06x01 - Xmas 2010 Special

[bunniefuu]

Hello! Wakey wakey,
It's Christmas.

It's Christ-maaas!

Song plays:
Swedish House Mafia vs Tinie Tempah
"Miami Ibiza"

(Laughter)

Hi!

We're back.
It's the Christmas ep.

Merry Christmas Mr Sardick.

I despise Christmas!

Confidential is back.

To bring you all the magic
of a Doctor Who Christmas.

This is Doctor Who
meets "A Christmas Carol"
meets "Jaws".

It's a rich and
Christmasy tale.

Yeah, right.
Get him out of here.

We've got sleigh rides, we've
got maidens in ice, and we've
got monsters.

In the fog.

And Katherine Jenkins singing.

It's one of those moments
again where you think

'What is happening today.
Here I am, on the floor
with a shark, singing to it.

And the festive fun continues
when Cardiff is lit up
by the Doctor.

Merry Christmas, Cardiff

It's not any old
Doctor Who episode.

It's a Doctor Who episode you
should only ever watch
on Christmas Day.

And I will be watching it.

Confidential gets off
to a dazzling start,

with a dollop of
Christmas cheer.

Song plays:
The Pogues & Kirsty MacColl
"Fairytale of New York"

Karen: We're about to go on

and switch on the Cardiff
Christmas lights!

I mean that's such a privilege,
Darvill

Yeah, it's very very exciting.

Button.

Have you got a sonic?
Merry Christmas
Doctor Who Confidential.

"Fairytale of New York"
continues

Announcer: Before our special
guests come out this

evening. They're gonna want
to know if you watch a program

apparently there's a program
called "Doctor Who" these days?

Crowd cheers

Would you all welcome them
on stage tonight.

Would you please welcome
Arthur Darvill, who plays Rory Williams.

Karen Gillan, who plays
Amy Pond.

And finally, The Doctor
Mister Matt Smith.

Crowd cheers wildly.

Hello. How are you?
Merry Christmas Cardiff

Happy November.
Thanks for coming!

Are you having a nice time?

Is everyone right at the
back having a nice time?

And are you looking forward
to Christmas? Yeah!

Did you realise Arthur, just
how big Doctor Who was?

No, I don't think you can
realise how big.

I mean, until you walk
out and you see this!

(Mumbles gibberish)
"Oh, hello"

You know, it's amazing.
It's constantly surprising.

Matt: 'I would just like to
say quickly as well.

Thank you for making us so
welcome in Cardiff,

'Coz it really does feel like
home, so... (blows kiss)

Nice one. Thank you.

So, how do we do this?

The best thing we'll do Doctor...
I have an idea.

You've got the sonic screwdriver

I have.

If I get the crowd to do...
a count to five do we think, five?

All: Sounds good.
Yeah, yeah, OK.

If I count to five, you
have to raise the roof,

and we'll see if
it's loud enough

for the sonic screwdriver to
work, Doctor. What do you think?

I believe it will. Let's see,
I hope so 'coz we need to
turn the lights on. So...

Announcer: OK, so what if we
do a five. Here we go.

Five, four, three, two, one...
MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Matt: Yeah!
Announcer: It works!

And look, the lights. Ladies
and Gentlemen, the Christmas
lights are on

in the capital city of Wales,
in Cardiff

And would you join me in in thanking
Arthur, Karen, Matt
Rory, Amy, The Doctor

Thank you very much indeed
to all three of them!

Cheers

"Fairytale of New York"
plays again.

So the stars have set Cardiff
alight, and the festivity begins.

But the real Christmas journey
began way back in July,

when the script came alive
for the very first time.

How're we doing?
Got enough people here to start.

Sometimes it's the only time
when the entire team
sit in the same room.

MATT: Hello, everybody. Hello.

STEVEN: We're all gonna start.
We're all gonna dive in.

So if you've got a name on
the table, please sit at it.

Otherwise, sit where you like.

The read-through is the very
first time that it begins to
come alive,

and I think the energy and the
excitement that brings,

is a really, really, helpful measure.

You kinda want to hear it aloud
you want to hear it, umm...

you want to hear the story
in sequence, the actors

and match voices to faces.

I like to sort of sit
there and listen

have the story told to you
instead of just reading it
in your head.

We have Steven Moffat reading the
stage directions, which is the
best thing ever,

because he reads them like
he's swallowed all volumes
of Harry Potter

I want to describe, and it's a
bit like that, he's brilliant.

STEVEN: Sardicktown. Night, the sky
foggy, boiling clouds, it's night,

but the clouds are lit from below
by the orange glow of a city.

Flickering street lamps and narrow
streets, foggy and frosty,
but no snow.

Hurrying figurers wrapped up tight
against the cold.

Victorian in effect, but not
in the details,

This is a colonised planet
several decades on.

A city of iron -
girders and rivets and rust-
with narrow windows,

a twisting labyrinth of
slanting alleyways

and raised walkways.

Fog hangs over the whole scene,
and looming mournfully through it,

flamelamps, like streetlamps,
like glass enclosed flames
at the top.

Also Christmas trees,
hanging decorations,

Speakers hanging from the streetlamps,
and from them "Silent Night".

"Silent Night" plays, sung
by a choir.

