Christian Cawley's Blog, page 79

Trans Actress Bethany Black Joins Doctor Who Series 9

Andrew Reynolds is a writer at Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews - All the latest Doctor Who news and reviews with our weekly podKast, features and interviews, and a long-running forum.

Trans comedian and actress Bethany Black has joined the cast of Doctor Who Series 9 – making her the first openly trans actor in the shows 52 year run.

Black, who has been dubbed “Britain’s only goth, lesbian, transsexual comedian” will have an as yet undisclosed guest star role in the new series.

The 36 year-old actress took to Facebook to quip: “Trying to keep this secret has been the most difficult thing in the world…Now to sit back and wait until The Mail realises the BBC have cast an openly trans lesbian in a family show,” as well as a bit of posing in front of the TARDIS.

Black will join The League of Gentleman’s Reece Shearsmith in the ninth episode of the new series, which was penned by fellow Gentleman alum Mark Gatiss.

In a year of firsts, Black was also the first transgender woman to play a trans character in mainstream TV series when she took on the role of Helen Brears in Russell T. Davies’ queer dramedies Cucumber and Banana. Speaking to The Independent on the eve of her appearance in Banana, Black said that the issues portrayed in the show were ‘universal’ and thought that it’s more important that we ‘move on’ from gender.

However, it’s unlikely that she’ll ever avoid the issue of representation with in the media.

“There’s a massive responsibility but you also know you can’t really represent anybody – you can’t even represent yourself,” she said at the time. “It is an absolute privilege and an honour to be representing trans people.”

Doctor Who Series 9 returns on September 19th.

The post Trans Actress Bethany Black Joins Doctor Who Series 9 appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Is Fan “Ownership” A Problem for Doctor Who Producers?

Christian Cawley is a writer at Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews - All the latest Doctor Who news and reviews with our weekly podKast, features and interviews, and a long-running forum.

Do Doctor Who fans expect and demand too much? Should they be “offended” when the show goes in a direction they don’t like, or an episode or character behaves in a way that conflicts with their perceptions? These and many other questions are asked in this week’s podKast, in which James McLean and Brian Terranova attempt to get to the bottom of a few issues in fandom that have been bugging them.

Whether they succeed in resolving these issues is something you’ll have to tune into the podKast to find out…

Kasterborous PodKast Series 5 Episode 26 Shownotes

Ripper Street Series 3
Time’s Champion

The podKast theme tune is by Russell Hugo. It’s good, isn’t it?

Listen to the PodKast

There are several ways to listen. In addition to the usual player above, we’re pleased to announce that you can also stream the podKast using Stitcher, an award-winning, free mobile app available for Android and iPhone/iPad. This pretty much means that you can listen to us anywhere without downloading – pretty neat, we think you’ll agree! (Note that it can take a few hours after a new podKast is published to “catch up”.)

Stitcher

Audioboom

What’s more, you can now listen and subscribe to the podKast via our Audioboom channel (formerly Audioboo)! Head to https://audioboom.com/channel/doctorwhopodkast and click play to start listening. You can also comment and record your own boos in response to our discussions! Meanwhile you can use the player below to listen through Audioboom:

You haven’t clicked play yet?! What are you waiting for? As well as our new Stitcher and Audioboo presence you can also use one of these amazingly convenient ways to download and enjoy this week’s podKast.

Use the player in the top right of the Kasterborous home page, or visit the podKast menu link.
Listen with the “pop out” player above, which also allows you to download the podKast to your computer.
You can also take advantage of the RSS feed to subscribe to the podKast for your media player, and even find us on iTunes, where your reviews will help the show considerably.

The post Is Fan “Ownership” A Problem for Doctor Who Producers? appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Finding the Tone in Doctor Who Series 9

David Power is a writer at Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews - All the latest Doctor Who news and reviews with our weekly podKast, features and interviews, and a long-running forum.

It’s no secret that the direction of the Twelfth Doctor in Series 8 rubbed some people the wrong way. At times he was making macabre quips about people being liquified into protein (Ross, we hardly knew ye), and at others he was doing victory jigs after Addams Family-ing his way out of trouble. Tonally the Twelfth Doctor is a hard nail to pin down. Gallant grandfather or grumpy geriatric? It’s a toughie. But Peter Capaldi’s very aware of this.

In a live stream during BBC America’s section of the 2015 Summer TCA Tour, Peter Capaldi said:

“I think it’s more interesting to explore how someone develops rather than arriving fully formed. There’s a lot of struggle to find the right tone. It would be a bad idea to arrive feeling certain of how he had to be. And you’ll see more of that struggle this season.”

Steven Moffat added:

“The new Doctor always takes a moment to find out who he is. It’s interesting to see someone become a completely different person and not know yourself anymore.” 

It’s entirely plausible that the Twelfth Doctor’s development is going to play out quite similar to his original William Hartnell counterpart. They’re both old men adjusting to how humans react to each other, the First Doctor having spent his whole life up to then on Gallifrey and the Twelfth Doctor having just faced 900 years on Trenzalore outliving everyone he formed an attachment to.

How d’you think they could cement a concrete theme for Series 9 with such a complex Doctor?

The post Finding the Tone in Doctor Who Series 9 appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Andy Frankham-Allen Lethbridge-Stewart Book Signing

Christian Cawley is a writer at Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews - All the latest Doctor Who news and reviews with our weekly podKast, features and interviews, and a long-running forum.

Andy Frankham-Allen, author of The Forgotten Son and Companions: Fifty Years of Doctor Who Assistants, will host a signing of his work in Cardiff’s Forbidden Planet (Duke Street) at 3pm on the 8th August 2015, coinciding with the launch of The Candy Jar Book festival, also in the city.

