Christmas in the UK means panto season! David has performed in several pantos early in his career. He was a member of the chorus in his University panto in 1990 - Jack in the Beanstalk.
His first professional panto was staged at the Edinburgh Royal Lyceum from December 13, 1991 to January 4, 1992. This marked the premiere performance of Shinda the Magic Ape written by Stuart Paterson and co-directed by Richard Baron and Hugh Hodgart. Richard would direct David another four times including his award winning performance in Look Back in Anger.
David played Kenny the boy who frees Shinda.
Synopsis from The Herald - December 17, 1991:
"The powers of good -- as embodied in the magician, Coran -- are
waning: there simply isn't enough concern for others or simple goodness in our society to sustain them. And all Scarab the witch needs to bring the world into her realm of hopeless darkness is to turn one young heart black with greed before the approaching full moon. Danny, the teenager she fastens on, is very much a child of our times.
Not intrinsically bad but desperate to ''make it'' in terms of those
material things which now seem to count for everything. Scarab turns him into an invincible master thief and as the moon approaches fullness, Danny's heart becomes calloused with greed. Who will save him? For that matter who will save us? His kindly, generous spirited wee brother, Kenny? Or Granny who has loved them and looked after them for most of their lives?"
"Kenny, and Granny and Kenny's friends as well, are all desperately willing to do anything to rescue Danny, they, themselves, might not be proof against an evil which thrives on that very human capacity for covetousness and unyielding self-interest.
Who, or what, then, can avert the total collapse of the world into a
wasteland of consuming greed? Shinda, the African gorilla whom Kenny, in a sudden fit of compassion, frees from the local zoo. (He plans, somehow, to get Shinda back to his native wilds!)
Only Shinda can overthrow Scarab because the coin of her control --possessing souped-up convertibles, designer shell suits, CD players, and loadsamoney -- have no relevance to him whatsoever. All Shinda wants is freedom and a chance to survive within, not at the expense of, Nature."
December 9, 2012
David's final Christmas Day appearance as The Doctor was December 25, 2009 in the first part of The End of Time. Part two would air on New Year's Day 2010 and would bring his time as the tenth Doctor to an end.
The episode received an 87% audience share with 11.6 million people tuning in and part two received an 89% share with 11.8 million viewers.
In addition to bringing back John Simm as The Master the episode featured Bernard Cribbens as the 'companion'. This marks the second time that the tenth Doctor has had only a male companion and there fore the opening credits for both this episode and The Next Doctor as the only ones not to feature a female name.
There was a big furor over the big name guest star, the fourth James Bond, Timothy Dalton, who would appear as a Time Lord and the episode narrator.
The episode also featured several other great British stars in cameo roles, June Whitfield CBE, from Happy Ever After, Terry and June and Last of the Summer Wine, Claire Bloom, famous for her many theatre roles and on film she has shared the screen with Laurence Olivier, Paul Newman, Laurence Harvey and Richard Burton and Barry Howard from Hi-de-Hi.
Filming took place from March 21st through to May 21st, 2009, which was David's last day of shooting.
At the end of part two the Doctor would go back and visit his many friends from the past including the granddaughter of Joan Redfern, the woman John Smith fll in love with in Family of Blood/Human Nature.
Even though that scene was at the very end of part two it was the first scene to be filmed at Blackwell's Bookshop in Cardiff University.
March 30th - April 3rd saw them back at Tredegar House, as Naismith's mansion and the very moving scene in the cafe with Wilf was filmed at Kardomah Cafe in Swansea on April 13th.
Snow opens and closes the episode - The Doctor arrives on the Oddsphere, summoned by the Ood, that planet is covered in snow and at the very end of his life after he see's Rose, it is snowing in London and Ood Sigma appears so that the Ood may sing the Doctor to his end.
The song, Vale Decem, written by Murray Gold, was performed in Latin: (translation form TARDIS WIKI)
The episode received an 87% audience share with 11.6 million people tuning in and part two received an 89% share with 11.8 million viewers.
In addition to bringing back John Simm as The Master the episode featured Bernard Cribbens as the 'companion'. This marks the second time that the tenth Doctor has had only a male companion and there fore the opening credits for both this episode and The Next Doctor as the only ones not to feature a female name.
There was a big furor over the big name guest star, the fourth James Bond, Timothy Dalton, who would appear as a Time Lord and the episode narrator.
