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(DOCTOR WHO THEME)
NARRATOR: With all of time and space to explore,
what keeps bringing the Doctor back to America?
Is it the scenery?
Is it the locals?
-Who the hell are you? -Sir.
I just walked into the highest-security office in the United States,
parked a big blue box on the rug.
You think you can just shoot me?
-(GUN FIRING) -(GASPS)
(BLOWING)
Hello, sweetie.
NARRATOR: Or is it just that he's always sure of a warm welcome?
-WOMAN: Doctor! -Don't worry, everything is completely under control.
(GRUNTING)
(DOCTOR WHO THEME)
MOFFAT: The Doctor himself is such an iconic figure.
One of the reasons we're sending him to America more often these days
is he cuts such a different figure against that backdrop.
MATT SMITH: Great locations. Great potential for great stories out there.
When I look at the stuff we've done there, Utah, New York...
You can point a camera anywhere in New York and it looks kind of sexy.
I don't know. We're in New York.
The world looks to America for its cultural life these days
so I guess it makes sense that you wanna tell some Doctor Who stories from there as well.
When the Doctor always comes back to the US, there's always that element of,
"What's gonna happen?" It's something completely different.
I think it's just got a real epic feel to it
which really matches the scale and the ambition of the programme.
We are in the US of A.
In most sci-fi, (CHUCKLES) America is the hub of where things are happening.
You know, a spaceship always seems to be parked over America.
-What's the city called? -New New York.
-Oh, come on. -It is! It's the city of New New York.
DOCTOR: Strictly speaking it's the 15th New York since the original.
That makes it New New New New New...
New New New New New New...
...New New York.
I think. I hope I got that right.
Um, ah...
Yes, the idea being that in all the...
In all the planets that human beings will colonise throughout future years.
Uh, and each one will become a new Earth
and each one of those new Earths will have a New York.
We're arriving on New Earth, which is the Gower...
Uh, the Gower Peninsula near Swansea,
and it's blowing a gale.
We were supposed to be here slightly earlier in the summer
and various shooting schedule things meant that we're a bit late.
So it's a little bit more wintery than intended, but once the computer people
have fiddled about with it it's going to look extraordinary, I'm told.
I think the Doctor took Rose to New New New New New New New New New York...
Uh, there's not the right number of News in there.
Because, number one, if you're going to impress a girl you take her to New York City.
Because although it's one of the busiest cities in the world
it's also one of the most romantic, with the beautiful skyline.
I will never get used to this. Never.
Different ground beneath my feet.
Different sky.
Can I just say, travelling with you, I love it.
It's just impressive to see that cityscape that was done.
I mean, it looks beautiful.
NARRATOR: And for Series 7, the 11th Doctor went back to the original New York
to do battle with one of his greatest enemies.
With the Weeping Angels in town, there's another reason why the city that never sleeps
doesn't close its eyes.
There was something about the Weeping Angels and New York, I don't know why,
they just made me think, "That's a good fit."
I believe the Weeping Angels will infest New York in a terrible and vengeful way.
I specified in the script that we use this whole area and we use that fountain
and I specified that there were little cherubs on it.
What I hadn't noticed was there's a whole Weeping Angel standing right on top of it.
So I'd say it's wonderful to have this opportunity to vilify one of New York's
finest landmarks by saying it is actually an evil aggressor from outer space.
(HIGH-PITCHED LAUGHTER)
The Weeping Angels are back, and it is terrifying and it's dark,
and it's how you want a New York episode of Doctor Who to be.
SMITH: It's really exciting because the Weeping Angels are my favourite monster
and that's one of my favourite cities. So I think to have them here, particularly in the
time that they're in is, I don't know, thrilling, really,
and I think they're going to be even more scary with this mad, gothic city around them.
NARRATOR: So in one of America's busiest cities, did filming Doctor Who
in New York's Central Park go unnoticed?
Mark.
Okay.
(SMITH GRUNTING)
(LAUGHING)
-NARRATOR: Apparently not. -Ah!
SMITH: Filming in Central Park is something that I don't think any of us will forget.
There were hundreds of fans following us around
and it was mind-boggling. It was sort of amazing because we got to do it
kind of guerilla-style. Because usually Doctor Who is big sets and everything,
but we got to take a couple of cameras, get out into the park and bop around.
