, "The Clockwise Man" is by Justin Richards, and "The Monsters Inside" is by Stephen Cole.

The issue also confirms the details about MillTV doing the effects, which was revealed by MillTV earlier this week.

Dr Who, a major event for the BBC in 2005, will also reflect multi-cultural life in the 21st Century.

The casting of Mickey, the hapless, long-suffering boyfriend of Rose, the DoctorÆs assistant, provides a major role for an actor from an ethnic minority background.

SPOILER PHOTO ABOVE: The first photo... recognize it? It's an Auton hand weapon. Obviously the production team are giving fans a real treat in the new series!

The Sun report: Today's The Sun spoils the Autons for the general public. "DR WHO faces an old foe when he returns to TV - marauding mannequins called the Autons," the article says. "They terrify the time traveller's helper, played by Billie Piper, when they spring to life as she shops. She finds herself at the centre of the action in the show's first new series for 15 years. Billie, who plays Rose Tyler, completed her first day's filming in Cardiff alongside new Doctor Christopher Eccleston yesterday. The Autons' last adversary was Jon Pertwee 33 years ago."

Tuesday Set Report:

The Autons are back! After reading the tip-offs on Outpost Gallifrey (thanks), I travelled the 150 miles to Cardiff yesterday (Tues 20th July) with my 6-year-old daughter, Emma, in the hope of experiencing a bit of the magic of Dr WhoÆs return. We found the Working Street/St. John Street location quite easily, and wandered past the production team vans at 5.30pm. Emma was delighted to spot a familiar group of shop-dummy props in the back of one of the trucks, clearly indicating the return of the Autons! The street was then dressed to resemble 1950s(?) London; props were positioned: a red telephone box, Underground sign, red post box, London bus stop, gaslamps, two industrial metal dustbins and an Evening Standard headline display announcing ôProper rigmaroleö (? la Web Of Fear). The sign of the ôSneakersö sports shoe shop was removed and replaced with a fictional ôClassic Brideö pink shopfront. Wedding gowns arrived for the dummies as well as ôC.B.ö logo stickers for the shop windows. We were excited to realise that it would be the scene of an Auton breakout, as glaziers arrived to fit temporary glass windows! The exterior of the Toad @ The Exhibition pub was transformed into a police station, with new signs, an information board and a blue ôpoliceö lamp. We had followed two traditional 1950s-style London buses from the motorway into Cardiff earlier in the afternoon and were amazed to see them turn up in the Dr. Who street. In fact there was a range of vehicles: fire engine, Royal Mail lorry, Evening Standard van, two black London taxis and the two buses. We tried to keep out of the way and were allowed to wander up and down the street until after 8pm. A few of the workers spoke to us in a friendly manner, and no-one asked us to move away. As darkness fell, the area was closed off by the Police with ôdo not crossö tape, and some extras dressed as firemen arrived. We heard a few rehearsals and shouts of ôQuiet Please!ö as some minor schenes were filmed. Since it was now 9.30 pm and it seemed likely that the main filming would not take place until the middle of the night, we left. We returned at 5am this morning, however, as dawn was breaking to find the clear-up in full swing. Significantly, there was shattered glass all over the pavement in front of the ôClassic Brideö shop, and we watched as the props were systematically removed (all the vehicles had already gone). The Auton shop dummies were piled up in the street and then all props were put back into the trucks. Emma had a fantastic time - Dr Who is definitely back!
David Shaw