Real SFX – The Special Effects Team Behind Doctor Who
By Leah Tedesco
Founded in 2009, special effects company Real SFX have done quite the bang-up job for various movies and television shows. Included on their curriculum vitae are Doctor Who, Torchwood, and Class.
In Issue 158 (Autumn 2016) of Cardiff Life, in the ‘Creative Cardiff’ section, Velimir Ilic shares an interview with Real SFX, the award-winning special effects team behind productions such as Doctor Who, Torchwood, Class, Sherlock, Outlander, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Being Human (UK), and Peaky Blinders. The company was started in 2009 and is based in Cardiff, a hotbed in the Whoniverse. The co-founders are husband and wife team Danny Hargreaves and Carmela Carrubba, who run the company to this day.
Real SFX provides many services, such as pyrotechnics, model making, elemental effects, and gimbal. If they do not immediately have something that fits a client’s needs, they also do custom built effects. As fans of Doctor Who, it was extremely exciting for them to take on the task of helping to make the show look spectacular. Amongst their gear is an well-worn Dalek that has had the honor and misfortune of being “repeatedly blown-up.”
More from Winter is Coming
- For All Mankind finally gives us information in Episode 405, “Goldilocks”
- Watch a stunning VFX breakdown of The Wheel of Time season 2
- Of course Steve Toussaint (Corlys Velaryon) thinks Eve Best (Rhaenys Targaryen) should rule Westeros
- Confirmed: The Last of Us season 2 will air in 2025
- Final season of Star Trek: Discovery will have “a lot of action, a lot of adventure, a lot of fun”
Their gig with Doctor Who began around the same time that Matt Smith was brought on board as the Eleventh Doctor. Hargreaves talks about how, through his work on the show, he has gotten to know Peter Capaldi rather well, and formed a close bond with Smith, who still greets him warmly, and literally with open arms, when they encounter one another.
Hargreaves declines to divulge any specific spoilers for Doctor Who because it is “all under wraps.” He does, however, give a general idea of what is to happen in Series Ten: “the Doctor is going to get into trouble” and “fight aliens.” We can also expect “explosions.” To those familiar with the program, this answer sounds rather familiar.
The Royal Television Society recently nominated Real SFX, alongside Millennium FX, for the 2016 Craft and Design Award for their work on Series Nine of Doctor Who.
(Article continues below the related and next post links.)
Related Story: Doctor Who: A Quick Look at the Set of Series Ten
Related Story: Pearl Mackie and Ralf Little Discuss Series Ten and More
Next: Doctor Who: The American Adventures, a New Book