When you hear us yell, "Cut", please no more screaming either,
because we don't like screaming. It makes us nervous.
-Bye! -Move down this way.
We did not expect this to happen in New York.
It's really odd. I can't quite get my head around it.
Yeah. And there's a girl over there with a TARDIS phone-cover.
Every time we go to America, we are always surprised with
the response from American fans,
and just surprised at how big it is getting over there.
(CLAMOURING)
Thank you very much!
Okay, guys, make a hole. We're coming right through here. Make a hole, guys!
DARVILL: As the days went on, hundreds and hundreds of people turned up
to watch us film.
It's incredible just to be filming here in the first place,
and little did we expect that there are massive crowds of people all around,
which is amazing. So we've been having the best time ever.
Running around New York, shooting in all these iconic locations.
Central Park just looks amazing on camera.
-Did you see the cover? -No, no. I'm busy.
It's your hair.
-Is it your hair? -Oh shut up. It's the glasses.
I'm wearing reading glasses now. See? On my nose. There you go.
I don't like them. They make your eyes look all liney.
Oh no, actually. Sorry. They're fine.
Carry on.
RORY: Okay, I'm gonna go get some more coffee. Who wants more coffee?
Me too. I'll get them.
AMY: Rory, do my eyes have noticeable lines, now?
If I could film every episode of Doctor Who in New York, I would.
If it was up to me, we would film the whole thing in New York City.
Beware the "yowza". Do not, at this point, "yowz".
Doctor? What did the skinny guy say?
"He said, 'I just went to get coffees for the Doctor and Amy. Hello, River.'"
Hello, Dad.
Where am I? How the hell did I get here?
I haven't the faintest idea.
But you'll probably want to get your hands up.
(CLAMOURING)
Hello. Good to see you. Are you having a nice time?
(APPLAUSE)
The fact that they turned up just to see people getting out of cars and things...
It was all over, really, filming at that point.
But it was very nice that they turned up. You know, they were very chatty.
We went out and we just made sure that they were all quiet,
and Matt gave a very rousing speech.
Firstly, thank you for being so patient, and thank you for coming.
But I think we've gotta go around and do the scenes, so they've asked me to ask
if when we're doing the scene, if you could be quiet so they can get the sound.
Now, I said I would ask you.
Doctor Who's gone from strength to strength in America, in ways
that have outdistanced our attempts to keep up with it.
I'm really quite surprised. It used to be that Doctor Who was that cult show,
then it was that British import. Now Doctor Who in America is just Doctor Who.
-WOMAN: I love you so much! -SMITH: And we love you too.
(CLAMOURING)
Me, Karen and Arthur now have this sort of affinity with the city.
We just totally, totally love it.
Good evening. Hope we're not interrupting. Jack Harkness.
I've been hearing all about you on the way over.
If we're talking about America we have to talk about Captain Jack. Because Captain Jack
was the first American character introduced to the new Doctor Who.
(WARBLING)
Excellent bottom.
There's... There's a time and a place.
The wonderful thing about bringing Captain Jack into the Doctor's universe
is he's a proper, dashing, gung-ho, womanising,
man-izing, shrub-izing soldier.
We should really be off.
Sorry old man. I gotta go meet a girl.
But you've got an excellent bottom, too.
The difference between the Doctor and Jack...
The Doctor would never carry a gun.
The Doctor, you know, uses the sonic screwdriver. The Doctor will resort to violence
at the last resort.
So for him to have this American gunslinger with him...
You know, Jack's answer to everything is to pull out the gun and just shoot them
between the eyes, or kill them. That's it.
I hate to use the term, and to quote a president, but
"You're either with us or against us."
That's Jack's philosophy.
MOFFAT: We ended up casting, of course, thank goodness, the brilliant John Barrowman.
And we listened to his range of accents. He could do it in his own Scots accent, which
unaccountably, I rather liked.
He could do it in his perfectly, uh, perfect English accent,
or he could do it in his sort of adopted American accent.
And somehow, that part just came alive
with John Barrowman being American as Captain Jack.
Yes, he has an American accent, which I guess gives him a sort of
international feel as a character. He's...
But we never really learn where he comes from or why he speaks the way he does.
DOCTOR: Wait, wait, what are you taking your clothes off for?
