Trials and Tribulations was a documentary released as a special feature on the DVD release of The Ultimate Foe. It covered the behind-the-scenes issues during tenure of the Sixth Doctor, from Colin Baker's casting to his departure.
Contents
Sixth Doctor era[edit | edit source]
Baker's casting[edit | edit source]
According to Colin Baker, after appearing as Maxil in three of Arc of Infinity's four episodes, he and his wife were invited to the wedding of an assistant floor manager a few weeks later. Eric Saward, John Nathan-Turner and Gary Downie also attended.
Nathan-Turner would later tell Baker that he'd based his decision to cast him as the Sixth Doctor on the characteristics he'd shown during that party. Indeed, Nathan-Turner admitted that he would often advise actors playing the Doctor that "the clue to how you play it, is how you are at a party - it's just all your characteristics, one notch up."
Both Eric Saward and Ian Levine would later admit that they doubted the wisdom of casting Baker based on how he acted at a party.
Costume[edit | edit source]
Pat Godfrey was asked to design a costume that was "totally tasteless", in line with how Nathan-Turner imagined this Doctor. Eric Saward offered the idea, in his interview, that Nathan-Turner wanted to see his own style of dress reflected in this Doctor - a nod to his penchant for Hawaiian shirts. Godfrey struggled to meet the brief, with many of her designs being rejected by Nathan-Turner. Saward puts this down to her years of experience leading her to instinctively make the costume less tasteless, with more complementary colours. Eventually, according to Baker, Godfrey would create a design so tasteless that she did not expect Nathan-Turner to acccept it but, to her surprise, he did.
Additional topics covered[edit | edit source]
to be added
People interviewed[edit | edit source]
- Colin Baker
- Nicola Bryant
- John Nathan-Turner
- Eric Saward
- Philip Martin
- Pip & Jane Baker
- David Reid
- Jonathan Powell
- Ian Levine
- Gary Leigh
Home video releases[edit | edit source]
to be added
