WOLF STUDIOS, Cardiff. They should just rent us a room, really. The one we're in today is jokingly referred to as "the Meeping Room" as it's filled with concept art from the first two specials, as well as props and costumes including the full-size Jimbo robot. It's pre-transmission; we have no idea what it is, but we are slightly alarmed at a painting of Donna blowing up...
Today we're continuing our tour with production designer Phil Sims, who's showing us a foam Meep head, almost like a half-mask, with no fur, like a Siamese cat. The finished Meep is, obviously, bigger for full face and animatronics. Beside it are a rubbery latex shoe/foot and gloves with very long fingers.
Coming face to face with the Meep, you see it has very reflective glass eyes and is very nice to touch. Yes, of course we stroked the Meep. Who wouldn't?
THE MEEP
"We created loads of different silhouettes for the Meep and ideas and in the end, Russell was clear he wanted it to be pretty evocative of the comic," Sims says. "So we reverted back to this [look], which isn't exactly like Dave Gibbons's drawing, but it's much closer, certainly, than a lot of the other ideas were. This became the hero [look] that we harked back to."
One design has the Meep looking like the Cheshire Cat from Alice's Adventures In Wonderland, which Sims notes is "too happy."
"Once we established we weren't going to be doing fully CG creatures, we created a 3D digital concept of the Meep in-house and then worked with Neill Gorton from Millennium FX, who has a great history with the show.
"Neill's guys then started processing [that] to illustrate the size, so we could work out how big the Meep needed to be. Even in the comic, it looks like it bounces around a little bit in size, but he's kind of table height.
Denne historien er fra January 2024-utgaven av SFX UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra January 2024-utgaven av SFX UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
True Detective - The Only Way Is Essex for Jessica Jones in Lisa Jewell's first Marvel Crime novel
Known for bestselling psychological thrillers such as Then She Was Gone and The Family Upstairs, Jewell says she initially overemphasised the Marvel Universe’s fantastical elements before realising that she should simply trust her natural instincts. “I went too far on many occasions and had to keep cutting stuff out because I’d end up with stuff like a huge underground lab full of mad scientists,” she laughs.
Future Shock - Futurama's David X Cohen talks about what's in store for the show's ninth season
Futurama's David X Cohen talks about what's in store for the show's ninth season
Who Says
The Thirteenth Doctor and Yaz return - we're all ears
Parallel Doomsday
Terminator Zero creator Mattson Tomlin explains where the anime series fits within canon
Growing Your Hare
Daniel Kokotajlo talks about his '70s-set folk horror film Starve Acre
STAR TREK: DISCOVERY
TRIPS INTO TREK HISTORY PROVIDE SOMETHING OLD AND SOMETHING NEW FOR STAR TREK: DISCOVERY COSTUME DESIGNER ANTHONY TRAN
DAY OF THE JACKAL
TALKING TIME, TECH AND MYSTERIES IN PART TWO OF OUR INTERVIEW WITH DOCTOR WHO SHOWRUNNER RUSSELL T DAVIES
THE DARK KNIGHT RISES IN VINTAGE STYLE IN BATMAN: CAPED CRUSADER
BATMAN IS NOT FRIENDLY,\" insists Bruce Timm. \"He has to be weird. It's not just enough for him to dress up like a weirdo - he has to be a weirdo.
KAOS THEORY
THE LIVES OF GODS AND MEN ARE ENTWINED IN KAOS MEET THE TEAM BEHIND NETFLIX'S EPIC DARK COMEDY
POWER UP
THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RINGS OF POWER SHOWRUNNERS JD PAYNE AND PATRICK MCKAY PROMISE PLENTY OF TOLKIEN TREATS IN SEASON TWO