The episode also featured several other great British stars in cameo roles, June Whitfield CBE, from Happy Ever After, Terry and June and Last of the Summer Wine, Claire Bloom, famous for her many theatre roles and on film she has shared the screen with Laurence Olivier, Paul Newman, Laurence Harvey and Richard Burton and Barry Howard from Hi-de-Hi.
Filming took place from March 21st through to May 21st, 2009, which was David's last day of shooting.
At the end of part two the Doctor would go back and visit his many friends from the past including the granddaughter of Joan Redfern, the woman John Smith fll in love with in Family of Blood/Human Nature.
Even though that scene was at the very end of part two it was the first scene to be filmed at Blackwell's Bookshop in Cardiff University.
March 30th - April 3rd saw them back at Tredegar House, as Naismith's mansion and the very moving scene in the cafe with Wilf was filmed at Kardomah Cafe in Swansea on April 13th.
Snow opens and closes the episode - The Doctor arrives on the Oddsphere, summoned by the Ood, that planet is covered in snow and at the very end of his life after he see's Rose, it is snowing in London and Ood Sigma appears so that the Ood may sing the Doctor to his end.
The song, Vale Decem, written by Murray Gold, was performed in Latin: (translation form TARDIS WIKI)
| Vale Decem | Farewell Ten | |
|---|---|---|
| vale decem ad aeternam di melioria ad aeternam vale decem di melioria beati pacifici vale decem alis grave ad perpetuam memoriam vale decem gratis tibi ago ad aeternam numquam singularis numquam dum spiro fido vale vale vale vale ... | farewell ten on to eternity the fates be with you on to eternity farewell ten the fates be with you oh, blessed he who brought us peace farewell ten lay down your burden we will remember you forever more farewell ten we give you thanks on to eternity you are not alone never trust to the last farewell farewell farewell farewell ... |
December 8, 2012
December 25, 2008, the air date of The Next Doctor the first of David's Christmas specials without a companion. The title was a nod to the fact that David;s time as the 10th Doctor was coming to an end, there were only the four specials yet to come in 2009.
The episode starred David's other Blackpool co-star as Jackson Lake, the other 'Doctor'. The episode received an 86% audience share with 13.1 million viewers.
Unlike the other Christmas specials which had filmed in the summer, The Next Doctor filmed from April 7th - May 3rd, 2008. The inside of Rev. Fairchild's house was filmed at Fonman Castle, Rhoose and the two Doctor's meet for the first time at The Maltings in Cardiff.
Filming also took place at Tredegar House, which served as home base for Jackson's Doctor. The same location served as Naismith's house in The End of Time and as the school in Human Nature/Family of Blood and numerous other episodes.
The opening sequence when the Doctor first lands in Victorian times was shot in Millers green in Gloucester.
All ten incarnations of the Doctor appear in the info stamp scene. This was the last episode filmed before David announced he was leaving and the first to air after that fact was known.
This is the first Christmas Special that features natural snow. In The Christmas Invasion the 'snow' is actually ash from the the exploding Sycorax ship. In The Runaway Bride the Doctor makes it snow with a burst of energy from the TARDIS and at the end of The Voyage of the Damned the Doctor and Mr. Cooper have the following exchange:
Mr. Copper: You know, between you and me, I don't even think this snow is real. I think it's the ballast from the Titanic's salvage entering the atmosphere.
The Doctor: Yeah. One of days it might snow for real.
The Doctor's line is a call back to the fact that the two previous Christmas.
The episode starred David's other Blackpool co-star as Jackson Lake, the other 'Doctor'. The episode received an 86% audience share with 13.1 million viewers.
Unlike the other Christmas specials which had filmed in the summer, The Next Doctor filmed from April 7th - May 3rd, 2008. The inside of Rev. Fairchild's house was filmed at Fonman Castle, Rhoose and the two Doctor's meet for the first time at The Maltings in Cardiff.
Filming also took place at Tredegar House, which served as home base for Jackson's Doctor. The same location served as Naismith's house in The End of Time and as the school in Human Nature/Family of Blood and numerous other episodes.
The opening sequence when the Doctor first lands in Victorian times was shot in Millers green in Gloucester.
All ten incarnations of the Doctor appear in the info stamp scene. This was the last episode filmed before David announced he was leaving and the first to air after that fact was known.