We got Michael Gambon,
I just couldn't believe it!

We had a conversation with
Andy Prior, our wonderful
casting director.

"Do you think we could get
Michael Gambon?"

'No, we'll never be able to
get Michael Gambon,
he won't do this!'

'You're crazy, he's Dumbledore
he's Michael Gambon!'

And he just said yes!

I was never offered a role
before, so there's no 'finally'.
I just took a role in Doctor Who.

I like like Doctor Who.
I remember it when...
really, that's how old I am,

when it was Daleks,
and cardboard (chuckles)

At the read-through,
he just said his first line, and
the whole room just went still.

Me and Beth I think exchanged a glance

going "Yay, we got Michael Gambon."

And Matt looked up at me and went...

On every world, wherever
people are, in the deepest
part of the winter.

at the exact midpoint, everybody
stops and turns and hugs.

As if to say "Well done,
well done everyone.

"We're half way out of the dark."

This amazing voice saying,
you know, Steven's lines.

And it just really came alive,
and you could really get a sense of

Kazran's character. And we knew
that this was going to be
very special.

Back on Earth, we called this 'Christmas'.

Or the winter solstice.

But you know what I call it? I call
it expecting something for nothing!

Sir, Mr Sardick, we're only
asking for one day.

Just let her out for Christmas.
She loves Christmas.

Does she?!
Oh, does she?

(Chuckles). Hello!
Wakey wakey! It's
Christmas! It's Christmas!

It's really exciting to work with
somebody who's like a
sort of walking legend,

as Michael, you know I've really
liked his work in the past.

That was good. I think go for it.

And I think, if you wanna do a
little tap on there,
just tap there.

(Taps on glass)

Yeah, get really in there
look right down the lens
if you can.

(Tentatively) Hello. Wakey
wakey. It's Christmas.

And you can kinda go
"It's Christ-maaas", really annoying,
go on, be really horrible.

I ask the director, who's brilliant,

what I have to do today
and he tells me,
and puts me straight.

So every day he gives me
a little guide to where
I am.

And I play that day's work,
as much as I can.

And that's how it fits together.

And.... action.

Hello, wakey wakey.
It's Christmas,
It's Christ-maaas!

I think she's a bit cool
about the whole thing.

(Michael Laughs)
Director: That's good, and
just one more.

And do the "It's Christ-maaas"
a bit less aggressively.

And... action.

Hello, wakey wakey.
It's Christmas,
It's Christmas!

You know what? I think she's
a bit cool about the whole thing.

(Laughter)
That was funny.

I think, what we hadn't anticipated
is just how good Matt and he would
be playing, opposite each other.

Ohh! It's you isn't it?
Everyone else looks surprised,
you look cross.

What the hell are you doing here?

Ahh you see, cross. Don't be
cross. Have a Jammy Dodger.

This is a great cast, and the crew...
It's like a dream job really.

They just bring a big sense
of fun to this story.

And, you know they are
both very irresistible...

Yes, yes.

...characters in their...

They've both got a brilliant
sense of humour

and it was amazing at the
read-through because...

you know, Matt is brilliant
at read-throughs.

He always sets a wonderful tone.

Because, sometimes you go to
read-throughs and, you know,
people are a bit shy,

they don't really want to put
any wellie into it,

but Matt, you know, Matt's first
few lines, he always says,

"I'm setting the tone for this
read-through" by really giving it my all.

So I need your help then.
Make an appointment.

There are people in a spaceship
trapped in your cloud belt,

without your help, they're
going to die.
Yes.

You don't have to let that happen.
I know. But what the hell,
I'm going to.

They plead to me for help,
The Doctor does, "Please help
these people". I say no.

Why? I don't know any of them.
No? Never will either.
Bye bye, bored now. Chuck!

Kazran is an old, Scrooge-like miser
who has... his heart has been
welded shut to Christmas.

There are , people
I won't allow to die tonight.

Do you know where that puts you?

Where?
,

Was that a sort of threaty thing?

I'm sitting in my chair shouting
at poor people with no money

"Get out of my house you filthy
poor people." I don't like
poor people.

I think in Doctor Who terms, Kazran
is a totally atypical baddie,

'coz The Doctor is usually up
against someone completely wicked

without any redeeming feature. He's
never really tried to reform a Dalek.

Or a Cyberman, or a Sontaren.

Whatever happens tonight,
remember...

...you brought it on yourself.

Yeah, yeah, right.
Get him out of here.

And next time, try and find
some funny poor people.

(Matt Laughing)

The little boy the doctor was
speaking to, he glares at Kazran,

snatches up a coal, and hurls it
at Kazran, catching at the
back of Kazran's head,

Kazran freezes for a moment and
then rises from his chair.

Kazran is stepping fast across,
raising his hand to strike the boy.

No. Stop. Don't!

There is a critical moment in this
show where The Doctor is thinking

"Right, you're a bad man, you've brought
it on yourself."

He's off to bring him down,
do whatever he does,

and it would be EASY for The Doctor
to bring down Kazran Sardick,

'coz he's nothing compared
to The Doctor.

And Kazran is towering over the boy,
monstrous, his hand raised
ready to strike

and something odd happens.
He seems to hesitate.

And then he doesn't hit
the boy.

