* * *
Ten years after The Five Doctors, and with Doctor Who consigned, or so we thought, to the archives of television history, I never expected to receive another call from John Nathan-Turner. ‘Lissie, it’s thirty years – we need to do something for the fans.’
There he was again with that damn phrase and this time, as well as the stick, he held the added carrot of being part of the BBC’s Children in Need programme. We could potentially raise a lot of money, and having dedicated the last eight years of my life to raising my own daughter it seemed churlish to say ‘no’.
As befits a charity special, it was utterly preposterous. Somehow JNT had conceived of a plot involving all the Doctors – along with the cast of EastEnders! It was called Dimensions in Time and I was booked to shoot, once again, alongside the Third Doctor. After such fun times on Paradise, I was looking forward to it.
But once again, I was underestimating the power of Pertwee …
The night before the shoot, the Miller family attended a press screening of Sadie’s Royal Celebration. All these kids were running around and it was a really enjoyable evening. Unfortunately, events ended up dragging on and all the while the buffet was sitting under the hot lights. As I was working the next day, I didn’t drink. But a couple of those prawns can’t hurt …
A few hours later and I’d never been sicker. As my morning pickup time of seven o’clock drew closer, it only seemed to get worse. And the thought of squeezing into my Five Doctors costume again after all those years made my empty stomach turn somersaults. Actors rarely have the option of cancelling and somehow I made it to Elstree in one piece, where the makeup girl took one look at me and said, ‘Oh my God, you’re green!’
Oh shit, I thought, I’m really in trouble!
I did the best I could, but Sod’s law, the usually impeccable Jon chose today to keep fluffing his lines, so we were out there in Albert Square for take after take, after take. In a bizarre echo of one of our earliest meetings, he kept calling me Lis instead of Sarah, too. Eventually I couldn’t hold it back any longer. I made my excuses, then legged it round the other side of one of the market stalls and was sick all over again. Completely washed out, I stumbled back.
‘Sorry, everyone,’ I mumbled. ‘I’m really not very well.’
I don’t know what Jon was on, but he turned theatrically to someone else and nonchalantly said, ‘Oh, she always does this!’
What do you mean ‘always does this’? You’re the one who’s always complaining he’s ill! I thought.
Any other day I would have had him on toast, but this time I was too weak. In any case, the words were barely out of his mouth when he got his karmic reward.
Wendy Richard had appeared on set. As a future Pauline Fowler she was meant to have aged an awful lot, so she was covered in grey powder. ‘Oh my God, darling, Wendy looks rough!’ said Jon.
And I just kept quiet. I thought, If you haven’t read the script, I’m not bloody telling you, you silly sod!
I decided to let him go over and put his foot in it. And he did!
The end result is what it is. In the absence of anything else I think it garnered a lot of interest and fans tell me they enjoyed it. Managing so many mini-plots and myriad time travellers seemed an impossible task but JNT pulled it together. But you wonder why he bothered when nobody else at the BBC seemed to have an interest in the proper show. Who, to the people with the money, was a relic and so was anyone associated with it. We were only good, it appeared, for driving VHS sales – not for investing in with new programmes.
Which makes it all the more satisfying whenever I watch EastEnders and see that market stall. If only the BBC bosses knew …
* * *
Fortunately, after a few years trapped in my own version of The Five Doctors’ Death Zone, my non-Who career was beginning to pick up again. I was pleased to land a small part in a series called Men of the World. The regular cast was very strong: David Threlfall has appeared in Shameless and Harry Potter, while Brenda Bruce was in Paradise Towers with Sylvester, and John Simm of course was magnificent as the recent Master. I played Lorraine in an episode called Lost in France. My main memory of it is of not being stuck in a quarry. Such a relief!
I have to say, that show whetted my appetite for something more. If only Emmerdale hadn’t been offered so early, I’m ready for it now, I thought. The Emmerdale door was firmly closed at that moment but I did get the next best thing, give or take a few miles: Peak Practice.
I was actually a fan of the show when I was asked to audition. I’m not saying it’s quite like David Tennant being a Who aficionado from childhood, but I had a relationship with the programme before I walked in front of the casting director. I like castings, actually, because they’re usually quite near my house in London and they keep you honest – you either perform on the day or you don’t. Well, I was offered two episodes as Dr Pat Hewland and as they fell across Sadie’s summer holidays, we thought we’d all go up to the Peak District and enjoy a week together afterwards. It was a great idea – I loved that place. We stayed in a delightful bijou hotel, ate lamb cooked with lavender and just let our hair down. Even during filming I got to spend time with my family. We worked two days and off, three days and off, so it wasn’t as full-on as it might have been.
I say I was a fan – well, I had been of the original cast of Kevin Whately and Amanda Burton. I knew there was a different line-up for Series Four but I didn’t know who and I was thrown into it as soon as I arrived. At one point I was sitting at a desk, trying to establish a connection with this new actor, and I began to despair – he just wasn’t having any of it. This is going to be a long day, I thought. I’d just about had enough when he got up and left – it turned out he was a stand-in! When the real actor came in, we got on like a house on fire but they were doing so many episodes at the same time – literally running from one scene to another – that I suppose he’d been needed elsewhere, to get the lighting right, or something.
I admit it was quite hard work getting back into the groove, especially learning how people did things outside Who. Some of it was quite an eye opener – and not always for bad reasons. I couldn’t believe it when I was shown to my trailer.
My own trailer!
It wasn’t as hi-spec as the one I have on The Sarah Jane Adventures – nowadays I’ve got my own bed, and a microwave and even a shower – but it felt like a palace compared to the old days on Who. Just having somewhere to take your lunch other than squatting on damp hillocks, in makeup vans or under awnings made me feel like a superstar.
I was sad when it was over so when the call came for more episodes, I didn’t hesitate – ‘Just tell me when.’
Two days later, I was on the train back up to the Peak District.
This sudden change of fortunes ought to have sounded warning bells. By now it was all very chaotic and they seemed extremely behind. Reshoots were going on left, right and centre and the script I was posted told its own story (every time there’s a change it’s printed on different coloured paper). This was pink – way down the line. By the time I arrived I’d just about got it memorised – and then the buggers handed over an amended version.