Modern Series Episode 146:
The Eaters Of Light
The TARDIS arrives in second-century Scotland, where the Doctor plans to
solve the mystery of the vanished Ninth Roman Legion. The travellers
find the soldiers massacred, their bodies in a state of decay akin to
decades of sunlight deprivation. The Doctor and Nardole are captured by
the Picts who were fighting the Roman incursion, while Bill is rescued
from an alien predator by the survivors of the Lost Legion. An
interdimensional portal, hidden within a stone cairn, holds the secret
to defeating the monster -- but conflict between the Picts and the
Romans threatens to doom the world.
Since writing Survival, the last story of
Doctor Who's original 1963-1989 run, Rona Munro had become a
celebrated playwright. As a result, although Steven Moffat had wanted to
ask her for a new script since becoming Doctor Who's executive
producer in 2008, he assumed that she would no longer be interested in
contributing to the show. When he finally approached Munro, he was
delighted to discover that this was not the case, and she agreed to
develop a script for Season Thirty-Six. In particular, she asked to
write an adventure with an historical setting, and Moffat suggested that
she consider scenarios which would be appealing to a younger
audience.
Drawing upon her own interests as a child growing up in Aberdeen,
Scotland, Munro's thoughts turned to Rome's Ninth Spanish Legion. It was
posted to Great Britain in the mid-first century, but had vanished from
Roman records just a few decades later. Most scholars assumed that it
had been annihilated in a conflict, although debate remained as to
whether such a battle had occurred in Great Britain itself or following
a redeployment on the continent. A popular belief was that the Legion
had been decimated after an uprising by Scottish tribes; Munro recalled
this theory from Rosemary Sutcliff's 1954 children's novel The Eagle
Of The Ninth.
The Pictish Beast was an icon which appeared on numerous
carved stones attributed to the Picts
Munro was also familiar with the Pictish Beast, a seahorse-like icon
which appeared on numerous carved stones attributed to the Picts, who
were the tribes of northern and eastern Scotland in the latter half of
the first millennium. Their name probably came from the Latin for
“painted”: a Roman allusion to the Picts' custom of
elaborate tattooing. The Pictish lands were eventually subsumed into
the Kingdom of Alba, and their culture into that of the Gaels. Given the
remoteness of their territory, Munro imagined that the Pictish Beast
might represent a real creature with which the Picts had come into
contact.
The first draft of Munro's script, The Eaters Of Light, was
completed in mid-May 2016. At this point, the adventure was intended to
be the ninth episode of Season Thirty-Six. Kar was originally called Ke,
while Nardole was not present in the initial version. The last warrior
sent into the cairn, decades earlier, was seen to emerge from the
portal, dead. One of the Picts, the elderly Tarr, explained that they
had been lovers when she was a young woman. As the story evolved, Munro
briefly had the Doctor engage in dialogue with the creature, who refused
his entreaties to return through the portal. Late additions included the
notion that Kar had deliberately freed the Eater of Light as revenge
against the Romans, and the Doctor's intention to enter the portal to
take over the responsibility for keeping the monsters at bay.
The Eaters Of Light was originally intended to be made as part of
Season Thirty-Six's fifth production block. However, it was ultimately
brought forward to form part of Block Four alongside episode five, Oxygen, under director Charles Palmer. The
first day of recording for the adventure was scheduled ahead of the main
shoot, on October 14th, when Bill's entry into the caves took place at
Porth yr Ogor near Ystradfellte. Palmer then concentrated on Oxygen for several weeks.
His focus turned back to The Eaters Of Light on November 2nd,
when Morlais Castle, a thirteenth-century ruin near Pant, was the site
of the glen where the Doctor and Nardole found the dead Romans. On the
3rd and the 4th, the hillside entrance to the cairn could be found at
Blaengarw Farm in Blaengarw. Following the weekend, filming resumed
across the English border in Clearwell, Gloucestershire, with Bill
encountering the Roman survivors at Clearwell Caves on November 7th and
8th. The moorland upon which the TARDIS materialised was actually the
Cwm Cadlan quarry in Penderyn, where filming took place on the 9th.
Events in the woods rounded off the week's work, with November 10th and
11th taking Palmer's team to Fforest Fawr near Taff's Well.
The remainder of The Eaters Of Light was almost entirely recorded
at Roath Lock Studios in Cardiff, starting after the weekend on the set
for the Picts' hall. These scenes were recorded from November 14th to
16th. Part of the latter day was then spent within the cairn, where
Palmer's cameras continued to roll through to the 18th. The last
material taped before the weekend was Bill's fall into the pit trap.
