Writing Gerry Davis wrote the initial script, titling it
Return of the Cybermen. Robert Holmes' rewrite added the Vogan elements and changed
Return to
Revenge. Producer
Philip Hinchcliffe was new to the programme; this serial was commissioned by his predecessor
Barry Letts. Letts and Holmes felt that with a new Doctor coming in and at that stage little idea of how he would be played, it would be best to play safe by using familiar big-name monsters such as the
Daleks and Cybermen in the first season. The script was modified as production developed to incorporate
Tom Baker's style, and also had to be rewritten to modify how writer
Gerry Davis had envisaged the new Doctor – as a more timid, reserved figure much in the manner of
Patrick Troughton, which happened to be rather unlike Baker's portrayal. Davis was also unhappy with the story's title.
Location filming The story was shot on the same set as
The Ark in Space – representing a substantial cost saving – with location filming in
Wookey Hole Caves. It was also shot in the production block immediately after
Ark, which explains why the production code is out of broadcast sequence. The location filming at Wookey Hole was plagued by a series of problems which the crew blamed on a curse. The curse apparently was brought about when the production staff found a small rock formation that the locals called "The Witch". Despite warnings, they proceeded to put a witch hat and cloak on it. Briant encountered an individual in spelunking gear, which the Wookey Hole staff had no knowledge of, whom Briant was convinced was the spirit of a potholer who had died in the caves, three years earlier. The assistant floor manager suffered a severe attack of claustrophobia, another crew member fell ill, and an electrician suffered a broken leg when a ladder collapsed. During the scene when Sarah Jane rides one of the water skimmers, the boat went wild and Sladen was forced to jump off, treading water despite heavy boots until her rescue by
Terry Walsh, the programme's longtime
stuntman. Both required precautionary
vaccinations at a local
hospital but were otherwise unhurt. The boat disappeared and was never seen again.
Costumes and props The secret
radio transmitter disguised as a clothes brush, used by Kellman, is the same
prop that appears in the 1973
James Bond film
Live and Let Die. The prop was handed over by Bond star
Roger Moore when he visited the BBC in 1973. He later told the
Radio Times that the props master, not recognising Moore, had paid him two
shillings and sixpence for the item: "I'd popped into the Beeb [BBC] for a cup of tea and spotted a notice about an upcoming "
Doctor Who", so I thought the darlings would be so cash-strapped they'd need anything they could get their hands on. It wasn't
MGM, after all. But I didn't expect to walk out with two and six!" The masks for the principal actors playing the Vogans were specially moulded to their faces, but for the non-speaking artists the BBC had to cut costs. According to actor
David Collings on the DVD commentary, who played Vorus, the masks for the extras were made using a facial mould of ''
Dad's Army star Arnold Ridley. Originally, Cyber-costumes from the 1968 serial The Invasion were to have been used, but only two had survived, and in poor condition. This necessitated entirely new outfits, which included chest panels constructed from the innards of old television sets and trousers which, for the first time since The Moonbase'', were not tucked into the Cyber-boots. Director
Michael E. Briant opted to put the characters on the Nerva Beacon into contemporary clothing and have them use modern machine guns rather than attempt to depict the future through fashion. Another first appearance is a
circular symbol containing interlocking spirals which was designed by
Roger Murray-Leach for the Vogan costumes and interior sets. Leach later re-used this Vogan symbol for the 1976 serial
The Deadly Assassin as a symbol of the
Time Lords. It later became known as the
Seal of
Rassilon, the founder of Time Lord society. ==Cast notes==