Because the Origami

I got up astonishingly early this morning to take Maddy to State for Violin (solo and duet), then I spent much of the rest of the day doing Dad duty -- taxiing, taking photos and suchlike -- as Maddy went to Prom. It all seems alien and weird to me, Prom and such, like something people made up in films that doesn't actually happen in real life. (It definitely didn't happen in my life: the nearest we ever got to it was the Sixth Form Disco, during the course of which I discovered that any music I liked could actually clear a dance floor in seconds.) But it means much to her, and is such an American symbol...I'm in a strange, reflective mood: my youngest child is so very grown-up. She and I went to pick up the final bits of stuff for her Prom in Bridal shops this morning, and I found myself pondering life and adulthood and marriage and suchlike, and wondering whatever happened to the little girl who woke up from a nightmare and told me there were wolves living in the walls of her room.Which meant that when I was sent thisvideo, this evening, I got slightly more sniffly than I might otherwise. But it's a beautiful film.

Because the Origami - 8in8 from Ben Jacobson on Vimeo.





Last season I knew everything that happened in Doctor Who, was sent a script for each episode as it was completed. Then my episode was moved. For this season I chatted to Steven Moffat for twenty minutes about what he wanted to do with the arc, what he wanted me to slip in to my episode, what was changed between this season and the one the original one was meant to be in, and then I went away and wrote.





It's great. I can watch as a viewer, with my family and friends, and not know what's coming next.





But for the curious...



The BBC has put up a page of links to stuff about my episode. There's the "Next Time" Trailer. There are two minute-long sections of story. There's an introduction, in which Arthur and Karen talk about the next episode, and I can be seen reading a bit of script. And there's a trailer for the next Doctor Who Confidential.

If you're not interested, or you are very interested but want to keep yourself Spoiler Free, click away now. I'll put a bunch of space between this sentence and the next thing, where there will be a slightly spoilery image, and the name that the episode is called.



























And look, the next thing isn't anything to do with Doctor Who. It's a photo I took this evening of my dog, to give you a chance to click away from this page, and in case your eye does that thing where it just sort of wanders down...





Last chance to leave... If you're not interested, or you areinterested but want to keep yourself Spoiler Free, click away now. I'll put a bunch of space between this sentence and the next thing, where there will be a slightly spoilery image, and the name that the episode is called.And look, the next thing isn't anything to do with Doctor Who. It's a photo I took this evening of my dog, to give you a chance to click away from this page, and in case your eye does that thing where it just sort of wanders down...Last chance to leave...













Okay. You're on your own. We're in Spoiler territory now. This is the Trailer:









People have asked if I am the voice that's heard in the episode. I am not. It is the voice of the wonderful Michael Sheen.

This is the first of the previews. It's from the first few minutes of the show and doesn't give much away at all...











The second preview doesn't currently have an embed option I can find. It's at



Here is the Introduction, in which Karen Gillan says I am clever, and I read a bit of script. It's not very spoilery.







The page I got all these links from is here...



This last, from the Doctor Who Confidential trailer from this week. When I went to Cardiff last year I was followed everywhere by the Confidential team, which was brilliant as it meant I was allowed to poke around in crannies and wander all over and generally do things that writers are (very wisely) discouraged from doing (





This is the first of the previews. It's from the first few minutes of the show and doesn't give much away at all...The second preview doesn't currently have an embed option I can find. It's at http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/dw/videos/p00gszls and the story is well underway by the time this bit happens. It is Very Spoilery in the sense of telling you stuff that you would otherwise know only by watching the episode.Here is the Introduction, in which Karen Gillan says I am clever, and I read a bit of script. It's not very spoilery.The page I got all these links from is here... http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/dw/news/bulletin_110507_02 This last, from the Blogtor Who site, is thetrailer from this week. When I went to Cardiff last year I was followed everywhere by theteam, which was brilliant as it meant I was allowed to poke around in crannies and wander all over and generally do things that writers are (very wisely) discouraged from doing ( as recorded in this blog entry ). It's long enough ago that I have no idea what was actually filmed or said, and will be watching it next week when it airs very nervously, hoping my hair doesn't do anything particularly unlikely while people are looking. And yes, Spoilers. The BBC has put up a page of links to stuff about my episode. There's the "Next Time" Trailer. There are two minute-long sections of story. There's an introduction, in which Arthur and Karen talk about the next episode, and I can be seen reading a bit of script. And there's a trailer for the next

(It's also generating intense and passionate discussion over on Facebook. ....It's a week until my episode ofairs. Saturday, May the 14th, at 6:30pm.I'm excited. I'm also very aware that Spoilers can ruin some or all of the fun of an episode. I don't like them, myself.

Labels: 8in8, Maddy, spoilers