10 Simple Doctor Who Scenes That Were A NIGHTMARE To Film
Never work with androids or animals, and NEVER go for a date with the Doctor on a windy hilltop!
Doctor Who is not a simple show to film. The small matter of how to create this week’s monster, spaceship, or alien planet (before having to do the very same thing the next week, and the next) has been giving the Doctor Who production team sleepless nights since 1963.
And more often than not, the saying that “necessity is the mother of invention” rings true, with directors, producers, and designers working round the clock – and with next to no budget – to create something truly special.
However, not every Doctor Who scene is such a chore. Some are actually pretty simple. And somewhere in-between, there are those scenes that are deceptively simple: moments which should, on the surface, have been pretty easy to get in the can, but for whatever reason, ended up being incredibly complicated.
From straightforward stunts to animal encounters, these scenes had no right to be as stressful as they were, and demonstrate just how hard the cast and crew must work to bring new episodes of Doctor Who to our screens.
10. The Uncooperative Kitty
The Doctor had to contend with some evil cat nuns in New Earth, but compared to the feline featured in Fear Her, they were an absolute dream.
This cat, aptly named Ginger, is a much more important part of the episode than you might think. It’s the first resident of the street to go missing before the Doctor and Rose’s eyes – a moment conveyed not through some fancy visual effect, but the simple image of Ginger disappearing into a cardboard box.
Or at least, it should have been simple.
“The cat was the most disobedient cat in the history of cats,” recalled executive producer Julie Gardner on the episode’s DVD commentary.
The cat playing Ginger wanted to do everything but go into the box, earning itself a reputation as one of the most uncooperative supporting artists in Doctor Who history.
The accompanying instalment of Doctor Who Confidential contains a whole montage of the crew’s attempts to get it to play ball. From staying put, to rolling over, to exploring the neighbours’ gardens, this cat did it all!
What a cat-astrophe! Eh? We'll see ourselves out.