Director Douglas Mackinnon has been chatting to the Daily Record about his upcoming work on Doctor Who. Mackinnon, who has directed The Sontaran Stratagem, The Power of Three and Cold War, has three episodes coming up in Series 8. Here’s what he had to say about Time Heist:
“What we wanted to do was a heist movie for Doctor Who. I’ve watched
virtually every heist movie there’s ever been, and incorporates things
into it, but because it’s Doctor Who, time travel is involved.There’s a
real time travel twist to it that’s quite amazing – it starts with the
TARDIS in Clara’s flat, and the TARDIS phone starts ringing – very few
people have that number, so when he picks up the phone, that’s when the
adventure begins.
In traditional heist style, you get a gang together and each has a
skill. One of the big things is, when the phone goes, they all arrive in
this place and none of them can remember how they got there. They have
to discover that as they travel, as they’ve involved in a bank raid but
they don’t know what they’re trying to find.”
On the ninth episode of Doctor Who Series 8, the director states:
“Flatline involves different types of CGI creatures. I’ve still got some work to finish it off, but it’s looking good.”
“It’s Steven at his peak, and Listen is one of the best things that
he’s written – ever. Even if I didn’t have the privilege of directing
it, I’d still say it was amazing. Although it travels big time, through time and space, it has a big
conclusion to it. It’s a bit of a love letter to the show itself and
really explores the Doctor in a particular way. And it’s got a message
for children and adults, that’s beautiful and poetic.”
