There’s a very fine line between releasing exciting teasers about upcoming episodes and not giving too much away. Some fans would prefer that we said nothing, but it’s important to remember that the majority of the audience are casual viewers who need reminders and hooks to bring them to the show. We knew that the Mondasian Cybermen would be seen in public during the night shoot in Cardiff Bay. They looked so great that we decided to do our own photo in advance of any blurry shots that fans might post online.
We don’t normally have the luxury of time when we do stills, but on this occasion we had access to the monsters and the just-finished hospital set for a few hours. This allowed photographer Simon Ridgway to set up his shot and light it in a dramatic way. I stood in for Peter Capaldi until he was available – you can see from my hand that we’d planned for the Doctor to hold his sonic screwdriver. Of course, when Peter took over he knew exactly what the Doctor should do. I think that final photo was one of our strongest publicity stills ever.
