Knock knock, who's there?
Doctor, Doctor Who.
Come Behind the scenes.
'Welcome to Doctor Who Extra.
' 'Today, the Doctor and the Cybermen get dramatic.
'Mr Pink goes to a w*r zone.
'And we end up in heaven.
Welcome to the underworld.
'So prepare for a lip
-smacking episode.
S01E11
- Dark Water
- 'The Nethersphere.
A heaven like place, where the unfortunate Danny Pink 'ends up in this episode.
Has anyone offered you a coffee?
Well, no.
Can we get some coffee along here?
The good kind, please.
We got a new one.
Today, we're filming Danny's arrival in the Nethersphere.
He just This is the first time we see him after he has been knocked over.
Where am I?
Well big question.
We're trying to take that one slowly.
We have been trying to get in touch with family members but there is so much admin.
It's Seb explaining to Danny that he's dead and where he is.
Welcome to the underworld.
Or the Nethersphere, the promised land It's where you go when you die.
'It is indeed.
' 'But how did Mr Pink die in the first place?
' I'm sorry.
I'm so sorry.
Can you please just pull me back on the phone to Danny?
I was talking to Danny.
He was just crossing the road.
And I found the phone, it must have just got thrown The car, it just came out of nowhere.
I'm sorry, I'm so sorry 'This dramatic twist was a big surprise, 'not least for Samuel Anderson who plays Danny.
Yeah, I picked up the script and I'd die.
I didn't think anyone d*ed in Doctor Who.
I was like ' excuse me?
'.
I didn't expect that at all when I started.
When I first started filming, I was told 'You are coming for an ep with the possibility that you'll be reused and your character will recur.
So no, I was hoping.
The hope was always there, I would go out with a 'Bang!' at the end.
An the storyline as well I mean The storyline is tragic, man.
But it's beautiful.
'Yes, the mysterious Nethersphere, a strange place 'It's controlled by Missy.
'And even the Doctor soon ends up entangled in her web.
Hello.
I hope you're well.
How may I assist you with your death?
Well, that's no immediate hurry.
We're just
- Well
- Browsing.
Yeah, browsing.
Please, take all the time you need.
At 3W, you will always have the rest of your life.
Good, that's good.
Isn't it, Clara?
Yeah, great 'Missy is a menacing megalomaniac played to perfection by Michelle Gomez.
'But what has it been like, playing such a powerful character?
I've had too much fun playing this role, which is always a worry.
Because it's all very well finding, you know, yourself hilarious.
But is the hope is that other people might find me hilarious.
And scary.
- Who are you?
- I am Missy.
Missy?
Mobile Intelligence System's Interface.
I am a multifunction interractive welcome droid.
Helping you to help me to help you.
She's funny But the 'funny' is never at the expense of the 'scary'.
Which is unusual.
She makes you laugh but you're still frightened of her.
I think there's a real possibility that she'll be the first humanoid vilain in Doctor Who the kids hide behind the sofa from.
Who maintains your heart?
My heart is maintained by the doctor.
Doctor who?
Doctor Chen! 'To recreate Danny's w*r zone flashbacks in South Wales 'required lots of rubble, 'a few burnt
-out cars And a little bit of Doctor Who magic.
We went to an old factory that was Hum that had been demolished.
So, it created that kind of 'scape where there was lots of brickwork and stuff, where it obviously looks just like Afghanistan.
And then, some of the elements that we put in was some smoke and fire and bits and pieces to really, sort of, make it look real.
There's something about boys and big toys.
I've done paintballing and I used to do the Scouts and that, so all of that running around and the Commando aussault course
-type thing, so 'Samuel may have been paintballing in the past, 'but with the full migt of the Doctor Who special effects team, 'this sequence was as real as it gets.
It was, sort of, on the day, coming up with action that was, kind of kind of real, but also exciting for the viewers to watch.
It's quite scary.
So, how did Danny feel about the final result?
It was a lot of fun.
It was one of my favourites, I'll admit that one.
'St Paul's Cathedral, London.
The cast and crew are preparing 'for an iconic invasion.
The crowds have gathered to see the Doctor 'take on the Cybermen.
Oh, dear Doctor Didn't you realise where you were?
What's happening here today?
Well, we've basically got some Cybermen coming out of St Paul's.
That's kind of it, I think.
I mean, yeah, they're my army and whe're just kind of about to destroy the world, type of thing.
For show
-runner Steven Moffat, the combination of Cybermen and St Paul's Cathedral is a dream come true.
This is an exact replica of St Paul's we built in Cardiff this morning, as you can see.
Very realistic.
Top work from Michael Pickwood.
We'll be deflating it later and packing it up.
Oh, I'm kidding! It's the real St Paul's! It's hugely exciting.
I remember those images from the Patrick Troughton story, 'The Invasion', when you see the Cybermen with St Paul's in the background, so it was irresistible to go back there.
It's fantastic to see the Cybermen.
They're really exciting when you see them in real life and, of course even when you're there, you forget that there are actors inside the costumes.
So, we all had the sense of the specialness of paying tribute to the old show, while, at the same time, making an absolutely modern, up
-to
-date and future
-looking version of it.
'Cybermen are a Doctor Who staple, 'appearing throughout the programme's history.
'The Cybermen were created by writers Kit Pedler and Gerry Davis, 'back in 1966 and made their debut 'in the first Doctor's final adventure, 'The Tenth Planet'.
'The originals had strange sing
-song voices, cloth
-like faces 'and hands that retained their human form.
'This all changed when they returned in 'The Moonbase'.
'Now, the Cybermen had a more robotic look 'and there was another slight modification for their appearance 'in 'The Wheel in Space'.
The iconic tearlet at the edge of their eyes, 'a feature that remained throughout several versions 'of the metal monsters.
'In 2006, the Doctor's old enemy stomped back onto our screens 'in 'Rise of the Cybermen'.
'And in 'The Pandorica Opens', we finally got to find out 'what's inside a Cyberman's head.
'Nightmare in Silver' introduced this fast
-moving upgrade, 'able to move at incredible speeds and instantly repair themselves 'when damaged.
'They appear to be the most powerful Cybermen ever.
'Now, they've teamed up with Missy 'and have lauched another invasion of Earth.
'So, constantly
-evolving Cybermen, but some things never change.
'Of course, there was one other surprise in this episode.
'We got to find out the true identity of Missy.
One of the most fun things about this episode is it's a two
-parter.
So you get to do what Doctor Who used to do every week, which was have a cliff
-hanger.
- Who are you?
- Oh, you know who I am.
I'm Missy.
Who's Missy?
Please, try to keep up.
Short for Mistress.
I couldn't very well keep calling myself The Master now, could I?
Michelle's version of The Master, as Missy, I think I think she's a new icon.
A new star is born, I think.
She's always been such a towering presence on screen.
I think this is a part that could go stratospheric for her.
I think she's quite extraordinary.
'So, Missy is The Master 'and that can only spell bad news for the Doctor.