An in-depth account of each Doctor Who companion, Companions is the definitive reference guide to the Doctor’s assistants, covering the TV series as well as other media. The Forgotten Son, meanwhile, is the first instalment in the official, fully-licensed further adventures of the Doctor’s favourite companion, Brigadier Sir Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart.

Lethbridge-Stewart has been an essential part of the Doctor Who universe since 1968. He was created by authors Mervyn Haisman and Henry Lincoln for the six-part Doctor Who serial The Web of Fear. Originally intended as a one-off character, over a year later he was brought back to Doctor Who, promoted to Brigadier and made the head of UNIT. Forty-six years on and the Brigadier has become one of the show’s most iconic characters, having appeared with ten different Doctors in countless TV episodes, books, audio dramas and comic strips. Fully licensed by the Executor of the Haisman Literary Estate, Mervyn Haisman’s granddaughter Hannah Haisman, and endorsed by Henry Lincoln, Candy Jar’s Lethbridge-Stewart series is the official account of the Brigadier’s life and adventures in the periods between his encounters with the Doctor.

Given Cardiff’s status not only as the capital of all things Who, but as Andy’s hometown, the city was the obvious choice to host this signing. Andy has been a Doctor Who fan since his childhood and serves as line editor for the Lethbridge-Stewart series, as well as penning the opening novel. He is the former line editor of Untreed Reads Publishing’s series Space: 1889 & Beyond, and has penned several Doctor WhoShort Trip stories for Big Finish, as well as the two titles he will be signing at this event.

For further details, please visit the Candy Jar website: www.candyjarbooks.co.uk

The post Andy Frankham-Allen Lethbridge-Stewart Book Signing appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Reece Shearsmith Joins Doctor Who Series 9 Cast

Christian Cawley is a writer at Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews - All the latest Doctor Who news and reviews with our weekly podKast, features and interviews, and a long-running forum.

The BBC has today confirmed that actor, comedian and award winning writer Reece Shearsmith will joins Peter Capaldi (the Doctor) and Jenna Coleman (Clara Oswald) in a guest role in a special episode of Doctor Who Series 9, returning to BBC One this September.

As you’ll know, Reece previously played Patrick Troughton in 2013’s docudrama An Adventure in Space and Time, and returns to Cardiff in Series 9 for a part in an adventure written by his League of Gentlemen co-star Mark Gatiss, directed by Justin Molotnikov and produced by Nikki Wilson.

Most famously known for his work as part of The League of Gentlemen with Gatiss and Steve Pemberton (Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead) and co-writer Jeremy Dyson, Reece comments:

‘I am absolutely thrilled to be filming Doctor Who as Mark Gatiss has written a fantastic role for me in a very scary episode. It has been so exciting to be part of a very singular episode – which, I can say with authority will be unlike any previous episode of Doctor Who. It’s a joy to play a part in the show – certainly a badge of honour.’

Mark Gatiss, writer of the episode, added:

‘I’m delighted to be writing again for Peter and Jenna’s brilliant TARDIS team and very excited about this particular story. It’s been brewing in the dark recesses of my mind for a while now! I’m also chuffed to bits to finally welcome my old friend Reece Shearsmith onto the show. He’s been badgering me for ten years!’

All cast in the as-yet untitled episode, which is currently in production, are Elaine Tan (Eastenders, Entourage), Neet Mohan (All in Good Time, Desert Dancer), Bethany Black (Cucumber, Banana) and Paul Courtenay Hyu (Dalziel and Pascoe, Coronation Street).

Doctor Who Series 9 kicks off on September 19th. Not long now – but before then, what is Shearsmith up to in Doctor Who? Is Papa Lazarou going up against the Dave Doctor? Could the Second Doctor be making an appearance? Tell us what you think in the comments.

The post Reece Shearsmith Joins Doctor Who Series 9 Cast appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Private Eye Claims “no full series of Doctor Who in 2016″

Christian Cawley is a writer at Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews - All the latest Doctor Who news and reviews with our weekly podKast, features and interviews, and a long-running forum.

Sad news for anyone expecting Doctor Who Series 10 in 2016? Too early to say, but Private Eye has published the following in its most recent issue, which suggests that Steven Moffat’s other popular show, Sherlock, will push a sixth full-length Moffat-lead series back a year.

This is no doubt connected to the problems facing Sherlock’s fourth series, the shoot for which was postponed earlier this year. Says the organ of Lord Gnome:

Not long now till the return of Doctor Who, which arrives back on screens for the ninth series of its latest incarnation on 19 September.

Fan should make as much as they can of this 12-part run, as BBC staff have recently been informed that showrunner Steven Moffat’s commitments to his other hit show Sherlock mean that there will be no full series of Doctor Who in 2016.

We previously reported on Private Eye’s account of an accidental leaking of Matt Smith’s departure in 2013, and other stories about the show printed in the Ian Hislop-edited magazine have proved accurate.

So what do you think? Are you fearing 2016? Sick of Sherlock? Think it’s all nonsense? Tell us in the comments.

(With thanks to Al | via Bleeding Cool)

The post Private Eye Claims “no full series of Doctor Who in 2016″ appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Series 8 Script Analysis: Deep Breath

Richard Forbes is a writer at Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews - All the latest Doctor Who news and reviews with our weekly podKast, features and interviews, and a long-running forum.

This time last year, fans and the BBC alike were horrified with the news that post-production scripts and worse, footage from Series 8 (the first five episodes to be precise) had leaked online. Many Whovians, myself included, shied away from the scripts, not wanting to be spoiled. I treated the scripts as sheer poison – locking myself away from it like a patient under quarantine, anticipating the season premiere. Nowadays however, the scripts are still available online and, having watched Series 8 in its entirety already as it was intended to be seen, I set out this month to read through those leaked post-production scripts and share some commentary on them with you, dear readers. Ultimately, a script provides a wealth of insight into the production process that goes behind Doctor Who, the voice of their individual writers and techniques and tools of the trade which one might learn from – if they were so inclined.

