Sladen, Elisabeth - Elisabeth Sladen - The Autobiography

My postman noticed another change. Aside from bills, circulars and the odd bit of family correspondence, I was now receiving bundles of letters every week, forwarded from my agent. It became a point of principle to reply to each and every one. But they don’t tell you about that when you sign up.

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Jon’s news was still top secret when we began work on the next serial. I thought it would be tricky to keep schtum but once you’re in the flow again the real world flits out of your head.

If Death to the Daleks had brought back familiar villains, The Monster of Peladon reintroduced an entire planet. Brian Hayles’ The Curse of Peladon had done well when it was broadcast in 1972 and so Terry and Barry asked him to conjure a sequel. The finished result, set fifty years after the original, was also intended to convey comment on the bubbling mining dispute in the UK and the growing enthusiasm for feminism.

For the sake of cost-cutting and also continuity, many of the original Peladon sets and costumes were to be used again. Not only that, Barry attempted to regroup as many of the team from the earlier production as well. I was so glad he did. After three serials where I’d felt all at sea with the director I was delighted to meet the next one. Australian Lennie Mayne had also directed the tenth-anniversary special, The Three Doctors , so he had his Who credentials. More importantly he was just so easy to get on with.

He was a small man, about my size, but he had none of the chip on the shoulder that shorter men sometimes have. Maybe that’s the Australian confidence – or perhaps he was just a nice bloke. He was such a bundle of energy, quite manic actually, and because he used to be a dancer he was always pirouetting around the studio and talking away. He had such a florid vocabulary and he was so irreverent. For one of the royal palace scenes he waited for Nina Thomas, as Queen Thalira, to get into place and then said, ‘Right, now Mum’s in the bog house sitting on the throne!’ No airs and graces with Lennie.

He loved calling ladies ‘Mum’. Don’t know why. You could always try things out with Lennie, though. He was never rushed.

‘Lennie, what about if I do this instead?’

‘Good idea, Mother, good idea!’

Plenty of others would have said ‘no’ or worse but Lennie was a real people person. You could see that in the way he looked out for his wife, the actress Frances Pidgeon. He liked to have her around and so he found her a small role as a handmaiden. He was always fussing – ‘Hello, Pidge’, ‘Come in, Pidge’, ‘Join the group, Pidge – you’re one of us, Pidge.’ He just wanted everyone to be happy.

Working with Lennie also coincided with me finally relaxing into the show. Looking back, it definitely took me the first two serials to get my bearings. I was still finding my feet, getting to know the team and doing my best to get a bead on Jon. It was in everyone’s interests if we got along off-screen as well as on and that was my mission. By the time we did Daleks I think we were close. Peladon , though, was the first time I thought, Yes, I’m part of this show. Jon and I are a team.

These relationships can take time. School Reunion was David Tennant’s third Doctor Who episode – after the Christmas Special and New Earth – and I know he was still feeling his way with the crew, the character, Billie Piper and everything else. He’s said in interviews that he didn’t really feel he owned the part until Tooth and Claw – his fourth episode (although broadcast before School Reunion ).

So with Peladon everything just clicked. Obviously I got notes from Jon about my costume, but that was just him. I turned up in a jumper one day and he said, ‘Oh no! You should wear a blouse, Lissie.’ Now, I hate wearing blouses, anything with collars, really. ‘It’s quite dark in the tunnels,’ he added. ‘If you had a nice white blouse …’

‘I’d be easier to shoot!’

We had a laugh about that, which shows how our relationship had matured.

I knew Jon’s comments about my jumper weren’t personal – it was just his obsession with all things fashion. (According to Jon, he and Gerald Campion, who played Billy Bunter, had been the first Teddy Boys in London. These things were important to him.) But Jon wasn’t the only one, unfortunately. After a morning of crawling along tunnels I received another piece of advice. ‘Lis, perhaps you might wear a bra for the actual shoot?’

For God’s sake , I thought. You can’t see anything! But, ‘OK, fine,’ I said, all teeth and smiles, and duly traipsed off to wardrobe. I counted to ten before returning, still completely bra-less. ‘Is that better?’

‘Oh much! Thanks, Lis. We don’t want to frighten the children.’

Ridiculous.

Even the soundman threw his two penn’orth in on my costume on that one, I seem to remember. I felt like saying, ‘If you think you can do better,’ but you just grin and get on with it.

As far as working and rehearsing and workshopping the script, Jon and I had never been better. For the first time it felt like we were totally in tune with each other, bouncing things back and forth so naturally. After a bit of a slow start it was really an honour to work with him so closely.

One of the things Who has always been famous for is its running – exactly the same under Russell T Davies and Steven Moffat as it ever was. As Peladon was a mining planet, a lot of our scenes seemed to involve haring up and down narrow corridors at full pelt. I remember one early scene, setting off after Jon, and he looked round at me. It was a really patrician, caring look and I’m sure anyone watching would have thought he was checking to see if Sarah Jane was OK, that she hadn’t fallen over. What they didn’t notice was him hissing, ‘For God’s sake, Lissie, slow down!’

That was hysterical. Of course, I know exactly how he feels now, having to keep up with the kids on The Sarah Jane Adventures .

Jon wasn’t the only person who struggled to keep pace with me on Peladon . It was getting near curfew time and we weren’t anywhere near ready to wrap so the pressure was on. I had to be chased down a mine by an Ice Warrior. I won’t mention his name but the actor inside was a great guy. He enjoyed being on Who and was always happy to go the extra mile. This time he nearly went too far.

Lennie gave the word – ‘Time’s short, people, let’s get this right first time’ – and off we charged, me in my heeled boots and him in a heavy monster suit with an oxygen unit on the back, like a scuba tank. We hadn’t gone far when I realised I could hear loud wheezing. He sounds like he’s in trouble. Why doesn’t he stop? I wondered.

Then I realised: he didn’t want to be the one to push us over time. The show must go on, and all that.

Right , I thought, and threw myself to the ground.

‘Sorry, everyone!’ I called, ‘I just tripped. Sorry, my fault.’

I looked behind me and the Ice Warrior was slumped over, struggling to get his helmet off. When they checked, we’d been in such a rush to get going that they’d forgotten to plumb his breathing apparatus in. He was gasping in that airtight helmet and he hadn’t said a word. That’s what Who means to people.

Although there were no outside scenes for The Monster of Peladon we still had a week’s location shoot. The only difference was that the shoot took place in another studio. And I couldn’t have been happier.

As a film buff I can tell you there are a few studios in the world that really have a history. Ealing Studios is one of those few. The Cruel Sea, The Lavender Hill Mob , so many classics were filmed there. They’ve got the big sea tank used on all those war films. The magic that has been created there! It’s one of those places where you can feel the past as you walk around. It also made a change not to be in a chalk pit or a quarry or even a dust bowl in freezing January. And, of course, it was so close to my home!