 "Silver Nemesis" is the ‘anniversary’ story celebrating twenty-five years of Doctor Who. It is the 150th story of the show and sees the return of the Cybermen.
Fledgling writer Kevin Clarke was offered the chance to write this three-part anniversary story. Like Script Editor Andrew Cartmel, Kevin Clarke was interested in reintroducing The Doctor as a more enigmatic figure, and so they decided to make the question of The Doctor's identity a key point of this story. Kevin Clarke also devised the concept of the contents of a meteor affecting Earth's history. With Andrew Cartmel, this was fleshed out into a weapon-bearing silver figure, named Nemesis after the Greek god of retribution. It was producer John Nathan-Turner who added the final element, observing that the obvious enemy to include in a silver anniversary adventure were the silver giants themselves, the Cybermen.
As well as featuring the Cybermen this story includes a pair of time travellers and soldiers of the Fourth Reich.
Kevin Clarke drew heavily from the precepts of Jacobean theatre, particularly in crafting the character of Lady Peinforte (whose name came from the 17th century torture peine forte et dure - literally meaning ‘long and hard trauma’ - in which increasingly heavy weights are placed on the body). De Flores’ name was a reference to the 1622 play The Changeling by Thomas Middleton and William Rowley.
Fiona Walker, who plays Lady Peinforte, appeared as Kala in the 1964 First Doctor story "The Keys of Marinus".
Jazz musician Courtney Pine and his musicians (Ernest Mothle (double bass), Adrian Reid (piano) and Frank Tontoh (drums)) appeared in this story.
David Banks appeared, for his fourth Doctor Who engagement, as the Cyber Leader. He was once again reunited with Mark Hardy, playing the Cyber Lieutenant. Mike Hardy had acted alongside David Banks in the 1982 Fifth Doctor story "Earthshock" and the Twentieth Anniversary special "The Five Doctors", but had been unavailable for the 1985 Sixth Doctor story "Attack of the Cybermen".
Cameo appearances as extras are made by a number of Doctor Who luminaries from in front of and behind the cameras. These are: Nicholas Courtney (who is famous for playing the part of The Brigadier - this being his first Doctor Who appearance since the Twentieth Anniversary special "The Five Doctors"); producer John Nathan-Turner; writer Graeme Curry; directors Fiona Cumming (with her husband, Production Assistant Ian Fraser), Andrew Morgan and Peter Moffatt; and Production Unit Manager Kathleen Bidmead. Also appearing was writer Kevin Clarke himself - he played a pedestrian while Lady Peinforte and Richard wander the streets of Windsor, and a motorist who passes by the hitchhiking Peinforte.
Prince Edward was approached for a cameo, but declined as had just begun work with Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Really Useful Company.
It has been rumoured that John Nathan-Turner even attempted to get the real Queen Elizabeth II to appear as herself in the story (much as members of the Royal Family had appeared on an episode of Coronation Street). This though could not be arranged, so an impersonator (Mary Reynolds) was enlisted for a short scene of the Queen with her corgis.
It has been reported that Leslie French, who plays Lady Peinforte's mathematician, was one of the actors considered for the role of the First Doctor in 1963.
Anton Diffring, well known for his numerous roles as German officers in Second World War films, appears in this story as De Flores. This was Anton Diffring’s last work as an actor before his death in 1989.
This story includes a brief guest appearance by Hollywood and Broadway musical star Dolores Grey. The character of the American tourist Milton P Remington had been replaced by Miss Hackensack. But when John Nathan-Turner realised that Dolores Gray was available the name was switched back to Mrs Remington.
As with Season Twenty Four, the final six episodes of Season Twenty Five in production would be divided into two three-part stories, one made entirely on location and the other totally in studio. This story being this season’s location-only story, and so Kevin Clarke rewrote his scripts so that the TARDIS Console Room would not be needed. Ace’s souped-up ghetto blaster was used to replace the scanner screen.
The director assigned to all six episodes was Chris Clough, who had handled the tandem of "Delta and the Bannermen" and "Dragonfire" the season before. However, at the end of May, the previous story into production, "The Greatest Show in the Galaxy", experienced a major crisis when an asbestos scare at BBC Television Centre forced the cancellation of its studio sessions. John Nathan-Turner had managed to rescue "The Greatest Show in the Galaxy" at the last minute by arranging to have it completed in a tent erected on a BBC parking lot, but the resulting delays meant that this story lost the majority of its rehearsal period. Because of this, Chris Clough was left with only a vague idea of the timing of Kevin Clarke’s scripts.
Location filming, where The Doctor and Ace meet and combat the Cybermen, was held at the Greenwich Gas Works in London on the site that later became The O2 (formerly known as the Millennium Dome), During these three days, in June 1988, delays began to build up – mainly due to scenes having to be rewritten and then recorded without being unrehearsed so as to complete all the required material. Scenes also containing the Cybermen's servants, nicknamed the ‘Walkmen’ had to be recorded without actors Dave and John Ould as they were not available during one of the recording days - despite the fact that they were due to appear in some of the scenes. This resulted in the Walkmen's inclusion in the finished story being rather haphazard.
