Here’s Jean Marsh talking about her roles in ‘Doctor Who’, ranging from short-lived 60′s companion Sara Kingdom to ‘Battlefield’ in the original show’s final season.
“I can’t really remember my first ‘Doctor Who’ part, as King Richard’s sister, although I knew Douglas Camfield directed it. Then he asked me to play this ‘Avengers’-style space pilot or something. I don’t know how I ever did it because I spent most of the time laughing along with Bill Hartnell and Peter Purves. They used to send me off the set and say I could only come back when I’d calmed down, which I never did.
“The whole thing looked very glamorous and good on television, but in the studio I thought it was a disaster. Knobs would came away in your hands and the Daleks weren’t exactly impressive to see in real life. But I really enjoyed doing the series because it was so exciting to make, and the best work you do are always the ones that are the most fun.
“I had a wonderful death scene, filmed before I did anything else in the story. I was aged to death, which was done really well. I remember a darling old lady playing my final moments, but dressed in this slinky Space Police outfit and looking really good in it!
“Although I was only in that one, very long story, I always gets lots of fan mail about it. I was so pleased to do another one, playing a wicked queen in the last series. The story was called ‘Battlefield’ and I got to be very wicked but actually very intelligent and rounded, as characters go. I’m very grateful for that.”
