Production Blink (Doctor Who)

1 production

1.1 writing
1.2 filming
1.3 effects

production
writing




steven moffat on writing horror fiction doctor who.

the episode written steven moffat.

blink written steven moffat. part of story blink based on moffat s ninth doctor short story doctor annual 2006 called did on christmas holidays sally sparrow . short story presented homework essay sally, though 12 years old, encounters evidence of doctor s presence past in aunt s house while visiting. did includes several elements reused in blink , including messages under wallpaper , ontological paradox involving conversation between sally , doctor, prerecorded on video cassette, based on written transcript—the essay itself; however, instead of angels, did features doctor , tardis inadvertently separated twenty years in time fault in time machine, , doctor able instruct sally how bring him in past.

moffat had held idea of weeping angels since seeing angel statue in graveyard whilst on family holiday, , had planned use them next series in episodes became silence in library , forest of dead . however, after withdrawing writing of series 3 s first two-part story—helen raynor took on these episodes, writing daleks in manhattan , evolution of daleks —moffat volunteered write series doctor-lite episode , opted use weeping angels in become blink . moffat inspired write episode based on popular children s game statues, found frightening . murray gold, composer series, later compared creatures moving ghostly topiary animals in stephen king s 1977 horror novel shining.

blink third story of revived series adapted television same writer piece of spin-off writing. follows human nature , family of blood story arc, adapted paul cornell 1995 novel human nature; , dalek , used basic premise several scenes , lines of dialogue adapted robert shearman 2003 audio drama jubilee. blink referred doctor-lite episode because doctor , companion have little screen time. allowed 2 episodes filmed simultaneously, process known double banking . practice had begun 2006 entry love & monsters , , continue episodes such turn left , midnight , , girl waited . moffat stated felt relaxed when writing script blink , if proved unpopular, blame doctor-lite structure of episode. due show s tight schedule, blink had 1 script meeting.

filming

actress carey mulligan appeared in episode sally sparrow.

blink directed hettie macdonald, making first female director of doctor episode since sixth doctor serial mark of rani. russell t davies, series executive producer, later noted that, due macdonald s work, episode included of beautiful [visuals] ve ever had . british actress carey mulligan chosen play sally sparrow; mulligan reportedly ecstatic have been cast in series. concerned fact tennant have little screen time, after episode aired pleased final result.

location shooting scenes set @ police station garage took place @ coal exchange , mount stuart square, cardiff bay on 21 november 2006. fields house, located in newport, filled in wester drumlins. house abandoned , falling disrepair when filming crews arrived. moffat noted little of tarted shoot; moffat later called location creepiest house had ever seen. name taken previous residence moffat lived in during late 1990s. larry describes residence scooby-doo s house , reference dilapidated mansions scooby-doo gang visit. bbc fact file episode notes 1969—the year martha, doctor , billy sent to—is first year scooby-doo, you! aired.

originally, producers considered having michael obiora play both young , old version of billy shipton. however, decided obiora in makeup fake, , louis mahoney cast play older version. initially, obiora played role london accent; mahoney, however, has thick accent. obiora had re-dub lines match. billy mentions windows of tardis wrong size real police box. in 2004, when first photographs of new series tardis prop revealed, there vigorous discussion of box s dimensions on outpost gallifrey doctor discussion forum, in fans complained prop s windows big. moffat has confirmed line in-joke aimed @ outpost gallifrey forum.

effects

moffat joked since kid, ve been thinking of doctor monsters, when do, costs art department […] lot of money . create rigid structure of angels dresses, prosthetics supervisors rob mayor soaked fabric in fibreglass resin, painted over. although never shown moving on screen, of weeping angels played actresses aga blonska , elen thomas wearing makeup , prosthetics. actresses wore 2 distinct masks: 1 more docile looking, , 1 fangs bared. blonska later noted m partly painted, partly glued costume, s quite comfortable. although actresses wobbly when stood still, producers used digital effects to, in essence, freeze angels on film. moffat pleased results, , called them fantastic . mulligan later called effects , creepy .

to create effect of angels rocking tardis mulligan , robertson threw around ship s set. camera s operator shook camera in opposite direction mulligan , robertson threw themselves. scene wherein doctor talks sally via dvd created writing conversation, removing sally s lines, having david tennant record lines. moffat felt one-way filming made performance more convincing. moffat wrote placeholder dialogue in script scene doctor tells sally can hear in dvd shop, because knew lines appeared have play double duty later on , authentic , fresh both times. gold called sequences heart of chinese puzzle .