Peter Capaldi Hints At 'Who' Departure

[Brendan Moody]

Comparing the beginning and end of shooting on given seasons is misleading. Over the nine months of season 14's production, there were only 62 days of actual filming, with long gaps between those sessions. A 13-episode production cycle of the new series requires roughly 180 days of filming, or about three times as much.

Where'd you get those numbers from?

62 is from adding up the descriptions on the season 14 pages of Shannon Patrick Sullivan's excellent A Brief History of Time (Travel). 180 is a round figure based on the fact that several new series episodes I checked on the same site took thirteen to fifteen days each.

 

[DWF]

Comparing the beginning and end of shooting on given seasons is misleading. Over the nine months of season 14's production, there were only 62 days of actual filming, with long gaps between those sessions. A 13-episode production cycle of the new series requires roughly 180 days of filming, or about three times as much.

Where'd you get those numbers from?

62 is from adding up the descriptions on the season 14 pages of Shannon Patrick Sullivan's excellent A Brief History of Time (Travel). 180 is a round figure based on the fact that several new series episodes I checked on the same site took thirteen to fifteen days each.

Yeah I know the site, however it's not an exact science, the Talons Of Weng Chiang according to the text commentary took 29 days alone to rehearse, filming was broken up because they allowed Robert Holmes more time to finish the final two parts. So it is hard to geet an average for the length of filming per story.

 

[Brendan Moody]

Of course it's not an exact science; hence "roughly" and "about." But it's not so inexact that a factor of three is going to disappear entirely. (And naturally the modern series figures don't include non-filming aspects of production either.) Whatever the precise numbers may be, playing the Doctor now is far more intense and time-consuming than at any point since the black-and-white era.

 

[Samurai8472]

The guy is 57 years old. If Matt Smith says that shooting the show is exhausting (and he was what...31?) then you know it must be difficult for Capaldi.

Smith sort of scared Capaldi when they had dinner one night.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUxlgBEUMnE

Capaldi saw Smith with a broken leg due to filming the Christmas special

Capaldi- What happened to you?

Smith- It's the job man. The job.


3 seasons is probably enough for Capaldi. He's lived out his dream.

I predict he'll do series 10 plus a Christmas special regeneration.

We'll probably look back and say

"Spent too much time with Clara before he really got to cement his mark on things"

 

[Squiggy]

It's rare for an actor in Britain to stay on a show for seven consecutive years.

Why is that? That's the goal in the US.

Are British actors more keen to move on and try something new rather than have a steady (and huge) cheque?

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

It's rare for an actor in Britain to stay on a show for seven consecutive years.

Why is that? That's the goal in the US.

Are British actors more keen to move on and try something new rather than have a steady (and huge) cheque?

Maybe British TV doesn't pay as well as U.S. TV?

 

[Squiggy]

I'm sure that's some of it, esp the BBC. But I'm sure that playing The Doctor is one of the higher paying gigs in the country.

 

[RoJoHen]

I'm sure that's some of it, esp the BBC. But I'm sure that playing The Doctor is one of the higher paying gigs in the country.

You would think. That's something I've thought was weird as well. You're playing THE DOCTOR. How many people get to say that? It seems like a role a person would want to keep for as long as humanly possible.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

It's rare for an actor in Britain to stay on a show for seven consecutive years.

Why is that? That's the goal in the US.

Are British actors more keen to move on and try something new rather than have a steady (and huge) cheque?

I think part of it is working in theater is more deeply ingrained in British actors than American actors and are often doing plays, whether it's West End or not. Part of the reason why Tennant's final season was four specials is because he was doing Hamlet.

 

[RoJoHen]

I'm sure a lot of is the long breaks and short seasons that British shows seem to have. With Doctor Who these days, 9 months between seasons is a long time to be out of work.

 

[StCoop]

Part of the reason why Tennant's final season was four specials is because he was doing Hamlet.

God, all these years later people keep saying this. He didn't take Hamlet until after the Specials were decided on.

 

[Timby]

I'm sure a lot of is the long breaks and short seasons that British shows seem to have. With Doctor Who these days, 9 months between seasons is a long time to be out of work.

Nine months between airing is not the same thing as nine months between productions.

 

[arch101]

I seem to remember Tom Baker saying that Dr. Who brought him a security he hadn't had before. Of course, he was working as a construction laborer when he got the call.

