Doctor Who

The Talons of Weng-Chiang - S14-E6

Trivia: A pile of straw - seen in the road as Weng-Chiang searches for the time cabinet - was placed there to hide a modern (1970s) car which had, despite requests to the contrary, been parked in the road prior to filming, and whose owner refused to move it.

The Deadly Assassin - S14-E3

Trivia: It is mentioned that, The Doctor, like all Time Lords, can 'regenerate' himself a maximum of twelve times. After that, "it really is the end". Since the series started in 1963, nine actors have played the role of Doctor Who: William Hartnell (1963-66), Patrick Troughton (1966-69), Jon Pertwee (1970-74), Tom Baker (1974-81), Peter Davidson (1982-84), Colin Baker (1984-86), Sylvester McCoy (1987-89)(*although, according to the BBC, it was 1987-96, due to McCoy reprising his role for the 1996 TV Movie), Paul McGann (1996:TV Movie only) ...and the ninth Doctor Who will be Christopher Eccleston, who stars in a new series, planned for broadcast in 2005.

The Deadly Assassin - S14-E3

Trivia: At the end of episode 3 of "The Deadly Assassin", the Doctor is attacked and has his head held underwater for a very long time. The "cliffhanger" ending of episode 3 is a freeze frame shot of the Doctor (Tom Baker) under the water, apparently drowned. This ending elicited much criticism from Mary Whitehouse and the vocal National Viewers and Listeners Association, who lobbied to have Doctor Who taken off the air, or at least moved to a post-9pm "watershed" slot. In an interview in 1994, Whitehouse said that the ending of this episode still disturbed her, more than 14 years later.

The Robots of Death - S14-E5

Trivia: Robophobia, an irrational fear of robots, is at one point referred to as 'Grimwade's syndrome'. This was an in-joke reference to production assistant Peter Grimwade (later to become a director and writer on the series) who had bemoaned the fact that the stories on which he was assigned to work almost always involved robots.

The Robots of Death - S14-E5

Trivia: The deactivation discs for the robots (or "corpse markers" as they are referred to in the script) are not as glamorous or hi-tech as you might think. They are, in fact, bicycle reflector discs, bought from Halford's Cycle Shops.

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Answer: TARDISes are generally available for properly authorised use on Gallifrey; they're not usually assigned to a particular Timelord on a long-term basis. The Doctor stole his when he left his homeworld.

Tailkinker

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