The Mill is using its delivery and viewing system Beam.tv on the new series of Dr Who , the first time it has been used for a longform broadcast project.
The Mill is using its delivery and viewing system Beam.tv on the new series of Dr Who , the first time it has been used for a longform broadcast project.

MillTv, which is producing all the visual effects and picture post for the 13-part science-fiction series, is using Beam.tv to reduce the reliance upon couriers and increase collaboration between sites.

It says the system has become essential to the workflow because the offline editors are situated in three suites in Cardiff, near where the series is in production, whereas MillTv is 150 miles away in central London.

The advantage offered by Beam.tv has been the time-saving the system has brought the high-profile series.

'It [Beam.tv] is now pretty essential because we've got incredibly tight deadlines to lock the series,' said Dr Who editor Mike Jones. 'We can send a low-resolution offline sequence to The Mill by uploading it through the Beam box, which can then be seen instantly for pre-viz instead of relying on couriers.'

When new sequences are uploaded into any given folder on Beam.tv, each person that has user access is automatically notified by SMS text message and email.

'Anyone with security access to the folder can log on anywhere and view the clips. You don't have to wait for a tape or be in a specific room to check uploaded images,' said Will Cohen, The Mill's producer on Dr Who.

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