On The Doctor, watching.

Get him out of here!

Get that foul-smelling family
out of here. Now! Now!

And he thinks "Oh! He's
not completely bad."

"He's damaged, he's not bad.

Kazran has been affected by the
loss of love. And by his father.

We zoom in fast, right into
The Doctor's eye.

Now cutting round, freeze frame
details of the room The Doctor
has already noticed.

An oil painting of a man who
looks very like Kazran.

He's had a horrible life really,
his father hurt him and b*at him.

You're scared of him and being
like him and good for you,

you're not like him, not really.

It all comes back to him
during the performance.

Merry Christmas, Mr Sardick.

I despise Christmas!

You shouldn't, it's very you.

It's what? What do you mean?

Halfway out of the dark.

Halfway out of the dark, simply
refers to, that's originally
what Christmas was.

The thought of the halfway point
of winter, sort of 'Hooray'

'Now we're climbing back towards
the light, as opposed to deeper
into the dark.

But it's also a metaphor for
The Doctor, for Kazran. Someone
who's halfway out of the dark.

Not completely bad. Savable.

He knows there's a little bit
of good in Kazran's heart.

And he has to restore that, so
it's The Doctor's chance to do
the Christmas Carol really.

A Christmas carol.
A what?

A Christmas carol.
A what?

It's A Christmas Carol!

Dickens at Christmas. A Christmas Carol
is probably my favourite Christmas
story of all time.

And of course we know that
The Doctor's met Charles Dickens.

Charles Dickens! Yes!
Nice to meet you. Fantastic.

We can't pretend that he doesn't
know the story of "A Christmas Carol."

We can't do an adaptation of
"A Christmas Carol". The Doctor
must be consciously aware

that he's sort of recreating
the plot of that story.

Because Dickens is a character
in his universe.

You're brilliant you are. Completely
% brilliant.

I've read 'em all. "Great Expectations",
"Oliver Twist", and what's the other
one, the one with the ghost?

In the Dickens original you've got
the ghost of Christmas Past, the
ghost of Christmas present,

and the ghost of Christmas yet to come.

There is kind of time travel in that
story, it lends itself to Doctor Who.

Who are you?

Tonight, I'm the
ghost of Christmas past.

The Doctor comes back and
takes him back, in time
to his younger self.

To try and soften that
Christmas heart.

Get out, get out of my house now!

OK, but I'll be back.

Way back.

Way, way back.

He's got a time machine, so he
can take you back to the past.

Christmas past.

Who are you talking too?
You.

He uses the story of
"A Christmas Carol".

And the idea that past, present
and future ghosts to
rewrite Kazran's memories.

Now, your past is going to change.

That means your memories
will change too.

Bit scary. But you'll get the hang of it.

I don't understand.

I'll bet you don't.
I wish I could see your face.

Well, that never happened!

It DID!

The Doctor is absolutely
altering Kazran's past.

He's rewriting Kazran's past.

New memories.

How can I have new memories?

He's not revealing memories
to Kazran.

Those things genuinely
didn't happen.

The Doctor is constantly
announcing that he cannot
interfere with history or time,

and yet never does anything else.

Just because it's... I mean every
time he arrives on a planet

he changes the history of that
planet, usually by kicking
the alien invaders off.

He says he shouldn't interfere
with other civilisations,
but he does.

So Kazran has almost two lives
in his head.

He remembers what his life used
to be, he remembers what has
now been rewritten to be,

and has to cope with that.

So we had to do the three
different stages of Kazran's life,

so we obviously had three
different actors.

And, Laurence was playing the
youngest version of Kazran.

Who's annoyingly better than
me in every scene,

it's true isn't it Laurence?

My character is young
Kazran Sardick,

So, the young version
of Michael Gambon.

Muffled staging directions

Don't speak.
And... Action.

Right then, your bedroom.

Let's see. You're years old so
we'll stay away from under the bed.

He had this great ability to kind
of capture the story,

and really kind of draw you
in with his big eyes.

Right, so.

What are we gonna do?

Eat crisps and talk
about girls?

I've never actually done that,
but I bet it's easy. Girls? Yeah!

Are you really a babysitter?

I think you'll find
I'm universally recognised

as a mature and responsible adult.

It's just a lot of wavy lines.

Shorted out. Finally a lie too big.

Ok, not really a babysitter.
But it's Christmas Eve, you don't
want a real one, you want me.

Why? What's so special about you?

Have you ever seen Mary Poppins?

No. Good, 'cause that comparison
would have been rubbish.

So! Fish in the fog,
fish in the clouds.

Ok, and.. cut there.
Cut there!

When you're talking back to him,
you say "Why, what's so
special about you?"

I think that's the line where you'd
still be unsure about him.

It's like what? Why? What's
so special about you?

Kind of like, he's really close to you.

This weird guy, you just don't
know who he is yet, know what
I mean?

Just feel, disconcerted.

He was a real pleasure to work
with, and it came very naturally
to him as well.

Ok, not a babysitter.

But it's Christmas Eve, you don't
want a real one, you want me.

Why? What's so special about you?

Laurence was a dream, I mean
for his age

I think he's ,

wonderful wonderful actor,
going to be very interesting
I think.

