Ingrid Pitt died today, and as well as appearing in quite a few classic Hammer films she was in two ‘Doctor Who’ stories, ‘The Time Monster’ and ‘Warriors of the Deep’. You can read a column she wrote about Doctor Who here, in which she makes the slightly odd suggestion that ‘Doctor Who’ was only brought back in 2005 so that there would be an excuse to make ‘Torchwood’. But anyway, here are a few quotes from her:
On her childhood in a concentration camp
The Russian Army was coming, so our camp, Stutthoff in Poland, had to be moved, or liquidated, as they called it. We were marched into the gas chamber and I remember my mother holding me so tight. I don’t know if it was luck or destiny, but we survived. I was eight.
A Jehovah’s Witness told me, `you will survive but tomorrow I will be dead,’ and she was right. Why didn’t the gas chamber work? We must have been in there for hours, because when we went in there it was dark and when we came out it was dark again – so a whole day must have passed. It was a miracle that they opened the door, because we could have just stayed there, and they could have all gone. Nobody could have opened it from the inside. (read more)
On The Time Monster
Towards the end of shooting we ran out of tape. Instead of getting some more the director, Paul Bernard, cut the scenes which hadn’t already been shot. I told him I had some tape under my bed at home, as one does, and offered to go and get it. But he wasn’t interested. The only relief was Jon Pertwee. He just marched on regardless of what was going on around him. (read more)
On Jon Pertwee’s funeral
The vicar who did the service met him on the top of a bus – on his way to the VE Day celebrations. Jon, being Jon, asked him if he would do his funeral when the time came. He also told him a lot of very funny stories. So Jon toddles off to the great cabbage patch in the sky and the Rev. steps in. He repeated Jon’s jokes of the long ago bus ride and everyone fell about. Then came that horrible moment when grim reality intrudes and the coffin slides towards the furnace door. On the coffin was an effigy of Wurzel Gummidge. As it approached the doors the figure fell off and someone in the pews said, “That’s Jon for you. Always plays it for laughs”. (read more)
On Warriors of the Deep
Pennant Roberts was directing. I only got the job because Pennant was sorry for me. He dropped around to see me one day when I was in the throes of extending my house. It was chaos. Pennant decided I needed a break. He had cast everyone but Dr. Solow. A role for a male actor! (read more)
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