I'm going in.
By the looks of it I'd say the Stet radiation doesn't affect clothing, only flesh.
Oh, well, I look good though.
Part of the joy of Captain Jack is that...
He's sort of without origin. We don't quite know where he's come from or where he's going.
But whether he's actually come from America, or whether he's just picked this accent up
somewhere in his travels, is a question you can ask of John Barrowman just as much as
you can ask of Captain Jack himself.
For myself as the actor,
thinking about where Jack had come from, all I knew about it, and all that Steven and
Russell had written and told me, was that he was a con artist and he was a Time Agent
and he has travelled through time doing things for himself to find out,
find out,
where he came from. So, to be honest with you, the history of Jack was not known.
Little did we know it was yet to be created.
NARRATOR: During his visits to America, the Doctor has met some interesting characters
in some very iconic places.
Now if we go back, and jump back to William Hartnell's time,
he appeared on the Empire State Building for a brief moment.
TENNANT: The Empire State Building featured in Doctor Who in the story called
The Chase, which is quite an odd story. It seems to just be an excuse for the production
team at the time to visit lots of locations in a hurry.
And at one point, the TARDIS lands on top of the Empire State Building, so,
the Doctor did have some history there.
Hot-diggity, I knew I was right!
You should be wearing a police uniform, of course...
He then goes back in the TARDIS, disappears, the Daleks then come out
and they meet this guy who is, you know, a hillbilly,
or a tourist, that you want to call him, from the United States,
and it happens to be Peter Purves.
Say, you sure are an ugly-looking critter.
So, I played Morton Dill, who was a genuine hillbilly visiting New York...
You've come all over in blue spots.
...where I probably had the most execrable Alabaman accent,
but I played it for all it was worth. It really was quite fun.
(MUTTERING INDISTINCTLY IN SOUTHERN AMERICAN ACCENT)
The idea that they could recreate this all in one week was perhaps
slightly ambitious. I think it worked quite successfully, from what I remember.
But I think...
I think over-ambition has always been Doctor Who's great curse and great virtue.
Why not create the Empire State Building in the corner of a tiny studio somewhere?
That's real clever, how they done that.
The United Nations have issued an edict asking the citizens of the world not to panic.
The newsreel of Trinity Wells, I mean, you know that whenever you see her
that it's a global catastrophe.
The President is said to be furious that Great Britain has taken unilateral action.
Trinity Wells, uh,
appeared in more Doctor Who episodes than just about anyone else.
So far, there has been no explanation
of the 26 planets which have appeared in the sky.
It's a very simple narrative device, I suppose, that works extremely well,
that you have an American news reader, so suddenly you feel like
this news is all over the world.
The military are on the lookout for more spaceships. Until then,
all flights in North American airspace have been grounded.
Of course, it's filmed in a small booth in Cardiff.
She always there when things are at their absolute worst.
TRINITY: It's midnight here in New York. The United Nations has gathered.
England has provided them with absolute proof that the massive weapons of destruction
do exist.
And she reports it
with a sort of, "It's okay, planet. This is what's happening.
"We will watch this situation carefully."
And then everything is fine.
There's no known connection to the Doctor.
But why it's always her, I think, is a really interesting question.
We are warning anyone and everyone. Stay away from the cars.
Repeat. Stay away from your cars.
Let's see. Over the years, Trinity has commented on...
Let's see how many I can remember.
There's the ATMOS. I remember the ATMOS cars.
With the freeways blocked by ATMOS cars, populations of major cities are now
walking across open country to escape the fumes.
It is being likened to a Biblical plague. Some are calling this the end of days.
There was the Slitheens. That was my first one.
The council is voting. The results should be known any second now.
The development of the character then went to getting the call to do Sarah Jane.
The President has walked out of the White House and is apparently holding hands
with the wife of the Prime Minister...
Then I got a call to do Torchwood, which was, like, "Wow, so cool." You know,
because that's the, you know, the really grown-up one.
The children of America are saying, "Two, three, four,
"zero, zero, zero, zero."
I do believe there is something kind of unanswered, really, in exactly why that
character is there, and why she pops up when she does.
I wouldn't be surprised if at some point in the future there is more to that character, but
that is not a hint. That's just a guess.
