Trivia / Doctor Who S20 E1 "Arc of Infinity"

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• Acting for Two: Peter Davison played Omega in part four when his body becomes a replica of the Doctor's, but was only credited as "The Doctor".
• Cast the Runner-Up: Colin Baker was originally considered for the Castellan.
• The Other Darrin: Ian Collier replaces Stephen Thorne as Omega.
• Production Nickname:
  • John Nathan-Turner nicknamed Colin Baker "Archie", because he thought he gave a very arched performance.
  • Baker had to remove his elaborate helmet as it kept bumping into doorways and arches, so he spent most of the story with the helmet under his arm, against his hip. He later said it felt like he was carrying a chicken around, and took to calling it "Ermintrude the chicken".
• Promoted Fanboy: Colin Baker is a huge fan of Doctor Who who'd been continuously watching the series since its premiere in 1963 (and still watches it to this day); he'd end up being cast as Commander Maxil in this story, just one season before being Recast as a Regular in a big way by playing the Sixth Doctor.
• Recast as a Regular: Colin Baker guest stars as Commander Maxil before taking over as the Doctor. In fact, according to Baker, it was his appearance in this story that led to him being cast as the Doctor the following season.
• Stunt Casting: Tying in with John Nathan-Turner's affinity for roping in name actors to boost the show's publicity, The Brothers star Colin Baker makes a guest appearance as Commander Maxil.
• Vacation, Dear Boy: Why part of the the story was set in Amsterdam; John Nathan-Turner remembered the success he had had in arranging for "City of Death" to be filmed on location in Paris whilst production unit manager, and decided to repeat the stunt here. Amsterdam was chosen in part because it was already regularly used for the BBC soap opera Triangle.
• What Could Have Been:
  • It is rumoured that Pierce Brosnan was considered for Commander Maxil. (An article in Doctor Who Magazine noted that in a parallel universe, there is one hell of a version of "Arc of Infinity".)
  • The original storyline (when it was called The Time Of Neman) by Johnny Byrne involved the Doctor landing in a futuristic Amsterdam. There, he and Nyssa discovered Neman, a creature who mind controlled and took the appearance of others using Time Lord powers, while trying to find the perfect body. John Nathan-Turner and Eric Saward didn’t like it however, thinking the Amsterdam setting felt forced in and that Byrne should use a returning villain instead of Neman.
  • Leela had been written into the script, but Louise Jameson was not available. A few of Leela's actions critical to the plot were therefore given to Nyssa, resulting in a slightly unusually aggressive role for the character.
  • Peter Cushing was considered for Borusa.
  • Patrick Stewart was considered for the Castellan.
  • Cardinal Zorac was originally called Zoral.
• Working Title: The Time of Neman and The Time of Omega.
• You Look Familiar:
  • Michael Gough had previously played the Celestial Toymaker.
  • Leonard Sachs (Borusa) previously played Admiral Gaspard de Coligny.
  • Ian Collier previously played Stuart Hyde.

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