Elisabeth Sladen: The Autobiography

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Speaking of enjoying it, strange things had begun to happen to me since The Time Warrior’s transmission. As a young girl in London it’s not out of the norm to attract the odd stare or comment from men of a certain disposition but after Christmas it seemed to become more frequent, and not just from men. I felt women studying me as well. When the first young boy rushed up to me near my house the penny dropped: they were Who fans.

I’d seen the effect Jon could have on complete strangers when we were out and about but, naively I suppose, I never for one moment expected the same treatment. He was the Doctor. Who was I?

It turned out that for a surprising number of people I was apparently quite important.

Signing my first autograph was an amazing feeling. It’s one of those skills you practise as a child but you never expect to use on anything other than cheques. I had no idea signing sessions would become such a large part of my life later on.

Jon was amazing with fans – he never felt more comfortable. I don’t know how he did it. I love meeting new people and having conversations but, to this day, there’s something unnerving about having a conversation with someone who knows so much about you when you don’t even know their name – especially when you’ve just popped out to buy a pint of milk.

My postman noticed another change. Aside from bills, circulars and the odd bit of family correspondence, I was now receiving bundles of letters every week, forwarded from my agent. It became a point of principle to reply to each and every one. But they don’t tell you about that when you sign up.

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Jon’s news was still top secret when we began work on the next serial. I thought it would be tricky to keep schtum but once you’re in the flow again the real world flits out of your head.

If Death to the Daleks had brought back familiar villains, The Monster of Peladon reintroduced an entire planet. Brian Hayles’ The Curse of Peladon had done well when it was broadcast in 1972 and so Terry and Barry asked him to conjure a sequel. The finished result, set fifty years after the original, was also intended to convey comment on the bubbling mining dispute in the UK and the growing enthusiasm for feminism.

For the sake of cost-cutting and also continuity, many of the original Peladon sets and costumes were to be used again. Not only that, Barry attempted to regroup as many of the team from the earlier production as well. I was so glad he did. After three serials where I’d felt all at sea with the director I was delighted to meet the next one. Australian Lennie Mayne had also directed the tenth-anniversary special, The Three Doctors, so he had his Who credentials. More importantly he was just so easy to get on with.

He was a small man, about my size, but he had none of the chip on the shoulder that shorter men sometimes have. Maybe that’s the Australian confidence – or perhaps he was just a nice bloke. He was such a bundle of energy, quite manic actually, and because he used to be a dancer he was always pirouetting around the studio and talking away. He had such a florid vocabulary and he was so irreverent. For one of the royal palace scenes he waited for Nina Thomas, as Queen Thalira, to get into place and then said, ‘Right, now Mum’s in the bog house sitting on the throne!’ No airs and graces with Lennie.

He loved calling ladies ‘Mum’. Don’t know why. You could always try things out with Lennie, though. He was never rushed.

‘Lennie, what about if I do this instead?’

‘Good idea, Mother, good idea!’

Plenty of others would have said ‘no’ or worse but Lennie was a real people person. You could see that in the way he looked out for his wife, the actress Frances Pidgeon. He liked to have her around and so he found her a small role as a handmaiden. He was always fussing – ‘Hello, Pidge’, ‘Come in, Pidge’, ‘Join the group, Pidge – you’re one of us, Pidge.’ He just wanted everyone to be happy.

Working with Lennie also coincided with me finally relaxing into the show. Looking back, it definitely took me the first two serials to get my bearings. I was still finding my feet, getting to know the team and doing my best to get a bead on Jon. It was in everyone’s interests if we got along off-screen as well as on and that was my mission. By the time we did Daleks I think we were close. Peladon, though, was the first time I thought, Yes, I’m part of this show. Jon and I are a team.

These relationships can take time. School Reunion was David Tennant’s third Doctor Who episode – after the Christmas Special and New Earth – and I know he was still feeling his way with the crew, the character, Billie Piper and everything else. He’s said in interviews that he didn’t really feel he owned the part until Tooth and Claw – his fourth episode (although broadcast before School Reunion).

So with Peladon everything just clicked. Obviously I got notes from Jon about my costume, but that was just him. I turned up in a jumper one day and he said, ‘Oh no! You should wear a blouse, Lissie.’ Now, I hate wearing blouses, anything with collars, really. ‘It’s quite dark in the tunnels,’ he added. ‘If you had a nice white blouse …’

‘I’d be easier to shoot!’

We had a laugh about that, which shows how our relationship had matured.

I knew Jon’s comments about my jumper weren’t personal – it was just his obsession with all things fashion. (According to Jon, he and Gerald Campion, who played Billy Bunter, had been the first Teddy Boys in London. These things were important to him.) But Jon wasn’t the only one, unfortunately. After a morning of crawling along tunnels I received another piece of advice. ‘Lis, perhaps you might wear a bra for the actual shoot?’

For God’s sake, I thought. You can’t see anything! But, ‘OK, fine,’ I said, all teeth and smiles, and duly traipsed off to wardrobe. I counted to ten before returning, still completely bra-less. ‘Is that better?’

‘Oh much! Thanks, Lis. We don’t want to frighten the children.’

Ridiculous.

Even the soundman threw his two penn’orth in on my costume on that one, I seem to remember. I felt like