Doug prepares for his directorial debut

The biggest preparation you can do is writing the script, and I think that is preparation in every sense of the word. It�s prepping the episode and it also prepares you for where the emotional beats are and what the story feels like so writing the episode is absolutely the biggest part of that.

But [after that] you are you�re answering 200 questions a day, just on a set, saying, "Where are we starting and what are we doing here?" and you�ve got these very serious and very talented professionals asking very smart questions. You just spit back the answers as fast as you can.

So prep is all about getting the costumes, getting the sets right. This episode there will be no special effects - so I�m lucky that way - and two giant, giant fight scenes.

A lot of the prep goes in with John Medlin, our fight co-ordinator and I walk through the non existent sets and say, "Okay, we�ll fight this way and that way," and how the fight scenes will work out.

I am a big fan of drawing storyboards, so I draw cartoons of what I�ll be shooting. I basically storyboard the entire episode - which not everyone does and may not be necessary - but it�s my way of doing it, so that�s what prep is like for me.