The hard work has begun

Editor: Nick Scovell · Last update: Saturday, September 25, 2010

After two years of planning, rewrites, production meetings, photo shoots, poster printing, marketing and endless phone calls and emails, we are finally here.

We have started the physical process of putting The Evil of the Daleks on stage!

With only six weeks to go until production week, things are really hotting-up down here for everything to be ready for our opening night. It all kicked off on Friday, September 1st, when the read-through for the show took place at our rehearsal rooms at the Third Floor Arts Centre in Portsmouth. The entire cast and crew assembled and settled down for the first airing of the adaptation of the script. We also had many visitors, including a chap called Marq English. He is currently making a documentary about Doctor Who Fans and our show will feature quite heavily in the finished programme, which is most exciting to all. With the sound equipment set-up and everyone raring to go, we thundered on.

Martin Johnson’s magnificent original score was also available, having just been finished, and added great atmosphere to the proceedings. The script sounded great, and all the cast seem to have picked up on just the right level of excitement, pace and drama required for this epic struggle of Doctor versus Daleks! It was wonderful to have the famous mooger fooger ring modulator blasting out at full pelt! When we came to the climax section, with Nick Briggs thundering out the line:

“Do Not Fight In Here!”

The excitement was almost at fever pitch! It was a great start to this most exciting project.

Nicholas BriggsNicholas Briggs

Then, a few days later, our rehearsal Daleks were picked up and dropped off to the rehearsal rooms. They were collected from Ashley and the Devious Team and delivered to the Arts Centre. Quite magnificent they look too! Big, shiny and definitely mean-looking! The new colours previously spoken about in our articles have been toned down somewhat, but they still have a unique look to them and combine the old and new style Daleks to be memorable and distinct to fans old and new. They also glide smoothly and silently across the rehearsal room floor, thanks to some very splendid castors! Once our beasties had been delivered and settled, all looked forward to Monday, September 11th when the first proper rehearsal took place. It was wonderful to see everyone up and moving about, giving life and presence to the story. The first Dalek scenes we did had a very special atmosphere to them, in fact, we almost ran out of time as everyone wanted to get in and have a go! I could not resist and, for the very first time, climbed into one of the beasts. I was surprised (though why, I have no idea!) to discover just how cramped it is inside those things. However, they are wonderfully easy to move, easier in fact than punting oneself around on an office chair! Mind you, I was very relieved to get out. It gets unbelievably hot inside, even for the ten minutes or so I spent inside. Our operators are really going to sweat buckets under the stage lights. I salute them once again. Very brave thing to do, and I am hugely grateful.

Left: Martin Johnson (score composer); right: Nick Scovell (The Doctor)Left: Martin Johnson (score composer); right: Nick Scovell (The Doctor)

It is quite an experience, actually having to act opposite a Dalek. To see them come to life, before ones eyes, and to see the sheer size of them (they look much bigger in the flesh than on TV), and the way they move, one cannot be help but be drawn to them. On Friday 18th, we rehearsed the famous ‘playing trains’ scene, so I really had to act with them to get the scene to work. In fact, we have had to modify the approach of the scene to make it work theatrically, but the same impression is given. This was also the night we rehearsed one of them turning on Maxtible, played splendidly by James George, and getting very cross. When the Dalek suddenly turned and bellowed at him: “Do not threaten the Daleks! Obey! Obey! Daleks are only obeyed!”

He could not help himself from backing completely away in panic! He broke character, saying how genuinely scared he was! It is a real testament to these creations that even when we, as actors, know that in reality it is two friends of ours, trundling around inside lumps of fibreglass on castors, that we still have the same reactions of excitement and fear within us as when we see them in action merely as observers. It’s all utterly fascinating…

Tonight (Monday, September 18th) is going to be special. Tonight we are working on the famous scene from part two, when the Doctor first encounters them. I can’t wait!

Nick Scovell – 18 September 2006