TARDIS Materialises in Prestatyn

The Scala Cinema, Prestatyn, a stunning traditional theatre that has recently been in the press threatened with closure, was visited by stars from behind and in front of the camera, from worlds most popular science fiction show.

For the past 51 years Daleks, Cybermen, Ice Warriors, The Tardis and of course The Doctor himself have become household names due to the phenomenal success of the television show and just about everything else that goes with it, it’s a world of it’s own, forever growing with new generation of fans. So often it’s the likes of Steven Moffat, David Tennant, and Peter Capaldi who get in the spotlight and are the ‘famous people’ for whom the show is recognised in public. So, BBC Wales decided to send some of the unsung heroes of the show to the Scala Cinema for one night only and Blazing Minds were there to witness a night not to forget an exclusive interview.

The evening began with a close up look at a Dalek in the cinema foyer, don’t quote me but I believe this Dalek was called Arthur or Arnold, Dalek Caan was otherwise engaged ordering paper for the Roath Lock staff.

Doctor Who Michael David Roberts

Michael David Roberts, Actor and CEO of TV Production Company, Take the Cake pro

We were ushered into the main cinema room, a traditional cinema with a space layed out at the front with a nice comfy ‘Oprah’ set up, for the much anticipated Questions and Answers session due following the showing of episode popular SFX heavy David Tennant episode, ‘The Poison Sky’. Joining us for this Q&A session were Danny Hargreaves, from the award winning special effects company Real SFX, the people responsible for Doctor Who and Torchwood among many other hugely successful television shows. Joining him on the panel was Spencer Wilding, a giant of a man from St Asaph in North Wales, a mere sonic screwdriver blast from the Scala Cinema. Spencer will be remembered by Whovians as the Wooden King in the 2011 Christmas episode, ‘The Doctor, The Widow and The Wardrobe’ or the imposing Ice Warrior in 2013’S ‘Cold War’.

Spencer Wilding Doctor Who

Spencer Wilding, Accomplished Actor and star of Doctor Who

Once the show finished, the audience were invited to ask their questions, the usual line of questioning commenced, “What was your favourite show to work on?”, “Have you always been a Doctor Who fan?”, “Where did you buy those trousers?”. A well arranged production by a great venue and a genuinely enthusiastic and helpful set of staff (This being a neutral point of view as I am a guest writer today and the Scala is not my local, but I will visit again, that’s a certainty.)

Danny and Spencer Doctor Who Q and A

Danny and Spencer answering questions from an enthusiastic audience

 

Following the dispersing of the public, I managed to spend some quality time with Danny

Hargreaves the special effects expert on Doctor Who, the man who blows Daleks up for a living, the man who turns an exciting story into a thrilling short film, the man who holds the pop princess, Kylie Minogue’s life I his hands for a fleeting moment (Bad joke warning – Just as well this time Kylie was so lucky. Sorry, I did apologise).

David Tennant Docto Who

I asked Danny first of all how much emphasis is put on a specific piece of script just to bring in special effects, he replied talking about the massive amount of variation in each episode, “It varies, each script has its different challenges. I get to see the scripts at a very early stage and then I guess it’s up to the producers where they want to spend their money. There are cheap and expensive ways to achieve effects. It varies so much on every single episode.

The question that intrigues me as much as perhaps many of you, is what is more important to a modern audience, the story line or the special effects?, the immediate “Goodness me!” told its own story, however I wanted to glean more about the younger audience. He explained, “Younger children have a shorter attention span so you need to grab them, and although I’m obviously biased, explosions hold their attention. Of course it’s massively important to have a great story line and dialogue too.”

Moving on to a more time related question, I wanted to find out how much time is dedicated to special effects add how that differs from episode to episode. To pick to different ends of the spectrum, David Tennants, ‘Midnight’ and ‘Voyage of the Damned’. After a slight memory loss and a giggle after reminding him that Midnight was the one set on a mini-bus and the other on a small boat, we got down to business, “Each one has its different challenges, of course Midnight was pure genius by Russell T Davies, to create an entire episode in one location and make it dramatic is inedible. Then the next moment I have the life of the most loved pop icons in my hands, it was massive.” (Phil – “I guess you don’t really want to blow Kylie Minogue up.) Danny continued with, “Well, I blew myself up a couple of times but fortunately not the A-List celebrity. During our chat about Midnight, Danny did heap well deserved praise on how amazing it was that Russel T Davies could keep an episode like this based on one set so intense, dramatic and loved by many.

