‘Doctor Who’ Celebration: Inside the Special Effects
‘Doctor Who’ SFX supervisor Danny Hargreaves and star Matt Smith. (Photo via Hargreaves’ Twitter)
One of the highlights of the Doctor Who convention in London this 50th anniversary weekend has been the Special Effects panels, led by SFX supervisor Danny Hargreaves. Hosted by Bang Goes the Theory‘s Dallas Campbell, the 45-minute sessions included active demonstrations of some of the series’ most dramatic effects.
Hargreaves says he never went to college and trained in his craft since he was as young as Doctor Who‘s tiniest viewers. He emphasized an absolute commitment to safety, although he does admit that he once set Tenth DoctorDavid Tennant‘s hair aflame. (Cue the “Not the hair!” cries.) “I might have blown up more Doctors than you think,” he joked. His biggest stunt was on Doctor Who‘s spinoff Torchwood, in a scene in which Gwen Cooper (Eve Myles) blew up a building. That explosion required 500 liters of fuel, twice as much as anticipated.
But even with all of the pyrotechnics at work, Hargreaves says that the most difficult task is that old action-movie staple: people crashing through windows. And they can’t use breakaway glass or sugar glass—it must be real glass. Timing has to be exact: the window must shatter “right when the actor’s nose touches the glass, or it’s too late,” he says.
For the pyros out there, there was a moment in the session when the stage erupted in crackling flames, courtesy of a propane tank. The effect made it appear that the stage was completely consumed, but there’s the movie magic for you:
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