Tuesday 17 November 2015

BBC promo pictures - Face The Raven

The publicity stills for Clara’s swan-song episode are in, and they don’t give much away!


FINALLY Peter get to wear his new velvet coat.
I am loving the silhouette of the coat, and above all the fabric used.


The velvet coat also seems to be bringing us back to a more tailored style of dressing, with the return of the Budd white shirt and a fitted waistcoat.


There looks to be some pretty weird stuff in this episode.

Sunday 15 November 2015

Doctor Who Festival - props and costume display

Using 2013’s Celebration as a template, his event has a small display of costumes and props.

Compared to last time it is a much smaller affair,
but it does given an exclusive preview of the costumes from the current series before they head down to Cardiff to be added to the Doctor Who Experience sometime next year.

This display showcases the work Ray Holman has done since returning to the Doctor Who fold.

Over the course of the weekend the display was tweaked and subtly changed to make public access easier. This didn’t alleviate the queues to get in, which at times were reaching far around the corner.

Here’s what’s on show, grouped by episodes.

The Magician’s Apprentice
The Witch’s Familiar
There was a nice display of the remade Crombie ensemble from the opening two-parter, along with The Doctor’s electric guitar and Magpie Electrical amplifier.



Clara’s Dalek casing was on show, along with her costume.



There was also Colony Sarff’s cloak and Missy’s latest version of her costume.


As well as the Proclamation Architect’s robes, and Ohila from the Sisterhood Of Karn.


Under The Lake
Before The Flood
The main costume on display to represent this two-parter was Clara’s outfit.
The Girl Who Died
The Woman Who Lived
From this duo-episode, there was Leandro’s costume as well as Clara’s Viking outfit and SB6 space suit.






Massie Williams’ highwayman’s outfit, plus her red dress were also on show.


The Zygon Invasion
The Zygon Inversion
All three versions of Osgood were on show, including the original from Day Of The Doctor.


Each costume had a change form attached, giving some clues as to wear much of the costumes had been sourced from.



Her trademark glasses, for example, are Barbour; and her brown jumper was from Hawick; and her duffle coat was made by The Original Montgomery, the oldest maker of them in the UK.






Both versions of the Clara and Zygon-Clara, Bonnie were on display. The information cards gave an interesting insight into which Clara was which: the Zygon-Clara always wore her coat buttoned up!

Kate Leghbridge-Stewert’s outfit completed the main cast from the Zygon two-parter, with an example of the latest UNIT solider’s uniform and a rather disgusting Zygon pod.




Face The Raven
Heaven Sent
Hell Bent
The final iconic costume on show was cause of much buzz - Peter Capaldi’s new burgundy velvet coat, which as yet has not been seen on screen.

It’s thought to first appear in Face the Raven, as well as the final two-part story Heaven Sent and Hell Bent, but we shall have to wait and see.

This also had a change form, revealing a few tantalising details about the costume.

It confirms the shirt worn is again from Budds and the new charcoal black waistcoat is from T. M. Lewin.

The black chino style trousers are again from Paul Smith, and a hidden detail we have never seen - The Doctor’s socks! - are black cotton with purple squares!

Friday 13 November 2015

Doctor Who Festival - an epic welcome

Today was day one of the Doctor Who Festival at London's ExCeL exhibition centre.
It has a weird feeling of continual de ja vue, bringing back memories of the Doctor Who Celebration at the same venue two years ago. The queue seemed a shorter this time around.

I got there about 45 minutes before it opened, and was happily within the first 50 or so in the queue. They progressively move us forward towards the entrance, but I could feel a strange whispered buzz amongst the security staff who were guiding us.

Then I noticed a small press pack with cameras taking photos of the waiting crowd, before the shutter doors went up in front of us. You'll never guess Who was there waiting to welcome the fans - Peter Capaldi himself!!


The press moved around behind him, and he turned to them to give them a photo op backed by the amazed fans.


You can just see me on the back row, towards the left.

Once the press had got their shots, Peter took a moment or two to shake a few hands and speak to some of the fans waiting, before he was whisked away and we were allowed in.

But what a way to get welcomed to the event!

Doctor Who Festival - photo shoots

Remembering how things panned out at the Doctor Celebration two years back, I decided to book all my photo shoots for the Friday, when the queues should be shorter.

I’ve booked for two shoots - Peter Capaldi and the Iconic Set, the latter being a bit vague to say the least.

First up was my Peter Capaldi shoot. Compared the the Celebration, this was a much better shoot, with a slick service including a digital file download.


I’m pretty happy with the result.

I then moved on to the Iconic Set, which I had found out was simply Clara’s lounge. Not very inspiring.


Not the most inspiring of sets, but I had an idea of putting the framed Peter Capaldi photo on the coffee table before the shot was taken.

Tuesday 10 November 2015

BBC promo pictures - Sleep No More

Tuesday means its BBC promo pic day - and the pictures for Sleep No More are the usual fare of concerned looking characters running around dark corridors in what appears to be a classic haunted house episode.

Tuesday 3 November 2015

BBC promo pictures - The Zygon Inversion

After this week’s cliff-hanger, the promo pictures for the second part of the Zygon adventure doesn’t give much away - though it looks like The Doctor survives the plane crash! Phew!!!