 

[DWF]

Of course it's not an exact science; hence "roughly" and "about." But it's not so inexact that a factor of three is going to disappear entirely. (And naturally the modern series figures don't include non-filming aspects of production either.) Whatever the precise numbers may be, playing the Doctor now is far more intense and time-consuming than at any point since the black-and-white era.

The Tom Baker era was hardly the B&W era, but the Hartnell seasons did run longer, but then most series back in the early '60s did.

 

[RoJoHen]

I'm sure a lot of is the long breaks and short seasons that British shows seem to have. With Doctor Who these days, 9 months between seasons is a long time to be out of work.

Nine months between airing is not the same thing as nine months between productions.

I realize this, but it's still less work than if you were doing a show with 20+ episodes that only took 3-4 months off.

 

[The Wormhole]

It's rare for an actor in Britain to stay on a show for seven consecutive years.

Why is that? That's the goal in the US.

Are British actors more keen to move on and try something new rather than have a steady (and huge) cheque?

A lot of it is how the British TV industry works. Only a handful of shows even last longer than two or three seasons, and the ones that do don't continuously do a season per year. The longer a show goes on for in Britain the more likely you'll find year(s) long gaps between seasons.

 

[mythme]

and in the US actors hoped their shows would go at least 4 years. That's when most shows would hit the 100 episode mark and be eligible for syndication, and thus continued residuals. (of course, this rule applies less and less these days)

 

[Stevil2001]

Of course it's not an exact science; hence "roughly" and "about." But it's not so inexact that a factor of three is going to disappear entirely. (And naturally the modern series figures don't include non-filming aspects of production either.) Whatever the precise numbers may be, playing the Doctor now is far more intense and time-consuming than at any point since the black-and-white era.

The Tom Baker era was hardly the B&W era, but the Hartnell seasons did run longer, but then most series back in the early '60s did.

Brendan acknowledged that; he said "playing the Doctor now is far more intense and time-consuming than at any point since the black-and-white era." And one should note that in the demanding B&W era of the show, the typical time in the role of the Doctor was... three years. Only the less intense production schedule of the 1970s deviate from the pattern of three years per Doctor.

 

[DWF]

Of course it's not an exact science; hence "roughly" and "about." But it's not so inexact that a factor of three is going to disappear entirely. (And naturally the modern series figures don't include non-filming aspects of production either.) Whatever the precise numbers may be, playing the Doctor now is far more intense and time-consuming than at any point since the black-and-white era.

The Tom Baker era was hardly the B&W era, but the Hartnell seasons did run longer, but then most series back in the early '60s did.

Brendan acknowledged that; he said "playing the Doctor now is far more intense and time-consuming than at any point since the black-and-white era." And one should note that in the demanding B&W era of the show, the typical time in the role of the Doctor was... three years. Only the less intense production schedule of the 1970s deviate from the pattern of three years per Doctor.

That's not very accurate though, they wanted Hartnell to leave after The Celestial Toymaker, but in the he left at the start of the fourth season. Troughton only wanted a three year contact. It actually far less time to film an ep. back in the '60s. But the time it took to produce a season really wasn't lessened until the mid '80s.

Still though we've had split seasons and for the Tennant and Smith years they filmed 14 eps. in the time it takes to film 13, now it's just a 12 ep. season plus a Christmas special.

It's shooting nine months in Cardiff that's the problem, overseas shootinig doesn't help matters. But shooting an extra ep. per year is insane, it really messes things up.

 

[Marc]

The Tom Baker era was hardly the B&W era, but the Hartnell seasons did run longer, but then most series back in the early '60s did.

Brendan acknowledged that; he said "playing the Doctor now is far more intense and time-consuming than at any point since the black-and-white era." And one should note that in the demanding B&W era of the show, the typical time in the role of the Doctor was... three years. Only the less intense production schedule of the 1970s deviate from the pattern of three years per Doctor.

That's not very accurate though, they wanted Hartnell to leave after The Celestial Toymaker, but in the he left at the start of the fourth season. Troughton only wanted a three year contact. It actually far less time to film an ep. back in the '60s. But the time it took to produce a season really wasn't lessened until the mid '80s.

They even gave the actors holidays during those records. Read through some of the guides for the Hartnell and Troughton eras and you'll see notes that such an such a character wasn't seen as the actor was on holiday.

Wonder also whether then structure of modern episodes means the Doctor is on screen for more time (hence more recording time for the relevant actor) than in years gone by?