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Filming The Fires of Pompeii - Radio Times, April 2008 |
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For Radio Times, Benjamin Cook goes on location with Doctor Who in Rome.
"I've a feeling we're not in Cardiff any more," says David Tennant, as a make-up artist sprays him with insect repellent. Opposite us, a Roman soldier is fanning himself with a newspaper. It's 28 degrees here in Rome. "Apparently, it's raining back home," Tennant grins. "Shame!"
It's September 2007 and Doctor Who is on location at Italy's Cinecittà Studios, where BBC/HBO series Rome was filmed. Tennant, co-star Catherine Tate and 40-odd crew from BBC Wales have special permission to film on the five acres of outdoor sets - a detailed reconstruction of Ancient Rome - for an episode set in Pompeii in AD 79. This is the first time that the revived series has taken the cast abroad for filming.
Military operation
"We only have two days here," says director Colin Teague, "so we have to make the most of it. We finished in Cardiff last week, loaded the Tardis onto a truck, and this big juggernaut travelled across Europe. It's like a military operation." Another issue is the language. "We've an Italian third assistant director who's been helping us communicate with the extras."
"I'm Mount Vesuvius," announces Gareth Williams, the Welsh first assistant. He's standing on a box and waving his arms about. Slaves, soldiers and stallholders stare blankly back at him. "Smoke is billowing out of me. The ground is shaking." This is duly translated into Italian, prompting smiles and nods. This time, the supporting artists throw themselves about the cobbled street like pros, grabbing small children, toppling urns and running for cover under doorways. "Look at me, not the camera! No smiling, please!"
It wasn't until writer James Moran delivered the script that the team realised they'd have to shoot both day and night scenes in Rome. "Tonight, we've got our big effects shot," says Teague, "which is everything showering down on Pompeii."
Dark as night
Nightfall at Cinecittà, and ash falls from the sky, courtesy of special effects company Any Effects, as supporting artists flee in panic. This had to be filmed at night, because that's how dark it became in Pompeii as clouds of ash blotted out the light. Phil Cornwell (of Dead Ringers fame) plays a Pompeiian stallholder: "Once this stuff gets in, you can't get it out," he says, picking ash from his hair after a take. "I'm having a bad hair day."
Teague watches it back on the camera monitor. "That's great! Catherine and David running down the street, and Phil looking up, seeing the horror of it, and it's all going mad. He really pulled out the emotion. It looks like this is the end. For him, the holocaust is coming."
In a quieter moment, sitting on some steps opposite Cinecittà's replica Forum (which will be digitally replaced with Mount Vesuvius in post-production), Tennant reflects, "It must have been horrific when that mountain erupted. Those poor people. They really must have thought it was the end of the world. It's important not to forget that, and really that's what this episode is about."
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