The production then moved to Arundel Castle in West Sussex, standing in for Windsor Castle. Chris Clough had originally hoped to film at Windsor Castle itself, but was told by Buckingham Palace that only documentary crews were permitted to shoot there.
Several scenes were shot in woodland areas around Arundel Castle, notably the climax of the second episode, when The Doctor and Ace discuss the Cyber-threat while sitting near a fallen tree. The damaged and fallen trees, which can often be seen in these shots, were a result of the recent storm of 1987 that had caused widespread damage throughout southern England.
Partly because of the lack of rehearsals, all three episodes of this story were found to overrun badly, requiring a number of cuts. Included amongst these were The Doctor hypnotising the Windsor Castle guards, The Doctor explaining about getting the bow to the Nemesis statue, Karl rescuing De Flores from a Cyberman, and perhaps most famously a scene in Windsor Castle in which Ace notices a 19th century portrait of herself which (from her perspective) she has not yet posed for.
This story reflected a darker turn in the Doctor Who storylines so as to reinstate the mystery of the show with the intention being to reveal the secrets of The Doctor. In particular Ace is heard asking The Doctor at the end of the story: ‘Who are you?’ as clues to the Dark Time and The Doctor’s mysterious origins are given. These plot developments would later be followed up in the Virgin and BBC Doctor Who books series.
The Doctor is heard revealing that Courtney Pine’s quartet play his favourite kind of jazz (‘straight blowing’). In this scene Ace gets a cassette tape signed by Courtney Pine.
As indicated in "The Happiness Patrol", Ace follows Charlton Athletic football club, and reads the Daily Mirror.
Ace compares the events she encounters in this story with those in "Remembrance of the Daleks". Ace is also heard to mention that her stereo was destroyed by the Daleks (which occurred in the same story). For this story her stereo is replaced by one of The Doctor’s inventions. It has been revealed that it was to have Zygon like speakers, but more conventional technological ones were used instead.
Lady Peinforte time travels from 1638 to 1988. It is later revealed that Lady Peinforte’s time travelling is caused not by her own ingenuity but by Fenric (see the 1989 story "The Curse of Fenric").
At one point Lady Peinforte shows her servant, Richard Maynard, his grave. In the 1985 Sixth Doctor story "Revelation of the Daleks", The Doctor is heard explaining to Peri that if he took her to Earth after she had died, she could see her own gravestone.
The Doctor plays chess against an unknown opponent, thought to be Fenric. The Doctor battles Fenric later on in "The Curse of Fenric", but before this, in the 1989 story "Battlefield", Morgaine speaks of how she always beat The Doctor at chess. Both Morgaine and Fenric are powerful beings from another dimension.
"Battlefield" also deals with time as a major factor. Lady Peinforte's tomb does not contain her bones because she is destroyed in space when the Nemesis explodes. In "Battlefield", the events occur because of what The Doctor will do in the future, leading to The Doctor writing himself a note and claiming that he should have given himself more warning.
A late change was the modification of the element ‘Makarianite’ to ‘Validium’.
Validium is a Gallifreyan living metal (see also the 1976 Fourth Doctor story "The Deadly Assassin"), while Lady Peinforte calls the Validium her Nemesis. According to this story it fell to Earth in 1638. An arrow and a bow were formed from it. The arrow stayed in Lady Peinforte’s possession while the bow disappeared in 1788 and by the 1980s had come into the possession of De Flores.
It is revealed that Nemesis circles the Earth in a decaying orbit once every 25 years (coming closest to the Earth on the eve of the Great War (1913), and during the years of Adolf Hitler’s annexation of Austria (1938) and US President JF Kennedy’s assassination (1963).
From Nemesis Lady Peinforte learned of a grim secret of The Doctor's from the ‘Old Time, the Time of Chaos’. This secret though is never revealed. Also not revealed is how the Cybermen found out about Nemesis, although they know of Lady Peinforte.
This story is a sequel to an untelevised adventure (which Ace knows nothing about, although presumably it involved the Second Doctor, as Lady Peinforte refers to The Doctor still being little) involving Validium, set in 1638. The evil Lady Peinforte fashioned a statue Nemesis from the metal.
In the BBC Books’ The Eight Doctor Stories novel "Interference: Book Two", written by Lawrence Miles, there is another Validium based weapon featured.
This story marks the only on-screen appearance of the Mark VII Cybermen. This story is also the last to feature the Cybermen in the original run of the show.
It was originally scripted for the policemen at the Nemesis’ crash site to be killed by a swarm of Cybermats.