He just acted me off the
screen in many scenes.

Reluctantly.

Both: Merry Christmas!
Doctor!

Merry Christmas!
Doctor!

Merry Christmas!
Kazran!

And The Doctor has to bring
love back into his life.

You've grown. Yeah.
And now you're blushing.

I'm sorry.
That's ok.

Well, Katherine Jenkins
what a perfect fit.

She embodies a princess, and
then she has the voice
of an angel.

Well I can't concentrate when
I have to do a scene with her,

I just don't know my lines, I
can't even think straight.

I get overwhelmed by her.

I got approached about possibly
being in the Christmas special
of Doctor Who.

I think it was a couple of days
before my th birthday
in June.

And I've never done any acting,

not ever really thought that
I ever could do
anything like that.

And because of all the singing
stuff that I've got going on,

It wasn't something that I
particularly wanted to do,

but then when I heard about
it being Doctor Who

and it's such an iconic show,

it suddenly made me think
"That is something I
would love to try."

So I asked them if I could
come in and read the script.

And I thought, "Well, if I'm
rubbish, they're not going to trust
such a big episode with me."

So I went in and I read.

And I got the news on my
th birthday, that I got
the part.

And that was the
best present ever.

Best Christmas Eve ever.

Aww, 'til the next one.

I look forward to it.
Now I'd like to say
goodnight to Kazran.

Of course, yes.

Oh, oh...yes, right
I'll, um... I'll go then.

Good night... Good luck...night!

Good night.

He stumbles away,
almost colliding with one
of the cylinders. (Sorry).

But Kazran is pursuing,
pulls The Doctor aside,
whispered confab.

But Doctor, I, uh...
I think she's going to kiss me.

Yeah, I think you're right.

I've never kissed anyone before.
What do I do?

Well, try to be all nervous
and shaky and a bit rubbish.

Why? Because you're gonna
be like that anyway.

Might as well
make it part of the plan,
then it'll feel on purpose.

Off you go, then.

Ohh! That kiss!

No, I don't mind really,
it's just like...

(Nervous laugh)
Oh it's a chore, having Katherine
Jenkins fall in love with you.

It's... it's a really
hard job that.

I've never done that kind
of on-screen thing before.

And it's obviously very different
when you've got a huge crew of
people watching you.

We tried to have a bit
of a joke about it,

and a bit of a, you know,
a bit of a laugh.

Uh, they were having a good time,
I mean we both laughed a lot.

In between takes and, you
know it's all a bit ridiculous.

Her boyfriend's quite
big as well, so...

Now? I...I kiss her now?
Kazran, trust me.

It's this or go to your room
and design a new screwdriver.

Don't make my mistakes.
(Laughter around table)
Now go!

Song plays:
Kate Perry
Teenage Dream

You don't just film it once.

It gets filmed again,
and again and again.

And I think we probably had
to snog for about an
hour and a half.

Song continues.

Yeah, yeah, it's great fun.

I'm gonna be a hero back
home I think.

So, now I know him very well.

Song continues.

I'm embarrassed now, you've
got to move on.

Yes. Moving swiftly on to
um, more kissing.

Once they got started,
there was no stopping them.

Psst! Guys!
Guys, oh!

We've really got
to go quite quickly.

I just accidentally got engaged
to Marilyn Monroe.

How...

How do you keep going like that?

Do you breath out through
your ears? It's... guys!

Sorry...hello?

Guys! She's phoned a chapel,
there's a car outside,

this is happening now!

(Distantly: Yoo-hoo)
Yoo-Hoo!

Right. Fine, thank you.
I'll just go and get married,
then shall I?

See how you like that.

Marilyn! Get ya coat!

And Abigail and Kazran part.

And now we see that their
faces are streaked with tears.

What are we going to do?

There is nothing to be done.

Of course the tragedy of Abigail is
that she was dying when she
went into the ice,

and we practically seeing her
very limited afterlife.

She's got eight days.

And, lucky her, she gets
eight Christmas eves

and falls in love, and
does all that.

But she is dying from the
moment he meets her.

Now look at me.

Better a broken heart
than no heart at all.

Try it, you try it!

Why are you here?
'Cause I'm not finished
with you yet.

You've seen the past, present...

..and now you need
to see the future.

Fine, do it. Show me!

So, what do you think?

Standing there, next to the TARDIS
watching is his year old self.

Young Kazran is staring at his
own future in tearful horror.

Old Kazran just struck dumb with
the horror of this.

And now young Kazran is
approaching staring at his
older self,

eyes brimming, incredulous.

Old Kazran doesn't know what to
say, can find no words.

And now his younger self is
standing right in front of him.

Then he raises his hand to strike
his younger self and freezes.

And that's the moment it
happens, he just changes

he can't be this way
any more.

That's what really the
story's all about,

it's the sort of defrosting
of his soul.

I'm sorry. I'm...
I'm so, so sorry.

As the course of the story and
The Doctor does his meddling

he softens, and he starts
to find kindness,

and umm, love in his
heart again.

It's a very bad man who
eventually gets shown the light.

(Both)
Merry Christmas!

What are we gonna do?

Scene in the street outside.
Young Kazran and Abigail.

They're both working at
one of the rickshaws,

fitting a harness between its shafts.

