Principal photography: Difference between revisions

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An episode of ''Doctor Who'' during the first [[Russell T Davies]] era of the program typically had a long principal photography schedule with greater commonality to the TV movie than the original series. However, it is difficult for those not on the production to speak intelligently about what the actual schedule was, since individual episodes were almost invariably described to the press as "behind schedule". Nevertheless, ''[[Rose (TV story)|Rose]]'' was likely fairly close to meeting its schedule; it took about two months of almost around-the-clock principal photography. Principal photography was achieved in the first RTD era through the use of recording in [[production block]]s, comprised of anything from one to four episodes, with photography from one episode sometimes overlapping with that of another. In the case of the [[Cyberman]] [[story arc|arc]] from [[series 2 (Doctor Who 2005)|series 2]], for instance, action from all four episodes was filmed jointly over the course of about three months, although material from ''[[Rise of the Cybermen (TV story)|Rise of the Cybermen]]/[[The Age of Steel (TV story)|The Age of Steel]]'' generally took up the first six weeks, while ''[[Army of Ghosts (TV story)|Army of Ghosts]]/[[Doomsday (TV story)|Doomsday]]'' was mostly recorded in the latter six weeks.<ref>[http://www.shannonsullivan.com/drwho/serials/2006lm.html Shannon Sullivan's guide] to ''Army of Ghosts/Doomsday''</ref> At the other end of the scale, an episode like ''[[Fear Her (TV story)|Fear Her]]'', with limited sets and location work, had only about three weeks of principal photography.<ref>[http://www.shannonsullivan.com/drwho/serials/2006k.html Shannon Sullivan's guide] to ''Fear Her''</ref>
An episode of ''Doctor Who'' during the first [[Russell T Davies]] era of the program typically had a long principal photography schedule with greater commonality to the TV movie than the original series. However, it is difficult for those not on the production to speak intelligently about what the actual schedule was, since individual episodes were almost invariably described to the press as "behind schedule". Nevertheless, ''[[Rose (TV story)|Rose]]'' was likely fairly close to meeting its schedule; it took about two months of almost around-the-clock principal photography. Principal photography was achieved in the first RTD era through the use of recording in [[production block]]s, comprised of anything from one to four episodes, with photography from one episode sometimes overlapping with that of another. In the case of the [[Cyberman]] [[story arc|arc]] from [[series 2 (Doctor Who 2005)|series 2]], for instance, action from all four episodes was filmed jointly over the course of about three months, although material from ''[[Rise of the Cybermen (TV story)|Rise of the Cybermen]]/[[The Age of Steel (TV story)|The Age of Steel]]'' generally took up the first six weeks, while ''[[Army of Ghosts (TV story)|Army of Ghosts]]/[[Doomsday (TV story)|Doomsday]]'' was mostly recorded in the latter six weeks.<ref>[http://www.shannonsullivan.com/drwho/serials/2006lm.html Shannon Sullivan's guide] to ''Army of Ghosts/Doomsday''</ref> At the other end of the scale, an episode like ''[[Fear Her (TV story)|Fear Her]]'', with limited sets and location work, had only about three weeks of principal photography.<ref>[http://www.shannonsullivan.com/drwho/serials/2006k.html Shannon Sullivan's guide] to ''Fear Her''</ref>


Efforts to alleviate the risk of missing key production windows and the strain on cast and crew led to the adoption of [[double banking]] strategies. The show would ultimately relinquish its 13 + special(s) cycles, reducing consecutive runs of the show first to 12 (in [[Series 8 (Doctor Who 2005)|series 8]]) and later 10 (in [[Series 11 (Doctor Who)|series 11]]) episode stints. The [[Series 13 (Doctor Who)|13th series]] had six episodes, though that was attributed to the effects of the [[COVID-19]] pandemic. [[Series 6 (Doctor Who 2005)|Series 6]] and [[Series 7 (Doctor Who 2005)|7]] had mid-season breaks in ''broadcast'', but this did not necessarily indicate it meant a substantial break in principal photography of the 13 main episodes. Indeed, ''[[The Curse of the Black Spot (TV story)|The Curse of the Black Spot]]'', an episode intended for the autumn half of series 6, was pushed forward to the third episode of the spring half.
Efforts to alleviate the risk of missing key production windows and the strain on cast and crew led to the adoption of [[double banking]] strategies. The show would ultimately relinquish its 13 + special(s) cycles, reducing consecutive runs of the show first to 12 (in [[Series 8 (Doctor Who 2005)|series 8]]) and later 10 (in [[Series 11 (Doctor Who 2005)|series 11]]) episode stints. The [[Series 13 (Doctor Who)|13th series]] had six episodes, though that was attributed to the effects of the [[COVID-19]] pandemic. [[Series 6 (Doctor Who 2005)|Series 6]] and [[Series 7 (Doctor Who 2005)|7]] had mid-season breaks in ''broadcast'', but this did not necessarily indicate it meant a substantial break in principal photography of the 13 main episodes. Indeed, ''[[The Curse of the Black Spot (TV story)|The Curse of the Black Spot]]'', an episode intended for the autumn half of series 6, was pushed forward to the third episode of the spring half.


Despite this, the key difference between the original series and the modern one remains evident. Whereas "classic" ''Doctor Who'' was filmed at a slow, weekly pace, both Davies eras, and the [[Steven Moffat]] and [[Chris Chibnall]] eras, are characterised by long, gruelling periods in which work is completed every day for weeks on end.
Despite this, the key difference between the original series and the modern one remains evident. Whereas "classic" ''Doctor Who'' was filmed at a slow, weekly pace, both Davies eras, and the [[Steven Moffat]] and [[Chris Chibnall]] eras, are characterised by long, gruelling periods in which work is completed every day for weeks on end.
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