As of late we’ve gone through quite a drought of such insight into Doctor Who’s production; no new published shooting scripts, no modern equivalent to Russell T Davies’ The Writer’s Tale, no more Doctor Who Confidential even. I suppose then that these leaked scripts fill a growing gap with regards to those kinds of opportunities for a behind-the-scenes look, but, I should warn you just as a general preface to this article and the rest of the series that these scripts were never officially sanctioned, they were never written with the intent that the scripts would be distributed for wider public consumption. Thus, it’s only fair then that any, say typos or irregularities, are excused as something that was never intended for us to consume anyways.

But with that it should be said that the scripts that did leak could not have been more illuminating and well composed. Often the production scripts that were released for public consumption under Davies’ tenure as showrunner were of a different breed of prose – quicker, plain but clever and terse – while these leaked scripts are a bit more refined, rhetorical, often more verbose than some of the other production scripts I’ve seen, but my reception to this style was positive. It gave me a better sense of the events unfolding in the story and, especially, the thoughts and intentions of the characters involved.

Reviewing the leaked scripts required me to take a fine comb to analyze them with, but with five scripts to comb through, the first of which spanned over a hundred pages, I had my work cut out for me.

Deep Breath

Immediately we can see the difference between a shooting script and a post-production script with just brief reading of the script’s first page. For one thing, in a shooting script all elements like characters are capitalized in their first appearance in a scene traditionally (like, ‘THE DOCTOR enters the room.’) to aid in the production process as it’s rather embarrassing when you go to shoot a scene with MADAME VASTRA, JENNY FLINT & … where’s STRAX? Did we book STRAX!? Point taken, I presume. But at first when I read the script I had seen ‘Tyrannosaurus Rex’ and dismissed the lack of capitalization as a reflection of the dinosaur’s status as a CGI animal (yet another contemporary example of anthropocentrism at play, no doubt!), as I continued and saw Londoners, yet again left capitalized, I excused it as a general contempt for extras, but when faced with no capitalization in further scenes, I came to the unwelcome realization that regardless of whatever protocol I was familiar with for screenplays, what I was reading was a very different beast than what I was used to – this would serve as a useful and informative preface for the exercise in which I embarked on, from page zero to the story’s end – Deep Breath’s script never ceased to surprise me.

Moffat’s opening scene for Deep Breath is a demonstration of an author’s voice as it shines through a piece – a script’s exposition need not be a literary masterpiece, writing guides tell us – but Steven Moffat reminds us with this script that screenwriting need not be institutional to be professional. Often he writes to his audience directly as if he is trying to tell a story, not simply narrate events to be performed. The opening line, ‘a beautiful blue sky’ (which somehow became periwinkle in Ben Wheatley’s warm, sepia world) is followed with a hint of a joke, ‘no clue where this is,’ which is just as much comedy as it is an expression of the confusion that audiences should feel when watching this scene and the confusion of the episode’s anachronistic dinosaurs – confusion is a central idea to Deep Breath’s overall narrative, the confusion of being alone, the confusion of being lost in a world you don’t understand and a world, sadly, that misunderstands you and your confusion – promoting more confusion; people scared of other people scared is a vicious circle in Deep Breath’s fundamentally prejudice world.

Just as Davies showed regeneration as scary for the companion, Steven Moffat shows us just how scary it can be for the Doctor. This first scene in Deep Breath may elude to The Christmas Invasion with the line, ‘right here, that’s him, that’s the Doctor,’ but in many ways Deep Breath transcends the latter episode as a more complex exploration of the fear of the unknown. As you read an excerpt below from Deep Breath’s opening scene, take special note of the way in which the author conveys the swaying motion of the off kilter dinosaur (who the script shows is more interested in the Westminister Quarters than eating the public); and, to humour me greatly, remember a time in your own life when perhaps a bat, or a mouse entered your home and these famous few words were spoken with a homespun charm: ‘it’s more afraid of you than you’re afraid of it….’

10:00:00 EXT. SKY – DAY

A beautiful blue sky – no clue where this is.

A huge, thunderous impact, earth-shaking – and now, swaying into view the head of a Tyrannosaurus Rex. It roars, it sways its mighty head –

And now another sound. The tolling of bell. The Tyrannosaurus, looking around. Now bending to investigate this strange noise. Panning down with the mighty to discover the clock tower of Big Ben.

Now there are the cries of terrified Londoners, screams and yells.

CUT TO:

10:00:21 EXT. BANKS OF THE THAMES – DAY

A row of terrified Victorian Bobbies, cordoning off gob-smacked members of the public.

The screams continue, and we see their view of the Tyrannosaur dwarfing Big Ben.

At the front is jaw-dropped Inspector Gregson, staring up at the impossible creature.

Pushing their way, through the garden, comes the Veiled Detective herself – Madame Vastra. Following, Jenny Flint and Strax.

10:00:37

INSPECTOR GREGSON

Madame Vastra, thank God. I’ll wager you’ve not seen anything like this before!

Note near the end how Moffat introduces Vastra as the ‘Veiled Detective herself,’ another example of how he often writes to his audience – note also the way in which he phrases the others’ introduction as ‘following, Jenny Flint and […]’ – just another cute example of how writers can economize as they write screenplays and shave off a few words from a sentence where they aren’t needed. Only five more pages in too, we get another strong example of how a writer can command a screenplay to play out as he or she envisions:

STRAX goes striding up the TARDIS, bangs his fist on the door.