You are out of your mind
this will NEVER work!

Oh! Don't think shark.
Think dolphin.

The rickshaw was fun.

Song plays.
Led Zeppelin
"The Immigrant Song"

We harnessed the shark and
we're riding through the sky.

And so we filmed that
on a green screen.

Song continues.

Just a bit of gentle rocking
like that,

and then I'll go much more
extreme for the last one, OK?

Where we sh**t past.

We've got our actors in this
rickshaw which we've
got on a...

...gimbal here, which we're steering
from left to right

just so that it gives that
sensation of flying.

It's the centrepiece of the
Christmas special in a way

it's where things lift
and are magical

and it's like a kind of,
science fiction sleigh ride.

We were being thrown all over
the place, as if we were really
being driven though the air.

And in the beginning I want you
all tense like that,

just as if you're going down the
steepest, steepest hill,

and you're looking ahead, even
though we're above you.

And as it lands, as it lands
parallel to us. BANG!

You all kinda go whoa! And then
you'll be like sort of fwoom,
wa-aey, like that

just controlling it.

And the camera is, kind of
Zzzzhhhhhooom!

So it starts up there, it's back,
back back back back back
and forward, forward, BOOM!

OK, and so we go like....

Zzzzhhhhhooom!
Ooh!

Yeah yeah, like that's brilliant, yeah!

The rickshaw was great,
the wind machine...

...was great. Just a lot of
screaming and...

...hanging off really, with me
and young Laurence, and Katherine.

It's great! When d'you get to do
things like this in television,

you never, you know. Doctor Who
is the only show,

where you can really do full
blown adventure, you know.

A shark sleigh ride. It's never
been done before in television.

And there we are, with our
rickshaw doing it now.

Song plays
Led Zeppelin
"The Immigrant Song"

You get that sort of rush, like
from a roller coaster.
It's really cool.

Song continues

And I got to do it with Matt,
and I also got to do it with
Michael Gambon.

So I had two goes.

For Michael Gambon.

What I like best is when
you're both laughing.

Both laugh

It would be nice to get you both
looking at the same time,
almost simultaneously.

So we'll do a visual cue?

When you, it doesn't matter when
'coz when the camera comes in there...

...are you looking at Kieran, do
you ever see him?

Yeah! Kieran, when you feel the
camera come into there...

Go, go... yeah! Then we,
what do we do then?
Do we...?

You look at each other, just a
brief look at each other.

When Kieran sticks his tongue out.
Oh! OK? Good.

Both laughing.

Because we can't get underneath
this rickshaw here, we built a model

that we can raise up very easily
and do all the sh*ts
looking underneath.

Three, two, one. Lift.

We can do this in CGI, or we can try
and get something that's a bit
more physical, a bit more real.

And there's a sense of realism
about it,

something so fantastical as a
rickshaw being pulled by a shark,

just needs every help it can get
to make it feel as real as possible.

It's great fun being able to do
it in a more traditional way,

just like the old Doctor Who series
when they used models back then.

And also it's like there's a tradition
of model uses in science fiction.

With "Star Wars" and stuff like that.

I've never been able to do it before,
normally it costs a lot of money,

and you use motion control rigs,

and that kind of stuff. While we're just
doing our way with our camera operator.

just pushing it along on a track
getting all the timings right,

getting a bit of puppeteering
in there.

and the whole thing will just
come together and give it this
natural feeling,

hopefully look fantastic.
Three, two one. Lift.

(In background, softly)
Yaaaay! Weeeee!

It's one of those things you
go home of an eve...

and you say "What did you do
today dear?"

"Well I was doing this,
and I did this and this."

and they say "What did you do?"

"Well, I was on a rickshaw,

with a wind machine,

pretending to be flying
through space.

We had a new designer,
Michael Pickwoad,

who started his time
on Doctor Who

with the Christmas episode.

And for Michael, creating the
look of "A Christmas Carol"

involved sketching the
whole episode,

scene by scene.

Confidential went back to the
drawing board to reveal
where it all began.

It's rather pleasing, that in fact
now there are three generations

of my family have been
working on Doctor Who

because not only has our
daughter painted the portraits

but, designing it, my father,

who was an actor, his stage name
was William Mervyn,

he was, in , he was in an
episode of Doctor Who

with William Hartnell called
"The w*r Machines".

Michael really brought his own
sense of eccentricness...

...to the whole piece.

It took an interesting while to say
what makes this planet strange.

Together we worked out a kind of

image system of how the village
worked, you know,

that the town was kind of
an amphibious world

where it's half sort of, water
and half kind of land based.

Creating the town and the feel

was a really vital element

because you always have to
create truthful worlds.

No matter how unreal
or surreal

or excitingly different
these stories are

I think finding the truth to
it is incredibly important.

And we just tried to think
through what it would be like

if you had to share your
daily life with fish flying
around in the fog.

You'd want grills on your
windows you'd want to cover
the chimney pots,

so they wouldn't swim down.

So, all those sort of
elements of logic,

we tried to bring into it

and give a reality to
this fantasy world.

We used the metaphor
of round windows,

which has a slightly nautical
feel, which then of course
links with the fish.

It's a sense of some strange
pattern of building,

that all the windows we ever
see are round or half round.

