Doctor Who
Press pack - phase two
Production design
Edward Thomas, production designer
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Edward Thomas has been a production designer on 32 films for cinema and TV but says he still felt a rush of excitement when he got a phone call to come and chat to Russell T Davies about working on the new Doctor Who.
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"I just waded in there because it's Doctor Who and it's a legend, and it was the thought that I might get the chance to help recreate and refresh what had gone before," he says.
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"Reality dawns on you when you realise there's
a fan base that's kept this series alive for 15 years, which is pressure
enough, let alone making it visually-exciting and stimulating for a
younger audience with little idea what Doctor Who is about."
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Edward has overseen the look of the entire series, and played a major role in the design of the new TARDIS.
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"To be able to completely re-design the interior of the TARDIS was amazing," he enthuses.
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"It's basic drive mechanism is the same but we've gone for a more organic look using materials such as glass, porcelain and even coral, with a raised central area and a domed roof."
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The roundels in the walls remain, as does the coat
stand by the door, but look closely at the central console and you will
spot old handbrakes, pressure dials, loose nuts and bolts, an old trim-phone,
post-it notes, glass balls, hammers and even a navigation sextant.
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Edward says: "The Doctor's been traveling in the TARDIS for about 900 years, so the idea is he's had to improvise as he's gone along."
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He admits he's probably been blessed with a bigger budget than previous Doctor Who production designers, and also has the benefit of computer-generated imagery.
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"When it comes to, say, creating a space station, whereas before you'd design it with the limitations of your studio mind, these days the world is your oyster," he says.
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"The Mill's wonderful CGI and the 91Èȱ¬'s Mike Tucker and his model work mean I can extend the boundaries in terms of what I want to create."
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More money, better models and CGI aside, however, one thing that hasn't changed is the production team's recycling of sets and props.
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Edward says: "Most long-running series have sets and props they use all the time, but because Doctor Who is so varied, changing from week to week, we use things again, which I'm sure they did on the old shows.
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"Technology has moved on but in some ways things haven't changed and the challenges are just as demanding today as they were then."
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Production design – facts
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There have been approximately 650 sets created during the series from location builds to studio builds.
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Each episode has specific colouring dependent on alien/bad
guys.
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The interior TARDIS was designed with contributions from the whole design team - Dan Walker, Colin Richmond, Matthew Savage, Stephen Nicholas, Bryan Hitch and Peter Walpole all contributed to the final imagery.
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The new interior TARDIS is approx 6.5m high, 16m diameter, 1500m steelwork.
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There are 80 sheets of acrylic vac formed panels within
the TARDIS forming the glass panels; 800m of jumbo pipe; 50 sheets of
industrial wire mesh.
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The production designers went for more of an organic look using materials such as glass, porcelain and even coral, with a raised central area and a domed roof.
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Up to nine different blues and greens make up the exterior colour.
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Production designs to look out for throughout the series
include: New DALEK, Captain Jack's ship, DALEK ship and the Nestene
Lair which features in episode one.
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