Trivia / Doctor Who S21 E2 "The Awakening"

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• Creator Backlash: Eric Pringle was unhappy with Eric Saward's re-writes, believing that they made the story confusing and rushed.
• Dawson Casting: Will Chander, a pre-pubescent child, is played by 22-year old actor Keith Jayne, who suffered from a pituitary gland problem that left him diminuitive and looks totally convincing as a child half his real age.
• Deleted Role: There was originally a scene where Tegan interacts with Kamelion that was filmed, which would have bridged the gap between his two major appearances in "The King's Demons" and "Planet of Fire", but it was cut for time.
• Deleted Scene: In addition to Kamelion's cameo, there were other scenes that were cut.
• Never Work with Children or Animals: One scene required the Doctor and Will to arrive at a lych gate in a horse-drawn cart. The horse was meant to walk up to the gate, but not go through it. At first the horse would not walk towards the gate as it was distracted by the presence of its mare grazing nearby. Then, the director moved the mare behind the gate to encourage the horse to approach it, but now the horse walked straight through the gate, destroying it!
• Recycled Script: This story shares similarities with the first serial of Sapphire and Steel in that images of the past are projected forwards by a malevolent force and are capable of interacting with the present.
• What Could Have Been:
  • This was originally intended to be a four-part serial, but cut to two early in the script editing stage.
  • John Nathan-Turner liked the character of Will Chandler so much that he considered keeping him on as a regular companion. It was decided that the character would not have a lasting appeal and that his childlike character would quickly wear thin and lacked any clear path of development.
  • Honor Blackman, Judi Dench, Jean Marsh, Helen Mirren, Diana Rigg, Barbara Shelley and Penelope Wilton^note yes, we know who she is were considered for Jane Humpden.
  • Patrick Stewart and Peter Vaughan were considered for Col. Wolsey.
  • Jim Broadbent and Donald Sumpter were considered for Joseph Willow.
• Working Title: War Game and Poltergeist.

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