Paul Mount:
Last scene filmed - several times - showed a dozen or more 'zombified' humans in gasmasks - they looked like patients, nurses, etc, lurching out of the hospital doors. lots of mist drifting across and a cleverly-placed arc light on the other side of the road cast an extremely spooky shadow of a treebranch right across the building. Looked quire eerie. in other news....filming quite behind schedule but no-one particularly worried. Daleks...(note plural) very effective and super-sophisticated in filming for the Shearman episode, filming moves to barry island (home of Delta and the bannermen) for a week's filming next week and...start date for series on TV said to be first week in March. Now some of this came from the security bod who also said they'd filmed 17 episodes so far and that Christopher Biggleswade was the Doctor (when I corrected him he said he was always getting the names confused....Bigglewade is apparently a guest star in one episode or other. I've never heard of him myself) so there may be cause for some uncertainty but he seemed to know what he was talking about. Also said CE was a great bloke (he was chatting amiably to some young fans between takes tonight) and Billie is "lovely..."


Alex Willcox:
There didn't seem to be much happening this morning, so I went back to bed for a couple of hours. I've just got back, and the place is being set up for tonight's filming. It is indeed Albion Hospital. There's a big Red Cross flag on the front of the building, and sandbags around the entrance and the gates. A quick chat with a security guard revealed a couple of titbits - they've been filming inside since noon, and will be doing exterior work after dark. The whole road's going to be blocked off, as "It'd look a bit odd, set in the 1930s, with modern cars going past."

The Hospital was mocked up with the same Albion Hospital sign used previously. Sandbags were placed around the doors and the main gate. A big Red Cross flag hung from the front of the building, and the windows had crosses of tape over them. A corrugated iron fence had been erected above the outer wall, with KEEP OUT signs, and several wartime posters, about A4 in size. The three I saw were: one about reusing old bottles, another giving advice on constructing your own air raid shelter, and the third warning not to burn or destroy wastepaper - every scrap is needed for the war effort. Another large sign saying Danger - Keep out was on the gates.

The first shot recorded was of The Doctor walking up to the gates of Albion Hospital, rattling them and, finding them locked. He takes out his sonic screwdriver, which shines a blue light, and the padlock opens. He then opens the gate and walks through. The camera starts high above the gate and swoops down, taking in the Albion Hospital sign, ending up at ground level as Chris walks into shot. We had a good view of the camera monitor, and this swoop looks very effective. After a few takes of this, a close-up of the sonic screwdriver and padlock was recorded.

The next shot was of the zombies coming out of the doorway (freshly painted blue!). There were about two dozen by my reckoning; men, women and children; all in period costume and wearing gas masks. I remember a large chap at the front in a purple tank top, two schoolgirls in brown coats, with satchels, and I think a nurse. They all appeared to have a cut or scar on their right hands. The zombies walked out of the door, and straight down the pathway to the main gates - no other movement or emotion at all. Three takes were recorded of this shot.

Finally, an establishing long shot of the Hospital was recorded from two positions on the far side of the road.

After all this had finished, we hung around for a few minutes, went over to the only member of the crew left around, tidying up, and asked if we could nab the posters. Much to our surprise, he said yes! We got props!

In between takes of the first shot, the camera assistant (whose name I didn't get) came over to chat to us. She confirmed that the filming was for The Empty Child, and told me about the shots they were filming, describing the Zombies as having "Empty Child Syndrome", though then told me that this was not a scripted name, and was just the name the crew use. She said she'd seen the TARDIS set, and that it was very good, and massive. I tried to find out where they were filming next, but naturally, she wouldn't tell me. She did say though that "You wouldn't want to go where we're filming next."

Finally, I'd just like to say that the crew were very courteous in tolerating our presence. Especially the Director who, after we were moved to the other side of the road when they noticed we were in view of the camera for the final scene, made the effort to come over and thank us for moving.

We have learned that all thirteen episodes of the first season will have their own titles, and not "part one / part two" tags. The working title for episode 5 (the second half of the "Aliens of London" segment) may be 10 Downing Street, while the title for episode 10 (the second half of the two-part story by Steven Moffat beginning with "The Empty Child") is likely The Doctor Dances.

As previously known, "The Empty Child," and its second chapter, are set during World War II and features John Barrowman as Captain Jack Harkness, who it is reported is actually a time traveler from the far future... and the story may feature a virus that turns people into gas-mask wearing zombies. Jack may also join the TARDIS crew, as previously rumored.

Yesterday (January 13) was the last day of filming at Cardiff's Royal Infirmary. "A security guard last night confirmed that it is Doctor Who, and that filming had finished for the day - Chris & Billie had already left. They should be there today from 8 am till 10pm. Don't know if it's interior or exterior," said correspondent Alex Willcox. Also, it has been noted by several people in our forums that that the building has been mocked-up as "Albion Hospital" again, so it does suggest the same story as had been filmed early on, or possibly in a different time period (possibly during "The Empty Child"/"The Doctor Dances"). (We do know that pick-up and additional shots are being carried out for earlier episodes, as the shows are not being filmed in sequence.)

The new edition of Starburst magazine features shots of a wedding from 1986 attended by Rose's parents (along with a young Rose), the TARDIS in a side street and a green car which it says may be the one that kills Rose's father. Also shots of the Doctor and Rose together and the Doctor on his own looking sad. These are from episode 8, which is apparently a time travel story: Rose's father is killed in a car accident and Rose is unable to save him. (We've also been told that the topiary swans featured on the BBC Who Spy site seem to be the ones outside the church.)

A new series press "junket" (or invited press session) for interviews and photos took place earlier this week; expect to see reports from that coming out very soon, possibly even in the next week. (Thanks to Barry Piggott, Alex Willcox, Nathan "Obstreperous", Glen Hudgins)