Modern Series Episode 103:
Hide
The Doctor and Clara travel to Caliburn House in 1974. The owner of the
estate, Alec Palmer, is investigating the Witch of the Well, a ghost
which has stalked the halls of Caliburn House for centuries -- and whose
legend even predates the mansion's construction. To assist him, he has
recruited an empathic telepath named Emma Grayling, who can sense the
ghost's immense loneliness. The Doctor discovers that the Witch of the
Well is a mystery which transcends time and space -- and that the ghost
is not the only thing haunting Caliburn House.
A lifelong Doctor Who fan, Neil Cross had hoped to write for the
programme when Russell T Davies was its executive producer, only for
these plans to fall foul of scheduling difficulties. In 2011, however,
Cross' friend, Caroline Skinner, joined Davies' successor, Steven
Moffat, as Doctor Who's executive producer. She encouraged Moffat
to approach Cross, and this time it became clear that the writer would
be able to provide a script for the second stage of Doctor Who's
thirty-third season. This block of eight episodes would be made
immediately after the five installments destined to air in the autumn of
2012, but would be held over until the spring of 2013. They would see
the Doctor travelling with a new companion, who at this stage was
envisaged as a Victorian-era governess named Beryl; she would be
introduced in the 2012 Christmas special, The
Snowmen.
Cross had grown up a fan of Doctor Who as made in the Seventies
and early Eighties, when the Doctor was played by Jon Pertwee, Tom Baker
and Peter Davison. He was eager to write a spooky story of the sort
which had been predominant during Baker's early years in the role. Cross
also fondly remembered the work of Nigel Kneale, creator of the
Quatermass serials, and he particularly looked to Kneale's 1972
ghost story, The Stone Tape. He decided to develop a haunted
house adventure in which he hoped Kneale's Bernard Quatermass character
might take a central role; however, when it became clear that rights
issues would preclude this crossover, Cross created Alec Palmer
instead.
Neil Cross intended the entire narrative to be set within
the walls of Caliburn House
Palmer would be depicted as the owner of Caliburn House, which would
serve as the story's principal setting. It was named in reference to
King Arthur's sword in the writings of Geoffrey of Monmouth, which later
evolved into the more familiar Excalibur. Indeed, Cross originally
intended the entire narrative to be set within its walls, with the
extra-dimensional space -- which he dubbed the Hex -- represented by a
daylight version of Caliburn House's interior. However, Moffat felt that
the narrative deserved a larger scale, and he suggested that the Hex
should instead take the form of an eerie wood.
By late January 2012, the production team had reversed course on the new
companion, and decided that the character -- now named Clara -- should
originate from contemporary Britain. Nonetheless, Moffat was mindful
that the Doctor would need to have a compelling reason to take Clara
aboard the TARDIS, given the tragic circumstances surrounding the
departures of recent companions Donna, Amy and Rory. To this end, he
began to develop a complex puzzle which would surround Clara, including
the appearance of lookalike characters in other times and places. The
role of Beryl in The Snowmen would now
be filled by one of these echoes, while another was inserted into the
script for the season premiere, Asylum Of The
Daleks. Clara would still debut in The
Snowmen, but only in a coda at the end of the episode; her first
full story would be The Bells Of St
John, the initial adventure of the 2013 run.
Cross was briefed on these changes, and the modern-day Clara was
incorporated into his first draft script. Entitled “Phantoms Of
The Hex”, it was completed on April 15th. At this stage, the Hex
was the prison of the Lost Lord, an ancient Time Lord also called the
Revenant of Anathenon who had become trapped there so long ago that he
was now just a bogeyman of Gallifreyan legend. The Lost Lord sought to
tempt the Doctor into the Hex and feed on him, enabling him to return to
the normal universe where he would begin absorbing all of time.
By May, the Lost Lord element of “Phantoms Of The Hex” was
discarded along with the associated continuity baggage, to be replaced
by the Crooked Man. However, Moffat became concerned that a
straightforward monster was unsuitably shallow. He worked with Cross to
develop the idea of the two Crooked Men and the love which bound them,
reinforcing themes already present in the storyline. Around this time,
the story became known as “The Hider In The House”.