The last two days of principal photography on The Eaters Of Light
were November 21st and 22nd. The first day began with action in the
chamber below the hall, before Palmer's attention turned to the tunnel
entrance. Work on the latter set continued on the second day, alongside
pick-up shots of Nardole talking to the crow. More inserts were taped at
Roath Lock on November 30th, after which establishing shots of the hall
were captured near Clearwell Caves. Footage of the crows was recorded in
the studio against a green screen on December 13th.
This should have marked the end of filming for The Eaters Of
Light but, during January 2017, it was decided that the adventure
would swap places in the broadcast schedule with the original episode
ten, Empress Of Mars. With The Eaters
Of Light now immediately preceding the two-part season finale, World Enough And Time / The Doctor
Falls, Moffat wrote new concluding material involving Missy, the
Doctor's Time Lord arch-nemesis, as part of the ongoing story arc
involving her possible redemption. These sequences were filmed on the
standing TARDIS set at Roath Lock on February 22nd and 23rd.
The Eaters Of Light was broadcast on June 17th. Doctor Who
was brought forward by half an hour to 6.45pm to accommodate the debut
of the singing competition Pitch Battle, which would now follow
it for the rest of the season. Meanwhile, Pointless Celebrities
returned as Doctor Who's lead-in; it had occupied the same place
in the schedule earlier in the year. Unfortunately, the ratings stumbles
that Doctor Who had been experiencing throughout Season
Thirty-Six impacted The Eaters Of Light most of all. Its 4.7
million viewers represented the smallest Doctor Who audience
since The Curse Of Fenric -- ironically,
the serial which had preceded Survival back
in 1989. However, the television landscape had changed significantly in
the intervening twenty-eight years and, despite its rating, The
Eaters Of Light was nonetheless the most-watched programme of the
day.
- Doctor Who: The Complete History #88, 2019, “Story 274:
The Eaters Of Light”, edited by Mark Wright, Hachette Partworks
Ltd.
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Original Transmission
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Date |
17th Jun 2017 |
Time |
6.46pm |
Duration |
42'23" |
· BBC1/HD
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|
7 days |
4.7m |
Appreciation |
81% |
Cast
The Doctor |
Peter Capaldi (bio) |
Nardole |
Matt Lucas (bio) |
Bill |
Pearl Mackie (bio) |
Missy |
Michelle Gomez (bio) |
Kar |
Rebecca Benson |
Ban |
Daniel Kerr |
Lucius |
Brian Vernel |
Simon |
Rohan Nedd |
Thracius |
Ben Hunter |
Vitus |
Sam Adewumni |
Cornelius |
Billy Matthews |
Marcus |
Aaron Phagura |
Judy |
Jocelyn Brassington |
Brother |
Lewis McGowan |
Crew
Written by |
Rona Munro (bio) |
Directed by |
Charles Palmer (bio) |
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Produced by |
Nikki Wilson |
Stunt Coordinators |
Crispin Layfield |
Gordon Seed |
Dani Biernat |
Stunt Performers |
Maria Hippolyte |
Mens-Sana Tamakloe |
1st Assistant Director |
Simon Morris |
2nd Assistant Director |
James DeHaviland |
3rd Assistant Director |
Christopher J Thomas |
Assistant Directors |
Rhun Llewelyn |
Lauren Pate |
Unit Drivers |
Sean Evans |
Kyle Davies |
Location Manager |
Nicky James |
Unit Manager |
Beccy Jones |
Production Manager |
Adam Knopf |
Production Coordinator |
Sandra Cosfeld |
Assistant Production Coordinator |
Nicola Chance |
Production Assistants |
Virginia Bonet |
Jamie Shaw |
Assistant Accountants |
Justine Wooff |
Matthew Fisher |
Art Department Accountant |
Bethan Griffiths |
Script Supervisor |
Nicki Coles |