STRAX

Hello?? Exit the box, and surrender to the glory of the Sontaran empire.

A moment –

– then the one of the doors is pulled open and the unfamiliar face of the new Doctor pops out for a moment –

THE DOCTOR

Shh!

– and slams back inside.

STRAX

Doctor?

The face pops out again.

THE DOCTOR

I was being chased by a giant dinosaur, but I think I managed to give it the slip.

Slams away again.

Strax looks to the others, but bewildered. What??

The doors open more slowly. The Doctor peering out at Strax – quizzical, like he’s trying to place a memory.

(He’s clearly still dazed from his regeneration, and still dressed in the previous Doctor’s clothes.)

First see how the author uses ‘a moment’ to establish a beat and allow for a dramatic pause. Each new line conveys some space, some running time for silence, anticipation and reflection. Quick lines of action bookend each brief appearance of the new doctor (and his ‘unfamiliar face,’ as the script remarks) before another sudden slam of the TARDIS doors. Interestingly enough, if one were to read Strax’s dialogue in a straight, controlled voice, it appears almost plain, instructive – ‘exit the box’ – this demonstrates to us just how significant the actor’s delivery is in achieving the colour of a character’s dialogue. Sometimes a writer must trust their performers to get it right, but some specifics won’t hurt either. Take for example, the ‘what!?’ which is more or less an economical way of expressing the confusion to the actor that they need to portray and serves no other production value per se.

Likewise, the script also describes the kind of quizzicality that Peter Capaldi must perform (like ‘placing a memory,’) even if the literal sentence serves no inherent production value. Moreover, the sentence which follows also takes the time to remind Capaldi that he must act dazed from regeneration and reminds the costume department that he must be wearing the Eleventh Doctor’s outfit – while perhaps the latter might be an unusual request for other shows where costume are rarely discussed in screenplays without a storytelling purpose, the use of the former Doctor’s costume is, after all, tradition for Doctor Who.

10:06:49 INT. UPSTAIRS LANDING/ THE DOCTOR’S BEDROOM – DAY

Clara and Jenny listen at a door.

THE DOCTOR (OS)

It’s simply a misunderstandable to me... I don’t know what it is.

On a door as it is torn open!!

The New Doctor, now in a huge Victorian night shirt. He looks crazed indignant.

THE DOCTOR

(cont’d)

Who invented this room??

Clara guides him back into the room.

CLARA

Doctor, please, you have to lie down --

THE DOCTOR

It doesn’t make sense. It’s only got a bed in it. Why is there only a bed it in??

He’s flailing round the room, cross with it. Clara following, placatory.

After the credits we move to a hilarious scene in a bedroom; the Doctor now struggling with his new reality, staggering around, questioning the fundamentals of domestic life under the influence of a post-regeneration haze. Honestly the scene had touched a nerve personally, although likely unintentionally, but it had reminded me of caring for my late grandfather – the same steering of a love one to bed might come as an all too familiar sight to those acquainted with the ills of overmedication and such.

None of us have experienced regeneration before but some of us may have experienced the unfortunate scene that can follow when a loved one’s mind is under threat and vulnerable to the confusion around them. Confusion. There goes that word again. It’s worth acknowledging how the script shows dialogue at the top of the scene which may have otherwise gone unnoticed – note the use of OS which stands for ‘Off-Screen,’ indicating that the dialogue is spoke out of frame.

[...]

CLARA

But what do we do? How do we fix him?

JENNY

Fix him??

CLARA

How do we change him back??

A silence. Jenny and Vastra exchange a look – oh dear!

On Vastra – a narrow look at Clara. Like she isn’t pleased.

VASTRA

Jenny, I shall be in my chamber. Would you be kind enough to fetch my veil?

JENNY

Why? Are we expecting strangers?

VASTRA

It would seem – (Turn a sharp look on Clara) – there is already one here.

She holds her look for a moment, then sweeps out. On Clara. Slightly rocked.

She looks in bewilderment to Jenny, who just avoids her eye.

CLARA

What have I done wrong?

A beat on Jenny, not answering.

Moving forward the author once again uses silence and space to advance the story at the pace that he wishes to, with parenthesis and exposition to subtly emphasize Vasta’s gaping disappointment in Clara. The scene continues with Moffat once more speaking more or less to the reader, describing Clara’s thoughts:

Clara, now alone with the strange man in the bed. The Doctor?

CLARA

Where did he get that face? Why’s it got lines on it, it’s brand new. How can his hair be all grey, he only just got it.

JENNY

It’s still him, ma’am, you saw him change.

CLARA

I know. I do, I, I know that.

JENNY

Good.

CLARA

It’s just –

JENNY

What?

CLARA

Nothing.

Jenny turns, goes. Clara has looked back to the Doctor.

Another strong scene comes with the introduction of the Half-Face Man, standing idly, in Paternoster Row, cloaked in shadows as the author eloquently describes…

She heads off –

– leaving us with a shot of a man standing a little way behind Alf, also looking up at the dinosaur.

Holding on the this man, losing Alf. Tall, thin, motionless. Eerily motionless, and so deep in the shadows, he is almost one of them.

Beyond him, the lamplighter is lighting the nearest street lamp. As it flares into life, an impossible thing.

Silhouetted against the flame, the man’s head is only half there. One half is a normal face, torn raggedly down the centre. The other half is a lattice-work of steel and bone and wire – you can see directly through it, like a bird cage – and there appears to be a real eye, mounted in this grotesque structure.

This is only seen for a moment –

– the Man steps forward, moving to stand next to Alf, who is still gawping at the dinosaur. We home in on Alf, losing the man next to him.

Alf, sensing a new audience, continues to prattle.