And having been to the
Mir steelworks as a
possible location,

we came to the conclusion
really that this planet

was constructed of metal.

Everything was very, very metal.

So it's harsh,

and the whole town, as it
were, is built of iron,

and a slightly rusted feel

there's this strange fog
that pervades everywhere.

And so once you put rivets
and steel... you know,

it made the steelworks
look inhabited.

The production value out
of a steelworks

I mean, the years and years
of heavy industry

being here has built up metal
work on the walls

which is exactly what we
were after.

The colonisers basically built the
town out of the ships that

they came in. So its that kind of
feel of everything riveted,

plate riveted together.

We've had to bring in the
elements that make it busy,

and Christmas like, with the
twist of it being that
it's on a different planet.

So we've tried to create a classical
Christmas with a little twist.

Christmas carol plays
"Deck The Halls"

We kept this Dickensian
industrial air,

and people living... in poverty.
In rather nasty conditions.

And also we had, you know,

sort of like, Bob Cratchett's house.

Abigail's house. Was the
iron version of that.

We made it look as though
it was in a basement.

We look down into it.

And in one of the shop windows
I made rather like a bay window,

So it had a touch of
old curiosity shop.

so there were elements
of Dickens,

sort of floating within it.

And of course the nature
of the story, is not...

It doesn't take much to
realise where it's come from.

Which is rather nice, so you're...

it's an allegory, on Dickens on
another world, at another time.

Carol crescendos

As the centrepiece of his design
is Kazran's study,

and that has to be
a grand space.

There were gonna be a lot of
scenes where we had Michael
on his own,

in this space, and we wanted
to feel at times where he
could feel dwarfed by it.

Where he's a small man
in a big space.

Other time he wants to be able
to show that he's a powerful man,

That he's a rich person, that
he's got grandeur and
money about him.

It needed that sort of
totalitarian sense.

So you go for that classical
style which all dictators use.

And you create something that
says "I own this place."

Here we are, we're in
Kazran's study.

I don't make the rules.
Oh, no, hang on... I do.

And this is obviously Kazran
Sardick's big, evil chair.

We had this chair extended,
so we'd have this kind of loomy,
evil quality about it.

The chairs, of course, the chairs.

Stupid me, the chairs.
Chairs?

And the idea is that these
are all made of copper

that's all been oxidised and turned
sort of green, and we've got a
red curtain,

(laughs)

All kind of combined to
make the Christmas colours.

Here is the portrait of
Elliot Sardick.

The Doctor's already noticed
an oil painting of a man

who looks very like Kazran.

Oh, there's a big portrait of
me over there.

And they took a picture
of me,

They were photographed, and
then we printed them

very palely on canvas.

But I didn't have my beard on,

so she's painted the beard
over the painting.

And here we've got
the weather machine.

Now what's this then?
Oh, I love this.

A big, flashy, lighty thing.

This is based on a church organ,

these controls are all isomorphic.

That means it responds
only to me.

I'm the only person in the world,

in the whole universe,
who knows how to use this.

On... Off.

Even Doctor Who doesn't
know how to use it.

Isomorphic.
There's no such thing.

Kazran flicks the switch, the
lights all go on again.

These controls are isomorphic.

We've got this logo that
appears quite a few times

through Sardicktown, that's
sort of the Sardick emblem.

And that's also in here
above the fireplace.

Here we've got the stairs.

Now up those stairs goes up
to young Kazran's bedroom.

(Whispered)
Confidential.

They don't lead anywhere.

So as you can see they
just lead off.

And... action!

But they just make it
feel less like a set.

But here we are. This
is our big set,

and I think it's looking
fantastic, and I
hope you enjoy it.

Yeah, right.
Get him out of here!

Filming is about to heat up,

as The Doctor makes
an expl*sive entrance.

Are we doing a fall down
the actual chimney as well?

Oh yeah!
Yeah.

That was one of my favourite
moments reading the episode,

I thought "Yeah Steven.
Thank you"

"One of the best
entrances ever."

Just doing Matt's big entrance,
The Doctor's big entrance,

for the Christmas special, he's
supposed to come down this
chimney here,

and falling to frame
down there.

That was great you know,
you get to be Santa.

And I think it's a great
idea for The Doctor that...

The Doctor gets to come in
sorta like Santa Claus.

'Coz he loves Santa I think
he loves Christmas.

So I was just... I felt a huge sense
of personal satisfaction at
that bit of writing.

Then we're gonna
cover you in ash,

so the moment you get up
your consumed with... right?

Uh! Oh! Hello,

You sort of busy yourself
and then realise where you are.

Yeah, yeah.

"B" Camera...
And... Camera!

We just put the soot down.
Soot.

Everything just went "Ka-boom"
Like that. Fantastic, looking job.

Well I didn't actually get
to do the roll,

or the land on the hot coals,

that was all Gordon,

our wonderful stunt man.

I was gonna ask, do you want
that spring up again

like I did in that rehearsal?

Yeah, may as well, yeah yeah.

It fills the frame again
doesn't it. Yeah.

(All talk at once)

Do the spring up, and then
spring back out of frame.

And hopefully he'll just
come down here,

knock all these coals away
and land in great big heap.

