"Mary Whitehouse will never accept this" : A Dr Who Production History (Inspired by Guajolote)

vlcsnap-2021-04-28-23h03m22s566.png
 
This is not good.

"`We had been working flat out for months. The story, the effects everything was so complex and Graham's mood swings were getting worse by the day. The unions weren't helping either. Back then there was a ban on overtime. If you were halfway through something and the clock struck 10PM then that was it the workers downed tools and you had to wait until the next day.

We were in the TARDIS set and on an important scene. The union members were being real bastards and were nitpicking over everything. Graham was muttering under his breath and his breath stank of gin. I kept glancing up at the clock in the corner of the studio. All that was needed was for Graham and I to say one line each and that would be it.

(deep breath)...This is the first time I've spoken about this. I did my line which was a bit rushed due to the minute hand reaching 12. Graham started his line and halfway through it he was interrupted by the shop steward who shouted "time's up" and all the staff downed tools. Graham froze for a second, then he roared like a lion, turned round, stormed towards the steward and punched him straight in the face.

"You cunt, you wretched cunt!" screamed Graham. Who the fuck do you think you are!"

(Myra Frances)
 
Of all the people to punch, at least it was someone who absolutely deserved it.

That said this probably has to be the end of Graham's stint, you can't go around punching people on set. Even if they deserve it.
 
Of all the people to punch, at least it was someone who absolutely deserved it.

That said this probably has to be the end of Graham's stint, you can't go around punching people on set. Even if they deserve it.
I'm a left winger in my political views (or rather was) and believe that workers should get a fair deal but I've studied the 1970's for years and I've got to say that the way in which the unions behaved in the decade was disgusting and probably led to Thatcher. Yes, Graham is done for but the series needs to be finished...
 
Shaun Ley: "Chapman was fired by the BBC the day after for assault but that left the show in limbo. 80% of the series has been completed but the BBC now had to rejig the show to shoehorn a new regeneration sequence. There was no way Chapman could come back. How could the series be finished without the Doctor?"
 
Shaun Ley: "Chapman was fired by the BBC the day after for assault but that left the show in limbo. 80% of the series has been completed but the BBC now had to rejig the show to shoehorn a new regeneration sequence. There was no way Chapman could come back. How could the series be finished without the Doctor?"
Body double get suddenly shot and the Doctor regenerates in mid story ?
 
They managed it for Time and the Rani (pauses for peals of sarcastic laughter...) and Aug Wiedersehen, Pet managed to get round a major cast member dying halfway through production of series 2.
 
They managed it for Time and the Rani (pauses for peals of sarcastic laughter...) and Aug Wiedersehen, Pet managed to get round a major cast member dying halfway through production of series 2.
There was a Live TV movie during the mid 50's on the BBC where a older actor died during the performance.
The actor said he was not felling well and sit down off camera .
When someone came to tell him , he was due on set, they discovered he was dead.
The actors had to improvise , through the rest of the performance to keep the story going with out the Character .
 
"Graham Chapman's assault on a BBC staffer was undoubtedly wrong but the effect on the nation as a whole was remarkable. Chapman would later say that so many people would come up to him and congratulate him for his actions. The effect of him was drastic. His firing by the BBC led to him making huge changes to his life. He stopped drinking alcohol at Christmas 1977 and said sober until his passing in 1995. Later he would speak at length about his battle with the booze in his book 'A Liar's Autobiography'

The anti-union feeling was widespread. By May 1978 Jim Callaghan's government was finished. Increasing militancy coupled with the Jeremy Thorpe scandal forced Callaghan's hand. The election of the 4th of May led to the return of the Conservatives to government. Willie Whitelaw had campaigned on a fierce Law and Order mandate and took office with a majority of 33. His appointments of Margaret Thatcher as Chancellor, Keith Joseph at Trade and Industry and surprisingly Norman Tebbitt at the Home Office was the clearest sign that the Tories meant business"

(Sandbrook)
 
"The New Avengers finished in 1980 and whilst it hadn't hit the heights it had reached in the 1960's it had proved a much needed slice of escapism from the misery of the late 1970's. The stand out star was not Pat Macnee but Tom Baker who's wild eyed turn as "Mother" made him an unlikely hero. His appearance in a deerstalker in the 1978 story "Death In The Shadows" was highly prescient as when Thames announced that they were to start producing Sherlock Holmes Baker was first choice to become the world famous detective which he played from 1982 to 1989 and won a slew of awards including the BAFTA award for best drama in 1985. Fans have argued ever since over which was the best portrayal of Holmes and Watson with Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce against Baker and Ian Richardson"

(The Story Of ITV, 2005)
 
Last edited:
"The New Avengers finished in 1980 and whilst it hadn't hit the heights it had reached in the 1960's it had proved a much needed slice of escapism from the misery of the late 1970's. The stand out star was not Pat Macnee but Tom Baker who's wild eyed turn as "Mother" made him an unlikely hero. His appearance in a deerstalker in the 1978 story "Death In The Shadows" was highly prescient as when Thames announced that they were to start producing Sherlock Holmes Baker was first choice to become the world famous detective which he played from 1982 to 1989 and won a slew of awards including the BAFTA award for best drama in 1985. Fans have argued ever since over which was the best portrayal of Holmes and Watson with Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce against Baker and Ian Richardson"

(The Story Of ITV, 2005)
cfa89eca6608c41d97c4cb784ff0ae93.jpg
 
Top