History Trivia / DoctorWhoS12E3TheSontaranExperiment

* YouLookFamiliar: Kevin Lindsay, who previously played the Sontaran warrior Linx in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS11E1TheTimeWarrior "The Time Warrior"]], plays two completely different Sontarans here.

* PropRecycling: The Sontaran costume and spaceship were leftover from "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS11E1TheTimeWarrior The Time Warrior]]".
* ShootTheMoney: Creator/RobertHolmes commissioned a Sontaran story for Season 12 because the Sontaran costume created for the previous season was so expensive that the producer wanted to reuse it. The strange part is that a new, lighter Sontaran head was created for it, due to the old head causing issues for Kevin Lindsay (specifically exacerbating his already poor cardiovascular health), defeating the story's original purpose. Even more ironically — and tragically — the new head did nothing to alleviate Lindsay's health issues; he died a few months after filming.

* YouLookFamiliar: As with [[Recap/DoctorWhoS11E1TheTimeWarrior "The Time Warrior"]], Kevin Lindsay plays a Sontaran.

* StuntDouble: Creator/TomBaker's regular stunt double Terry Walsh ended up playing the Doctor in many scenes as Tom broke his collarbone while recording. The cinematography of the serial is therefore rather weird, especially by ''Doctor Who'' standards, showing the Doctor mostly in head-and-shoulders closeup or in extremely long shots.

* StuntDouble: The Fourth Doctor's stunt double ended up playing the Doctor in many scenes as Creator/TomBaker broke his collarbone while recording. The cinematography of the serial is therefore rather weird, especially by ''Doctor Who'' standards, showing the Doctor mostly in head-and-shoulders closeup or in extremely long shots.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Bob Baker and Dave Martin wanted to incorporate some relics of human civilisation which would imply that the story was actually set where London had once stood — for instance, by having the top of Nelson's column poking up out of the ground in homage to ''Film/PlanetOfTheApes1968''. Much of the action of their scripts was set in the ruins of an old priory, and so many of Styre's torture devices were medieval in nature. Creator/RobertHolmes rewrote Episode Two extensively, in the process removing a subplot in which it would have been revealed that Styre was controlling Vural's mind.

* ShootTheMoney: Creator/RobertHolmes commissioned a Sontaran story for Season 12 because the Sontaran costume created for the previous season was so expensive that the producer wanted to reuse it. The strange part is that a new, lighter Sontaran head was created for it, due to the old head causing issues for Kevin Lindsay (specifically exacerbating his already poor cardiovascular health), defeating the story's original purpose. Even more ironically — and tragically — the new head did nothing to alleviate Lindsay's health issues; rather, it killed him.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Bob Baker and Dave Martin wanted to incorporate some relics of human civilisation which would imply that the story was actually set where London had once stood — for instance, by having the top of Nelson's column poking up out of the ground in homage to ''Film/PlanetOfTheApes1968''. Much of the action of their scripts was set in the ruins of an old priory, and so many of Styre's torture devices were medieval in nature. Creator/RobertHolmes rewrote episode two extensively, in the process removing a subplot in which it would have been revealed that Styre was controlling Vural's mind.

* DescendedCreator: Glyn Jones, who played Krans, had previously scripted the Hartnell-era story "The Space Museum".

* WrittenInInfirmity: Creator/TomBaker broke his arm while filming the second episode, and several shots feature him quite obviously with his arm at an unnatural angle due to being in a sling, covered by his scarf.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Bob Baker and Dave Martin wanted to incorporate some relics of human civilisation which would imply that the story was actually set where London had once stood — for instance, by having the top of Nelson's column poking up out of the ground in homage to ''Film/PlanetOfTheApes''. Much of the action of their scripts was set in the ruins of an old priory, and so many of Styre's torture devices were medieval in nature. Creator/RobertHolmes rewrote episode two extensively, in the process removing a subplot in which it would have been revealed that Styre was controlling Vural's mind.

* TroubledProduction: Filming on Dartmoor was hampered by nonstop rain and the crew had to drag heavy cameras around. On top of that, Creator/TomBaker, in the second story he actually filmed, broke his collarbone, which required him to be doubled for the Doctor's fight with Styre. On that note, the heavy Sontaran costume exasperated Kevin Lindsay's heart condition, requiring him to be doubled for the fight as well (he died shortly afterwards).

* ShootTheMoney: Creator/RobertHolmes commissioned a Sontaran story for Season 12 because the Sontaran costume created for the previous season was so expensive that the producer wanted to reuse it. The strange part is that a new, lighter Sontaran head was created for it, due to the old head causing issues for Kevin Lindsay (specifically exacerbating his already poor cardiovascular health), defeating the story's original purpose. Even more ironically — and tragically — the new head did nothing to alleviate the Lindsay's health issues; rather, it killed him.

* ShootTheMoney: Creator/RobertHolmes commissioned a Sontaran story for Season 12 because the Sontaran costume created for the previous season was so expensive that the producer wanted to reuse it. The strange part is that a new, lighter Sontaran head was created for it, due to the old head causing issues for Kevin Lindsay (specifically exacerbating his already poor cardiovascular health), defeating the story's original purpose. Even more ironically-- and tragically-- the new head did nothing to alleviate the Lindsay's health issues; rather, it killed him.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Bob Baker and Dave Martin wanted to incorporate some relics of human civilisation which would imply that the story was actually set where London had once stood -- for instance, by having the top of Nelson's column poking up out of the ground in homage to ''Film/PlanetOfTheApes''. Much of the action of their scripts was set in the ruins of an old priory, and so many of Styre's torture devices were medieval in nature. Creator/RobertHolmes rewrote episode two extensively, in the process removing a subplot in which it would have been revealed that Styre was controlling Vural's mind.

* YouLookFamiliar: As with [[Recap/DoctorWhoS11E1TheTimeWarrior The Time Warrior]], Kevin Lindsay plays a Sontaran.

* ShootTheMoney: Creator/RobertHolmes commissioned a Sontaran story for Season 12 because the Sontaran costume created for the previous season was so expensive that the producer wanted to reuse it. The strange part is that a new, lighter Sontaran head was created for it, due to the old head causing issues for the actor who had to wear it, defeating the story's original purpose.

* WrittenInInfirmity: Tom Baker broke his arm while filming the second episode, and several shots feature him quite obviously with his arm at an unnatural angle due to being in a sling, covered by his scarf.

* ShootTheMoney: Creator/RobertHolmes commissioned a Sontaran story for Season 12 because the Sontaran costume created for the previous season was so expensive that the producer wanted to reuse it. The strange part is that a new, lighter Sontaran head was created for it, defeating the story's original purpose.

* WrittenByCastmember: [[Recap/DoctorWhoS12E2TheArkInSpace Again, Ian Marter wrote the novelisation]].

* PropRecycling: The Sontaran costume and spaceship were leftover from [[Recap/DoctorWhoS11E1TheTimeWarrior The Time Warrior]].

* FakeShemp: Creator/TomBaker shattered his collarbone during filming, requiring all the action stuff afterwards to be filled in by a double in a wig.
** The Doctor's fight with Styre had neither character played by his main actor (Kevin Lindsay was unable to perform action scenes because of a heart condition).