Trivia / Doctor Who S26 E1 "Battlefield"

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• Ability over Appearance: Bambera was originally envisioned as being from the Caribbean, hence the "shame" line. To Ben Aaronovitch's consternation, the Leeds-born, Durham-raised Angela Bruce was cast.
  If I'd known they'd cast someone from Newcastle [sic], I'd have changed the dialogue!
• Blooper: At the end of the cliffhanger where Ace is stuck in a water tank you can faintly hear Sylvester McCoy shouting "get her out!" This is because the special effect had malfunctioned, the glass had cracked and the water was approaching some exposed wires taped to the floor. She was only saved by the fact that McCoy noticed, swore briefly so that no one thought he was ad-libbing and yelled for the effects team to get her out. It later turned out that the tank's glass had not been made thick enough by the supplier from outside the BBC. If he hadn't intervened Sophie Aldred would have been electrocuted; as it is, she escaped with just some cuts to her hands from touching the cracked glass. The footage would later be used in one of the channel’s safety films, as well as a short documentary which can be found on the DVD release of this story.
• Creator Backlash: Ben Aaronovitch was very dissatisfied with the final production and felt the quality of the design and special effects let it down. He thinks "it doesn't work as a script, has crappy design and unhelpful music". He also felt the Brigadier's inclusion was a big error, that the designers didn't make the knights look futuristic enough and didn't like the CND speech that Andrew Cartmel wrote. It was cut down, and Cartmel admitted that he overwrote it. Aaronovitch later felt that he should have given the best lines to the Doctor and the good lines that were there were just for showing off.
• Creator's Favourite Episode: Andrew Cartmel loves this story, naming it as one of his top three.
• Enforced Method Acting: As mentioned above, none of the panic by the Doctor over Ace in the water filled alcove was faked, due to the special effect nearly fatally malfunctioning.
• Production Nickname: The story was jokingly called "Quatermass and the Lake". Andrew Cartmel would later dub it "Battle Fatigue", because it took so long to get made.
• Saved from Development Hell: This story was Ben Aaronovitch's first-proposed one, but development took so long that "Remembrance of the Daleks", pitched later, was made in the previous season.
• Shoot the Money: John Nathan-Turner decided that Stock Footage of a helicopter simply wouldn't do, and that the show really needed to blow its budget on an actual one. So we get long, lingering shots of the helicopter transporting the Brigadier around.
• Spared by the Cut: The Brigadier was supposed to die facing off against the Destroyer. This was approved by Nicholas Courtney, Andrew Cartmel and John Nathan-Turner. Ultimately, Ben Aaronovitch couldn't bring himself to do it.
• Throw It In!: James Ellis (Peter Warmsly) felt his part was underwritten, so he kept adding quotes by Alfred, Lord Tennyson. Most of them were cut, but some were left in.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Graeme Harper was originally asked to direct. He had to decline, as he was busy with Boon. Andrew Morgan was also considered for the job, but depending on who you ask either he was busy as well, or the higher-ups vetoed his being hired for over-spending on "Remembrance of the Daleks".
  • The Destroyer of Worlds was originally shown as a human man who would later turn into an abomination. It was decided that the Destroyer should only appear in the latter guise to simplify the story.
  • There was discussion on how the Brigadier would leave the show. One idea was to have him sacrifice himself to call in an air strike, and his death would satisfy the Destroyer. Another alternative ending was having him depart with the knights back to their home dimension.
  • The knights were supposed to have futuristic combat gear that only looked like traditional armour at a glance.
  • In the original version, Bambera was a part of a US-European organization called “Camelot”.
  • Ace was supposed to have a newly-built sonic screwdriver.
  • Lethbridge-Stewart was originally going to be promoted to General.
  • Freddie Jones and David Warner were considered for Peter Warmsly.
• Working Title: Storm Over Avallion, Lake Over Avallion, Pool of Avallion, Song of Avallion, Stormtroopers of Avallion and The Battlefield.
• You Look Familiar:
  • Twenty-three years after her role as Sara Kingdom, Jean Marsh returns as Morgaine. There's possibly a bit of a nod here when Morgaine says that the next time she sees the Brig, she'll kill him — in her first appearance, set at least several centuries later than this story, Sara is under the impression her brother Bret (played by Nicholas Courtney) is a traitor, and kills him.
  • June Bland, who had previously appeared in "Earthshock", returns as Elizabeth Rawlinson.
  • Ling Tai had previously been an uncredited extra in "Warriors of the Deep".

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