Video interviews coming...

Dalek Spy is proud to announce that as part of its mission to bring you exclusive behind the scenes material it will be recording special video interviews with some of the cast and crew.

There's already been a few video sneak peeks posted, but these will be delving further into the production side.

The first interviewee will be James George, who plays Mavic Chen. This will be recorded this week and be available this weekend - probably September 23. Future interviews will hopefully include:

• Nick Scovell, as the director and script adaptation and a second one discussing his fourth outing as the Doctor
• Martin Johnson, composer
• Stuart Currie and Ashley Nealfuller, Dalek builders
  

So don't forget to check back and catch up with what's going on.

Act One nearly complete

Block 3 started yesterday (September 17) and it also saw us finish Act One. There was minimal work necessary for the Daleks this time, so I had chance to sit back and watch what was going on.

After last week and the difficulty of trying to amend a script while fully encased I performed topless... just using the base of the Dalek in other words! I was whizzing around like some demented Davros and having a lot of fun.

Although there was a lot of stopping and starting to make sure that this set of scenes worked, we did manage to not only finish this Block but have a complete run through as well. This will bode well for Friday's rehearsal as it means we can have a clear stab at possibly the whole of Act One.

There was a lengthy, if slightly innuendo laden, conversation about being blown or sucked... in the end an amend was made to the script to resolve this rather tricky area of physics! I was also able to offer some input as well. At one point it's necessary for one of the characters to explain which communications channel to use. Some discussion was held on this and I suggested "theta", as in Theta Sigma the Doctor's nickname that was revealed in The Armageddon Factor. Thanks to Nick for allowing me that one.



Here's three little words from Block 3:

• geologist
• surge
• theta - mentioned above, but if I gave you another one it would be four words!

More chance for photos this time round as well:

• John-Paul McCrohon (Steven Taylor) and Helen Stoddart (Katarina Taylor) show how to take it easy while acting
• Nick Scovell (The Doctor) takes special interest in his pen… or is it?
• Laura Ford (Sara Kingdom) receives her orders
• James George (Mavic Chen) gives those orders
• David Bickerstaff (Marc Cory) gets to grips with Katarina

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Block 2 now complete

With Block 2 now completed in rehearsals, of which there were only a couple of pages to finish off, we had a full run of everything to date so far last night (September 14). We're now nearing the end of Act One and it's polishing up very nicely indeed.

To make it easier during the final part of the Block 2 material for me to amend my script I performed with only two thirds of my costume - just the skirt and shoulders. This was much better than trying to not only hear what changes were being made but write in a cramped space as well.

After quite a few times inside a Dalek, one thing I do know is that it does get very hot. What I have done (see the photo below) is to get myself a small clip-on fan that is then attached to the inside and which I can turn on and off as necessary. Not only that, but I've also found space for a small bottle of water. Groucho is now very much my home from home!



Three little words from Block 2:

• murderous
• arrogance
• guilty

It's getting more difficult to get photos as I'm in more and more scenes at the moment, but here's some special ones...

• The relative comfort of inside a Dalek - note the bottle of water and clip-on fan!
• Part of a Dalek
• Essential footwear for a Dalek - my David Tennant red Converse trainers!

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Welcome to my unconventional conventionalists

As with last year's production, this year will see another mini-convention on the Saturday featuring (work commitments permitting) cast and crew from both the original and new Doctor Who.

Confirmed are:

• Nick Briggs - voice of the Daleks (amongst others) in the current series
• Barnaby Edwards - principal Dalek operator in the current series
• David J Howe - historian and collector, who will be the MC for the event
• Peter Labrow - webmaster of the Dalek Links site
• Terry Molloy - Davros from 1984 to 1989 on TV and Big Finish audios
• Rob Shearman - writer of the 2005 episode "Dalek"

This is a fantastic mix of guests, which should provide a fascinating time for all those lucky enough to be coming along.

What's more, I have been asked to coordiante this event!

That means I'll be getting unrestricted access to all the guests (that's my autographs and photos shorted!) throughout the Saturday afternoon. My role will be to make sure that they get to the theatre, are looked after fully once there and to ensure that everything runs smoothly for them.

Who would have thought that from originally being a Dalek I would now have the second entrance at the start of the play, be responsible for the mini-convention and... well, that would be telling at the moment - just wait and see!

Enter... the Daleks!

Today's rehearsal (September 10) saw the arrival of the Daleks! Three were brought along, the two main ones and the Dalek Commander, all of them built by Ashley Nealfuller.

The look and design of them is, at the moment, a closely guarded secret. So I'm sorry that currently I'm unable to post any of the lovely pictures and videos that were taken.

All of them are named after the Marx Brothers and mine is called Groucho. As always, it's a tight fit inside and very warm. However, I've discovered that there's room for a small bottle of water and also a mini sized battery fan - so hopefully I should be ok!

I know that I've been a Dalek before, using the ones that Stuart Currie has built at events, but there was something different this time... a magic quality you could almost say. This time I was a Dalek in Doctor Who!

Due to having to work with the Daleks we didn't get chance to finish all of Block Two so this will be picked up on Friday.



There's a couple of teaser photos today and one of me half in costume.

• Part of a Dalek, but what part?
• Another part of one of the Daleks
• Me being helped to get into Groucho

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