This is the first Christmas Special that features natural snow. In The Christmas Invasion the 'snow' is actually ash from the the exploding Sycorax ship. In The Runaway Bride the Doctor makes it snow with a burst of energy from the TARDIS and at the end of The Voyage of the Damned the Doctor and Mr. Cooper have the following exchange:
Mr. Copper: You know, between you and me, I don't even think this snow is real. I think it's the ballast from the Titanic's salvage entering the atmosphere.
The Doctor: Yeah. One of days it might snow for real.
The Doctor's line is a call back to the fact that the two previous Christmas.
December 7, 2012
The third Doctor Who Christmas special aired on December 25, 2007 and was called The Voyage of the Damned. The highest rated of all the Christmas specials managed an 86% share of the ratings with 13.3 million viewers. The companion this time was Australian pop princess Kylie Minogue. The adventure takes place after Martha has gone so it means that Freema was the only companion not to be in any of the Christmas specials.
The episode was filmed from July 9th through August 8th, 2007 and used the Exchange Building in Swansea as the reception area, the Coal Exchange inn Cardiff Bay was where the reception area and where the storeroom where the TARDIS arrives was built and the Johnsey Estate in Pontypool was where the Titanic corridors, Host storage, the kitchens and the stairwell scenes were filmed.
Filming was interrupted for a few days during the shoot so that David was able to be by his Mother's side when she passed away and then again so he could attend her funeral.
Bernard Cribbens made his first appearance in the new Doctor Who in this episode as the newspaper seller, he appeared in the movie Dalek's Invasion Earth: 2015. He turned up on the day with his own costume suitcase and used his own gloves, red wool cap and a sprig of holly pinned to it. When he turns up later as Wilf we see the same cap and with his Regimental Badge pinned to it.
Clive Swift appears as the tour guide Mr. Copper, he is probably best known for his portrayal of the hen- pecked Richard Bucket from the BBC series Keeping Up Appearances.
The Doctor gets his wish of being able to finally say Allons-y Alonso to Russell Tovey's character, Russell would go on to star in Being Human as the werewolf.
One of the street signs that can be seen in the London scene is Donovan street which was a nod to Kylie's Neighbors co-star Jason Donovan.
On July 31th the 6th Doctor, Colin Baker visited the set, this was the night the Bernard Cribbens was filming his scene, they had worked together in 1981 in a TV movie called Dangerous Davies: The Last Detective.
The show was dedicated to Verity Lambert, the founding producer of Doctor Who, she passed away on November 22, 2007, one day short of the shows 44th anniversary.
If you look at the band in the reception scene you might recognise Murray Gold, the shows composer playing the piano and Ben Foster, the shows arranger and conductor, playing the guitar.
The episode was filmed from July 9th through August 8th, 2007 and used the Exchange Building in Swansea as the reception area, the Coal Exchange inn Cardiff Bay was where the reception area and where the storeroom where the TARDIS arrives was built and the Johnsey Estate in Pontypool was where the Titanic corridors, Host storage, the kitchens and the stairwell scenes were filmed.
Filming was interrupted for a few days during the shoot so that David was able to be by his Mother's side when she passed away and then again so he could attend her funeral.
Bernard Cribbens made his first appearance in the new Doctor Who in this episode as the newspaper seller, he appeared in the movie Dalek's Invasion Earth: 2015. He turned up on the day with his own costume suitcase and used his own gloves, red wool cap and a sprig of holly pinned to it. When he turns up later as Wilf we see the same cap and with his Regimental Badge pinned to it.
Clive Swift appears as the tour guide Mr. Copper, he is probably best known for his portrayal of the hen- pecked Richard Bucket from the BBC series Keeping Up Appearances.
The Doctor gets his wish of being able to finally say Allons-y Alonso to Russell Tovey's character, Russell would go on to star in Being Human as the werewolf.
One of the street signs that can be seen in the London scene is Donovan street which was a nod to Kylie's Neighbors co-star Jason Donovan.
On July 31th the 6th Doctor, Colin Baker visited the set, this was the night the Bernard Cribbens was filming his scene, they had worked together in 1981 in a TV movie called Dangerous Davies: The Last Detective.
The show was dedicated to Verity Lambert, the founding producer of Doctor Who, she passed away on November 22, 2007, one day short of the shows 44th anniversary.
If you look at the band in the reception scene you might recognise Murray Gold, the shows composer playing the piano and Ben Foster, the shows arranger and conductor, playing the guitar.
