Trivia / Doctor Who S16 E4 "The Androids of Tara"

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• Acting for Two: Mary Tamm plays four roles in this story: Romana, Princess Strella and their respective android doubles.
• Actor-Inspired Element: Mary Tamm herself designed Romana's distinctive purple outfit after the originally planned costume by Doreen James proved to be made of scratchy tweed.
• Creator's Favourite: David Fisher was very proud of Count Grendel, and decided to have him escape death at the climax so that he might potentially be brought back for a return appearance (although, in the event, no such story was ever formally planned).
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• No Budget: The Taran woodbeast was due to there being no money in the budget for a bear costume to be made and costume designer Doreen James had to hire a bear costume from a costumer.
• Prop Recycling:
  • The faceless android is based on the robot head used for the Sarah Jane robot in "The Android Invasion".
  • One of the chairs in Lamia's room is the same as one of the chairs at Mehendri Solon's table in "The Brain of Morbius".
  • The imperial throne is Tim’s chair from The Goodies.
• Stunt Double: Although Mary Tamm was a skilled horse-rider, she refused to do the horse-riding sequence herself because she could not wear a helmet and felt that the potential of an accident was too great.
• What Could Have Been: David Fisher had hoped that Tara might be populated by animals resembling creatures of legend, such as unicorns (which might be natural or mechanical), and originally envisaged Till as a dwarf rather than a hunchback.
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• Working Title: The Androids of Zenda, The Androids of Zend, The Prisoners of Zend and The Seeds of Time.
• You Look Familiar:
  • Peter Jeffrey previously played the colony pilot in "The Macra Terror".
  • Declan Mulholland previously played Clark.
  • The Archimandrite is Professor Clegg, the ill-fated psychic from the beginning of "Planet of the Spiders". And Lennox, the ill-fated physicist from "The Ambassadors of Death". And Viner, the ill-fated archaeologist from "The Tomb of the Cybermen". Finding religion and steering clear of professors turns out to be a good move: he survives to the end of this one.
  • Simon Lack had previously appeared as Professor Kettering.

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