‘The figures are amazing!’ he said. ‘You two should be very pleased with yourselves.’
I guessed he was talking about the second episode of The Ark in Space, which had aired the previous Saturday.
‘You’re absolutely right. Do you know how many people tuned in? 13.6 million people – 13.6!’
Whatever Philip was on was very contagious. It was the first time I genuinely felt, We’re flying, they like us – they really like us!
The atmosphere in the whole building was electric. It meant so much to everyone. You could taste the enthusiasm in the air. Strangers, people from other programmes, support staff – they all seemed to know our star was in the ascendant. And, do you know what? It felt bloody good! Our hard work was paying off.
We never hit the same heights again, although there was a definite spike in viewers once Tom was established. People loved him. No wonder he stayed for seven years.
A few weeks later there was a lot to love, too, about Terror of the Zygons. The plot was intricate, clever and fun and I loved how it tapped into the national psyche, exploiting all those myths and rumours about the Loch Ness Monster. Some of the acting was tremendous as well, the action sequences breathtaking and our director was one of the best.
But the monster …
My God, it was Invasion of the Dinosaurs all over again. I bumped into Philip one day and he was nearly in tears. Something had gone seriously wrong. The Skarasen was meant to be a sort of cyborg Nessie but it looked like a sock puppet with eczema. So disappointing. Tom and I fell about when we saw it. The plans had, apparently, promised so much. Dougie Camfield did his best but in the end I know he was resigned to using as few clips of the monster as possible, which was a shame.
On the plus side, though, I thought the shape-shifting Zygons themselves were pretty chilling. You can tell when James Acheson is back in the costume department because things get ratcheted up a notch. Need half a dozen giant orange-hooded suits with tentacles and octopus suckers? Jim’s your man. It was good to see Keith Ashley again, too, working a Zygon instead of a Dalek this time.
And we did have fun. At one point Harry is cloned by a Zygon and I have to chase him all over the Scottish (hah!) countryside. He’s hiding in a barn and I stumble in. It’s so redolent of a dozen 1970s thrillers. Really well shot by Dougie, I think. Then Harry has to leap out and try to skewer me on a pitchfork.
OK, so we rehearsed this, but as soon as the cameras were rolling it was like Ian – not Harry – was a man possessed. He came at me with this bloody pitchfork so fast I thought I’d be kebabed for dinner! Boy, I was glad when that scene was over. I remember falling over just to escape those deadly tines. It was a really tricky moment. You learn it, you practise it – then suddenly you see two sharp blades driving towards your face and have to dive for cover. Not a nice feeling at all.
Murder attempts aside, Zygons was good for Sarah, as well. I like the fact you actually see me at a typewriter being a journalist – it’s a small reminder that she’s still an independent career woman, despite the aliens and everything. I think the headline on my piece was ‘Another Bermuda Triangle?’ – that was clever of Robert, rooting the story in popular myth once again. There are also some good scenes where Sarah is left to strike out on her own – without the Doctor, for example, when she gets to investigate the Duke’s library and then saves Harry. In fact, I think I got as much if not more solo screen time in Episode 1 as Tom. That’s a real compliment to the character. Whatever my paranoia about Philip’s opinion, he obviously felt Sarah Jane was popular enough with audiences to warrant it.
Zygons picked up where Cybermen left off and the distress call from UNIT at the end of Season Thirteen. By the time we land in Season Fourteen, there have been a number of costume changes. I’m wearing a sort of pale green safari suit with long boots. Harry is all blazered up as usual, but wearing a familiar inordinately long scarf. And the Doctor is decked out in tartan neckwear plus full Scottish hat and coat combo. The theme continues throughout the start of Episode 1. There’s an off-screen bagpipe player puffing his guts out, which is really played for laughs, while the Brig’s first appearance is wearing a kilt. It turns out he’s related to the clan Stewart, as per his name. And not because, as Sarah mocks him: ‘You were just doing a Doctor.’
With budgets not stretching to Loch Ness, Philip and Dougie sourced the ideal alternative locations – in Sussex. In mid-March we recorded all the beach scenes on Climping Beach, plus the TARDIS’s arrival on Ambersham Common. The next day we filmed Tom’s big chase scene on Tullock Moor. That was action-packed and a half, really redolent of Cary Grant in North by Northwest. When it came to the Zygon spaceship landing, however, I think someone somewhere was enjoying an in-joke.
According to the script, the aliens landed their craft in a disused quarry outside Brentford. A quarry actually in the script! When the Brig and co. screech up in their Jeeps, for once there was no need to block out the cranes and diggers. I wonder how many people at home had a giggle at that.
Early April we finally shot the first studio episode in White City; the second followed the day after. I had a good feeling about this one. As usual there were some great auxiliary players, notably John Woodnutt as the Duke of Forgill. It never ceased to amaze me how Who could be like this kind of glee club for actors. Some quality talent appeared on our doorstep – and they were so happy to be part of it. John had a couple of parts. When he wasn’t being the Duke, or a Zygon pretending to be the Duke, he actually lived inside one of the Zygon costumes. They were very difficult to move inside – I can still picture Jim Acheson guiding John across the room. John didn’t let it get him down; he used to tap dance on his mark. Once I went too close and this crazy orange lizard creature said, ‘Feel my suckers, Sladen. My suckers are so exquisite, feel them!’
Working with Dougie Camfield was a hoot. Like Maloney, he made you feel part of something special. He wasn’t some coach with a megaphone ordering his minions around – we were crucial to the programme.
‘Morning, people,’ he would holler when he arrived. ‘Where’s my A-team?’
He was such a flatterer. And because he got on so well with everyone, we’d do anything for him. One day he announced, ‘Look guys, we’re behind, we’re running out of days, and I really need this to be good. Who’s going to come in at the weekend?’
Of course, we all told him to clear off, or words to that effect – he would have expected nothing less, I’m sure – especially when he admitted we wouldn’t be paid. But we were only kidding: anything for Dougie.
Tom said, ‘Yes, I’ll bring the soup, Lissie can bring the pork pies.’ Everyone was given a task because of course the canteen wouldn’t be running on the Sabbath. Then on the Sunday, in we duly marched. Dougie couldn’t have looked prouder.
‘My beautiful A-team!’
I’d have done anything for Dougie – well, almost anything. He had a background in gritty dramas like The Sweeney, real urban telly, and so when it came to us he had particular tastes. For example, if the script said, ‘Sarah’s leg bleeds’, he would not have been disappointed to see real blood. It’s true. I’m not saying he would ask me to hurt myself – but if it happened I don’t think he’d be too put out! Imagine being poor Lillias Walker. For one scene on the moor, her character Sister Lamont has to wield a sickening arm gash. She must have been so nervous around Dougie and sharp objects …