Because she's always there when things are going really bad. Maybe she's the cause
of these things. I don't know. But she's always there regardless.
NARRATOR: In the Doctor's adventures, there is one adversary that he has fought
across time and space, and continues to do battle with across the whole of America.
DALEK: The Empire State Building must be completed in time.
This human is our best option.
Daleks in Manhattan, which, as a title, does exactly what it says on the tin.
You're dealing with New York City, one of the most iconic cities in the United States.
You're also dealing with a building, the Empire State Building,
which is one of the most iconic buildings.
The design of the Daleks from 2005 had a slightly Art Deco kind of feel to them,
which somehow suggested the Empire State Building.
(SCREAMING)
What is the attraction with Daleks and the Empire State Building?
Because they've been there before. What keeps bringing them back? Is it, you know,
is it a tower that can produce and send signals?
Is it something that can receive signals? Is it a giant spaceship?
Is it a rocket? Who knows?
You know, all that Art Deco architecture and design in Manhattan,
it fits with the Daleks, somehow.
DALEK: The army awakes!
TENNANT: There was a kind of inevitability, perhaps, that we had to see those Daleks
in the Empire State Building.
I didn't get to go to New York. I stayed filming in Cardiff.
In Wales.
Uh, where it rains a lot.
I spent a lot of time in Cardiff filming Doctor Who. I'm very fond of it.
Um, but the idea that we might get to go to New York for a bit, and do some filming,
was very appealing. We were going to set up Hooverville in Central Park and
we were going to film in the Empire State Building. Of course we didn't, inevitably.
I think about three or four people were sent to New York.
Sorry, sorry. Can I just point out that our lovely producer Phil,
and our director James, and our visual effects man, Dave,
-all got a nice weekend in Manhattan. -(LAUGHING)
We are in a car park in the North Leisure Centre.
Draw your own conclusions.
-I'm ashamed! -And a local dog just wee'd on the TARDIS.
So, it wasn't quite the trip to New York that we were hoping for.
It was more of a virtual trip to New York for the actual actors involved.
It's real. It's now.
Come on, you. Where should we go first?
-I think our detour just got longer. -MAN: Cut there.
(SCREAMING)
(SCREAMING)
NARRATOR: From the top of the Empire State Building in Manhattan
to deep underground in Utah,
the Doctor has travelled nation-wide to take on the Daleks.
Doctor Who's first year back, in 2005, there was an episode set in America.
Again, it wasn't filmed in America. It was filmed in Cardiff.
Again. In fact, in the bowels of the Millennium Stadium.
There were a few episodes filmed in the bowels of Cardiff's Millennium Stadium.
But then I suppose one madman's underground base looks very much like another
madman's underground base, it turns out.
DALEK: Away! Away! Away!
It was set in Utah, in the far-flung future of 2012,
which seems rather funny now.
And that reintroduced the Daleks, of course.
DALEK: Da... da...
Impossible.
Eh, Doctor?
Exterminate! Exterminate!
-Let me out! -Exterminate!
-Sir, it's gonna kill him. -It's talking.
DALEK: You are an enemy of the Daleks. You must be destroyed.
That was in America, although very underground in America.
You didn't see a lot of America in that one.
NARRATOR: And it was another Dalek episode that led the Doctor to one of America's
most famous addresses.
LINCOLN: ...that all men are created equal.
-It's Lincoln! Abraham Lincoln! -Yes.
Look, that's what I asked for. The Gettysburg Address.
The Doctor acquires an incredibly useful kit called the Time-Space Visualiser
which can see any event in history. You can dial up anything and eavesdrop on it.
For instance, you could dial up the Gettysburg Address and see Lincoln,
and actually go visit him, which is exactly what the Doctor and his companions do.
...so conceived and so dedicated can long endure.
We cannot hallow this ground.
-Doctor, can I have a go? Can I? Can I please? -Yes, yes, yes.
All in good time, my dear. All in good time.
There's something vaguely sort of unintentionally educational there, in that it'll focus
on a moment in history, and you're just expected to kind of catch up on it,
and I'm sure many children have been sent scurrying to history books,
or these days to Google.
NARRATOR: During his time in America, the Doctor has visited more than just one
famous presidential address.
I mean, obviously we're not going to be able to go and film in the White House.