ALF

It’s the neck, that’s what’s wrong with it. It’s just not realistic.

The voice, when it replies, is rusty, rumbling, almost mechanical.

HALF-FACE MAN

You have good eyes.

Note how economically the author describes the focus of the scene with the language of a camera shot: ‘home in,’ ‘holding on,’ and ‘losing the next man,’ – all an effort, not only to describe what is happening, but what is seen and more importantly how it is to be seen. This script is just as practical as it is illustrative. There are lots of ways, Moffat shows us, we can use a screenplay to influence the production and look of a story. For example, the author uses ‘POV’ (Point of View) to request that a shot be shown to us from the point of view of a particular character:

[...]

The Doctor’s POV. Along the banks of the Thames, we see various people along the river, pointing, staring.

The Doctor, DMP of the Houses of Parliament behind him.

THE DOCTOR

(cont’d)

Question two. If all the pudding-brains are gawking – (Throws out an arm, points) – then what is he??

The Doctor’s POV. Striding through the gaslight, in the opposite direction from everybody – the thin, tall man we saw earlier. Again, the shadows swallow him up.

If you were wondering, DMP stands for Digital Matte Painting, suggesting that the shot of the UK Parliament is a digital composition.

Later Moffat also uses POV to reveal the Half-Faced Man once more from the perspective of the Doctor and Clara:

[...]

He’s circling the central dais, looking up at the top-hatted, motionless figure in the big chair. Clara, cautiously following him.

Their POV. It’s the Half-Face man – the one we saw stalking round the town.

A clearer view now. Half an ordinary face – square-jawed and handsome, like a Roman Emperor, greying hair. A ragged tear down the middle of the face, and then hollow cage structure. We can see a section of brain projecting from the human half, with wires trailing from it.

The Half-Face Man sits entirely motionless. Staring directly ahead.

THE DOCTOR

(cont’d)

Captain, my Captain.

Note the use of ‘a clearer view’ (another bit of camera lingo), the eloquent description of the Half-Face Man and the use of ‘we’ in saying that the audience ‘sees’ something stalking around. The use of ‘we’ is a signature of Steven Moffat’s – as noted by Davies in The Writer’s Tale – it suggests a more visual, personal way to tell a story, a common form evident throughout Deep Breath’s post production script. The brief mention of a Roman Emperor too opens up a whole world of possibilities for the immotal Clockwork Droid, suggesting a life full of history. Perhaps Brutus was more machine than man…?

It’s the hints of more stories to tell like these that Moffat seeds his scripts with in a layered fashion – a story nestled within a story is not just a story but a world in its own right. A show like Doctor Who especially occupies and assumes the shape, not just of a simple narrative, but of a world told and more often than not, untold. As this scene continues however we are treated with even more goodies as the showrunner goes on to describe this encounter, both terrifying and suffocating in anticipation and trepidation which the audience shares with the story’s main characters.

And then –

– an utterly chilling moment, all the more chilling for being so casual –

– the Half-Face takes its hands from its lap simply places them back on the arms of the chair.

It’s the calmest, simplest move –

– but the effect on the Doctor and Clara is blood-freezing.

Both of them now slowly stepping back from the creature.

Ohh!

CLARA

(Whisper)

Is it ... awake?

The Doctor’s eyes go to the charging cable. It is now glowing rhythmically.

THE DOCTOR

Waking up, I think.

Close on the Half-Face creature’s eyes – one embedded as normal in the flesh half, the other suspended in the lattice work cage. One eye is flickering open. On the other the pupil is dilating.

– and now the same lights flickering on behind the Victorian Droids in the alcoves.

THE DOCTOR

(cont’d)

Okay, let’s go.

Moffat expresses the story in terms of time, ‘moments’ – again suggesting a pause in time, storytelling through silence. The horror of the scene is conveyed with silence, awe and simple, unexpected movement. He controls the focus of the scene, shifting the focus of his exposition from the Doctor’s eyes to the cable and then back to the Half-Face Man, but this time with an emphasis on the inner workings of his own mind, a spot of Victorian body horror, steampunk and Babbagean. An impressive sight and no less impressive on paper here either as Moffat describes it. Commanding focus is something that Moffat has to accomplish thorough the screenplay, of course, to articulate each cutaway in a flowing prose.

A fragment of a newspaper – we can see the headline: “Fourth case of spontaneous combustion.”

THE DOCTOR

(cont’d)

Spontaneous combustion!

BARNEY

What devilry is this, sir?

THE DOCTOR

I don’t know. But I probably blame the English.

CUT TO:

This is an ‘INSERT’ – a brief focus on a series of words on a prop. Note again the use of ‘we’ to preface a view of the object in focus. As this scene continues to the next, we (see what I did there?) are greeted with a delicate way of describing Jenny’s rather sexy attire and more importantly some production notes…

[Logically, this should be a day later – so both Clara or the Doctor would have had time to place the ad.]

The attic room, with a spectacular sky light. It is clearly the art room. Paintings and easels everywhere.

Standing in the centre, is Jenny, barely dressed, her modesty protected only by a strategically draped white cloth – she is posing elegantly like classical nymph in a painting.

Vastra is working at her easel, clearly painting her.

VASTRA

Spontaneous combustion!

JENNY

Is that like love at first sight

Occasionally you’ll find the post production script breaks the fourth wall like it does in the above excerpt, usually only to acknowledge a vital production note. Here it’s pointing to a passage of time as being necessary to advance the story. In another memorable scene, likewise, the author notes that shooting for an intercut conversion would have to be shot in advance:

THE ELEVENTH DOCTOR (OS)

It’s me, Clara. The Doctor.

CLARA

... what do you mean ... the Doctor?