The Planet Midnight

The Planet Midnight

Most people, including myself imagine that SFX is a hugely time-consuming job. Can we look at that one episode again? Voyage of the Damned, how many hours, days, weeks or months would it take you, or rather your team to produce the SFX for that episode? “Well I can say that I was given scripts a week ago for what we are about to start filming in January.” I tell you something, this interview is really giving me an insight into a brand new world and huge respect for the people who make the magic happen. He continued, “Imagine there was no Christmas and New Year so I’ll be starting that next week, I will only have one or two weeks with a script, I have one maybe two conversations with normally Stephen (Moffat), a few more chats with team members and that’s it really. I walk on the set at the same time as the actors so I am not given any great length of time in order to create the special effects. It doesn’t take very long but it should do, however we are working within TV budget constraints.”

Danny Hargreaves

Danny Hargreaves the man who brings normality into the extraordinary

I wanted to delve a little more into the man himself, what made Danny choose this job? The first response resonates with me, as he described having a deep appreciation for the film making industry. Evidently, I do not have even 1% of the talent of Danny, but I love the industry none-the-less but I’m a script writer so I’m the one who gives Danny the sleepless nights. Danny explained that a lot of his school friends wanted to be ‘The Doctor’ or a monster, instead he wanted to be the man who pressed the buttons to make the fun happen. He went into a little more detail concerning his decision, “From an early age I was fascinated about how it all worked and was keen to learn. A lot of my friends would sit down to watch Eastenders or Coronation Street, see it’s raining or snowing an imagine it’s real, without giving it a second glance. He went on to explain, “It was important for me to really learn, find out how things were done. From the age of 12, I knew what I wanted to do.”, “not a fireman then?”, “haha, no definitely not, but I see more fire than firemen though!”

Now for the traditional ‘Doctor Who’ interview question, in all honesty it should be banned, in fact, let this be the last time in Doctor Who interview history that it gets asked; Are you listening Tom Spilsbury (Editor of Doctor Who Magazine)? (Phil – clears throat for a big moment in Doctor Who history journalism history); So then Danny, have you always been a Doctor Who fan? “You know what, the answer is not really. It wasn’t on when I was a youngster. I was a Sci-Fi fan, I liked Star Wars etc. Obviously I knew about Doctor Who but it wasn’t in the public eye like it is now.”

This lead me onto the other obvious question asked of everyone who gets to work on the show and was/is a fan; How did you feel when you got the ‘green-light’ phone call? “It was great to get the gig. I like the fact that I’m my own boss and can look at the script and get paid for doing something I really enjoy.” (Phil – “albeit on a somewhat restricted budget”), “Yes, and I ensure I spend every penny of it” (laughs).

We then moved onto a subject that is familiar to even those who claim to have no knowledge of special effects at all, the famous Green Screen. More specifically the walk into the TARDIS and how that was achieved. Danny explained that originally, back in the ‘olden days’ of Christopher Eccleston it was a simple poster on the rear wall of ‘One Direction’, whoops, I meant the TARDIS console, just to give the effect of walking into a much bigger space. It was never Green Screen, Since the new 360º TARDIS set was built, which was something Danny had been pushing as a good idea for a while things changed. In Danny’s own words, “I always wanted to do a shot of following around the TARDIS and then walking onto the TARDIS set in one shot, and we finally got to do that last year.” I asked if it was a ‘woo-hoo’ moment, he described it as more of a ‘Thank God’ moment. I asked if it made life easier for him now, however as he’s only ever really involved when a a baddy is being shot or there is an explosion he said it doesn’t make great deal of difference. My impression was that it felt more like a personal goal had been achieved, and as he had a large part to play in the new design, I think a virtual round of applause is in order. I don’t know about you guys but it looks great.

I wanted to find out if Danny was the kind of guy who liked the ‘inventors hat’, so to speak, so I asked him if he works on any gadgets that he could genuinely call his own and use in a future episode. Refreshingly Danny is a very honest and open chap and he told me he borrows from other films etc. His company has staff working on big movie projects and they come back and say, “Guess what so and so are using for……”. I then adapt the idea to use should the need arise. He did give away a little exclusive to Blazing Minds that he is currently working on a new wind machine coming in January. I followed up on this line of questioning by asking if he had created his own gadgets, he simply said that most SFX tech is essentially redesigned to improve it or to make it do a slightly different job.

Danny finished his interview in an extremely fitting manner, describing his role to a tee, “Special Effects People are essentially problem solvers.” This for me sums up his role perfectly.

What an amazing night, a chance for the general public to delve into the amazing world of special effects. It would be a travesty of justice if venues such as this were allowed to wither and die to be replaced by a world of just DVD’s and the internet.

Featured Image: Phil Woods – Writer & Actor from Connah’s Quay & Doctor Who Fan