And I just sort of roll up at
the end and pop into sh*t.

so I finish it off, really.

That's all ya get of me
sadly, smoke and mirrors.

OK guys, so stand by please
to sh**t this.

take , "A" Camera. Mark.

Song plays
Johnny Cash
"Ring Of Fire"

Action

Song continues

Cut it there.
Great, great.

Applause from crew

Young Kazran's Bedroom

On the door, as it's slowly
eased open, The Doctor
peering 'round,

the sonic hanging where we
last saw it.

And absurdly, hanging in
mid-air, facing it,

a fish is nibbling at it,
just a small one,

like a cod or something.

The room is full of fog
directly behind the fish,

he moves slowly, carefully
into the room,

fascinated.
Interesting!

Crystalline fog, hey?

Maybe carrying
a tiny electrical charge.

Is that how you fly, little fishy?

What is it? What kind? Can I see?

Just stay there a moment.
Is it big?

Nah. Just a little one.

A step closer, he now bends,

almost nose to nose with
the tiny little fish.

So, little fella, what do you eat?

And wham!

The little fish disappears as
a set of mighty jaws slam
shut over it.

The Doctor stumbling back now,

and a shark is hanging in
the centre of the room.

It's just come crashing
through the window

and now it's just hanging there
staring at The Doctor.

I was very, very frightened of
sharks when I was a kid,

but I had a very particular
nightmare that sharks

could come out of the sea.

I used to worry about that.

I used to read about evolution
or hear about evolution at school,

and think what would happen
if sharks evolved so
they could actually

come out of the sea
and chase me.

It's gonna eat us!
It's gonna eat us!

It's gonna eat us!
It's gonna eat us!
It's gonna eat us!

The actual idea of a shark
turning up in my bedroom

is from my childhood nightmares.

I absolutely had that
as a nightmare,

there might be a shark
in my room.

It was quite a complicated
layered effect

that we had to achieve, and

what we did was an
amalgamation of

physical effects of the
papers blowing around...

And, three, two one.
Action.

...also we had to do a
layer where we

did the actual sonic
screwdriver against
green screen.

Welcome to the aquarium.

Getting the sonic to move was, uhh

really just taking, in this case
a pen that's green

and just tapping the front
of the sonic screwdriver

as if it's a nibbling fish.

So we have the screwdriver
over a green screen

and we had one of our guys
just off-set, and quite low

in this instance
just tapping the top like that.

So, little fella, what do you eat?

The most important part was
Matt's performance and how

he interacted with the shark,
that wasn't there in the
room at the time,

but he sort of brilliantly
evokes the fear, and, umm

The Doctor's, uhh, surprise at
seeing such a huge predator
in the room with him.

How little?

Um...
Can I come out?

No, no!
Maybe just wait there for a moment.

What colour is it?

Big. Big colour.

What's happening?

Well, concentrating on the pluses,

you've definitely got
a story of your own now.

Well Clive, is our newly
founded codename for
the shark.

His name's Clive.
Nicknamed Clive so people
don't find out about him.

Secret. Top secret Clive.

Clive is one of the best
guarded secrets on the
Christmas special,

so that's why we came up with
a really odd sounding name
for him.

Where d'you want the tail?

Up there, in there.

You can't really put 'Shark'
on your call sheet.

Or stand outside a location
where the public may be nearby.

and say "Oh, can we get the shark
in please?"

Down there, that's good.

Because you really run the risk,
even more-so to give it away

so we gave him a name, and he
just looked like Clive, or Clyde
or, well, we loved him.

I don't think he had a second name.

and then it swapped round
to something else

Clive, was it Percy or then back
to Clive, I dunno,

but I think Clive was the one that stuck.

And then we're gonna put
blankets round it aren't we?
Yes.

Indistinct

Uhh, no we can dress... let's
rehearse, do a quick rehearsal chaps.

When you come to film a scene

the first thing you do is
always the line run

which is just a chance to go
over the lines for the first time

to hear them out loud, and
to sort of get a sense of

the shape of the scene before you
actually attempt to block it and

to start walking around and act it.

Doctor, I think she's dying.

Half my screwdriver's still inside, but,

yeah. She is.

Well, I mean I was doing it
as though I'm

(Bangs table rapidly)
concentrating on this,
and then I notice him.

Oh. As though,
look, half my screwdriver's
still inside of it, yeah,

I think so. I doubt they can
survive long outside the...

...cloudbelt. Oh yeah, that's good.
'Coz I can see that he's crying.

Can't we get it back up there?

I just wanted to see it.
I didn't want to k*ll it.

It was trying to eat you.

It was hungry.

I think that should be really
soft and still sad.

Not kind of... combative
you know?

It's like, you're not
having an argument.

You know, (sadly)
"She was hungry" you know?

You're just defending it.
It was just an animal that
didn't mean to hurt you.

I just wanted to see it.
I didn't want to k*ll it.

She was trying to eat you.

She was hungry.

Yeah. That was my first day
with the shark.

Umm, and it's amazing, really,
really life like, and

It... it's really easy
to get upset

'coz it feels like a real animal.

You can't save her.

Could take her back up there
but she'd never survive the trip.

We need a fully functioning
life-support.

OK.

Well I sing to the shark.

