Doctor Who (1963) Raymond Cusick

Sadly, last week Raymond Cusick, who helped design the legendary Doctor Who villains, the Daleks, passed away. His daughter, Claire Heawood, said he had been suffering from an illness and died peacefully in his sleep on Thursday. He leaves two daughters and seven grandchildren.

Raymond Cusick worked as a production designer on the BBC show Doctor Who from 1963 to 1966.

The Daleks were conceptualized by science-fiction writer Terry Nation and first appeared in the 1963 Doctor Who serial The Daleks.

Check after the jump to see his designs and click on the images to enlarge.

While the design went through many changes they finally settled on the look that has remained unchanged for almost 50 years and is the symbol of evil around the world.

Here's what they look like today.

Pretty much the same. Here's a video of Cusick visiting the modern set talking to Production Designer Edward Thomas and designer Peter McKinstry about the Dalek designs.



He will be missed.

Wikipedia Synopsis:
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a Time Lord—a time travelling, humanoid alien known as the Doctor. He explores the universe in his 'TARDIS', a sentient time-travelling space ship. Its exterior appears as a blue British police box, a common sight in Britain in 1963, when the series first aired. Along with a succession of companions, the Doctor faces a variety of foes while working to save civilisations, help ordinary people, and right wrongs.

Images via Daily Mail, thedoctorwhosite.co.uk dalek6388.co.uk

What do you think of the illustrations? Do you have fond memories of the Daleks?

@ Copyright 2013 British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC)
. All rights reserved

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Doctor Who’s new Production Designer is Michael Pickwoad. He takes over from Edward Thomas, who's been head of the art department, since Rose (2005). On BBC, he explained the design behind the new TARDIS for the 2013 season of Doctor Who.

Check out the interview after the jump and click on the images to enlarge.



Question: What inspired the look of the new TARDIS?

Michael Pickwoad: There was a desire that a new TARDIS should be much more technical and be darker and moodier than before, along with a sense that this machine can fly.

Working in the previous TARDIS it became apparent that the gallery was not only difficult to get to, but awkward to use and so the idea of a gallery that could go right around the interior and give a lot of scope for shooting would be a positive design feature

The feeling of technical precision in the Hadron Collider, the world’s largest and highest- energy atomic particle accelerator, Hi-Tec Architecture and what might Barnes Wallis, the great inventor engineer who I once had the privilege of meeting, have come up with, were some the of the inspirations.

Question: What was uppermost in your mind when you designed the new TARDIS?

Michael Pickwoad: The design of the main ribs was the most crucial feature as they needed to support the gallery without obstructing floor space and be a shape that suggested high technology, but of an organic nature that would sweep from the floor to the central rotor like a magnetic field diagram. Their shape is a blend of straight lines and sweeping curves connected by sharper curves that give it a definite and particular profile, and although they are large, the structure still has a sense of delicacy and precision.  The use of steel allowed this delicacy and the surface was finished in a cosmic blue, suggesting a unique Gallifreyan alloy.

Various numbers of ribs were experimented with in the drawing stage, and with twenty ribs being too intense and sixteen being too far apart and out of balance with the intended scale, eighteen appeared to be just right.  The overall size of the new TARDIS is the same as the last, but appears to be larger as all of the space is accessible.

The entrance was designed to make the arrival within the space, rather than on the edge, and give a sense of weightlessness by not being aware of how the bridge to the console platform is supported.

The staircases connecting the different levels, all in different directions, take on the essence of an Escher drawing and were designed to give a confusing yet magical look.

The new design incorporates enough lights as part of the design to basically light the set for wide shots. They can be made to chase round the set to give a sense of motion or acceleration, and turn red for danger. The pairs of blue and amber circular lights on the gallery were based on Dalek head rings, a not inapposite reference for TARDIS evolution.

The console itself returned to more of the look of earlier designs, allowing for more positive technology, veering away from the whimsical, yet retaining a sense of entertainment. This may be considered retro, but allows for a greater range of controls and levers that can be combined with touch screens and computer panels, which in themselves have less shape. The Doctor, of course, always needs a lever.

Question: What’s your favourite element of the new TARDIS interior?

