Just paid a visit to Swansea, filming is taking place tonight, around the back of the Evening Post newspaper building. To be honest it was only around 4pm,so there was not much to see apart from props trucks unloading, the vans carrying the fake snow arriving and members of the crew painting the nearby pub with black paint and putting up new light posts more suited to the era the story is set in.

Did have a nice word with one of the security men present, who was having a hell of a time getting members of the public away from the area and cars to stop trying to go through where filming is due to take place! He told me that the story is set in 187?(cant remember the exact date,sorry), and is set in Cardiff, also he has been with the crew since filming began back in july,and is sick of members of the public calling out"where are the daleks then?!",and also the cheers and photograph flashes that seem to happen whenever a certain police box arrives on set!

He was saying that there would be quite a big police presence around that evening,and they were waiting for the horses/carriages to arrive,i said that this must be costing quite a bit of money to which he replied,"****ing millions!","if this flops BBC Wales might as well close down!".But he seemed very enthusiastic about what he has seen so far,and stated that he has been on many film/TV shoots in the past but has never seen anything like the work that has gone into this series, he was not sure if "Chris (as he called him) Eccleston" would be around tonight but was sure Billie Piper was involved.

On the subject of Chris(!) Eccleston, he also told me he was with him last night in Cardiff, so I don't know if it was just rehersals or were they filming yesterday? Took some photographs of the scene, but as there was not too much to see apart from the lorries unloading, crew members milling around and security putting up no entry signs I don't think its worth putting them on the site.

Nevertheless, enjoyed my brief moment of time there, and I hope this story is going to be as good as the security guard I spoke to seems to think it is!
--Garry J / "Facethemusic"

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Just got back from where tonights fiming is taking place in Swansea. Several streets had been closed off with a thin layer of snow covering the entire area. There are a large number of extras, along with several coach & horses on site. Compared to the scenes filmed in Cardiff Shopping Centre, the crew present appeared to be on a much larger scale. A crane was also present, which was blowing fake snow everywhere on the set.

First thing to confirm is that both Billy & Chris were filming scenes. We were quite a distance from the actors but it appeared that Chris was still wearing the leather jacket. Billy however appeared to be dressed in Victorian Costume. I watched a scene repeated several times of them walking down a street, with Chris appearing to suddenly dart off to the right, following a horse & hearse carriage.

The other scene I caught glimpses of, were of what looked like Simon Callow, in victorian regalia again, walking from a street, straight towards a close up to a camera in a snow blizzard. On the take for this scene, someone took a photo behind where I was standing, using a flash. The scence had to be halted, with Phil Collinson approaching the gathered crowd, pleading for people not to use flash photography as in this instance, the scene would have to be filmed again.

Sorry but I have no photos, though I daresay a number will be on the site within the next few hours as there was a sizeable crowd present, with the majority taking a number of photos. The whole set looked extremely impressive & atmospheric. No sign of the Tardis anywhere though!
--John J Moran

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I saw both of those scenes as well... Simon Callow wishing someone Merry Christmas and the Doctor and Rose scene which looks like it's early on in the episode as the Doctor grabs a newspaper. Perhaps he's looking to see what date it is... or something more mysterious.

The Doctor rushing off and almost leaving Rose behind was a great "Doctor" moment and shows how dedicated RTD is to the character.

Sorry there's not more to report. My eyes are still stinging after getting a face full of fake snow - it's a bit like sand!
--Ian Golden

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Just back from the Swansea shoot and can confirm the above posts. I actually managed to position myself in the pub, the Queen's Head (I think!) and had aan extremely close view of the action but sadly wasn't able to take pics due to the close proximity of loads of BBC types, including dozens of extras in full Victorian regalia (and even they were forbidden from taking cameras - or pets??!! - onto the set).

Quite simply it was a breath-taking shoot. The streets looked amazing covered in extremely realistic snow and the attention to detail was quite staggering - extras dressed as Victorian gentlemen and women, street urchins, policemen, draymen, prostitutes, sailors. Simon Callow appeared fairly early in the evning in full Dickensian makeup and sporting a thick beard. His one scene seemed to involve striding along the snowy streets, acknowledging passersby and crossing in the general direction of a building made up as the Taliesyn Halls, a theatre in 1870s Cardiff (where the story appears to be set). Chris and Billie arrived around 10pm, Chris in his usual gear, Billie in a stunning black Victorian dress.Both looked in superb spirits, laughing and joking together and clearly enjoying each other's company and the filming in general (reinforced by favourable comments from production crew I managed to speak to). Billie notably crossed the street during a quiet moment and made a point of talking to two extras dressed as ladies-of-the-night (I think you know what I'm saying!). Chris and Billie's scene, as reported earlier, involved the pair of them, arm-in-arm, walking down the street, pausing as a horse-and-carriage clatters by, the Doc darting off to buy a one-sheet newspaper from a hag-like kerb newsvendor. The scene was recorded several tiems before the crew broke for supper at around 11.30pm.
--Paul Mount