December 6, 2012
David's second Christmas special as The Doctor - The Runaway Bride, airing December 25, 2006 co-starred the lovely and funny Catherine Tate as the not so lovely Donna. While at the time this was a one off story with Donna as the Doctor's companion we would happily see her come back as s full time cohort in the fourth season.
The show received an 84% ratings share with 9.4 million viewers on BBC One. The guest villain was Sarah Parish as the giant spider Empress of the Racnoss, she had previously starred with David in the series Blackpool and would be seen with him again in Recovery.
The episode was filmed between July 6, 2006 and August 3, 2006 and used several locations including the IPC Building's helipad for the Doctor and Donna's scenes on the rooftop to Atradius Building, which served as H.C Clements. The Baverstock Hotel was the site of Donna's missed wedding reception inside and the New Country House Hotel served as the location for the outside shots at the reception.
Don't go looking for the ATM where the Doctor uses the Sonic Screwdriver to dispense the money - that was a prop, the location was in Wharton St, Cardiff near Waterstones. The special bills that were used were a ten pound note with The Doctor's picture and a 20 pound note featuring the face of the show's producer Phil Collinson. These frequently turn up on sale online and you can print your own copies from the BBC Doctor Who website. The notes, marked not legal tender are issued from the fictitious London Credit Bank. On the £10 note it says "I promise to pay the bearer on demand the sum of ten satsumas" and under the small TARDIS is says "No second chances I'm that sort of a man." David's initials appear at the bottom and instead of a treasure's signature the bill is signed by "Chief Numpty Peter McKinstry, who was the concept artist/design assistant on the show - he designed the bills. The £20 note is the same except the 20 says "I promise to pay the bearer on demand the sum of twenty pounds" and has Phil's initials and his quote, "There's no point being grown up it you can't be a little childish sometimes."
The underground corridor scenes were filmed at the Millennium Centre and the Impound Station at the Newport Docks was the Empress's chamber.
The scenes with the flying TARDIS were filmed on the A4232.
Members of David's family his Mom, Dad, Sister-in-law and her two daughters were extras on the day they were shooting the exterior shots at the reception but the scene where you can see them was not shown, you can view it on the DVD extras.
The show received an 84% ratings share with 9.4 million viewers on BBC One. The guest villain was Sarah Parish as the giant spider Empress of the Racnoss, she had previously starred with David in the series Blackpool and would be seen with him again in Recovery.
The episode was filmed between July 6, 2006 and August 3, 2006 and used several locations including the IPC Building's helipad for the Doctor and Donna's scenes on the rooftop to Atradius Building, which served as H.C Clements. The Baverstock Hotel was the site of Donna's missed wedding reception inside and the New Country House Hotel served as the location for the outside shots at the reception.
Don't go looking for the ATM where the Doctor uses the Sonic Screwdriver to dispense the money - that was a prop, the location was in Wharton St, Cardiff near Waterstones. The special bills that were used were a ten pound note with The Doctor's picture and a 20 pound note featuring the face of the show's producer Phil Collinson. These frequently turn up on sale online and you can print your own copies from the BBC Doctor Who website. The notes, marked not legal tender are issued from the fictitious London Credit Bank. On the £10 note it says "I promise to pay the bearer on demand the sum of ten satsumas" and under the small TARDIS is says "No second chances I'm that sort of a man." David's initials appear at the bottom and instead of a treasure's signature the bill is signed by "Chief Numpty Peter McKinstry, who was the concept artist/design assistant on the show - he designed the bills. The £20 note is the same except the 20 says "I promise to pay the bearer on demand the sum of twenty pounds" and has Phil's initials and his quote, "There's no point being grown up it you can't be a little childish sometimes."
The underground corridor scenes were filmed at the Millennium Centre and the Impound Station at the Newport Docks was the Empress's chamber.
The scenes with the flying TARDIS were filmed on the A4232.
Members of David's family his Mom, Dad, Sister-in-law and her two daughters were extras on the day they were shooting the exterior shots at the reception but the scene where you can see them was not shown, you can view it on the DVD extras.
December 5, 2012
David's first Christmas special as The Doctor was The Christmas Invasion which aired on BBC One December 25, 2005 and marked the first day an originally commissioned episode of Doctor Who appeared on Christmas Day. The programmed received an 84% ratings share with 9.84 million people tuning in to see the new Doctor.
The show was filmed from July 22 - August 22, 2005 with the TARDIS wardrobe scene filmed on October 8, 2005.
