Trivia / Doctor Who S21 E7 "The Twin Dilemma"

---

• Acting for Two: Colin Baker also provides, uncredited, the voice of a Jacondan at Freighter Control in part three.
• Creative Differences: John Nathan-Turner and Eric Saward had different ideas as to what the Sixth Doctor's debut story should be. Nathan-Turner wanted a straightforward adventure pitting the Doctor against a strong villain, while Saward felt that the new Doctor's personality would be better showcased in a more unusual storyline. This would only serve to be the beginning of mounting tensions between the two of them (Saward having never been keen on Baker's casting in the first place) that would ultimately lead to Saward resigning as script editor by the end of Season 23.
• Creator Backlash:
  • Colin Baker named this his least favourite story of his era, citing many reasons and stating that the titular twins couldn't act.
  • Director Peter Moffatt described this story as the worst serial he ever did. Eric Saward felt the script was lousy, "but it started as a half-decent idea".
• Hostility on the Set: Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant had a frosty start to their relationship. Bryant had been nervous about suddenly becoming the senior member of the regular cast, and Baker had mistaken this for standoffishness on her part. Then on one occasion, Baker bit Bryant on the backside as a joke, which she tolerated. Kevin McNally did the same, prompting her to punch him in the face. Baker took Bryant out to dinner as a way of apology and they eventually became friends.
• Troubled Production: Anthony Steven's progress on the scripts was very slow, and he began offering the production team fantastical excuses such as his typewriter exploding. He eventually fell ill, leaving script editor Eric Saward to heavily restructure the scripts, which director Peter Moffatt felt had serious logistical and storytelling problems. Although the serial eventually made it into studio, one of the studio sessions for the previous story, "The Caves of Androzani", was cancelled due to strike action by scenery movers, and one of this story's studio sessions had to be given over to it instead. The story might have been cancelled or held over to the following season in a revised form, but John Nathan-Turner was able to secure a fresh studio slot, arguing to his superiors about the importance of a new Doctor's debut.
• What Could Have Been:
  • The original script featured the Jacondans and Gastropods being dropped totally without resolution to the plot, with the final battle taking place in another dimension against a being called Azlan who was controlling Mestor all along.
  • Ian Levine suggested that Azmael be the Doctor's old hermit mentor, referred to in "The Time Monster" and "State Of Decay". Unfortunately, Anthony Steven misunderstood the nature of the Doctor's relationship with the character, and made him a tutor at the Prydonian Academy instead.
  • John Nathan-Turner was encouraged to cast two more experienced female actors as Romulus and Remus, but chose male actors because he believed it was crucial the characters be boys for the script to work. While he may have had a point about this (the twins can be read as a Plot Parallel for the Doctor's fragmented personality following his regeneration), the boys visibly struggled with their parts.
  • Fabian was originally envisaged as a male character, and the Jacondan Chamberlain as a female one.
  • Peter Capaldi was considered for Hugo.
  • Jim Broadbent was considered for Drak.
  • Peter Cushing was considered for Edgeworth.
• Working Title: A Stitch in Time and A Switch in Time.
• You Look Familiar:
  • Dennis Chinnery (Sylvest) previously appeared as Albert C. Richardson in "The Chase", and as Gharman in "Genesis of the Daleks".
  • Edwin Richfield (Mestor) had previously appeared as Captain Hart in "The Sea Devils".
  • Seymour Green (Chamberlain) had previously played Hargreaves in "The Seeds of Doom".

---