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204) THE BEAST BELOW

10 April 2010

Viewing Figure: 8.4M

Plot

The Doctor takes Amy to the Starship UK in the 29th century which has secrets in its corridors and walkways

Cast

Matt Smith (The Doctor), Karen Gillan (Amy Pond), Sophie Okonedo (Liz 10), Terrence Hardiman (Hawthorne)

Hannah Sharp (Mandy), Alfie Field (Timmy), Christopher Good (Morgan), David Ajala (Peter), Catrin Richards (Poem Girl)

Jonathan Battersby (Winder), Chris Porter (Voice of Smilers/Winders), Ian McNeice (Winston Churchill)

​

Uncredited Cast

Ruari Mears, Joe White, Karl Greenwood (Smilers), Ruari Mears, Joe White, Karl Greenwood, Jon Davey (Winders)

Crew

Steven Moffat (Writer), Peter Bennett (Producer), Andrew Gunn (Director), Steve Robinson (1st Assistant Director)

James DeHaviland (2nd Assistant Director), Heddi Joy Taylor Welch (3rd Assistant Director)

Nicola Eynon Price, Laura Jenkins (Runners), Gareth Skelding, Paul Davies (Location Managers), Rhys Griffiths (Unit Manager)

Geraint Williams (Assistant Unit Manager), Steffan Morris (Production Manager), Jess van Niekerk (Production Co-ordinator)

Claire Thomas (Production Management Asst), Sian Warrilow (Production Runner), Carole Wakefield (Asst Production Accountant)

Brian Minchin (Script Editor),  Non Eleri Hughes (Continuity), Martin Stephens (Camera Operator)

Steve Rees, Shirley Schumacher (Focus Pullers), John Robinson (Grip), Tom Hartley, Jon Vidgen (Camera Assistants)

Dafydd Parry (Boom Operator), Jeff Welch (Sound Maintenance Engineer), Mark Hutchings (Gaffer), Peter Chester (Best Boy)

Ben Griffiths, Steve Slocombe, Bob Milton, Alan Tippets (Electricians), Crispin Layfield (Stunt Co-ordinator)

Stephen Nicholas (Supervising Art Director), James North (Associate Designer), Amy Pope (Art Dept Co-ordinator)

Ben Morris (Production Buyer), Arwel Wyn Jones (Set Decorator), Catherine Samuel (Props Buyer)

Dafydd Shurmer (Standby Art Director), Ben Austin (Set Designer), Rob Knipping (Storyboard Artist) 

Richard Shaun Williams, Peter McKinstry (Concept Artists), Jackson Pope (Graphic Artist), Phill Shellard, Tom Evans (Standby Props)

Will Pope (Standby Carpenter), Keith Freeman (Standby Rigger), Ellen Woods (Standby Painter), Paul Aitken (Props Master) 

Matt Wild (Props Chargehand), Martin Broadbent, Rhys Jones (Dressing Props), Penny Howarth, Nicholas Robatto (Props Maker)

Albert James (Practical Electrician), Matthew Hywel-Davies (Construction Manager), Scott Fisher (Construction Chargehand)

BBC Wales Graphics (Graphics), Framestore (Title Sequence), Linda Bonaccorsi (Costume Supervisor)

Sara Morgan, Maria Franchi (Costume Assistants), Pam Mullins (Make-Up Supervisor), Abi Brotherton, Morag Smith (Make-Up Artists) 

Andy Brierley, Alice Purser (Casting Associates), Cat Gregory (Assistant Editor), Ceres Doyle (VFX Editor)

Samantha Hall, Chris Blatchford (Post Prod. Supervisors), Marie Brown (Post Prod. Co-ordinator), Tim Ricketts (Dubbing Mixer)

Paul McFadden (Supervising Sound Editor), Paul Jefferies (Sound Effects Editor), Helen Dickson (Foley Editor)

Mick Vincent (Colourist), Matthew Clarke, Mark Bright (On-line Conform), with thanks to the BBC National Orchestra of Wales

Ron Grainer (Original Theme Music), Andy Pryor CDG (Casting Director), Julie Scott (Production Executive)

Ceri Tothill (Production Accountant), Bryn Thomas (Sound Recordist), Ray Holman (Costume Designer)

Barbara Southcott (Make-Up Designer), The Mill (Visual Effects), Real SFX (Special Effects), Millennium SFX (Prosthetics)

Murray Gold (Music), John Richards (Editor), Mat Newman (Additional Editing), Edward Thomas (Production Designer) 

Graham Frake (Director of Photography), Patrick Schweitzer (Line Producer), Steven Moffat, Piers Wenger, Beth Willis (Executive Producers)  

​

Uncredited Crew

Jonathan Hunter, Steffan Morris, Geoff Skelding (1st Assistant Director), Jenny Morgan (3rd Assistant Director), Bobby Williams (Unit Manager)

Kevin Rudge (Camera Operator), Matthew Poynter, Terry Bartlett, Dean Thomas, Jon Vidgen, Eric Stevenson (Focus Pullers)

Dave Holiday, Steve Ellingworth, Dai Hopkins (Grip), Kyle Brown, Luke Brown, Svetlanna Miko (Camera Assistants)

Ramon Pyndiah (Boom Operator), Paul Daley (Electrician), Matthew Ireland (Standby Art Director), Amy Brown, Vicky Selway

Louise Martin (Costume Assistants), Cathy Davies, Julie Davies (Make-Up Artists), Jeff Matthews, Richard Dyer (Sound Recordists)

Tony Slater Ling, Ciaran Tanham, Peter Thornton (Director of Photography)

Broadcast

Filming Locations

  • The Bunker, Joint Resilience Unit, Lilliput Lane, West Cross, Swansea

  • ITV Studios: Studio 1, Culverhouse Cross, Cardiff

  • Upper Boat Studios: Studio 1, Trefforest

  • Upper Boat Studios: Studio 2 Trefforest

  • Neath Abbey, Neath

  • Johnsey Estates, Mamhilad Park Industrial Estate South, Pontypool

  • Upper Boat Studios: Studio 6, Trefforest

  • The Orangery, Margam Country Park, Port Talbot

  • Upper Boat Studios: Studio 3, Trefforest

Deaths

  • [death fails to follows The Doctor this time]

Production Days

  • 240 Days between Monday 24 August - Monday 16 November 2009

Production Errors

  1. When Timmy boards the elevator in the open scene, the Smiler can be seen with its 'frown face' before it actually rotates to its 'frown face'

  2. When Amy's age is given as 1306, the computer screen reads Amy's age as 1308 

Working Titles

  • [no known working titles]

Verdict

The Beast Below suffers the same problem that The Eleventh Hour has where nothing much happens, and the plot is pretty basic which isn't a problem. There is a spaceship with hidden secrets in every corner and someone or something has been feeding people to a mysterious creature. The villains are not that special – the Winder and Smilers do not have any fear factor and are easily disposed of with very little effort from the characters. The Doctor acts severely out place at times and makes Amy feel like she is worth absolutely nothing. That is not The Doctor, that’s not The Doctor at all. Moffat has written a great script with plenty of atmosphere which is very Moffatesque and his sense of adventure never diminishes. The episode is fine as the first proper adventure in Space for Matt Smith but is certainly not the best. ***​

76) THE ARK IN SPACE

Number of Production Days: 5

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