Trivia / Doctor Who S25 E3 "Silver Nemesis"

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• California Doubling: Arundel Castle stands in for Windsor Castle.
• Creator Backlash:
  • Sylvester McCoy later described the story, as an anniversary celebration, as "a disappointment".
  • David Banks didn't feel that the Cybermen were well served here. He also felt that gold had become an angle and they looked weak.
    The writer didn't understand the Cybermen, so he used them as a metaphor for Nazis.
  • Director Chris Clough was very unhappy with the quality of the special effects and models used in this story.
• Deleted Scene: A special-edition VHS release and the DVD provided deleted scenes which helped make a bit more sense out of things.
• Hostility on the Set: By all accounts, the shoot was pretty rancorous.
  • When John Nathan-Turner brought in Kevin Clarke, Andrew Cartmel jumped on the first train back to London to escape the "poisonous atmosphere".
  • Things got so bad that even Sylvester McCoy lost his temper and snapped at Sophie Aldred.
    I couldn't stop the tears rolling down my cheeks. Luckily, this broke the tension; Sly gave me a big hug and we laughed at our bad tempers.
• Jews Playing Nazis: Anton Diffring, who played the Neo-Nazi leader De Flores (along with various Nazis in many film and TV productions), was actually homosexual and Jewish, which caused him to flee Nazi Germany in 1938.
• Keep Circulating the Tapes: The 1993 VHS release of this serial is still relatively sought-after, as it includes a significantly extended version of the serial which was not ported over to the DVD release (the extra scenes being presented as a separate "deleted scenes" reel instead), as well as an American documentary on the making of the serial which could not be included on the DVD due to rights issues.
• Milestone Celebration: This was the 25th anniversary serial.
• The Original Darrin: Mark Hardy, who had played the Cyber-Lieutenant in "Earthshock" and "The Five Doctors" returns to the role here. Oddly enough, Brian Orrell, who played the role in "Attack of the Cybermen" still appears in this story, as the third-in-command Cyberman (technically making him The Other Darrin for John Ainley, who played the part in "Attack of the Cybermen").
• Out of Order: This was originally intended to be shown after "The Greatest Show in the Galaxy", but the start date of the season got pushed back by the Olympics and the running order was rearranged so the first episode of this story could go out on the date of the anniversary itself. This introduces a minor continuity error: Ace has Flowerchild's earring pinned to her jacket in this serial.
• Short Run in Peru: Parts 2 and 3 aired in New Zealand as part of a compilation broadcast prior to being shown in the UK.
• Stunt Casting: 1950s-1960s Broadway star Dolores Gray shows up for... absolutely no reason whatsoever.
• Troubled Production: As a knock-on from the even more troubled "The Greatest Show in the Galaxy". The problems on "The Greatest Show in the Galaxy" caused its production to overrun, leading to a lack of rehearsal time for this serial.
• Vacation, Dear Boy: According to various cast and crew members, the only reason Anton Diffring accepted to appear in this serial was because its filming occurred at the same time as Wimbledon and he'd get the opportunity to watch it on telly in his hotel room.
• What Could Have Been:
  • It was originally scripted for the policemen at the Nemesis' crash site to be killed by a swarm of Cybermats, who hadn't been seen since "Revenge of the Cybermen".
  • The Royal family (including Queen Elizabeth II herself) were asked to appear in this story by John Nathan-Turner. He later received a letter declining the role for how unprofessional it would be, and instead decided to just use an impersonator.
  • Peter Cushing, Charles Gray, Michael Gough, Christopher Lee, Herbert Lom, Donald Pleasence and Peter Vaughan were considered for De Flores.
  • Penelope Wilton was considered for Lady Peinforte.
  • Larry Hagman was offered the role of the American tourist, but he never replied back.
  • The Doctor's new stereo (for Ace) was to have Zygon like speakers, but these were replaced with more conventional technological ones.
  • Validium was originally named makarianite.
• Working Title: The Harbinger and Nemesis.
• Writing by the Seat of Your Pants: According to Kevin Clarke, he had no idea what story he was going to pitch to John Nathan-Turner until he actually started pitching it.

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