Trivia / Doctor Who S17 E4 "Nightmare of Eden"

• Corpsing: Tom Baker is obviously in intense pain trying not to crack up at Tryst's ridiculous, completely made up accent.
• Creative Differences: The director quit because of conflicts with Tom Baker. It got to the point where they got into a shouting match in a BBC corridor.
• Creator Backlash: Writer Bob Baker wasn't impressed by Tryst's glasses or German accent — decisions all made in rehearsal.
• Follow the Leader: Bob Baker found inspiration in the disaster movies which had become popular during The '70s, such as Airport, The Poseidon Adventure and The Towering Inferno.
• Hostility on the Set: While the director ultimately left after many fights with Tom Baker, he was disliked by pretty much everybody on the cast and crew, due to the ageing director insisting on using outdated shooting schedules and production techniques.
• No Budget: The story was made on the cheap, what with Season 17 having budget problems.
• Troubled Production: Even among the chaos of Season 17, this stands out for having one of the most troubled, disastrous shoots in the show's entire run. Already suffering the usual behind-the-scenes issues, things went further south with the hiring of ageing director Alan Bromly, who had only directed one other serial for the show. Not only did Bromly not get along with Tom Baker, Lalla Ward, or David Brierly at all, he insisted on using outdated shooting schedules and production techniques, making things even harder for the crew. Baker frequently refused to follow instructions and constantly picked fights with Bromly, and later on in the shoot, when it became obvious that literally no-one on the crew supported him in his arguments with the lead actor, Bromly quit, leaving Graham Williams to direct the remainder of the episode, and visual effects designer Colin Mapson to oversee editing and post-production. Bromly would never direct for Doctor Who again. Mapson, longtime veteran of the programme, flatly called it "without doubt, the most disastrous Doctor Who I've ever been involved in". When production finally wrapped, crew members were presented with T-shirts saying, "I'm Relieved the Nightmare is Over" and "I survived the Nightmare of Eden!" printed up for the rest of the crew.
• Wag the Director:
  • This is one of the few occasions where Tom Baker's habit of this was somewhat understandable. Ageing director Alan Bromly was hired as the serial's original director, and insisted on using outdated shooting schedules and production techniques, making things hard for the cast and crew, resulting in him eventually quitting when, after Tom Baker picked up a fight with him, it became obvious that literally no-one on the crew supported him in his arguments with the lead actor.
  • Vraxoin was originally called "xylophilin" or "zip", but was changed so as not to sound appealing to children. Lalla Ward strongly supported this change.

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