It's impossible.
We just, you know... Obama wouldn't have it, I'm sure.
Um, Obama, if you're watching and you ever want to invite us to the White House,
we would love to come.
But the Oval Office was a perfect replica.
DARVILL: The designers are so good on Doctor Who,
and the art department, making everything look so real,
when we walked into that Oval Office set, it felt like we were really there.
It just felt so...
So surreal. And apparently they did it all to the right dimensions,
and had everything in the right place.
Yes!
Look at this!
What a set!
You know, you've got a guy there with Nixon's face on. So it was, you know,
utterly surreal. But brilliant, and it really felt like we were there.
And then you walk outside and you're in rainy Cardiff, so it was a very, very odd
thing to do.
Yeah, what a great set.
Doctor, you have to give me more than this.
I didn't have any more than this.
What were you doing to Apollo 11?
STUART MILLIGAN: I've played George Bush, I've played Eisenhower,
but I've never actually been in my own Oval Office. So here I am now, finally.
And it's absolutely beautiful. Beautiful.
Oh, look. This is the Oval Office.
I was looking for the, uh,
oblong room. I'll just be off, then.
Shall I?
(GRUNTS)
DIRECTOR: (CHUCKLING) Pan to one. Cut there.
One of the things I really, really wanted to do this year
was to make sure there's a huge visual contrast between each show.
And then it suddenly occurred to me, we haven't done a western
for years.
Not since the 1960s,
when they attempted it in a black and white studio.
I just thought, can we do a Doctor Who western?
You can fake New York. We can do that.
You can do that with a few matte shots,
but you can't fake that vista, those distant mountains,
that heat shimmer, or that light. We can't pretend.
So, for absolute maximum authenticity,
with this most iconic moment in American history,
and a landmark in their culture,
we decided to go to Spain.
(SPRING BOUNCING)
Despite the fact that Matt Smith's legs
were clearly designed to be fitted around a horse,
he is the least probable replacement for Clint Eastwood
in an action-packed western.
So I was just thrilled to put him into a western time.
That's not right.
SMITH: And just before I go into the saloon,
in the scene I said, "Can I have a toothpick?"
'Cause I wanted to look like, you know, a cowboy. And then I thought, well,
you know, as always with the Doctor you've got to flip and reinvent whatever it is.
Tea. But the strong stuff.
Leave the bag in.
There's a little bit of business that Matt does with a toothpick,
which he chews wrongly and gets stuck in his mouth,
which sums up perfectly why he's not a western hero, yet the Doctor
I would always believe that he is.
What you doing here, son?
Son? Ha! You can stay.
In that episode, the Doctor gets to play at being a cowboy.
And of course, it's sort of a silly cowboy.
It's not a very good cowboy, but he sort of (INHALES)
puts his hands in his trousers and wears a Stetson, and all that.
But he's kind of just a bit silly with it.
Action.
Can I borrow your horse?
Official Marshall business.
He's called Joshua, from the Bible.
It means "the Deliverer".
-No, it isn't. -What?
I speak horse. It's called Susan.
And he wants you to respect his life choices.
DARVILL: It's a village. It's a town. It's a proper western town
with a saloon and a bank and everything.
You know, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly was filmed there,
and it's got so much film history to it.
But, there was no imagination needed to film there.
I've got a phobia of horses.
-Come on, just stroke it. -I've never stroked a horse before.
I don't really want to face my... They can smell fear, though, right?
Don't be frightened.
-(LAUGHING) It's not supposed to... -She just hates you.
(WHISTLING)
-Oh! Oh, my God! -Got him now.
Can you ride?
Me? I'm scared of horses.
But he's friendly, he's lovely.
Do you touch them there? (GASPS) Oh, my god, I'm doing it, like in the films!
-Isn't that great? -Yeah!
We can feed them an apple. Do you want to feed him an apple?
No.
DIRECTOR: And...
Action!
Go! Here.
Oh, what?
(GRUNTING)
DARVILL: There's a great scene where
the Doctor's frogmarched Kahler-Jex to leave the town.
You wouldn't.
I genuinely don't know.
And Amy quite strongly disagrees with what he's doing,
so, uh, pulls a gun on him.
-(GUNSHOT) -(SCREAMING)
AMY: Let him come back, Doctor.
