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).
• 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 a different chair 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 hoped the planet Tara was inhabited by animals that looked like legendary creatures, including Unicorns. This was dropped for being too expensive, along with direct references to it’s inspiration The Prisoner of Zenda. Till was also originally a dwarf instead of a hunchback.
• 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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