Michael Pickwoad: This has to be the contra-rotating time rotor. It came to me when realising that all TARDIS have had a large circular feature above the console, which never actually did anything. By making it revolve it would suggest that it was computing the time co-ordinates and setting the course through time.  Looking at the revolving tray in a microwave suggested the idea that if each ring supported the next on wheels fixed to the centre, then by turning one ring, the next would revolve in the reverse direction and give more of a sense of computing and conjuring up the idea of a circular slide rule.

Each ring of the rotor is divided into eighteen parts, complimenting the eighteen ribs of the TARDIS structure, and being finished in silver and furnished with Gallifreyan symbols, adds to the sense of precision.

Here's the scene from Doctor Who series 7 special "The Snowmen"




Images from http://whopix.wordpress.com

What do you think of the Doctor's new TARDIS?

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I've featured James Iles inspiring storyboards before, but his new website has a bunch of great work for Doctor Who and other projects.

James Iles is a UK professional storyboard, concept artist on television shows like Sherlock, Doctor Who and Outcasts (2010) and gave me the heads up on some new concept art on his site!

Check them out after the jump and make sure you click to enlarge.

Rosanna Calvierri (Helen McCrory) "Vampires of Venice" Season 5 Ep. 6 by James Iles
*Note: "Locked" means it was confirmed for production

Siren Pandant "The Curse of Black Spot" Season 6 ep.3

"Sonic Cane" Let's Kill Hitler Season 6 ep.8

"Wedding of River Song" Season 6, ep. 13

Wikipedia Synopsis:
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a Time Lord—a time travelling, humanoid alien known as the Doctor (Matt Smith). He explores the universe in his 'TARDIS', a sentient, telepathic time-and-space-travel machine that flies through the time vortex. Its exterior appears as a blue British police box, a common sight in Britain in 1963, when the series first aired. Along with a succession of companions, like Clara Oswin (Jenna Louise-Coleman), the Doctor faces a variety of foes while working to save civilisations, help ordinary people, and right wrongs.

 You can see more of James Iles portfolio at http://www.JamesIlesstudios.com

What do you think of the illustrations?
@ Copyright 2005 British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), James Iles, All rights reserved

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This last week was the Doctor Who Special of 2013 and it is amazing. Thankfully, the BBC released a number of storyboards and concept art from the film. Nothing spoilery, but some cool stuff.

Check out the rest after the jump and click on the images to enlarge.



BBC: Storyboarding The Snowmen's opening moments
"Look through the storyboards to see how the first few seconds where originally imagined." 

BBC: Production Artwork

"A sense of scale for the globe"

"Imagining the past"

"So, it was all a fascade!"

"Sign of the times"

"The Rose and Crown"

"Artwork at it's greatest"

"The sinister snowflake"

"Madame Vastra's PDA"

Official Synopsis:
Christmas Eve 1892 and the falling snow is the stuff of fairy-tales. When the fairy-tale becomes a nightmare and a chilling menace threatens Earth, an unorthodox young governess, Clara (Jenna Louis-Coleman), calls on the Doctor (Matt Smith) for help. But the Doctor is in mourning, reclusive and determined not to engage in the problems of the universe. As old friends return, will the Doctor really abandon humankind or will he fight to save the world - and Christmas - from the icy clutches of this mysterious menace? Written by BBC America Publicity

Unfortunately, I have no idea who the artists are. If you know, please help me out in the comments.

What do you think of the illustrations?
@ Copyright 2013 British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC)
. All rights reserved

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I've featured storyboards from Doctor Who before and they have always been excellent. These are no exception.

I'm not sure who the artist is since IMDb didn't list the artist for this season. But Shaun Williams, Rod Knipping, Matthew Savage, Lewis Peake and James Iles have done storyboard work in the past.
The boards are from scenes 7, 8 and 12.

Check them out after the jump and make sure you click to enlarge.


Scene 7

 Scene 8

 Scene 12

If you haven't seen the episode click on the link to watch Doctor Who online. "Dinosaurs on a Spaceship" is available for free for the next 15 days.
Official Synopsis
The Doctor battles to save an unmanned spaceship and its impossible cargo... of dinosaurs!

Thanks to http://leightshift.blogspot.co.uk/ for the tip! She has an awesome blog.

See more of their portfolios by following the links below and at IMDb
James Iles http://www.coroflot.com/jamesiles
Matthew Savage http://www.mattsav.co.uk/

What do you think of the storyboards? Would you want to be trapped on a spaceship with dionsaurs?

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