Fans of Doctor Who couldn’t believe their luck after discovering a new episode of the show being filmed in Bristol city centre today. David Tennant and Hollywood star Neil Patrick Harris have both been spotted on set filming dramatic scenes on Marsh Street for the BBC series.
The Bristol shoot will be part of the 60th-anniversary episode - which sees multiple Doctor stories intertwined - and will involve reprised roles from Tennant and Catherine Tate, who played his assistant Donna Noble in 2006 and 2008. It will also see the return of showrunner Russell T Davies, who revived the show back in 2005.
Scores of fans dropped what they were doing to rush down to the set in Bristol to catch a glimpse of the stars. Co-workers Daniel and Kate were both informed of the shoot by their manager.
Follow live: Doctor Who updates as the Time Lord films in Bristol today
Self-confessed superfan Kate said Doctor Who is 'like her religion'. “I didn’t start watching it until the new stuff, but I’ve gone back and now I own all the old ones on DVD and I’m kind of obsessive.
“I’ve got a Tardis tattoo, my daughter is named after a character - she’s called River. I was very happy to find a partner who was willing to let me do that. This is like my region.”
When asked who their favourite Doctors were, she said: “If you look at Matt Smith’s portrayal of the doctor you can actually see all the old doctors. I feel like he really did his homework.”
While Daniel favoured a more recent portrayal: “Probably Peter Capaldi. I just feel like he grew the most throughout the series and had one of the longest times to develop. Clara’s the best companion.”
Members of the crew invited onlookers to act in the background of the apocalyptic scene behind a barrier in case they were visible in the shot. Aspiring actors, Maddie and Ben, are currently training in Bristol and hoping to go to drama school in September. One of their friends sent them a picture of the set and they ran out of the door to get there.
“This is a dream,” said Ben. “We’re actually rewatching Doctor Who right now, we’re on the Matt Smith series. He said Smith was his favourite actor from the show whereas Maddie, who has watched the show since she was small, loves David Tennant, and couldn’t comprehend seeing him on set.
“I thought because I want to be an actor I was going to be one of those people who was really chill around celebrities but I’m not. The second I saw him I almost fainted,” she joked.
Ben added: “It’s normally always filmed in London or Cardiff so it’s nice to see it being filmed in Bristol.” There has been a burst of new BBC series being filmed in the city in recent years including fellow Bristolian Stephan Merchant’s show The Outlaws.
“I think Bristol’s the place to be for actors actually, there are a lot of opportunities here,” said Maddie.
Crews started preparing the set on Monday, transforming shop fronts on Broad Street and Marsh Street for filming. The shoot is expected to continue throughout Wednesday although it is not yet known if they will continue on Thursday.
Angela cancelled her work shift on Wednesday after hearing the news of the shoot on Twitter. “It’s really surreal, I’ve never seen it actually filmed before let alone seen any of the actors in real life. It’s like everything on the TV is real,” she said.
Another Bristol fan, Sam, was meant to be moving out of his student accommodation today. “As soon as I knew it was going to be on and I was free I came down. I should have been packing today and moving house this weekend.”
David Tennant is also his favourite Doctor and so he couldn’t believe he saw him on set on Tuesday.