Or what? You won't shoot me, Amy.
How do you know? Maybe I've changed, I mean, you've
clearly been taking stupid lessons since I saw you last.
-(GUNSHOT) -(SCREAMING)
I didn't mean to do that.
-(GUNSHOT) -(SCREAMING)
Everyone who isn't an American,
drop your gun.
DARVILL: It's brilliant, I think it is the way Karen would wield a gun.
Just by flailing it around.
As if she's just kind of made of spaghetti.
Um, but it was a really fun scene to film.
It's always good because, you know, you've got loads of people dressed as cowboys,
and you're in the middle of it. But I think Karen's really funny in that scene.
Excuse me, can I carry this for you please?
-I told you to just hold it, don't talk to me. -I'm sorry, madam.
-(GROANS) -MAN: Let's go!
Keep up, keep up.
BARROWMAN: One of the oddest moments, for I think any Doctor Who viewer,
okay? Sorry guys, girls, this is it.
You have William Hartnell,
who goes to the O.K. Corral, to be taken care of by the dentist,
who happens to be a gunslinger himself, right?
But then, what happens?
You've got Peter Purves, the character of Steven,
and all of them end up going off and having a big kind of sing-along around a piano.
And...
That's the weirdest thing that ever goes on in the world of Doctor Who.
The gunfighters is... It's certainly not typical of Doctor Who stories.
It's a bit of a musical.
# The girls come to Tombstone in a high silk hose
Well, the very fact that there's a lot of British actors playing Americans,
with varying success, it has to be said...
-Hmm? -Not just yet, Doc,
we haven't had our little talk about brother Rueben.
The late brother Rueben.
This was one of the wonderful things about the early Doctor Whos,
was that there was a serendipity about it,
because you never knew where the TARDIS would end up.
Anyway, we ended up in Tombstone.
I dressed rather like Roy Rogers or Gene Autry.
I had to sing.
# It's your last chance of boozin'
# When there's no one to mind
The director, Rex Tucker, passed it wonderfully, the cowboys were fantastic.
And his filmic style, in a very small studio in Ealing,
he created Tombstone.
# It's your last chance of rye
# It's your last chance of living and... #
Now what's going on here?
But I think it's been rejudged over the years, and found
to be rather a favourite.
NARRATOR: One of the things that makes America an exciting location for Doctor Who,
is that it's just so very good looking.
MOFFAT: What is the most iconic thing that says you're definitely in America?
We are absolutely up for going out there.
Ah, so we went for the Valley of the Gods.
And it just gave it such scale, such size,
and such cinematic grandeur.
-Howdy. -Okay, B. Common marker!
It's an extraordinary, expansive, wonderful piece of land,
piece of the world. And I think it gave the episode such great scope.
(SCREAMING)
(PANTING)
(BREATHING HEAVILY)
Okay, there, thank you.
We can't get this area anyway, and then if we've got a moment...
First shot of the day. Yeah, it was basically just running for my life.
Desperate woman, girl.
MAN ON RADIO: Suspect directly ahead.
Coming to you now, over.
It is the altitude, which is why I'm out of breath.
So, that's why. It's not being unfit at all.
We were just really excited that we had a helicopter to film it.
And I didn't get to see... Actually, it was quite nice. I had a lie-in that morning,
'cause Karen was running around the desert being chased by a helicopter.
It was one of those things where we were just like,
that means we're basically filming a big movie.
(SCREAMS)
(BREATHING HEAVILY)
(GUN COCKING)
What's brilliant about it, is it really gives it the scale of the place.
You know, how vast it is. It just goes on like that for miles.
SMITH: Dear Arthur, had to... He got to go and film in the dam there,
up in Utah.
And it looks like he sort of run out in a James Bond movie or something.
It wouldn't surprise me if James Bond's been filmed there,
or some great big movie has, because it...
Again, as a piece of... A man-made structure, it's just incredible.
Action.
(PANTING)
DARVILL: They got a bit edgy about me running around,
'cause I wanted it to look like I was really knackered.
And really, you know, really tired.
So I was running up and down.
And every time I got towards the edge, to kind of, to look over,
you could feel everyone there who had responsibility for us,
um, all the grown-ups, as we call them,
just kind of tensing up and being like, "You don't have to hit it so hard, over there."
