A grip is a member of the production staff tasked with ensuring the proper movement of the cameras during principal photography . He or she may have to lay dolly track, physically move or shake the camera, organise the use of cranes and perform any number of additional tasks so the camera operator can perform safely and accurately.
Though the position was never formally credited during the 1963 version of the show, grips would certainly have been needed to push the Television Centre 's massive video cameras around. The leader of the grip team, known as the key grip has been credited in every live-action adventure since the 1996 telemovie , although in the BBC Wales version the key grip has been credited as a "grip". (Due to the differences between the North American and British film industries, however, the grip staff on the movie likely had to provide some of the electrical rigging work which is exclusively the province of the gaffer in British productions.)
Perhaps because of this slight difference in terminology, only the TV movie and Torchwood: Miracle Day have specifically credited a "key grip", making Dave Gordon the lone person to receive that credit in the history of Doctor Who . Only Miracle Day 's Isaac Chee has received the credit in the 21st century DWU family of shows. It can be safely assumed that the BBC Wales on-screen credit of "grip" refers to the head of the grip department. The key grip reports directly to the director of photography and is roughly equal in production hierarchy to the gaffer. He or she generally has a best boy grip , who serves as the day-to-day administrator of the department, and will have an especially close working relationship with the gaffer's assistant, the best boy electric . However, the best boy grip has never been credited on screen in any Doctor Who production. The simplified on-screen credit of "best boy", a regular feature of the BBC Wales credit roll, refers exclusively to the best boy electric.
The work of grips hasn't often been highlighted by Doctor Who Confidential or Torchwood Declassified . However, grips can be seen working in the Confidential which accompanied School Reunion . There, viewers witness the grips laying dolly track for the pivotal poolside confrontation between the Tenth Doctor and Finch . Their work was also featured in the Confidential that accompanied The End of Time, Part Two , where director Euros Lyn describes how he achieved the "shaking" effect of Gallifrey descending upon the Earth .
Grips by story
Story
Grip
42
John Robinson
Adam
John Robinson
Adrift
Chris Hughes
An Adventure in Space and Time
Marc Tempest
The Age of Steel
John Robinson
Aliens of London
John Robinson
The Almost People
Gary Norman
Amy's Choice
John Robinson
The Angels Take Manhattan
Gary Norman
Arachnids in the UK
John Robinson
Army of Ghosts
John Robinson
Asylum of the Daleks
Gary Norman
Bad Wolf
John Robinson
The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos
John Robinson
The Beast Below
John Robinson
Before the Flood
John Robinson
The Bells of Saint John
Gary Norman
The Big Bang
John Robinson
Blink
Clive Baldwin
Boom Town
John Robinson
Brave-ish Heart
Sam Reeves
Can You Hear Me?
Ash Whitfield
The Caretaker
John Robinson
The Categories of Life
John Robinson , Clive Baldwin
Children of Earth: Day Five
Clive Baldwin
Children of Earth: Day Four
Clive Baldwin
Children of Earth: Day One
Clive Baldwin
Children of Earth: Day Three
Clive Baldwin
Children of Earth: Day Two
Clive Baldwin
A Christmas Carol
Gary Norman
The Christmas Invasion
John Robinson
The Church on Ruby Road
Ken Hodgson
Closing Time
Clive Baldwin
Co-Owner of a Lonely Heart
Matthew Hains , Sam Reeves
The Coach with the Dragon Tattoo
Matthew Budd , Sam Reeves
Cold Blood
John Robinson
Cold War
Gary Norman
Combat
Dai Hopkins
Countrycide
Dai Hopkins
The Curse of Clyde Langer
John Robinson
The Curse of Fatal Death
Darren Quinn
The Curse of the Black Spot
Gary Norman
Cyberwoman
Dai Hopkins
Dalek
John Robinson
Daleks in Manhattan
John Robinson
Dark Water
John Robinson
Day One
Dai Hopkins
The Day of the Clown
Clive Baldwin
The Day of the Doctor
Gary Norman
Day of the Moon
Gary Norman
Dead Man Walking
Allan Hughes
Death in Heaven
John Robinson
Death of the Doctor
John Robinson
Deep Breath
John Robinson
Demons of the Punjab
John Robinson
Detained
Sam Reeves
Dinosaurs on a Spaceship
Gary Norman
The Doctor Dances
John Robinson
The Doctor Falls
John Robinson
The Doctor's Daughter
John Robinson
The Doctor's Wife
John Robinson
The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe
Gary Norman
Doomsday
John Robinson
The Eaters of Light
John Robinson
The Eleventh Hour
John Robinson
Empress of Mars
John Robinson
The Empty Child
John Robinson
The Empty Planet
John Robinson
End of Days
Dai Hopkins
The End of Time
Clive Baldwin
The End of the World
John Robinson
Enemy of the Bane
Clive Baldwin
The Eternity Trap
John Robinson
Everything Changes
Dai Hopkins
Evolution of the Daleks
John Robinson
Extras: The Special
Alan Tabner
Extremis
John Robinson
Face the Raven
John Robinson
The Family of Blood
John Robinson
Father's Day
John Robinson
Fear Her
John Robinson
The Fires of Pompeii
John Robinson
Flatline
Bob Freeman
Flesh and Stone
John Robinson
For Tonight We Might Die
Matthew Budd , Sam Reeves
Forest of the Dead
John Robinson
Fugitive of the Judoon
Ash Whitfield
The Gathering
John Robinson , Clive Baldwin
Ghost Machine
Dai Hopkins
The Ghost Monument
John Robinson
The Gift
John Robinson
The Giggle
Ken Hodgson
The Girl Who Died
John Robinson
The Girl Who Waited
Gary Norman
The Girl in the Fireplace
John Robinson
A Good Man Goes to War
Gary Norman
Goodbye, Sarah Jane Smith
John Robinson
Greeks Bearing Gifts
Dai Hopkins
Gridlock
John Robinson
Heaven Sent
John Robinson
Hell Bent
John Robinson
Hide
Gary Norman
Human Nature
John Robinson
The Hungry Earth
John Robinson
The Husbands of River Song
John Robinson
The Idiot's Lantern
John Robinson
The Impossible Astronaut
Gary Norman
The Impossible Planet
John Robinson
In the Forest of the Night
John Robinson
Into the Dalek
John Robinson
Invasion of the Bane
Clive Baldwin
It Takes You Away
John Robinson
Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS
Gary Norman
Journey's End
John Robinson
Kerblam!
