Murder in Space had been planned as the showcase of the season.
Secret of the Sontarans began as an orphan. Reduced from three episodes to two, budget and production schedule repeatedly slashed, pushed back on, with dollars and time wasted on exotic props and costumes, derailed by the decision to replace Vormics with Sontarans, and suddenly bereft of both Director and Producer. After only a single serial, Millenium Productions was on the verge of collapse.
As Vienna, 1913's extended principal photography wound down, Secret of the Sontarans was delayed over a full week from its planned date of June 1, 1992. The props and costumes department began hastily fabricating Sontaran costumes and masks while Ian Levine and Eglin Thompson, aided by Robert Holmes notes, went to work on adjusting the script. Barry Letts was persuaded to stay on for a week or so to prepare yet another revision to the production budget and timetable for the serial, and Paul Bernard searched for a last minute replacement.
Retaining a Director at the last moment was difficult, the talent pool of qualified television Directors capable of taking on such a specialized production was small to begin with. Millenium productions was in bad odor with the BBC and although it wasn't advertised, the word had certainly gotten around that working with them would not be particularly good for your career. More than that, the steady attrition and replacement of crew members, and the difficulties with Vienna, 1913, had been noted. To make matters worse, the timelines were short, they needed someone in only a few days, who would take on a half rewritten script, a reduced budget and a pressing schedule.
Ultimately, with the help of David Burton, they found Carole Todd, a long time stage director. In 1989, Todd had, in fact, directed Doctor Who: The Ultimate Adventure, with both Jon Pertwee and Colin Baker in the starring role. More importantly, Todd was willing to take the job at very short notice.
The serial went without an Executive Producer. Instead, tasks were divided up like a pie. Barry Letts was still on board to direct the final serial, Volcano, and consented to doing the production tasks for that block. Bernard continued to focus on Vienna, 1913, and assumed the remaining production duties.
This left only The Secret of the Sontarans, and there production duties were distributed among Bernard, Levine and Burton. It was far from an ideal solution, but it worked.
Principal photography actually began June 6, 1992. Even then, only the Draconian, and four principal Sontaran appliances and costumes were ready. The balance of Sontaran headpieces for the background characters were still being cast. The shooting schedule had to be revised to move all the large set pieces to a later point, and bring forward the smaller scenes featuring the Doctor with the Draconian Emissary or individual Sontarans.
Yet, despite all these obstacles, the crew pushed forward.
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The New Doctor! A Doctor Who Alternate History Story
FanfictionThis is a Doctor Who fanfic, like you've never seen before. Not a Doctor Who story, not quite, although it contains Doctor Who stories. It's an alternate history story about the making of Doctor Who... Or about a particular version of Doctor Who...
