What I remember most clearly, or two things I remember really clearly, are dying, the
way I was killed, which was absolutely marvellous. I was shot with a bullet that had poison in
it that made me age. So the first shot was me looking a little bit older and then trying
to run away from my pursuers and getting a bit older and each time I had to go back to
make up and they were putting more and more lines on. Pity they didn't wait until today.
And then finally I was so old that they cast a really old woman who was lying in a crumpled
heap on the floor. That was the last shot and I looked at her and thought, I have no
intention of looking like you when I'm dead, or when I'm old.
Dalek Masterplan was the only story in which you featured as the character Sarah Kingdom.
Although Sarah only appeared in one story, she is still considered to be one of the Doctor's
regular travelling companions. Why do you think after all these years there's such
a strong interest in a character that only appeared in one story?
I think, if anything, interest in Doctor Who grew and grew and grew. And I think today,
in a way, people are more interested in it than they were when it was on all the time.
And then I think that that particular one, I don't know why, went to people's hearts.
They really liked that very much. But I think the Daleks were always the absolute favourites.
Although my favourite of doing it, because I did, first of all I played the Princess
of France in just one episode, and then I did ten episodes of Sarah Kingdom, and then
the last time I did it I played the first four episodes in the last season, and that
was called Battlefield. And that was my favourite for doing. I thought that was well written
and well directed and very, very good actors.
We recently met Julian Glover, who was recalling the time he worked with you on the Crusade.
He was explaining how elaborate the sets and costumes were for that story. Have you got
any specific memories about the Crusade?
Yes. I never see the sets because I'm short-sighted, but I remember my costume was very sumptuous,
very beautiful and trimmed with fur. I guess that was right because I was playing a princess.
Yes, it was. It wasn't always very good, the sets. I got into trouble when I was playing
Sarah Kingdom because at one point I wore this tight-fitting brown tweedy catsuit. I
don't know why one would wear that in the future, but still that's what I was wearing.
And I had strapped round my waist a sort of box that looked like a gas mask case, and
it was supposed to contain my ray gun. But of course it never did, and I used to keep
a sandwich and my keys in it, my dressing room keys. I remember once I had a tomato
sandwich in there, and I wasn't supposed to open it. And the director said, now first
of all you switch the TARDIS on, and then you get your ray gun out. And I said, I've
got a ray gun. He said, well just feel for it. So first of all I switched the TARDIS
on and the knob came off in my hand, and I started laughing. I controlled myself. And
then he said, all right, action. So I pretended to switch the TARDIS on. And then I pretended
and put my hand in my sort of little gas mask case, and my fingers squished into a tomato
sandwich. And I came out with my hands all sticky and dripping with tomato. And I started
laughing again. I couldn't stop laughing. And I was sent off the set. The producer said,
go to your dressing room and don't come back until you've pulled yourself together. And
I said, well that may be a very long time. Tee hee hee. I was far too old to behave like
that. Episode seven of The Dalek Masterplan was transmitted on Christmas Day 1965. There's
some mixed stories about the end of the episode in which William Hartnell gives his Christmas
greeting to the camera. Have you got any memories of this at all? I don't think I have real
memories because I've been told about it so much. Something happened that was a surprise,
I think. But I can't remember because for a long time I didn't think about it. I didn't
know that Doctor Who was going to be a great cult thing and that I would be interviewed.
And then I've been told so many stories about it that I don't know what my memory is. I'm
so, no, I'm sorry. And what about Kevin Stoney, who was one of the guest stars on The Dalek
Masterplan? Have you got any memories of working with Kevin Stoney? No, I don't have any memories.
I've got a very good memory for lines, but because when I work I don't wear my glasses.
And that was such a long time ago. I remember Julian because Julian was married to my best
friend, Eileen Atkins, who's still my best friend, but they're not married anymore. Yes,
you said that at the time that you were friends with his wife. Yeah, yeah. After filming The
Dalek Masterplan, if you'd been asked by the Doctor Who production crew to stay on and
play Sarah Kingdom as a regular companion, would you have accepted? No, no, definitely
not because I liked Sarah Kingdom and that was fun, but I was a bit too young really
to do a television series. It's incredibly trapping. It's very hard to do anything else.
And we're so lucky actors, you know, that we move around and we're always doing different
things that to do a series is a bit like having a job in a bank. You know, you always know
where you are. So the only time I ever did a long television series was Upstairs Downstairs
and I did that because the original story was my idea. Your last Doctor Who appearance
was with Sylvester McCoy in Battlefield. Why do you rate that as your favourite story?
I just thought it was very well written and I could be a rounded character. Morgan LeFay
was evil but the director allowed me to show why she was evil and that there's no such
thing as a totally evil person. That's why you never guess who criminals are because
they've got the white, the kind side to them. So I thought I enjoyed that enormously and
I really did think that Angela, who was in it, was very good. I thought the actors were
very good and the director was helpful. Just one of those things, you know, it worked.
And if the series was still running, would you come back as a guest star?
Yeah, sure. If I liked it, yeah. I like to do all sorts of things. I know some people
only want to do Shakespeare or posh things but I think that's a bit pompous. No, of course
I would. That's lovely. Thank you very much for your
time. My pleasure.