John Robinson
Kill the Moon
John Robinson
Knock Knock
John Robinson
Last Christmas
John Robinson
The Last Sontaran
Clive Baldwin
Last of the Time Lords
John Robinson
The Lazarus Experiment
John Robinson
Let's Kill Hitler
Dai Hopkins
The Lie of the Land
John Robinson
Listen
John Robinson
The Long Game
John Robinson
The Lost
Sam Reeves
Lost in Time
John Robinson
Love & Monsters
Dai Hopkins
The Mad Woman in the Attic
John Robinson
The Magician's Apprentice
John Robinson
The Man Who Never Was
John Robinson
The Mark of the Berserker
Clive Baldwin
Meat
John Robinson
The Metaphysical Engine, or What Quill Did
Matthew Budd
The Middle Men
John Robinson , Clive Baldwin
Midnight
John Robinson
Mona Lisa's Revenge
John Robinson
Mummy on the Orient Express
John Robinson
The Name of the Doctor
Gary Norman
New Earth
John Robinson
The New World
John Robinson , Clive Baldwin
The Next Doctor
John Robinson
Night Terrors
John Robinson
The Nightmare Man
John Robinson
Nightmare in Silver
Gary Norman
Nightvisiting
Matthew Budd , Sam Reeves
Nikola Tesla's Night of Terror
Ash Whitfield
Orphan 55
Ash Whitfield
Out of Time
Dai Hopkins
Oxygen
John Robinson
The Pandorica Opens
John Robinson
The Parting of the Ways
John Robinson
Partners in Crime
John Robinson
The Pilot
John Robinson
Planet of the Dead
John Robinson
Planet of the Ood
John Robinson
The Poison Sky
John Robinson
The Power of Three
Gary Norman
Praxeus
Ash Whitfield
The Pyramid at the End of the World
John Robinson
Random Shoes
Dave Logan
The Rebel Flesh
Gary Norman
Resolution
John Robinson
The Return of Doctor Mysterio
John Robinson
Revolution of the Daleks
Ash Whitfield
The Rings of Akhaten
Gary Norman
Rise of the Cybermen
John Robinson
Robot of Sherwood
John Robinson
Rosa
John Robinson
Rose
John Robinson
The Runaway Bride
John Robinson
The Satan Pit
John Robinson
School Reunion
John Robinson
Secrets of the Stars
Clive Baldwin
The Shakespeare Code
John Robinson
Silence in the Library
John Robinson
Sky
John Robinson
Sleep No More
John Robinson
Sleeper
John Robinson
Small Worlds
Dai Hopkins
Smile
John Robinson
Smith and Jones
John Robinson
The Snowmen
Gary Norman
Something Borrowed
Allan Hughes
The Sontaran Stratagem
John Robinson
The Sound of Drums
John Robinson
Spyfall
Ash Whitfield
The Star Beast
Ken Hodgson
The Stolen Earth
John Robinson
The Temptation of Sarah Jane Smith
Dave Holliday
The Time of the Doctor
Damian Roberts
They Keep Killing Suzie
Dai Hopkins
Thin Ice
John Robinson
Time Heist
John Robinson
The Time of Angels
John Robinson
The Timeless Children
Ash Whitfield
To the Last Man
John Robinson
Tooth and Claw
John Robinson
A Town Called Mercy
Gary Norman
The Tsuranga Conundrum
John Robinson
Turn Left
Dave Holliday
Twice Upon a Time
John Robinson
Under the Lake
John Robinson
The Unicorn and the Wasp
John Robinson
The Unquiet Dead
John Robinson
Utopia
John Robinson
The Vampires of Venice
John Robinson
The Vault of Secrets
John Robinson
Victory of the Daleks
John Robinson
Vincent and the Doctor
John Robinson
Voyage of the Damned
John Robinson
The Waters of Mars
John Robinson
The Wedding of River Song
Dai Hopkins
The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith
John Robinson
Wild Blue Yonder
Ken Hodgson
The Witch's Familiar
John Robinson
The Witchfinders
John Robinson
The Woman Who Lived
John Robinson
World War Three
John Robinson
The Zygon Invasion
John Robinson
The Zygon Inversion
John Robinson