CUT TO:

INT. THE ELEVENTH DOCTOR’S TARDIS – NIGHT

Now, the Eleventh Doctor revealed. He’s just about to regenerate [Matt’s side shot during Christmas.]

THE ELEVENTH DOCTOR

I’m phoning you from Trenzalore.

CUT TO:

The parentheses acknowledge that ‘Matt’s’ part had been filmed during shooting for The Time of the Doctor – although that was September not Christmas. Heh. Another curiosity of the script was a passing production note in an earlier Clara-Strax scene:

He has yanked open a kitchen drawer and pulled out, a hi-tech multifunction lorgnette device (Blue Peter).

STRAX

(cont’d)

– for your mandatory medical examination!

Clara now seated, with Strax seated opposite, up close, examining her through one of the lenses of the lorgnette.

For those confused, the script is simply indicating that Strax’s lorgnette is from a Blue Peter contest; nonetheless it was fun to find a little note of the prop’s history nestled in the script as a side note.

It should be said, however, that a script is more than just tricks and interesting quirks, camera direction and such. Nay, a script is only as good as the dialogue that it deploys. Fortunately for Deep Breath, Steven Moffat was on the top of his game as he wrote this beaut of a script. Leading up to Series 8, during that awkward, testing wait for the new series, the showrunner himself had promised ‘longer scenes’ (later joking that that was a publicity con since Doctor Who’s budget had always demanded longer scenes) and it’s here that those longer scenes deliver. Some of these scenes are quieter, others confrontational, but all of them are fertile ground for analysis. I’ll especially focus on scenes where the screenplay’s exposition interacts with the dialogue, the latter of which is likely more familiar to you than the former whose invisible presence, of course, guides the performance given by the actors in Deep Breath and beyond.

When approaching a confrontational scene, a kind of interrogation between two characters, it may be helpful to consider who has the power in a scene – power is, after all, a relationship, a dynamic between two or more people and the expression of power underlies any kind of scene I’ve described where one character wants another person to be coerced or manipulated into something against their own volition. The obvious example of such a scene occurs early in Deep Breath as Madame Vastra interrogates Clara, having first shrouded her underneath a veil.

10:15:38 INT. VASTRA’S ORCHID ROOM – NIGHT

Jenny, now pouring tea for Clara and Vastra.

VASTRA

Jenny and I are married – yet for appearance’s sake, we maintain a pretence, in public, that she is my maid.

JENNY

Doesn’t exactly explain why I’m pouring tea in private.

VASTRA

Hush now.

JENNY

Good pretence, isn’t it?

VASTRA

I wear a veil to keep from view what many are pleased to call my disfigurement. I do not wear it as a courtesy to such people, but as a judgment on the quality of their hearts.

Clara: it takes her a moment.

CLARA

Are you judging me?

VASTRA

The Doctor regenerated in your presence. The young man disappeared, the veil lifted. He trusted you. Are you judging him?

A beat on Clara: something changes. On her feet now, angry.

CLARA

How dare you! How dare you!

CUT TO:

The scene begins in the middle of events as they unfold, no entrances or salutations – cut to the chase as a tacky Hollywood exec might say. The power first lies with Vastra in this scene – the dynamics are clear: Jenny serves Vastra tea and Clara answers Vastra’s questions. This authority that Vastra has in the scene gives her the license to speak longer, near monologic excesses of speech – ‘I wear a veil…’ – speaking, it should be said, is competitive, a space of time to speak is real estate for only those with the power, authority and credibility to speak. This authority gives Vastra the space to recount her social situation with Jenny in an authoritative yet casual, matter-of-fact tone. Jenny, in a way, undermines and subverts this power to humorous effect by remarking that ‘doesn’t exactly explain why I’m pouring tea in private.’ Indeed, humour, as Darrell Hammond once remarked, is all about the subversion of power; comedy is subversive.

This scene continues, however, at the mercy of Vastra’s hatred of ignorance, a hatred she muzzled only in so far as she could judge the character of those too ignorant to see the error of their ways. It’s an exercise in scornful, but tactful attack, an affront – a moral affront. The dialogue here is snappy, economic (besides Vastra) and never too direct. Often new writers are criticised for making their dialogue too direct: a case of one character saying one thing like ‘are you judging me?’ and an opposite character responding in kind with a direct reply like ‘yes’ or ‘no’. Davies writes in The Writer’s Tale that dialogue ought not to be too direct, instead he suggests that characters often are rarely talking to one another, but instead holding their own individual conversations simultaneously. You can see this layering of a conversation at work with how Vastra prefaces her responses with new messages (‘The Doctor regenerated in your presence…’ ) while Jenny interrupts the flow of dialogue with her own comments and so does Clara. The power in the scene, however, doesn’t shift from Madame Vastra even as Clara gets angry – angry, after all, is not a sign of power if one was expected to react with anger.

Clara, nevertheless, does claim a role of power in a pivotal scene later in Deep Breath, an interrogation between the Half-Face Man and Clara, where she quickly turns the tables on him and begins to question his history and motives on the basis that he has no credible threat to deter her…

10:51:37 INT. UNDERGROUND CHAMBER – DAY

On Clara: considering: then –

CLARA

Go on then. Do it!

On the Half-Face Man – we hear the rusty cogs turning, considering that.

CLARA

(cont’d)

I’m not going to answer any of your questions. So you have to do it, you have to kill me. Threats don’t work unless you deliver.

HALF-FACE MAN

... You will tell us where the other one is –

CLARA

Nope.

HALF-FACE MAN

You will be destroyed.

CLARA

Destroy me then. And if you don’t then, I not going to believe a single threat you make from now on.

The Half-Face Man: silent. Cogs turning.