Hide was the first of Clara's
adventures to go before the cameras
At this point, Cross' adventure was intended to air fifth out of the
eight episodes comprising the second segment of Season Thirty-Three; it
would later be pushed back to sixth before finally being broadcast
fourth. However, it would be the first of Clara's adventures to go
before the cameras. The sole episode to comprise the year's fourth
recording block, its director was Jamie Payne. Jenna-Louise Coleman had
already won the role of Clara, since she had been needed to play Oswin
-- the first of Clara's echoes -- for Asylum Of
The Daleks at the end of April. Coleman was uneasy about diving
straight into the middle of Clara's adventures before filming her
introduction -- a circumstance created in part by the lateness of the
script for The Snowmen -- but Moffat and
Payne both worked to assuage her concerns.
Following the conclusion of principal photography on The Power Of Three, the last Amy-Rory story
to go before the cameras, production on Doctor Who stood down for
a week. As such, it wasn't until May 22nd and 23rd that recording began
on “The Hider In The House”, at Plas Llanmihangel near
Cowbridge in the Vale of Glamorgan. Now a bed-and-breakfast
establishment, the manor house dated from at least 1166; it provided the
dining room of Caliburn House. The Doctor's new purple coat made its
debut, satisfying Smith's long-held desire for an outfit in this colour,
and advancing an overarching scheme for his incarnation's attire to
evolve over time. On May 24th and 25th, Tyntesfield House in Wraxall,
Bristol offered spaces suitable for the great hall, the stairs, the
kitchen and various corridors. On May 26th, during a weekend off, Matt
Smith became the first Doctor Who star to participate in the
Olympic torch relay, as part of the build-up to the 2012 Summer Games in
London.
The last day at Tyntesfield House was May 28th. On the 29th, some of
the material in the Hex pocket universe was filmed in Gethin Woodland
Park near Abercanaid. Payne had argued for the Crooked Man to be
realised chiefly as a practical rig, in order to achieve a visual
aesthetic similar to the classic 1982 horror film Poltergeist.
More material in the forest was completed on May 30th and 31st at Margam
Country Park in Margam; this venue also provided the exterior and
grounds of Caliburn House, as well as the primeval jungle. On June 1st,
Payne's team shifted to Hensol Castle in Hensol for sequences in the
music room and the dark room.
After another full weekend of rest, cast and crew reassembled at Hensol
Castle on June 4th, before returning to Gethin Woodland Park on the
5th. “The Hider In The House” was now largely complete,
although effects shots of the Doctor tumbling through the wormhole were
filmed on June 19th, outside Doctor Who's new regular facilities
at Roath Lock Studios in Cardiff. Still to come were the TARDIS scenes,
which could not be taped alongside the rest of the episode because the
new console room set -- which would debut on-screen in The Snowmen -- was not yet finished. This
work was finally carried out at Roath Lock on September 22nd. Additional
inserts were then recorded in the studio on October 18th and November
27th.
In post-production, dubbing replaced all references to the Hex with less
oblique terminology for the pocket universe. Then, in early 2013, the
episode's title was truncated to Hide. Its April 20th broadcast
coincided with a shake-up of BBC One's Saturday schedule. The Voice
UK, which had been airing after Doctor Who, now moved later
in the evening to avoid overlapping with ITV's highly-rated Britain's
Got Talent. Accommodation also had to be made for the transmission
of qualifying highlights from the Bahrain Grand Prix. As a result,
Hide aired at 6.45pm, three quarters of an hour later than the
season's third episode, Cold War. It was
preceded by the Formula One competition, as well as a news update, while
Doctor Who now led into the sixth season of the National Lottery
quiz show Who Dares Wins.
- Doctor Who Magazine Special Edition #37, Autumn 2014,
“Hide” by Andrew Pixley, Panini UK Ltd.
- Doctor Who: The Complete History #73, 2016, “Story 235:
Hide”, edited by John Ainsworth, Hachette Partworks Ltd.
