Doctor Who

Vicky: If you could direct a one-off special Doctor Who, where it's a crossover with any other TV program, which programme would you pick?

Graeme: Well, The Sarah Jane Adventures and Torchwood are obvious, but the one I would fancy would be collaboration with Spooks. Wow that could be very scary and creepy, mmmm...

Tony: Do you ever get emotional when directing a big end of series episode? For example, the emotionally charged conclusion to the last series with Donna and The Doctor, or are you simply trying to get everything right on the shoot?

Graeme: Yes I am trying to get everything right, but there is always the moment when you are watching a shot on the monitor, everything is going as planned and you are now totally locked into a performance and how it will go against the other performances you have captured or are about to capture.

Now that's when you end up in tears, because at that moment you are an audience and when the performances are as good as they are on Doctor Who you get totally hooked. You need to make sure you have lots of tissues!

Matt: I've noticed an interesting direction in the new series, with some episodes paying homage to other genres. What have been your biggest influences?

Graeme: My biggest influences are Martin Campbell, Sam Peckinpah, John Houston and John Ford, amongst several others. I am not sure about their styles creeping in - I would not presume I could even begin to use their ideas, but I guess we all unconsciously use ideas we have seen and turn them into our own thing.

A good example of a style of shot being stolen by many of us is the shot of Roy Scheider on the beach in Jaws. We hear a scream in the distance and the camera tracks in fast. The lens zooms out and the focus and size is held on Roy Scheider, giving a very tense and disturbing image. It's brilliant but can never be as brilliant again as its uniqueness lies in that film for that moment unless of course you have never seen Jaws.

Jacqui: What is your favourite episode of Doctor Who that you directed? What is your favourite episode of Doctor Who that you didn't direct?

Graeme: I really enjoyed making all the eps I was involved with, but my favourite has to be Utopia. I thought Derek Jacobi was brilliant and great fun to work with.

For the one I did not direct it has to be Blink. Boy was it scary and well cast. Good performances and a terrific story.