Trivia / Doctor Who S24 E4 "Dragonfire"

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• Corpsing: When Mel and Ace first see the dragon, Mel lets loose with a characteristic scream. Sophie Aldred, inches away, grimaces for real. (Aldred was nursing a large migraine on the day the scene was filmed.)
• Creator's Favourite Episode: Andrew Cartmel thought this was the best story of the season.
• Distanced from Current Events: Kane was originally named Hess. That was changed due to the announcement that the Soviet government under Gorbachev was no longer opposed to the release of Nazi war criminal Rudolf Hess on humanitarian grounds, and due to Hess' death by suicide in Spandau Prison, West Berlin on 17 August 1987.
• First Appearance: Of Ace.
• Follow the Leader: The story is pretty clearly trying to piggyback off the previous year's Aliens, especially contriving the A.N.T. acronym just so someone can say they're on an "ant hunt."
• Self-Adaptation: Ian Briggs write both this serial and its novelization.
• Throw It In!:
  • The Doctor going to pet an alien that bites at him was ad-libbed by Sylvester McCoy.
  • The wistful speech the Doctor delivers when Mel announces that she's leaving to travel the universe with Glitz was the audition speech that Sylvester McCoy was given when trying out for the role, and when it became clear that this was going to be Mel's last story he insisted that they use that.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Amongst those considered for Kane were Ronald Lacey, Ian Holm, David Jason, Simon Ward and David Warner.
  • The main guest lead was a original character called Razorback, but John Nathan-Turner thought as the character was quite like Glitz then he should actually be Glitz.
  • Originally, Ace joined Kane as a mercenary, with his insignia permanently seared onto her palm. Ace would rebel however when ordered to kill Mel. It was thought to be too similar to Belazs' arc, so it was cut out, as well as Ace’s stuffed dog sidekick Wayne.
  • A pair of scenes in which Glitz accidentally triggers a trap in the corridors beneath Iceworld and must be rescued by the Doctor were removed from the script for time.
  • The Seventh Doctor's style of screwed-up proverbs was supposed to be continued. JNT and Andrew Cartmel both agreed to tone down the more comedic parts of the new Doctor's personality, and so these were removed.
  • There was indecision at the time that S24 was being written about when in the season Bonnie Langford would be departing, and therefore which story's young female character would become the new companion: Ray from "Delta and the Bannermen" would have joined the Doctor had she left before the end of the season. It is sometimes claimed one of the Red Kangs from "Paradise Towers" was in the running, but this was the only story in the season that was not considered for Mel's departure. In the alternative versions where she wasn't the new companion, Ace went off with Glitz, while the Doctor and Mel went off together as normal.
  • McLuhan was originally called Eisenstein (after Sergei Eisenstein) but it was feared that the surfeit of foreign names might be construed as racism.
  • When Kane attacks Ace in her quarters, he was originally going to be hiding in her refrigerator. This was changed due to fears that children would be inspired to climb into fridges and get injured.
• Working Title: Absolute Zero, Pyramid in Space and The Pyramid's Treasure.
• You Look Familiar: Tony Osoba (Kracauer) previously played Lan in "Destiny Of The Daleks".

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