|
|
Original Transmission
|
|
Date |
20th Apr 2013 |
Time |
6.44pm |
Duration |
44'45" |
· BBC1/HD |
6.6m |
Appreciation |
85% |
Cast
The Doctor |
Matt Smith (bio) |
Clara |
Jenna-Louise Coleman (bio) |
Alec Palmer |
Dougray Scott |
Emma Grayling |
Jessica Raine |
Hila |
Kemi-Bo Jacobs |
The Crooked Man |
Aidan Cook |
Crew
Written by |
Neil Cross (bio) |
Directed by |
Jamie Payne (bio) |
|
Produced by |
Marcus Wilson (bio) |
Stunt Coordinators |
Crispin Layfield |
Gordon Seed |
First Assistant Director |
John Bennet |
Second Assistant Director |
James DeHaviland |
Third Assistant Director |
Heddi-Joy Taylor-Welch |
Assistant Director |
Danielle Richards |
Location Manager |
Nicky James |
Unit Manager |
Geraint Williams |
Location Assistant |
Iestyn Hampson-Jones |
Production Manager |
Phillipa Cole |
Production Coordinator |
Claire Hildred |
Asst Production Coordinator |
Gabriella Ricci |
Production Secretary |
Sandra Cosfeld |
Production Assistants |
Rachel Vipond |
Samantha Price |
Asst Production Accountants |
Rhys Evans |
Justine Wooff |
Assistant Script Editor |
John Phillips |
Script Supervisor |
Steve Walker |
Camera Operator |
Joe Russell |
Focus Pullers |
James Scott |
Julius Ogden |
Grip |
Gary Norman |
Camera Assistants |
Meg de Koning |
Sam Smithard |
Evelina Norgren |
Assistant Grip |
Owen Charnley |
Sound Maintenance Engineers |
Ross Adams |
Chris Goding |
Gaffer |
Mark Hutchings |
Best Boy |
Stephen Slocombe |
Electricians |
Bob Milton |
Gareth Sheldon |
Steve Guy |
Supervising Art Director |
Paul Spriggs |
Set Decorator |
Adrian Anscombe |
Production Buyers |
Charlie Lynam |
Adrian Greenwood |
Art Director |
Amy Pickwoad |
Standby Art Director |
Helen Atherton |
Asst Art Director |
Richard Hardy |
Art Department Coordinator |
Donna Shakesheff |
Prop Master |
Paul Smith |
Prop Chargehand |
Ian Griffin |
Prophand |
Austin J Curtis |
Standby Props |
Rob Brandon |
Dressing Props |
Jayne Davies |
Mike Elkins |
Paul Barnett |
Graphic Designer |
Chris Lees |
Graphic Artist |
Christina Tom |
Petty Cash Buyer |
Florence Tasker |
Standby Carpenter |
Will Pope |
Standby Rigger |
Bryan Griffiths |
Practical Electrician |
Christian Davies |
Props Makers |
Penny Howarth |
Alan Hardy |
Jamie Thomas |
Props Driver |
Gareth Fox |
Construction Manager |
Terry Horle |
Construction Chargehand |
Dean Tucker |
Scenic Artist |
John Pinkerton |
Assistant Costume Designer |
Fraser Purfit |
Costume Supervisor |
Carly Griffith |
Costume Assistants |
Katarina Cappellazzi |
Gemma Evans |
Make-Up Artists |
Sara Angharad |
Julie Fox Pritchard |
Casting Associate |
Alice Purser |
Assistant Editor |
Becky Trotman |
VFX Editor |
Joel Skinner |
Dubbing Mixer |
Tim Ricketts |
ADR Editor |
Matthew Cox |
Dialogue Editor |
Darran Clement |
Sound Effects Editor |
Paul Jefferies |
Foley Editor |
Jamie Talbutt |
Graphics |
Peter Anderson Studio |
Online Editor |
Geraint Pari Huws |
Colourist |
Mick Vincent |
With Thanks to |
The BBC National Orchestra of Wales |
Conducted and Orchestrated by |
Ben Foster |
Mixed by |
Jake Jackson |
Recorded by |
Gerry O'Riordan |
Original Theme Music |
Ron Grainer |
Casting Director |
Andy Pryor CDG |
Production Executive |
Julie Scott |
Post Production Supervisor |
Nerys Davies |
Production Accountant |
Jeff Dunn |
Sound Recordist |
Deian Llŷr Humphreys |
Costume Designer |
Howard Burden |
Make-Up Designer |
Barbara Southcott |
Music |
Murray Gold |
Visual Effects |
The Mill |
Special Effects |
Real SFX |
Prosthetics |
Millennium FX |
Editor |
Nick Arthurs |
Production Designer |
Michael Pickwoad |
Director Of Photography |
Mike Southon BSC |
Script Producer |
Denise Paul |
Line Producer |
Diana Barton |
Executive Producers |
Steven Moffat (bio) |
Caroline Skinner |
Working Titles
Phantoms Of The Hex |
The Hider In The House |
|