Erica McEwan

Episodes 1 & 2 Tonight on #bbcone ! @thewarbetweentv @bad_wolf_tv @bbc

The War Between The Land and The Sea… airing on @bbc 7th December 2025 in the UK and following in 2026 on @disneyplus worldwide. More to come soon… so proud to design this series with @julianluxton for @bad_wolf_tv directed by @dylanholmeswilliams produced by @edoferretti created & written by @russelltdavies63 also written by @petemctighe . @thewarbetweentv #productiondesign #whoniverse

The Reality War is almost here! But i still have a “Dugga Doo” ear worm from last week’s Interstellar Song Contest It was such a pleasure to tap in to this ep w production designer @phil.sims.98 , writer @junodawson , director @filmbenwilliams and of course @russelltdavies63 and @bad_wolf_tv to develop the branding for the 803rd Interstellar Song Contest. It was a seamless tie in to my other task of running an extensive in-camera screens operation The Song Contest was a whole show within a show and needed us to treat it as such. Check out Doctor Who #Unleashed on iPlayer for a deep dive (there’s a shot here of me looking extremely tired on last week’s episode) In order to shoot our gallery and in-camera playback across the ep, we had to “create the show” in advance of the shoot. We needed shoot multi-cam coverage and several angles of the hosts and performances, as well as make an all singing & dancing arena full of crowd, holograms, musical numbers, and sponsorship ads @painting_practice worked with Phil to create the full Harmony Arena scene in Cinema 4D + Unreal Engine well before the shoot. I worked with the amazing motion team who created epic stage graphics and floating holograms into this CG scene. We then packaged this up into technical UI and a detailed branded broadcast package. Our stage screen visuals were also used to shoot the performances and hosts @Rylan & Sabine in “show camera” and “drama camera” modes on the stage set. We combined it all with those early “VFX” shots of the Arena and played in as “live camera” feeds in the gallery set - shot in our drama on the day. I’m sure I’ve lost you by now…. Everything was time stamped to work in sync and cut together seamlessly by editor @timpaul1982 Tim Hodges (Inception inside Inception!) None of this possible on the day without the safe hands of @mattdunfordlx & @srproductionservices We relied heavily on a post-workflow and couldn’t have pulled it off without Tim, Lou and the epic post team ! Huge props also to Supervising Art Director @robynpaiba set dec @ajanscombe , and Dan May. All images ©BBC Studios and Disney+ #logodesign #artdepartment #screengraphics #artdirection

The Cranberry Effect - a bold and brilliant creation by @mathery___ has been shortlisted for @_onepointfour film festival 🥳 Genuinely honoured to design for this pair, and work with such a killer crew (pun intended) Shot beautifully by DOP @filipmaarek , produced by @michael.capon & @1stavemachine_ , @kristin.wanderlust and @b2yproductions with @kerrypisola as exec producer (and trustee art dept assistant!) The @nuboyana art team were a dream, lead by @ttheodorag . And who can forget @gruh costume genius 💪💪💪

Rest in peace. A true entertainer and one of the cleverest, funniest souls who remind us why we’re in this business. We’ll miss you Catherine O’hara ❤️ Delia, Kate, Moira and everyone in between - you rock

The Aqua Habitat was our biggest moment of world building in the series. An opportunity for genre, creativity and a smorgasbord of challenges 😂 Impossible to summarise our design journey in a single post… but in a nutshell, @julianluxton and I had a large-scale studio build to design and deliver, as well as consider the extended world inside and out. Reading @petemctighe ‘s script we knew this place had to hit the right balance of dark & dangerous mixed with a sense of wonder. Alien but grounded. Muscular but delicate. Tricky! Our characters are now on the flip side of earlier diplomatic talks on land. So we reversed every design rule built for the Hall, whilst mirroring Aquakind’s emotional journey for Barclay and the crew. Physically, the Habitat needed to both stand the immense pressures of the deep ocean, and remain inherently fragile enough to ‘pop’ at a later beat. So we developed a language of translucent membranes, organic root structures, and bioluminescent tone. Moving from sketches / conceptual exploration, to z-brush models, set revamp puzzles and weeeeeeks of scenic RnD in parallel. Our team was tenacious and most of all patient! We had to keep our VFX to a limited number of shots. Working with our director @dylanholmeswilliams , the previs / VFX teams, we were able to align the build and shots with the VFX allowances. It also helped hugely to collaborate with our DOP @dale_elena_mccready to create clever in-camera lighting strategies to feel constantly submerged below the moving ocean and bioluminescent creatures. I was fortunate to reprise for a moment during post, and complete design work for the exterior Habitat arrival, as well as our epic diplomatic chamber extensions with our team at @painting_practice - all VFX beautifully finished at @automatik_vfx 🤌 Massive shout outs to our supervising art director @red_tree for all the sleepless nights! Our amazing art director @becka_gresham , @soul_set_construction , @brad_perryy for leading the lube patrol every day on set 😂 and the UNFORGETTABLE heroes of it all, Mike Fischetti and the scenic team for making miracles a reality 🙏👏👏👏 @bad_wolf_tv for @bbcstudios and @disneyplus