MAN ON RADIO: Tell Arthur to give us a good four beat look over the edge.
At this distance, he shouldn't throw himself at the wall.
It doesn't matter at this distance.
There was no chance of me falling off it.
There was a small chance of me falling off it, but...
Ah, you know, I'm sure someone would've tried to catch me
if I had've gone.
I don't know. But it was really, I didn't want to go over there,
it was really high. And actually, pretty scary.
(PANTING)
(CAMERA BEEPING)
NARRATOR: America has played an important part in the Doctor's life.
So it's maybe not surprising that it's where the Doctor came to die.
We filmed the Doctor dying.
Which actually turned out to be the Doctor as a Teselecta dying.
So I'm going to get my arms back, I'll look at you,
but I'm going to be like... (IMITATES GUNSHOT)
DIRECTOR: Exactly.
Action!
-(GUNSHOT) -(AMY SCREAMING)
-WOMAN: Amy, stay back! The Doctor said stay back! -(DOCTOR GRUNTING)
(BREATHING HEAVILY)
AMY: Doctor!
I'm sorry.
It's just a bunch of us talking, and really getting, you know...
Getting into real character stuff.
(AMY SOBBING)
He can't be dead.
(SOBBING)
There's all the adventure side of the stories,
but at the heart of that story is these four characters,
and when we see the Doctor die, it was such a huge...
Such a huge event within the story.
-(BOTH GASPING) -Doctor!
DIRECTOR: Well done.
-Do it. Cut there. -MAN: Cut!
And I think everyone was on really good form,
it was great to be able to film that in America.
SMITH: It is wonderful, I've got to say. It's, uh...
You know, we've got these wonderful locations. This place is...
I mean, you know, you've seen it for yourselves. It's just
devastatingly vast and epic.
-And then that's when I close my eyes, you see. -Exactly.
-But this is where we lose it. -Exactly. At that point there, we tell a different story.
So there's this huge secret running throughout the whole series.
Uh, about his death.
But we didn't know how that resolved, until very, very late on in filming.
So, when they were filming the scenes with the Doctor and the astronaut,
we had no idea what they were saying. And weren't allowed to know.
You get used to it, though.
'Cause it's like, well, this is all secret stuff they're filming.
Okay, "Fine!" I will ignore that, always it will just eat me up,
and I'll want to know about it.
-Day three. -In America.
-Uh, it's pretty cold. -Missing the good stuff, right here.
-Oh, dear. How's it going out there, Mark? -So...
-It's day three in Amer... -We've already done that.
I know. I felt a bit left out.
Aw. Come in! Come and get in this shot, you.
Why are you in sun... It isn't hot, Arthur.
I'm trying to pretend it's hot.
Yeah. He's got sensitive eyes, apparently.
-Sensitive eyes. -Arthur went in the water today.
-Yeah. It is so cold here. -That was pretty cold.
And the burning of the boat, it was just brilliant.
SMITH: We filmed there about 4:00 a.m. I mean the light in Utah is incredible.
It was like this dawning of... Like being on Mars, or something.
I mean, it was freezing cold and poor Arthur had to get in the water.
DARVILL: Everyone was like, "Oh, are you all right, in the cold of the water."
I think I might have milked it slightly, but I just couldn't wait to get in.
It was great. We had to do it at sunrise, to make it look like sunset.
Just get there really early in the morning.
It served us brilliantly in the episode, and gives
the ep such expanse and scale and style.
DARVILL: Just having the image of that burning boat,
and sending it out there, is just...
It was great to film. Again, it just felt like we were filming a big film.
Another great moment in the world of Doctor Who
was the first time that Doctor Who went to Comic-Con.
If the world was a little more like Comic-Con, the world would be a better place,
because there's a lack of cynicism there.
Which is just about celebration.
-Hello! -Hello!
The only time I actually got to physically go to America for Doctor Who was
I'd already finished filming, and I went to Comic-Con in San Diego in 2009.
BARROWMAN: And it was the only time David was actually in the States,
for something to do with Doctor Who,
and he was stuck in a hotel room and a convention centre.
He didn't get to go do anything.
It was really quite overwhelming.
(CHEERING)
It took us a little by surprise, I think.
