Block 2, Episode 4 - Fairwater Train Station, 10am
The last hurdle; not that long to go now until we officially wrap on Whovians (never thought I’d be typing this when me, Rhys and Tez first sat down, firing ideas back and forth, figuring out what we could do with six webisodes). Today was one of the last exterior shoots on the schedule, all taking place at Fairwater train station. This is one of the first scenes in Liam’s episode (episode four),it’s where Liam and his father meet as they make their way to the Comic Con; it’s also the big reveal of Liam’s cosplay outfit.
Rhys, Tez and myself made the decision not to reveal anything about Liam’s costume, so I’m not going to give anything away except that this is going to produce some giant belly laughs when you finally get to see it. It got the right reaction from the train drivers and general public, who were all smiling, laughing and taking photos. This has been said before in the production diary, but whatever we film next will be set in one interior location with no dialogue. There’s a reason for this: Every time we’ve tried to film outside, we get royally screwed over with the sound. We’ve had children, dogs, helicopters, builders, rugby fans, and today it was the turn of trains, announcers, loud traffic, and circular saws. We had no idea where the circular saw was coming from, but it was already going at nine-o’-clock in the morning. You had to pity the neighbours…
With Fairwater being one of the stations on-route to Cardiff Central and Pontypridd, we had a gap of twenty minutes to film before the next train showed up and we had to stop what we’re doing. No Stanley Kubrick, let’s do a-hundred-plus takes here, we had to film quickly, then move along to the next shot.
A couple of fits of giggles aside (Andrew Machin has THE MOST adorable laugh; it’s like a new-born puppy sneezing!), both Andrew and Scott did exactly what was asked of them. The script I wrote has Liam and his dad as totally different people: Liam is a bit of a diva, highly strung, and makes a crisis out of every day, harmless situations, while Lloyd takes things in his stride, makes a joke out of everything, and is laid back to the point of being half-asleep. Andrew and Scott get this, make a great team, and will – fingers crossed!! – have people smiling and welling up when episode four has its grand unveiling.
So, that’s one more tricky shoot out the way, next weekend we’re filming Ben cycling round some of Cardiff’s famous landmarks for episode three, Andrew’s episode. We’re very nearly at the home straight now, and it won’t be long before you’re properly introduced to our four Whovians, with the launch of episode one on Halloween.