Happy 62nd Birthday ❤ Peter Capaldi
An episode with the Doctor on his own? Maybe it was because Jenna had tickets for Glanstonbury? Whatever the reason, there I was, locked in a mysterious castle for four and a half billion years. Good practice as it turned out. As always on Doctor Who, it was a busy shoot. Fracer Hines came to visit and we posed in the Tardis for the last Dr Who Annual cover.
At the end of one day, we did a read-through for the next episode. And in the middle of it all, we broke for a week to do promotional duties: San Diego Comic-Con, Berlin, London and then back to Cardiff and the confession dial. We shot and shot (and shot, and it still didn’t feel like enough time.
Luckily for me I was in the best of company. Rachel, a bona fide film maker, who brought dazzling skill to every single scene. Steven’s script: a beautifully layered and evocative narrative, so complex that just when you think you may have cracked the puzzle, there’s always more to excavate. The late Michael Pickwood’s beautiful, artful design, conjured out of very little money and lots of imagination. And Stuart Biddlecome’s atmospheroc photography.
It’s billed as the only solo episode in the show’s history - but there really is no such thing as a solo episode. There was a whole mob of talent in that particular episode with me. I’d like to mention them all, but for the moment let’s just say cameraman Mark Mcquoid whose input, not just to this episode, but to the entire show, has been immense; the eagle eye of Nikki Coles, our script supervisor; Liam Collins - not just props but confectionery supply and morale booster (not to speak of ace brother-in-law); and Jami Reid-Quarrell ringing his usual grace to the, sometimes, thankless task of portraying of a monster. And not forgetting First Assistant Director Scott Bates, James Dehavlan, and our great team of runners and assistants. They, and a whole team of others, made “Heaven Sent” what it is.
— A note from Peter Capaldi on episode eleven of season nine, Heaven Sent [x]
