No love for Doctor Who
- Publication: Scene (Australia)
- Date: 1979-09-08
- Author: Judson Bennett
- Page: 26
- Language: English
DOCTOR Who's latest assistant, gorgeous Lalla Ward, knows she'll never be able with the good doctor.
And, frankly, she wouldn't want to.
Lalla, 27. remembers watching the serial as a child — and love certainly wasn't her over-riding emotion.
"I was so terrified by the monsters," she says, "that I hid behind the sofa."
Besides, the doctor is not one to fall in love with his assistants.
"If there was an emotional attachment, it would defeat the purpose," says Tom Baker..
"My assistants are a bit like daughters.'
That being so, Lalla is his 11th daughter in the past 15 years.
She has already been seen in the series as Princess Astra, but becomes a Time Lord in an amazing switch.
She explains: "Romana dematerialised as Mary (actress Mary Tamm) at the end of the last series and re-materialises as me in the new one!
"It sounds very complicated. I know, but for a Time Lord, it's all very simple."
And Lalla knows all about the aristocratic life.
Off-screen she's daughter of the seventh Lord Bangor, better known as war correspondent, broadcaster and author Edward Ward.
Her mother, Marjorie Banks, has also fashioned a formidable reputation as a writer.
They have an ancestral home, Castle Ward, in County Down, an hour's drive from Belfast; and another near St. Tropez.
"But it's not quite so ritzy as it sounds," says Lalla.
"Death duties have taken their toll.
"Our home in Ireland now belongs to the National Trust and we all work very hard.
"Still, the truly important thing is that it's a very happy family."
Ever since Lalla left drama school at 18, stage arid screen work has been steady.
She was a vampire in Vampire Circus with Adrienne Corri, Lord Seacroft's daughter in the television series, The Upper Crusts and the star of Got It Made, after being the 304th girl auditioned for the part.
This proved to be a turning point in her career for Otto Preminger was sufficiently impressed to cast her opposite Robert Mitchum in Rosebud.
In The Duchess of Duke Street, she was Lottie, the illegitimate daughter of the Duchess and Lord Haslemere.
"I started out in the series as a Yorkshire waif; then I'm sent to a finishing school and taught to talk posh.
"So before I could start work, I had to take a month of lessons in how to speak broad Yorkshire!"
Just how does she view her involvement with the good doctor?
"From an acting point-of-view." she says, "you couldn't have a nicer man to work with.
"But, of course, there is no romance between us in the story.
"The doctor is never allowed to fall in love."
Lalla meets Leonardo
THE new Dr. Who series is about a bid to persuade Leonardo da Vinci to turn out more Mona Lisas.
And this is curiously appropriate for Lalla Ward, who at the age of 14, was being hailed as an artistic wonder child.
Her poems were appearing in glossy magazines, and her paintings and drawings were regarded very seriously indeed.
"But there was never really any dilemma," she says. "I loved drawing — I still draw all the time — but acting was to be my career.
"1 love the film camera, especially the way you only have to think. not act, and it picks up every nuance. "I've never looked upon art as anything more than a very enjoyable sideline."
Caption: TOM ... father image.
Caption: LALLA ... terrified by monsters.
Disclaimer: These citations are created on-the-fly using primitive parsing techniques. You should double-check all citations. Send feedback to whovian@cuttingsarchive.org
- APA 6th ed.: Bennett, Judson (1979-09-08). No love for Doctor Who. Scene (Australia) p. 26.
- MLA 7th ed.: Bennett, Judson. "No love for Doctor Who." Scene (Australia) [add city] 1979-09-08, 26. Print.
- Chicago 15th ed.: Bennett, Judson. "No love for Doctor Who." Scene (Australia), edition, sec., 1979-09-08
- Turabian: Bennett, Judson. "No love for Doctor Who." Scene (Australia), 1979-09-08, section, 26 edition.
- Wikipedia (this article): <ref>{{cite news| title=No love for Doctor Who | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/No_love_for_Doctor_Who | work=Scene (Australia) | pages=26 | date=1979-09-08 | via=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=24 April 2025 }}</ref>
- Wikipedia (this page): <ref>{{cite web | title=No love for Doctor Who | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/No_love_for_Doctor_Who | work=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=24 April 2025}}</ref>
