Trivia / Doctor Who S18 E3 "Full Circle"

• Cast the Runner-Up: Bernard Padden auditioned for Adric, but lost out because of his strong Northern accent. (At the time, it was felt that an extraterrestrial character should not have a distinctive accent, at least to the ears of Southerners — apparently not all planets had a North back then.) Instead, he appeared as Tylos.
• Creator's Pest: K9’s abrupt beheading is a result of Andrew Smith’s dislike for the character.
• First Appearance: Of Adric.
• Hostility on the Set: While this was Adric's debut appearance, the stories for this season were produced out of order with their planned airings. Thus, Tom Baker and Matthew Waterhouse's acidic relationship from the making of "State of Decay" carried over here. Per his own account, Waterhouse eventually got so fed up with Baker's behavior that he said "Tom, fuck off." To the surprise of everyone on set, it worked — Baker remained silent for the rest of the day apart from performing his lines while the cameras were rolling.
• Promoted Fanboy: Writer Andrew Smith was a seventeen-year-old who achieved his lifelong ambition to write for the show. He submitted several further scripts to the production office, none of which were ultimately made. (His Sontaran origin story, "The First Sontarans", was set for production until Robert Holmes returned with a Sontaran story of his own, "The Two Doctors".) He eventually became a police officer; however, his writing career had a Career Resurrection in 2010 when he started writing scripts for Big Finish.
• Reality Subtext: Adric's brother dies in this story. Matthew Waterhouse's brother committed suicide when his proposal was rejected.
• What Could Have Been:
  • In Andrew Smith's original outline, the Outler starliner crash landed during the story as the planet went into Mistfall. The Doctor and Romana had to help the crew repair their ship while fighting off Marshmen and gigantic cave spiders. Aiding them is a young Marshchild, who has been rejected by her people due to her pacifist nature. In the end, the Marshchild sacrifices herself to keep the Doctor and Romana safe until the mists vanish and the Marshmen return to the swamps. In later drafts, the Marshchild became Adric, though the former would appear in a different role.
  • A power struggle between Varsh and Tylos was cut from the script.
  • Tom Baker suggested rewriting Adric as a Heroic Mime, unimpressed by Matthew Waterhouse's acting abilities; John Nathan-Turner shot the idea down.
  • Originally, Adric's knee was mended by a spray that the Doctor provides.
  • Dexeter was originally named Lexeter. This was changed to avoid confusion with Lexa in "Meglos".
  • Varsh, Adric’s brother, was originally named Arfrus.
  • BRIAN BLESSED!!!!!, Donald Houston and Edward Woodward were on the shortlist for Login.
  • Michael Sheard was considered for Dexeter.
• Working Title: The Planet That Slept.
• You Look Familiar:
  • Alan Rowe (Garif) had played several characters already, including Dr Evans in "The Moonbase", Edward of Wessex in "The Time Warrior" and James Skinsale in "Horror of Fang Rock" .
  • James Bree (Nefred) was the Security Chief in "The War Games".

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