Trivia / Doctor Who S20 E2 "Snakedance"

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• Author's Saving Throw: Apparently, putting Sarah Sutton in a "McDonald's waitress" outfit was because people had complained that they weren't showing her legs. Yeah.
• Costume Backlash:
  • Martin Clunes has made no secret of how much he hated the costumes he had to wear in this serial. Talk show hosts frequently exploit this to mess with him, bringing up clips from the serial to riff on the outfits. This played a big part in the story becoming a source of Creator Backlash for Clunes.
  • Sarah Sutton and Janet Fielding disliked their costumes, with Sutton going so far as to say it made her look fat. Peter Davison says on the DVD Commentary that it looks worse than Colin Baker's costume.
• Creator Backlash: Martin Clunes is rather embarrassed about his role in this serial, mostly because chat shows have kept bringing clips out from it showing him in the silly costumes.
• Deleted Scene: The last episode overran, leading to the removal of a scene where the Doctor comforts Tegan about her ordeal. It was used in the next story (although it includes the explanation that the Mara could only be destroyed during the process of its becoming, creating a minor Plot Hole if the serial is watched in isolation).
• Inspiration for the Work: In the DVD extras, Christopher Bailey states that the idea for the serial came from a story or article about isolated Christian sects in the Arizona desert that handled snakes as part of religious rituals. The religious groups he is referring to actually are located in Appalachia, areas such as Tennessee (where it originated), Kentucky and Georgia, not Arizona.
• Pop-Culture Urban Legends: Just like "Kinda", fans assumed the bizarre story was done not by a "Christopher Bailey", but by another writer. Those rumours were eventually debunked when Bailey started appearing in interviews in 2002 and 2011. The main reason why Bailey had been so silent was because of a complete Creator Breakdown he had, resulting in him swearing off writing for TV again.
• Prop Recycling: According to John Nathan-Turner, the staircase in the Chamber of Lom was used for A Song for Europe.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Dugdale was originally called Duchan (a platform used by Hebrew priests).
  • Judi Dench, Jean Marsh, Anna Massey, Kate O'Mara, Barbara Shelley and Joan Sims were considered for Tanha. O'Mara would go on to play the Rani, while Marsh, who previously played Joanna in "The Crusade" and one-off companion Sara Kingdom in "The Daleks' Master Plan", would return to play Morgaine in "Battlefield".
• You Look Familiar: Brian Grellis had played Sheprah and Safran.

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