(CROWD CHEERING)
As someone involved in the show, and someone who's a great, uh,
fan of the show, as well, you want to sort of...
It was fun to go over there and proselytize a bit about it.
And see its reach growing.
-WOMAN: Hi, David! -Hi!
(CROWD LAUGHING)
You're all very lovely people, aren't you?
(CROWD SCREAMING)
I didn't realise there was going to be seats, I was going to do stage-diving.
(CROWD SCREAMING)
Now, I was there with Torchwood,
because we were there for the first time.
But also, I was there because I was being put into some elements
of the Doctor Who world, because Captain Jack, obviously
flips and crosses over from both worlds.
You're going to see something else and I'm going to ask
my lovely friend here to tell you about that.
John Barrowman, ladies and gentlemen.
BARROWMAN: And we were all there on the panel, and we came on,
and the crowd just went nuts.
Aw, wasn't that cute. I kissed him, but, no.
And we talked for a little bit, and then they started shouting stuff,
and I looked at David, and David looked at me,
and we just laid the biggest smackeroonie on each other's lips.
And the crowd went nuts.
(SCREAMING)
(CHUCKLING)
I've slightly gone all flustered, I really have.
I've been waiting for that for years. Thanks, David.
It wasn't John and David kissing, it was the Doctor and Jack kissing.
It was a little bit of John and David, and it was really, really good.
And I hope David thought it was good, too.
NARRATOR: For the American launch of series five of Doctor Who,
some of the cast travelled stateside, and were surprised
by the warm welcome they received.
First press trip me, Karen and Steven made to New York,
is probably one of the greatest experiences of my life.
I mean, I fell in love with New York.
-Where are we, Karen? -Were in NYC!
NYC, baby. New York City.
Just, you know, casually walking down an NYC street.
And we're about to go into the New York Times.
-KAREN: Yeah. -And talk to them about Doctor Who, because
it's the best show in England, we want to make it the best show in America.
And look who it is!
-It's Steven Moffat. -Oh, no!
-There he is. Hi, Steven! -(KAREN LAUGHING)
It feels like seconds, it really does.
So, Matt and Karen went out to New York without me.
Which was nice.
New York is amazing.
SMITH: And it's just exciting to bring the show here, because it's brilliant,
and we've got a brilliant first episode.
And we want people to get into it, like they should.
-Mmm. -Look at the grates and stuff, the fire...
I just look back to that day on the beach, our very first day filming.
-I know, wow. -And look where we are now.
And all of the stuff that's happened in between.
-It's just... -It seemed impossible, really.
Yeah, it felt like it would never actually come to this if you know what I mean.
We had no idea that the fans would respond as vocally as they did,
and be in such numbers as they were.
(CHEERING)
There's a cue.
Yeah, apparently there's a queue right around the block.
Which is really exciting, 'cause we weren't sure how...
-Is this it? -Oh, God. (CHUCKLING)
(CROWD CHEERING)
It just blew my mind, there was people waiting all night.
Is that a first, Matt?
That's my first head, yeah, yeah!
Did like a signing in an Apple Store.
(CHEERING)
You know what, I have to say, we've all been overwhelmed.
And I'm not just saying this, I know it sounds like a kind of political, "Hey!"
But like, we've been overwhelmed by the welcome that we've had in New York.
You guys are great, you clap all the time! It's cool.
(CROWD CHEERING)
I know! We need to get some of this in England, man, I tell ya.
It was surprising to know that they were coming to New York.
But very gratifying, because it's...
To me, it's just as much a sign that Doctor Who
is a success here as it is overseas.
And now he's on the sides of buses in New York.
-It's wild. -Yeah, yeah, it's... You can't escape him.
And he's made tweed fashionable, which makes me very happy.
And bowties are very hip, I see it in Chelsea.
I couldn't. Well? But I'm not gonna go there.
It was amazing. It was something I'll never forget.
NARRATOR: With all of time and space to explore,
it seems the Doctor can't help but keep returning to America.
America, it's where so many of our stories come from,
so much of our cultural life comes from,
that it would be weird if you didn't take the Doctor there now and again.
It's just a beautiful country to film in, and I think
there's so many stories to tell there.
NARRATOR: The scenery, the locals,
and a very warm welcome, looks likely to keep him coming back in the future.
Or even the past.