Script Executive |
Lindsey Alford |
Script Editor |
Nick Lambon |
Assistant Script Editor |
Emma Genders |
Camera Operator |
Mark McQuoid |
Focus Pullers |
Jonathan Vidgen |
Elhein De Wet |
Camera Assistants |
Gethin Williams |
Drew Marsden |
Dan Patounas |
Grip |
John Robinson |
Assistant Grip |
Sean Cronin |
Sound Maintenance Engineers |
Tam Shoring |
Christopher Goding |
Gaffer |
Mark Hutchings |
Best Boy |
Andy Gardiner |
Electricians |
Gawain Nash |
Gareth Sheldon |
Bob Milton |
Sion Davies |
Andrew Williams |
Supervising Art Director |
Paul Spriggs |
Art Director |
Tim Overson |
Standby Art Director |
Nick Murray |
Set Decorator |
Adrian Anscombe |
Production Buyer |
Jen Saguaro |
Prop Buyers |
Jo Pearce |
Charlotte Lailey de Ville |
Draughtspersons |
Matt Sanders |
Kartik Nagar |
Storyboard Artist |
Mike Collins |
Prop Master |
Paul Smith |
Props Chargehand |
Kyle Belmont |
Standby Props |
Matt Ireland |
Jonathan Barclay |
Prop Hands |
Scott Howe |
Nigel Magni |
Matt Watts |
Storeman |
Jamie Southcott |
Concept Artist |
Darren Fereday |
Graphic Artist |
Lawrence Hearn |
Graphics Assistant |
Jack Bowes |
Standby Carpenter |
Paul Jones |
Rigging |
Shadow Scaffolding |
Standby Rigger |
Nigel Owen |
Practical Electricians |
Callum Alexander |
Austin Curtis |
Props Driver |
Gareth Fox |
Construction Manager |
Terry Horle |
Construction Chargehand |
Dean Tucker |
Chargehand Carpenter |
John Sinnott |
Carpenters |
Tim Burke |
Matt Ferry |
Chris Daniels |
George Rees |
Dan Berrow |
Tom Berrow |
Keith Richards |
Campbell Fraser |
Joe Painter |
Alan Jones |
Mike Venables |
Construction Driver |
Jonathan Tylke |
Construction Labourer |
Jason Tylke |
Head Scenic Artist |
Clive Clarke |
Painters |
Steve Nelms |
John Nelms |
Paul Murray |
Debby McShane |
Model Makers |
Alan Hardy |
Jamie Thomas |
Assistant Costume Designer |
Zoe Howerska |
Costume Supervisor |
Kat Willis |
Costume Assistants |
Rebecca Cunningham |
Leila Headon |
Jenny Tindle |
Make-up Supervisor |
James Spinks |
Make-up Artists |
Megan Bowes |
Lolly Goodship |
Unit Medic |
Glyn Evans |
Casting Associate |
Ri McDaid-Wren |
Casting Assistant |
Louis Constantine |
Business Affairs Executive |
Carol Griggs |
Assistant Editors |
Becky Trotman |
David Davies |
VFX Editor |
Dan Rawlings |
Post Production Coordinator |
Hannah Jones |
Dubbing Mixers |
Mark Ferda |
Darran Clement |
ADR Editor |
Matthew Cox |
Dialogue Editor |
Helen Dickson |
Effects Editor |
Harry Barnes |
Foley Editor |
Simon Clement |
Foley Artist |
Julie Ankerson |
Titles |
BBC Wales Graphics |
Title Concept |
Billy Hanshaw |
Online Editors |
Mark Hardyman |
Geraint Pari Huws |
Assistant Online Editor |
Christine Kelly |
Colourist |
Gareth Spensley |
Music Conducted & Orchestrated By |
Alastair King |
Music Mixed By |
Jake Jackson |
Music Recorded By |
Gerry O'Riordan |
Music Score Assistant |
Jack Sugden |
Original Theme Music |
Ron Grainer |
With Thanks to |
BBC National Orchestra of Wales |
Casting Director |
Andy Pryor CDG |
Head of Production |
Gordon Ronald |
Production Executive |
Tracie Simpson |
Post Production Supervisor |
Samantha Price |
Production Accountant |
Simon Wheeler |
Sound Recordist |
Deian Llŷr Humphreys |
Costume Designer |
Hayley Nebauer |
Make-up Designer |
Barbara Southcott |
Music |
Murray Gold |
Visual Effects |
Milk |
BBC Wales VFX |
Special Effects |
Real SFX |
Special Creature Effects & Prosthetics |
Millennium FX |
Editor |
Will Oswald |
Production Designer |
Michael Pickwoad |
Director of Photography |
Mark Waters |
Line Producer |
Steffan Morris |
Executive Producers |
Steven Moffat (bio) |
Brian Minchin |
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