Filming locations included Wallis House in Brentford and the Brandon Estate in Kennington, used for the housing estate where Rose lived, and Clearwell Caves where the Sycorax ship scenes were filmed.
The sword fight was with broadswords, which are heavier than the normal fencing swords, the fight coordinator was Kevin McCartie. The day the scene was filmed it was extremely warm and the now infamous photo of David topless, in his pajama bottoms, was taken between takes.
During the TARDIS wardrobe scene David can be seen wearing the Doctor Who scarf that producer, Phil Collinson's, Gran knitted him as a boy.
The Radio Times featured the TARDIS in a snow globe on the cover of the Christmas issue it was the first time in 16 years that the magazine devoted a Christmas cover to one specific show. Since 1923 when the publication started publishing this had only ever happened ten other times, usually the Christmas cover a general festive image.
Peter Davison, the 5th Doctor, visited the set on July 29th when they were filming in Kennington, to wish David good luck.
The name of the villains in this story, the Sycorax, comes from Shakespeare's The Tempest, it is the name of Caliban's mother.
The show was filmed from July 22 - August 22, 2005 with the TARDIS wardrobe scene filmed on October 8, 2005.
Filming locations included Wallis House in Brentford and the Brandon Estate in Kennington, used for the housing estate where Rose lived, and Clearwell Caves where the Sycorax ship scenes were filmed.
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| Kevin and David rehearsing |
The sword fight was with broadswords, which are heavier than the normal fencing swords, the fight coordinator was Kevin McCartie. The day the scene was filmed it was extremely warm and the now infamous photo of David topless, in his pajama bottoms, was taken between takes.During the TARDIS wardrobe scene David can be seen wearing the Doctor Who scarf that producer, Phil Collinson's, Gran knitted him as a boy.
The Radio Times featured the TARDIS in a snow globe on the cover of the Christmas issue it was the first time in 16 years that the magazine devoted a Christmas cover to one specific show. Since 1923 when the publication started publishing this had only ever happened ten other times, usually the Christmas cover a general festive image.
Peter Davison, the 5th Doctor, visited the set on July 29th when they were filming in Kennington, to wish David good luck.
The name of the villains in this story, the Sycorax, comes from Shakespeare's The Tempest, it is the name of Caliban's mother.
December 4, 2012
Yesterday was all about seeing David - here are some gifts you can buy if you want to give David a listen!
David as an animated figure:
Free Jimmy (Region 2) - David voices a Scottish hunter looking to put an elephant's head on the wall!
Doctor Who - The Infinate Quest and Dreamland (all regions) - The Doctor and Martha search for Baltazar and the Doctor arrives in Area 51.
How to Train Your Dragon (all regions) - David has a cameo voice appearance as Spitelout. (only 5 lines)
The Itch of the Golden Nit (Region 2) - another cameo, one line as the newsreader on the radio and he has another cameo as Stretchy McStretch.
Tree Fu Tom - David voices the character of Twigs on this CBBC series (Region 2) - So far there have been seven episodes released on DVD:MAY THE BEST BERRY WIN, SQUIZZLE QUEST, ZIGZOO THE ZERO, SO LONG GREENHORNS, HIDE & SQUEAK, WISHFUL THINKING, and ZIGZOO'S ROBOT.
The Pirates! Band of Misfits (Region 1)/ The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists (Region 2) - David is the voice of Charles Darwin.
David acting on CD and reading you a story - this is a long list - click this link!
David as an animated figure:
Free Jimmy (Region 2) - David voices a Scottish hunter looking to put an elephant's head on the wall!Doctor Who - The Infinate Quest and Dreamland (all regions) - The Doctor and Martha search for Baltazar and the Doctor arrives in Area 51.
How to Train Your Dragon (all regions) - David has a cameo voice appearance as Spitelout. (only 5 lines)
The Itch of the Golden Nit (Region 2) - another cameo, one line as the newsreader on the radio and he has another cameo as Stretchy McStretch.
Tree Fu Tom - David voices the character of Twigs on this CBBC series (Region 2) - So far there have been seven episodes released on DVD:MAY THE BEST BERRY WIN, SQUIZZLE QUEST, ZIGZOO THE ZERO, SO LONG GREENHORNS, HIDE & SQUEAK, WISHFUL THINKING, and ZIGZOO'S ROBOT.
The Pirates! Band of Misfits (Region 1)/ The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists (Region 2) - David is the voice of Charles Darwin.
David acting on CD and reading you a story - this is a long list - click this link!
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