A few more BTS from our build of The Empress Hall. Mostly “take your kid to work” day 😜 @thewarbetweentv @bbcstudios @disneyplus

The Empress Hall was our ‘jewel in the crown’ on The War Between The Land and The Sea… A crucial meeting point of two worlds. The Hall was a full studio build, including a portion of the 10m3 water tank, and featured across the entire series. We also designed what was beyond the tank and airlock, working closely with our VFX teams @automatik_vfx @painting_practice @framesyncvp on producing an elegant in-camera LED wall solution for hundreds of mid-shots against the water across the eps. @julianluxton and myself set out to design a grounded world with a fantastical sensibility. Choosing a key material such as Portland stone, we wanted to echo Westminster’s institutional identity and the architectural language of British state buildings. This also provided a dry and earthen contrast to the cool blue water of the tank, sea and Aquakind. It was so important to feel the contrast of each world, and convey a sense of ceremony, gravitas and hope. We accompanied the Portland stone base with the warmth of rust reds, ochres and gold to hit those notes, then tied the room back to themes of the sea and Empire through motifs and artwork based around Britannia stories. I could go on! Huge props to our art director @becka_gresham !! 👏 our supervising art director @red_tree , @ajanscombe and his set dec team, our amazing construction gang @soul_set_construction , endlessly talented scenic team of wizards lead my Mike Fischetti, graphics @georgieoboy @ciaozac for the icing on the cake as always, and of course @brad_perryy for the standby eyes, ears and hands every single day on set. We were so lucky to work with @painting_practice as an extension of our art department… talented concept artists and the previs and techvis planning necessary to pull all this off. Thanks @russelltdavies63 for writing this epic idea in the first place - what a genius! @dylanholmeswilliams at the helm and shooting it so beautifully w DOP @dale_elena_mccready Catch up on @bbciplayer and coming soon to Disney+ worldwide Images copyright of BBCStudios and Disney+ Produced by @bad_wolf_tv 📷 BTS from BBC

Some BTS of our Journey to The Deep last night on @thewarbetweentv 1. Yes that's the deep water submersible just casually travelling the streets of Cardiff to board the RSS James Cook. Our trusty construction manager Nick of the epic @soul_set_construction making sure all is well 2. Carefully does it... 3. Some detailed planning in 3D with our amazing art department 4. My fellow designer @julianluxton and our incredible set dec @ajanscombe with some finishing touches 5. Obligatory photo of moi Hope you enjoyed last nights eps3 & 4... if you missed it, check it out on @bbciplayer . @bad_wolf_tv (@disneyplus in 2026)

The War is finally here. 🚨New work! TX tonight on BBC One. I was very lucky to spend last year in Cardiff, designing and making this extraordinary show with @julianluxton and such a brilliant, creative team. Created & written by our wonderful showrunner and exec @russelltdavies63 , also written & exec'd by @petemctighe . We had our super talented director @dylanholmeswilliams at the helm, and a one in a million producer @edoferretti keeping all the plates spinning! The show was shot beautifully by @dale_elena_mccready and world class talent @Russelltovey @gugumbatharaw and @jemmaredgrave took things to heights we couldn't have imagined when signing up for this adventure! . . Julian and I were a design double act for all five episodes. Joined by @ajanscombe our brilliant set dec, and @red_tree our supervising art director... I’m still pinching myself - so proud of what we’ve made. . . NONE of it would be possible without our epic people. ❤️ Our incredible art department, graphics, construction @soul_set_construction , scenic artists, set dec, locations, props, standby, previs / concept / motion graphics @painting_practice and VFX @automatik_vfx and creatures @millennium_fx_ltd teams. Can’t thank you all enough for your talent, commitment and general bad-assery!! It really does take a village 🫶 . . The trust and collaboration from our @bad_wolf_tv exec team made this show a joy to work on. They pushed, they guided, they supported and it really shows in the final piece. Ever grateful to @tranterjane22 @juliegardnerbwa and of course @joelcol ❤️ . . Plenty more to come, too many to thank!! but here's a start! Finally… tonight they rise. #productiondesign #thewarbetweenthelandandthesea #bbcone #bbc #disneyplus #bbciplayer #tvseries #drwho #whoniverse #badwolf #wolfstudiowales

Happy #DoctorWho day 💙 what a joy it’s been, to be part of the magical #Whoniverse the last 5 years, and join such a truly talented and amazing creative family (you all know who you are!!) To see this logo I designed come to life, and welcome us into so many new stories was one thing. But to then to design the upcoming @thewarbetweentv has really been a dream come true. The war is coming… 2 weeks!! 7th Dec on BBC UK. Here’s to the Whoniverse and many adventures to come #whoniverse #doctorwho #BadWolfTV #BBC #Disney+ #artdepartment #TheWarBetweenTheLandAndTheSea #doctorwhoday

It’s Party Season! Hard to believe we made these back in 2018… always good to know that juggling, spinning tacos and colour drenching are still the mode! IKEA: Party Tricks Directed by: @mathery___ Produced by: @kerrypisola for @1stavemachine Production Designer: @ericamcewan Agency: @motherlondon Stylist: @elliemayshanks Prop Master: @simon.clifft Construction: @plumred_ltd #artdirection #productiondesign #partyseason