CLARA

(cont’d)

Of course, if, if I’m dead, then I can’t tell you where the other one went then – you need to keep this place down here a secret, don’t you?

The Half-Man Man: still silent, that baleful stare.

CLARA

(cont’d)

Never start with your final sanction. You’ve got nowhere to go but backwards.

Clara: breathing hard, but keeping it together, brinkmanship.

HALF-FACE MAN

... humans feel pain.

CLARA

Bigger threat to smaller threat – see what I mean, backwards.

HALF-FACE MAN

The information can be extracted by means of your suffering.

CLARA

Are you trying to scare me, because I’m already bloody terrified – of dying. And I will endure a lot of pain, for a very long time, before I give up the information that is keeping me alive. How long have you got?

The Half-Face Man – cogs grinding a bit faster. Almost frustrated.

Rises to its feet. Looming over tiny Clara now.

Clara, holding her ground...

CLARA

(cont’d)

All you can offer me is my life – what you can’t do is threaten it. You can negotiate.

The Half-Face Man, reaches it’s right hand to its left, grabbing it round the wrist. He twists and the left hand simply detaches, unleashing a fiery glow from inside the arm. It now simply hangs the detached hand on his coat – the fingers, still active, grip on by themselves.

On Clara: a sob rips from her, a tear rolls down her face. It’s like a break in the facade: he terror now visible, an involuntary step back.

Here again the use of indirect dialogue is even more apparent with the Clockwork Droid because he never speaks to answer Clara’s questions and Clara seems to be speaking almost academically with her commentary on the Half-Face Man and his approach to interrogation. Two conversations, two people, one scene.

As for the power dynamics go, however, when the Doctor enters the scene, the power shifts to him – confrontation with him in control is his style (he admits this much in Robot of Sherwood and Dark Water). For example, the Doctor might use his control of a scene to ask a rhetorical question because with a rhetorical question you’re in control of the answer, like so:

The Half-Face Man: cocks its head. What?

THE DOCTOR

(cont’d)

Question: if you take a broom and replace the handle, and then later replace the brush – and you do it over and over again – is it still the same broom. Answer: no, of course it isn’t. But you can still sweep the floor. Which is not strictly relevant, skip that last part.

The Half-Face Man now rising from its chair moving away. Like it doesn’t want to hear this.

THE DOCTOR

(cont’d)

You have replaced every piece of yourself, mechanical and organic, time and time again – there’s not a trace of the original you left –

And then his control of the situation falters for a second…

And the Doctor breaks off at this point, holding up a tray to the Half-Face Man – staring --

THE DOCTOR

(cont’d)

You probably can’t even remember where you got that face from.

The Doctor now finds himself staring into the reflective surface – his unfamiliar new face. A plunging moment as he realises – everything he just said applies equally to him. Now he stares, haunted, into his own haunted face.

Interestingly, Moffat chooses to use his screenplay here to spell out the Doctor’s specific realization here in explicit terms, a spotlight on his inner thoughts once more, to inform the actors and the crew of the realization that the Doctor is having which they need to convey through pauses and pointed holds on the mirror’s reflection.

As for my favourite scene? I’m drawn towards the scene below which features Clara as she sways in and out of consciousness, attempting to hold her breath and avoid capture. While certainly conveyed well on screen, the scene takes on a vivid, new life of its own through the author’s own words here, capturing the pain, the horror, the chaos, and, yep, the confusion of this extended ‘torture’ session for our friend and dear companion, Clara Oswald.

10:48:17 INT. UNDERGROUND CHAMBER – DAY

Back on Clara, she takes a deep breath – and holds it!

Her face, so determined. Her eyes stare straight ahead.

Half-Face: cocks its head now. Something odd about this Droid? Super close on Clara’s eyes. Wide-eyed, staring. The tiniest glisten of a forming tear ... An age passes.

Sure enough, all the Victorian Droids slowly look away from her. No longer sensing her presence.

Half-Face turns away, proceeds unhurried to the next Droid.

Clara, still fighting not to breathe, not to give it away.

Her eyes flick rapidly round the room. The Droids are moving round. Proceeding unhurried round the room, attending to consoles, various pieces of ancient equipment.

No one paying any attention to her. What should she do?

One of the Droids presses a switch –

– and the door through which the Doctor left slides up again.

Is this her way out??

Dare she move??

No choice – she can’t keep holding her breath. Gotta get out of here.

10:49:01 Forcing herself to be slow, to be calm ...

... she steps forward from the alcove. Another step. Another.

Slow, slow, keep it slow. Mustn’t breathe, mustn’t breathe.

Another step.

Clara’s POV of the door way. Closer. A step closer.

Another step. Another. Don’t breathe, don’t run – come on, you can breathe on the other side of the door – you can last till then!!

The door two steps away now ...

... one step ...

... and through ...

10:49:23 The corridor –

– at first it is in darkness, as before –

– and then, as if triggered by Clara’s arrival, the first section of the corridor illuminates, lights flickering on –

– revealing walls lined by alcoves – more and more Victorian Droids, just standing, waiting.

The next section illuminates. More alcoves, more Droids.

Section after section, the lights flickering on – an endless corridor!!

On Clara: oh God, how can she get to the end??

Walking again. Faster now, can’t control that. Faster, faster, faster.

Her face a tortured grimace now.

Faster, faster!!

And then it happens, she can’t stop it. Convulsed by need, she takes a huge, whooping breath – is jack-knifed by it.

On the floor now, on all fours, sobbing breath after breath, the drowning woman on the shore.

But oh God, oh God!

All the Victorian Droids, in all the alcoves, slowly turning to look at her. Those pale, lifeless, waxy faces, all staring.

No hope, nowhere to run, trapped.

