Trivia / Doctor Who S15 E6 "The Invasion of Time"

---

• Alan Smithee: The script is credited to David Agnew, a stock pseudonym often used by the BBC for work produced "in house" by contracted production team members. On this occasion it masks the authors Anthony Read and Graham Williams, the series' script editor and producer, who were forced to step in at the eleventh hour after no other script was ready.
• Creator Backlash: Louise Jameson was not happy with Leela's exit; she wanted Leela to have a Dying Moment of Awesome. However, the production team were holding out hope that she'd stay on for next season up until the last minute.
• Creator's Favourite: Graham Williams loved the Sontarans, hence their re-appearance.
• The Other Darrin: Angus McKay was unable to reprise his role as Borusa, so John Arnatt took over.
• Spared by the Cut: Louise Jameson wanted Leela to be Killed Off for Real, and producer Graham Williams and script editor Anthony Read considered agreeing to her request and having Leela die defending the Doctor against the Sontarans. Ultimately decided against it as they felt that this would traumatise children.
• Troubled Production: This story was a last-minute replacement for David Weir's impossibly over-ambitious "Killers of the Dark", which featured set pieces such as an arena the size of Wembley Stadium filled with cat people. Robert Holmes turned down an offer to write its replacement, and with only weeks to go, producer Graham Williams and script editor Anthony Read had no alternative but to write it themselves. Williams and Read thrashed out the storyline over a long weekend, taking some advice from Holmes, and Read then completed the first drafts of all six episodes within a fortnight. The production also lost two studio blocks to industrial action, and had to dip in to an emergency BBC fund for such situations which allowed for location filming.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Robert Holmes was approached to write this story, but he declined, not wanting to return to the series having just left his post as script editor.
  • Initially, it was revealed that the Time Lords were not native Gallifreyans, but rather protectors that had been allowed to build their citadel on the planet. Leela was supposed to meet these indigenous Gallifreyans following her banishment.
  • The Doctor's actions as President was supposed to throw the Time Lords into outright civil war, with Episode Two ending with several of them threatening to execute the Doctor (much as Andred does in the Episode Three cliffhanger of the finished serial).
  • The Vardans were also to betray the Doctor, ordering his death at the end of Episode Three.
• Working Title: The Invaders of Time.
• Writing by the Seat of Your Pants: Louise Jameson was invited to continue her role. She was unsure whether she would stay until the end of recording, so a plot device had to be ready to allow her to stay on Gallifrey, hence her underdeveloped romance.
• You Look Familiar: Milton Johns (Castellan Kelner) had previously appeared as Benik in "The Enemy of the World" and Guy Crayford in "The Android Invasion".

---