And it's my singing of
"In The Bleak Midwinter"

that sort of gets the shark better.

And then faintly, growing
in volume

they hear sing. A lone female.
Absolutely pure and
beautiful.

Take it away!

Singing and laughter.

Yeah. That's exactly what
it's gonna be like.

Young Kazran is hearing it too.
Looks up. That doesn't make
any sense?

On The Doctor, elsewhere in
the cave, clambering to his feet,
clutching his head.

He's hearing it too, from
somewhere in the mist.

Singing
Katherine Jenkins
"In The Bleak Midwinter"

The singing calms the fish.

As it would to hear
Katherine Jenkins sing

I think that is a common
experience all around

an invigorating one as well.

It's one of those moments
again where you think,

What is this. What is happening today.

Here I am, on the floor with a shark,

singing to it.

Singing continues

The climax of the story you have

Katherine's song comes out
well Abigail's song.

When we first read the script,
Steven had written...

And then she sings...

A new Doctor Who carol.
Just for Christmas.

And we hear Abigail's voice,
singing purely and beautifully.

It sounds like a carol.
A brand new, lovely one.

But not one we've ever
heard before,

a brand new Christmas
carol, written especially for
Doctor Who.

And we all went "yay!" and
then thought, "Hang on"

We've gotta film this in about
three weeks,

I got a call from Beth, saying

"Have you read the script"
and I said no.

And she said "Did you
know there's a song?"

And he went' "Yep, no problem."
and I thought "Ooh, that was a
bit of a short response."

Does he get what I mean, It's
not singing a carol that
already exists.

And I said "What song?" and
she said "One you've written."

And I said. "Oh, well that's interesting."

And she said, "So if you
could get it to us."

And then about three weeks later
she rang again, a little
bit more anxious,

And I said, yeah yeah, it's fine.
it's fine, it's for Christmas,

And she said "Well we're filming
it next week.

And I said, "Oh, when do
you need it by?"

And she said "Well also,
Katherine Jenkins is in it."

And I said, "Oh, that's nice.
Wouldn't it be nice if
she sang the..."

She said "She is singing the song."

"And she needs it before
she goes away. Which is
on Friday"

And this was on Wednesday.

So I had a quick read of
the script and

put something together.

She recorded a demo,
in Cardiff,

of what I sent through,

so that she could mime
to it on set.

I did a very rough vocal that
we used when we were filming

and I was actually
singing as well,

when we did the filming,

because I always feel that
that is what looks more honest.

You can always tell when somebody's
vocal chords aren't quite moving.

It was supposed to be a demo,
but you get this track back

and you press play, and

she's just got an amazing voice.

Singing
Katherine Jenkins
"Abigail's Song"

Her demo's blow most people's
finished work out of
the park, so...

Singing continues

And we did it on
the first day.

I couldn't think... I had to
stand right next to her,

really close, (whoa) and
she was singing,

and she's a beautiful singer
as everyone knows.

I couldn't think straight.

So when you ask me a question
about that scene,

I couldn't tell you anything
about it,

I just couldn't take my eyes off her.

(Chuckles)

Singing continues

She really does deliver
the sort of voice

that you believe could
somehow save the universe.

So, with the demo in the can, and

the filming all complete,

there was one thing left
to do.

Get in that studio,
and record it for real.

I'm hear in Air Studios, in London

because I'm gonna be doing
some of the singing

the revocaling of the songs
for the Christmas special
of Doctor Who.

(Katherine Jenkins
sings Doctor Who Carol)

It's a lovely, warm, mellow
mezzo soprano

From a point-of-view of
a composer,

it's really the sort of voice

you sometimes hire other people

trying to emulate, and
Katherine's the genuine article.

(Song continues)

(Dramatic piano)

It's a great episode,
but the end is... uhh...

We haven't done this before,

we haven't had someone sing a
song in Doctor Who in that way.

And here we have something where

the song is integral to the plotting,

and that's gonna be...
really nice to watch.

(Katherine Jenkins continues)

We're flying normally.

Can you land?

I...I can even land well.

(Inaudible)

So we take this to the
National Orchestra of Wales

The whole thing needs a
new arrangement

(Katherine Jenkins sings
with full orchestra)

It's gonna have really
fluttery strings and flutes

so it will be much gentler
and softer

(Orchestra plays
Katherine sings)

My plan is that the third...
that the fourth verse

the big crescendoing moment

brings in all the
guitars and drums,

sort of aiming for it to
sound a bit like "Muse"

(Music crescendos)

(Choir sings)

The feel of the orchestration
for this is just very fluid.

And very gentle.

It's very fluid, and
it's very feminine.

(Singing recommences)

I think it's touching, it's
beautiful, it's very special.

And it's perfect for
Christmas Day.

It's something for everyone, and
it's a real... I think it's a classic.

Where are they,
Kazran and Abigail?

Off on a little trip,
I should think.

Where? Christmas.
Christmas?
Yeah. Christmas.

(Amy chuckles)

The Doctor looking up to the sky

for a moment they almost see a shark

darting through the clouds

pulling a rickshaw with
maybe two passengers.

Hard to tell.

Halfway out of the dark.

(Confidential Theme Plays)

(Shark Growls,
Kazran and Katherine laugh)