– and now one of the Victorian Droids stepping from the shadows, grabbing Clara.

HALF-FACE MAN

Bring her.

She’s yanked to her feet, and finds herself in the clammy grip, of a tall, cadaverous bald man, dressed like a Victorian Gentleman.

Half-Face stands framed in the doorway, staring at her.

Clara’s vision is distorting, twisting, unreal – she’s passing out.

DISSOLVE TO:

With little dialogue to write, Moffat has quite a lot of space to fill to capture the action as it unfolds, but in flexible enough terms to allow for a genuine choreographer to make their mark on the scene later – instead, Moffat uses this space to convey the pace of the scene, it’s both slow and fast in a way – the scene around Clara moves quickly, often expressed as just brief remarks, jumbled together, but Clara, the eye of the hurricane, is in a way described in a much slower pace as though each moment, however extended, is too long to wait. The end can’t come soon enough for Clara with regards to this painful, testing scene which leaves me as a reader thankful for every breath I can take. Phew!

The post-production script for Deep Breath is a beautiful specimen; here, we the readers get a unique chance to strip back this episode’s visuals to see the ticking clockwork behind the face – tick, tock – the story goes, clicking along with both an obvious professionalism and the precision of a calculated, polished screenwriter but with all of his idiosyncrasies too; the telltale signs of Steven Moffat’s penmanship: highly visual, direct, like a conversation with his readers. Deep Breath is the thinker’s post-regeneration story, complex and even political, it focuses on the confusion of change and the loneliness of prejudice; even for the Doctor leaving one’s self to the mercy and understanding of others, trusting other to love and accept him despite the forces of change that will come to redefine him, is a scary thought. A story never beleaguered by the weight of the philosophical questions it raises, Deep Breath struts along with its writer’s full confidence, ending with a cut to white and the promise of more adventures to come.

[...]

And they’re two old friends heading off into town together, and all’s well with the world...

FADE TO WHITE:

And just when you least expect it… the return of, no, not the Master… capitalization! Just for the final scene, presumably to annoy me, the character’s names are capitalized in full. Sigh.

A surprise ending after all.

The post Series 8 Script Analysis: Deep Breath appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

BBC America Runs Series of Doctor Who’s Finest Modern Stories

Billy Garratt-John is a writer at Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews - All the latest Doctor Who news and reviews with our weekly podKast, features and interviews, and a long-running forum.

BBC America have announced that they will be airing a series of episodes from the current incarnation of Doctor Who, featuring the best that the New Series has to offer! Hosted by internet personality and comedian Hannah Hart, this finely crafted set of stories will be broadcast in the weeks leading up to the Series 9 première on September 19th.

It all kicks off  on Saturday 15th August with Blink and The Waters of Mars in a double bill starting at 8pm ET, showing that BBC America (or perhaps the BBC as a whole) are trying to lead new fans to believe that Doctor Who restarted with Series 2 (another indication of this stems from current reruns of Doctor Who on Disney XD, which are billed as starting from “the very beginning” with 2006’s, New Earth).

The other stories are comprised of The End of Time (bleh), Vincent and the Doctor, The Doctor’s Wife, The Day of the Doctor, The Time of the Doctor (nope) and finally wrapping up on Friday 18th September with the 12th Doctor’s debut serial, Deep Breath. Hannah will also be joined by celebrity guests offering their thoughts and insights, including fellow YouTube stars Charlie McDonnell and Jimmy Wong as well as Osgood herself, Ingrid Oliver.

A…fairly well rounded selection here. With the *obvious* exception of The End of Time, this is a decent (if bland and narrow minded) selection of episodes. My personal list would have looked pretty different. The Time Monster would certainly have got a look-in.

What about you guys? Will you be tuning in? Which episodes would you replace with the current offerings?

The post BBC America Runs Series of Doctor Who’s Finest Modern Stories appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

“A Time Lord Who Is Out Of Time” – Big Finish Releases The Last Adventure Trailer

Christian Cawley is a writer at Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews - All the latest Doctor Who news and reviews with our weekly podKast, features and interviews, and a long-running forum.

Hot on the heels of some details about the Sixth Doctor’s Big Finish regeneration story being shared in this month’s Doctor Who Magazine, the producers of exceptional Doctor Who audio adventures have released this trailer.

The Last Adventure is out in September, and features an impressive cast from across the Sixth Doctor’s TV and expanded adventures (although apparently there’s no Peri in there, for making-sense reasons), such as Miranda Raison,  India Fisher, Lisa Greenwood, Bonnie Langford and even a cameo by Sylvester McCoy. It is written by Nicholas Briggs, Alan Barnes, Matt Fitton, Simon Barnard and Paul Morris, and directed by Nicholas Briggs.

If you’re somehow not in the mood for this already, click play above – you soon will be!

The post “A Time Lord Who Is Out Of Time” – Big Finish Releases The Last Adventure Trailer appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

New Doctor Who Series 9 Image Released

Christian Cawley is a writer at Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews - All the latest Doctor Who news and reviews with our weekly podKast, features and interviews, and a long-running forum.

BOOM! The BBC has just released the first new image from Doctor Who Series 9, teasing explosions, planets, alien landscapes and the Doctor and Clara running into the foreground.

But does any of it really mean anything? Are there hidden clues in this image? Is there a face in the sky (or is that just my reflection in my laptop monitor), does Clara’s gold/mustard top suggest she’s going to die (Star Trek style), and has the Doctor borrowed his trousers from his second incarnation?

We’ll leave you to make a decision on all of this. In the meantime, just enjoy it, and if you like, you can view it in its full dimensions. I can confirm it makes a great Doctor Who desktop wallpaper .

The post New Doctor Who Series 9 Image Released appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.