The Cybermen (in particular the Cyber-Leader) recognise The Doctor. While, The Doctor indicates that he knows Queen Elizabeth II. Queen Elizabeth II would be portrayed again later in the 2007 Tenth Doctor story "Voyage of the Damned" (along withwith an indirect reference to her made in 2005 Tenth Doctor story "The Christmas Invasion").
The Doctor is heard stating that the last time he was at Windsor the castle was being built. In the extended video version, there is also a portrait of Ace in Victorian clothes, which hints at another untelevised adventure. This is explained in the Virgin Books’ The New Adventures novel "Set Piece", written by Kate Orman.
Ace is seen wearing a fez in the first episode. The Doctor would later wear a fez in the 2010 Eleventh Doctor story "The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang".
Ace uses gold to fight the Cybermen, and Lady Peinforte’s arrows are made of gold.
This story contains a number of errors. Namely: The earring Ace is seen wearing on her jacket an earring that she will not be seen to acquire until the next story, "The Greatest Show in the Galaxy" (this is a continuity error caused by a late change in the season's transmission order as that story was made prior to this and John Nathan-Turner wanted the first episode of "Silver Nemesis" to be seen on the actual Twenty Fifth Anniversary date); also Ace’s rucksack was destroyed in this story yet appears in "The Greatest Show in the Galaxy"; Although this story is meant to be set in November, Courtney Pine and his Quartet are playing outside in the sunshine, and Ace is in a T-shirt. The foliage is also decidedly lush, green, and non-Autumnal as well; It is never explained why the two controlled humans shoot at The Doctor and Ace in the first episode as the Cybermen, at this point, are not aware of this incarnation of The Doctor; Strangely Lady Peinforte and Richard's arrival does not draw any response from the people in the café; When the policemen are gassed by Nemesis, the person sitting in a car ends up with his legs under the vehicle; When Ace is going across the gantry in the third episode the cameraman stumbles or knocks into something; It is never explained how The Doctor and Ace appear to be allowed to walk away from the Queen's private residence after being stopped there by the security guards; In the second episode a helicopter was used to simulate the Cybership landing, the craft being superimposed over it. However, the blades are sometimes visible. Why don't Ace's coins just bounce off rather than pierce the Cybermen? David Banks’ eyes are visible as the Cyberleader pulls the coin out in the third episode.
Early in the second episode the TARDIS dematerialises just as an arrow hits it. The same thing happens at the end of the 2007 Tenth Doctor story "The Shakespeare Code". In both cases the arrow dematerialises with the TARDIS. This contradicts events in the 1963 First Doctor story "An Unearthly Child" where spears, which had become stuck in the TARDIS, fell off during dematerialisation.
The biggest anomaly with this story is it has been stated that it would be impossible for anyone from 1638 to calculate correctly a day 350 years later as in 1752 the Julian calendar was 'brought into line' with the Gregorian one (effectively meaning that 11 days from 3 to 13 September were skipped over). However, this discrepancy is later explained in "The Curse of Fenric". As discovered in this later story, this is not an error, but further proof that Fenric has consistently been manipulating the timeline so as to control Ace.
In a deleted scene, The Doctor is seen donning a pair of glasses, akin to the Fifth Doctor. However, he uses them to hypnotise two guards in a similar way to the Optical instruments utilised by the War Lords in the 1969 Second Doctor story "The War Games".
The first episode debuted on the very day of the silver anniversary, the 23rd of November. While in New Zealand the entire story was screened on the 25th - making this just the second occasion on which Doctor Who that episodes premiered first outside the UK. The first such instance, ironically, was on the 23rd November 1983 when parts of North America screened the twentieth anniversary story, "The Five Doctors" two days before its transmission in the UK.
An extended version of this three-part story was released on VHS. Released as ‘Silver Nemesis: Special Edition’ in April 1993 with a non-standard photomontage cover. As well as including many scenes that were cut prior to transmission the video included a documentary looking back at the production and covering the on-location filming of this story. This is an edited version of the New Jersey Network's anniversary special, "The Making of Silver Nemesis", which was produced at the time of this story’s recording. This documentary was not included on the August 2010 DVD release which was released as part of a Box Set with the 1975 Fourth Doctor story "Revenge of the Cybermen".
The DVD contains the original three part broadcast version, much to the consternation of a number of Doctor Who fans who consider the extended version to be the definitive one. It does however contain 22 minutes worth of deleted scenes. While including some never before seen, it nevertheless omits two scenes and several instances of cut dialogue, now only to be found in the previous VHS release.
An outtake from this story sees the Seventh Doctor tripping over a bush and then trying to stab it with his umbrella. This blooper appears in the documentary on the making of the story, and was also played during Sylvester McCoy’s 1988 ‘Clown Court’ appearance on The Noel Edmonds Saturday Roadshow. This blooper was later included on the 2009 DVD release of "Delta and the Bannermen".
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The Firsts:
The first Doctor Who story to be written by Kevin Clarke.
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(Position = 115 out of 159)
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