This was the
first story to feature the 9th Doctor in his Character
Options figure guise. At this early stage of the range,
there were very few figures available with no 5" scale
guest cast. The beasts are Terapusmordaxes
from King Kong.
At the time, the AFT was in
something of a transition. For many years, it
had produced stories using our custom figures.
Some were better than others but none of them
could match the quality of the new figures from
Character.
I thought long and hard about
whether or not to use these figures but
eventually the quality won out. Unfortunately it
would spell the end of the AFT for a while as
although the new series figures would look
great, they would only highlight the lesser
quality of my classic customs.
The other problem
was the issue of scale. With the custom figures
in 'Star Wars' scale there was already a vast
wealth of supporting characters to draw on.
There were no figures in my collection of a
remotely similar scale. The issue can be
corrected digitally in photoshop, but it's not
the same as seeing figures together in the same
setting.
This scale
problem was a limiting factor in stories but The
Savage Planet proved a simple way round it- a
story that only features the Doctor and Rose.
The Savage
Planet was shot on location in Torquay in March 2006.
The rock face scenes were shot first in Torwood Gardens.
The opening scenes of the Doctor and Rose being chased
were filmed at Rock Walk.
The blue
screen elements like the monsters were shot sometime
after.
The scene with Rose in
the nest was shot on location without the monsters but
it was reshot back in the studio using backgrounds taken
on location, some eggs created in photoshop and printed
and the monsters.
The Savage Planet doesn't
refer to any series continuity.
It appears quite early in
the Doctor and Rose's relationship, with him still
showing her the sights of the universe so it's probably
in that first trip from the end of Rose until she
returns home in Aliens of London.
