Trivia / Doctor Who S8 E1 "Terror of the Autons"

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• Deleted Role: Bill McGuirk’s role as a doomed policeman was cut out, despite still being credited.
• Executive Meddling: The story was supposed to have the Doctor vowing that the Master would stay on Earth "until I destroy him. Or until he destroys me." Head of Serials for BBC Ronnie Marsh objected to this ruthless characterization. Instead, the now Doctor looked forward to his next meeting.
• First Appearance: Of the Master, Jo Grant and Captain Mike Yates.
• On-Set Injury: While filming the Doctor and Jo's escape, the near-sighted Katy Manning tripped and sprained her ankle. She had to be taken to the hospital, and Nicholas John joked to her about how she’d be fired. Manning believed him, and when Jon Pertwee found out he told off John for frightening his new co-star.
• Recycled Set: The set of the Farrell’s house has furnishings and it’s window taken from the popular BBC children's show Play School.
• Throw It In!: The stunt with the Auton Policeman rolling down the hill was not a stunt at all — the car had hit the stuntman just fractionally too hard and sent him flying. Since the shot was awesome and since the stuntman wasn't seriously injured in his fall into the BBC Quarry, the director decided to leave it in. It leads to an extremely badass moment, since the Auton appears to get up immediately without even being stunned or disoriented, let alone damaged.
• Working Title: The Spray of Death.
• Written-In Infirmity: Katy Manning injured all the ligaments in her foot when jumping out of a car and running across a quarry. Barry Letts added the scene where Jo twists her ankle to explain her limp.
• What Could Have Been: The Troll Dolls were supposed to have a bigger role in the story (which is why the Master is intrigued to use them) and be controlled with the change in temperature of a heat wave. Terrance Dicks shut that idea down.
• You Look Familiar:
  • Harry Towb, who plays the unfortunate McDermott, had previously appeared in "The Seeds of Death".
  • Michael Wisher, the young Rex Farrel, had a small role in "The Ambassadors of Death". He would later have several roles through the series, including being the first to portray the Daleks' creator Davros.
  • Roy Stewart (Tony) was also Toberman.

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