Behind the Scenes of The Fires of Pompeii (Part Three)
Excerpts from Benjamin Cook’s coverage (as featured in Doctor Who magazine) on filming in Italy:
[filming as everyone flees Vesuvius]
On the take, Dan [Mumford, first assistant director] yells at the Italian extras, “Don’t look at us! Look up in the air! Higher! Why are you smiling?” An Italian Third Assistant translates for the extras, who run, shout, and panic as Pompeii burns. “Tell ‘em! Embrace it! The mountain is bleeding.”
Catherine stumbles as she runs, but keeps going until the end of the take. “Have you hurt yourself?” exclaims David.
“I was trying not to step on the chickens,” she says, wincing slightly.
The ‘Addetto Gestione Emergenze’ man springs into action, and administers an icepack to her ankle. “Can I have a chair for Catherine?” calls out Dan. “And can we keep the icepack on in between takes?”
[…] It’s half-past-four in the morning. The final scene of this epic night shoot is of David and Francois breaking into Lucius’ quarters, clambering onto a barrel to get in through the window. “We’ve got to bolt the barrel to the wall,” explains Dan, much to the director’s chagrin. “We don’t want anyone hurt.”
Colin [Teague, director] groans. “I know we’re in the world of health and safety, but also I’m in the world of making it look good. I don’t want it to look contrived. Can’t we find a barrel that’s sturdy enough?”
The stuntman, Tom Lucy, gives a demonstration of how to climb through a window, with the sturdiest barrel that he can find. It caves in, leaving him stood in it up to his waist. “That’s made my night,” hoots David. “Oh, that’s hilarious.”
The barrel is bolted to the wall. On take one, David bangs his head on the window frame. On take two, he splits his trousers. He’s not laughing now. It’s got to be karma. “Thank God we brought a second pair,” sighs Louise.
Other Pompeii Behind-the-Scenes posts: [ one ] [ two ]
Other Doctor Who behind-the-scenes posts can be found [ here ]
David Tennant Appreciation Week 2016 (theme: Behind the scenes)
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