Thread by @scribblesscript

Arwel Wyn Jones, Dafydd Shurmer, Jamie Magnus Stone, and Chris Chibnall on a Doctor Who production panel at #gally1

"There's multiple whatsapp groups" says Chibnall on Who production communication. #gally1

"I adopt my apologetic tone. If we were doing something like this, how would we do that?" Chibnall on coming up with a concept for production #gally1

"I think the whole joy of doing Doctor Who... is the teamwork. Part of the job of being a showrunner is get a bunch of geniuses in and get out of the way... the joy of it is communication." Chris Chibnall #gally1

Chibnall cites the motorcycle chase in Spyfall as something improved by handing to Jamie Magnus Stone to figure out and find ways to do. #gally1

"When I was writing Resolution... we had a lot of conversations about the big build and the big set. I wanted to take over the whole studio and flood it with water... it becomes, you need enough scenes in that location for the set to be worth the money." Chibnall #gally1

"I want the Doctor to jump a crane. I can't have a fully functional live crane but I want it. And then these guys came and said, actually that's two cranes, because she jumps. Oh yeah." Chibnall at #gally1

They lucked out and found a nearby crane yard!

"Everything you learn, the next time it's in a script, it gets a bit easier. But then what happens is the next script gets more complicated!" Production designer Arwel Wyn Jones #gally1

"You start with a season plan, you can have a meeting, you can have coffee... and then, it gets more and more crunched, because things happen along the way that really you can't take into account." Chibnall #gally1

Chibnall cites Demons of the Punjab as an episode that had to be substantially rewritten late due to production considerations.

"Plan rigorously and allow for happy accidents. There's a lot of happy accidents that happen along the way, that's the joy of it!" Chris Chibnall on production #gally1

Chibnall used to have a recurring dream with a countdown where the planet was about to explode and he had to stop it, but it would explode every time. The dream stopped after he finished working on Who.

He wonders if it inspired Flux #gally1

Chibnall says production is all about solving problems and the weird thing about being the writer and showrunner is that you're just creating problems for other people to solve. #gally1

"The degree of playfullness that you get to bring on this show is amazing!" Says Jamie Magnus Stone. For example, the cyber drone sequence in Ascension was inspired by him watching drone FPV racing videos #gally1

"The tone meeting is both a reality check and an inspiration" says Chibnall. "I love tone meetings." #gally1

"The role of the director is so enormous, and not every director is like Jamie... you have to be adding something in every scene... you have to be very proactive." Chibnall at #gally1

"Spyfall and War of the Sontarans, those are the ones that are like, that is what Doctor Who has always been in my head and we put it onscreen." Chibnall at #gally1

Moderator @DrMatthewSweet calls Chibnall "Doctor Who's wartime leader" for making production happen under covid. #gally1

"We avoided doing Weeping Angels because Steven kept saying, it's impossible." Says Chibnall. Remembering what Moffat said while writing the series 5 two-parter, "I'm in the middle of writing a chase sequence with things that can't move." #gally1

Chibnall adds Village of the Angels to the list alongside War and Spyfall.

"We made six episodes for the price of ten in the previous year, or probably eight for eleven if you count the two specials." Chibnall on making Doctor Who under covid #gally1

"We filmed for a year and did not shut down. I think we're the only production in the UK that did not shut down," says Chibnall. He says volumes should be written about the amazing work of the covid supervisors. #gally1

Daleks, Cybermen, and Master were gonna be at Easter with the regeneration. Eve of the Daleks was a total production solution last minute, and Power a big extra special in part to buy time for the 60th. #gally1

"Can I have one set, can I have two actors, and can I have... how many Daleks have we got in the cupboard? If I can come up with that episode in 24 hours can I have a stay of execution for that episode?" Chibnall on having to save the Eve slot when the budget fell through #gally1

He had to ask Aisling Bea on before a script was ready.

Dafydd was bummed he didn't get to do the bullet train from the original Eve concept so it was recycled for Power.

"The bonus was we got to do the Sea Devils episode, which really was not in the original iteration of anything." Says Chris Chibnall on the addition of the centenary #gally1

"Daleks are designed to be covid compliant... the most brilliant thing! They're always two meters apart!" Says Chibnall. He's also delighted that the Sea Devils were easy to keep masked. #gally1

"The reason the show didn't go down was because of her! She was so conscious of the responsibility... her rigor and selflessness. She just made everything possible." Chibnall endlessly praises Jodie's selfless covid isolation and bubbling for the last stretch of the era #gally1

Chibnall wanting to do Who came from "really wanting to do an iconic BBC show that matters." "It has to be new, it has to keep representing the BBC, that's what's so brilliant about the new Disney deal in terms of what it says about it's place in television..." #gally1

Chibnall says Who often shows the BBC's state, intentionally ot not.

"I'll always be changed by this show, it's always going to be a part of who I am... it will mark you forever in the most wonderful way." Jamie Magnus Stone #gally1

"I'm just crying over what Jamie just said." Chibnall

"What I'm feeling is that what I came in to do, we did." Chibnall says it felt "quite radical" and that "we need to live in a place of risk." "If we're not taking risks, we're not doing anything right." Chibnall at #gally1

"Apparently I have a wife and children" says Chibnall on what he'll do next. "I know I have a dog because I saw it on Doctor Who." #gally1

"It's as much fun making Doctor Who as you want it, as you can imagine it to be!" Chibnall says lovingly. Quoting Moffat, "I don't miss the work load but I miss the work!" #gally1

The End