Trivia / Doctor Who S24 E3 "Delta and the Bannermen"

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• Actor-Inspired Element: Don Henderson, playing Gavrok, threw himself into the production; elements such as the Bannermen having purple tongues came at his suggestion.
• Blooper: You can see Sylvester McCoy wearing his glasses when he's riding the motorcycle through the field in Episode 3, probably because he didn't want to take risks with Belinda Mayne and the baby in the sidecar.
• Creator's Favourite Episode: Director Chris Clough named this as his favourite story because of the nostalgia. Andrew Cartmel acknowledged that while it wasn't the best script, it was the one that the cast and crew got the most excited about.
• Deleted Scene: While only briefly seen in the final version, the inside of the TARDIS was supposed to have an extra scene. It would’ve shown Mel finding out that the Doctor keeps cash beneath the TARDIS’ console. The original script also had another scene with Burton and Ray, but this was cut. Since they were shooting in Wales, they didn’t want to bring the two actors out to London to film one scene.
• The Other Marty: Lynn Gardner was originally cast as Ray, but was injured in a motorcycling accident prior to the start of filming, and replaced by Sara Griffiths. Gardner was instead given the role of the Iceworld announcer in the following story.
• Stunt Casting:
  • British comedian Ken Dodd as the Tollmaster. The director recalled:
    Was Ken Dodd controversial? It worked — it was my idea. It's a small part, but it's a fun cameo. I liked the idea of this build-up — the Doctor and Mel arriving at a Toll port that only has its landing light on, and you then get the tension of 'What's going on there?' and instead of something nasty, you get Doddy coming out with his razzer going, "Hello, welcome! Surprise, surprise! You've won a prize!"
  • And the American theatrical star Stubby Kaye as Weismuller the CIA agent.
• Vacation, Dear Boy: John Nathan-Turner suggested a story set in Wales as he wanted to get away from the Home Counties.
• What Could Have Been:
  • In the original script, the setting was 1957 and revealed that the Americans had launched a satellite in advance of the Russian Sputnik, only to have it knocked out of orbit by the Nostalgia Tours spacebus. When Andrew Cartmel realised that the story was running overlength, it was decided to cut this element from the storyline, along with additional background on the Bannermen (revealing that they had polluted their own planet to the point that it was rendered uninhabitable).
  • A fairly well-known example within Doctor Who. Ray was considered as the Doctor's newest travelling companion, but they decided to keep on Ace (from the next story) instead as she would be more of a contrast to Mel. Plus, Sophie Aldred auditioned for the role.
  • The Lorells were originally called the Shirells.
  • Bernard Hill, Peter Vaughan, Simon Ward and David Warner were considered for Gavrok.
  • Joe Don Baker was considered for Weismuller.
  • Bob Monkhouse was originally offered the role of the Tollmaster, but was unavailable.
• Working Title: The Flight of the Chimeron.

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