Categorised | Doctor Who

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Why Liz Shaw had to go

Posted on October 31, 2006 | 2 comments |

Without wishing to start a new almost-war, I thought this little snippet from the Backlash… sorry, BBC Doctor Who web site was of interest:

Another element of the seventh season with which both Letts and Dicks had been dissatisfied was Liz Shaw. This was on the basis that the independent, self-confident scientist had little need to rely on the Doctor for explanations and so, in their eyes, failed to fulfil the basic dramatic functions of aiding plot exposition and acting as a point of audience identification. Letts therefore decided against renewing actress Caroline John's contract for a further season and the two men set about devising a new companion for the Doctor.

Anyway, here's a little clip of Liz Shaw in action from my third most favourite story, The Ambassadors of Death. The clip is actually an example of the current restoration work being done by Ian Levine and co, so the quality of the first half is rubbish. And I don't mean the story.

Related entries

  • March 5, 2007: Review: The Companion Chronicles - The Blue Tooth
    My review of The Companion Chronicles - The Blue Tooth
  • October 30, 2008: Review: The Companion Chronicles - The Doll of Death
    A review of the Big Finish Doctor Who audio play The Doll of Death, part of the Companion Chronicles range.

2 Comments

  1. Rullsenberg wrote:
    October 31, 2006 | Reply

    Ah, Who restorations. Restores my faith in TV history!

    Not sure I like the justification about Liz though...

  2. Rob Buckley TypeKey wrote:
    October 31, 2006 | Reply

    "Not sure I like the justification about Liz though..."

    No. Particularly since the new companion they devised was Jo Grant.

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