View source for Jean Marsh: Belle of the Bad

{{article
| publication = Starlog 
| file = http://cuttingsarchive.org/images/e/e9/1988-09-01_Starlog_135.pdf
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| date = 1988-09-01
| display date = number 135 (October 1988)
| author = Adam Pirani
| pages = 53
| language = English 
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Marsh's next SF outing was again on TV, this time with the BBC's resident Time Lord. "1 did quite a number of Doctor Whos," she notes. "First of all, I did four [episodes] with actor Julian Glover <nowiki>[</nowiki>[[Julian Glover|STARLOG #121]<nowiki>]</nowiki>, set in the 12th century, and I played some English queen, with a very long blonde wig." This was "[[broadwcast:The Crusade|The Crusade]]," a 1965 story set in the court of Richard the Lionheart.

"Then, they asked me to come back a couple of years later, and I played Sara Kingdom, and I was an assistant to the Doctor." A 41st century secret agent, Sara Kingdom was one of the Doctor's briefest companions, appearing only in the 12-episode story, "[[broadwcast: The Daleks' Master Plan|The Daleks' Master Plan]]."

"Oh, I behaved very badly on that, I was sent off the set once for laughing so much," Marsh recalls. "They said, 'Leave the set, Miss Marsh, and don't come back until you've controlled yourself.' And I said, 'That may be never.' It was because the TARDIS was so badly built at the time, and I remember turning a button and it came off in my hand. Then, he said, 'Give me your ray gun,' and 1 had the usual thing, a sort of brown stretch one-piece suit with a tight belt, and on the belt, I had a kind of gas mask case, and it was supposedly keeping all my bits and pieces to repair the TARDIS, my ray gun and stuff.

"But what was actually in there was my dressing room key, some chewing gum, a sandwich and a note to ring my agent. So, he said, 'Give me your ray gun,' and I didn't. The director said, 'Open your bag and pretend you're going for it.' I put my hand inside, and my hand got squashed on this tomato sandwich. What with the button coming off and the tomato sandwich, I just laughed and laughed and laughed ...

"In those days, people smoked much more. You're not allowed to smoke on the set, and people used to ask the Daleks if they would get out of the Dalek and let them in, so they could have a smoke. So, you would see six Daleks, with their lids on, and smoke coming out of them! I just got terrible giggles." The actress was eventually allowed to return to the set.

Both of Marsh's appearances in Doctor Who were alongside the first Doctor, played by the late William Hartnell. "He was very funny, very sweet," Marsh says, "and he was very relaxed because he had been playing it for a little while." Marsh herself had been married for about five years to the actor who later became the third Doctor, Jon Pertwee ([[Jon Pertwee: The Gallant Doctor|STARLOG #79]], [[Jon Pertwee: Daredevil Doctor, Gadgeteer Who|130]]). "I was divorced when I was quite young, so I was divorced by then; it was much later that he became the Doctor," she says. 

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