John Lavalie at 14:45, 30 March 2017

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John Lavalie at 01:24, 14 September 2014

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John Lavalie at 22:57, 10 September 2014

2014-09-10T22:57:29Z

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{{Starlog|144}}{{article
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| date = 1988-09-01
| display date = issue 144 (July 1989)
| author = Juanita Elefante-Cordon
| pages = 78
| language = English
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Sarah Sutton and Janet Fielding (left)
were labeled "the Doctor's harem" when
their sedate wardrobe became more
revealing.

The good times came to an end when the writers could no longer comfortably
accommodate three companions. Sutton (in mask) followed Matthew Waterhouse's
demise, leaving Peter Davison and Janet Fielding behind.

More than her character was left behind on the last planet Sarah Sutton visited with the Time Lord.

Assistants during Doctor Who's
Peter Davison era came and went
with great regularity, and Sarah
Sutton was no exception. She left the series
after two brief years and now, five years
later, she has gone from the part of a time-
traveler to being a part-time travel agent.

"I had done an awful lot of television by
the time I came to do Doctor Who, and
since I left, I haven't done any television at
all," says Sutton, adding that it is not only
television. "Everything really! I did do a
pantomime when I left Doctor Who, and I
did do a murder play which toured England,
Wales and Northern Ireland. So, the theater
seemed to do all right because they were obviously using the Doctor Who name thing,
but I would have liked to have done some
more telly.

"I've done more television and I do enjoy
it. I actually started work in the business
professionally when I was nine years old and
did my first television when I was 11 . In the
meantime, I have a part-time job as a travel
agent. It's obviously not what I had intended to do with my career, but it's quite interesting and I enjoy traveling."

Despite the possible drawbacks to having
been in a commercially successful series like
Doctor Who, Sutton resists the temptation
to point an accusing finger. "I don't know.
It's very easy, I think, quite convenient
sometimes to blame the lack of work on
something. I mean, certainly since leaving it,
I haven't done much work but whether that
has to do with Doctor Who — who knows?
And, who can say? But it is true that my
career hasn't done as much as I would like
since leaving Doctor Who."

Sutton demonstrates a keen sense of
humor that rarely abates — even when she
recalls some rather bleak post-Who times.
With a hint of frustration in her voice, she
exclaims, "I don't know what it is! People
say to me, 'Is it because you're typecast?'
and I don't think it's typecasting as such. I
don't know whether people tend to think
you're still doing it, and so, in some rather
strange way, think you're not available.

"When I left the show, I missed it terribly," Sutton confides, "not so much actually doing the show, but the people.
Working with other actors for two years is
quite a thing in this profession. You really
do get to know people very well and I was
very close to Janet Fielding and Peter and
Mark Strickson and everyone. It was quite a
loss. I didn't know what to do with myself, I
slept less." With a somewhat sardonic
laugh, she concludes, "It's quite sad."

One can't help but wonder if Nyssa's
departure was absolutely necessary, but ac-
cording to producer John Nathan-Turner,
it was. "John had decided that it was time
for Nyssa's character to go and for new faces to be seen in the TARDIS." Sutton
reluctantly agreed. "I had come to the decision that if I was offered a new contract, I
probably would not sign it. As much as I
loved doing the show, there comes a time
when you must move on or not move on.
So, it was a little bit of a joint decision in a
way.

"I think one of the problems my
character had, and it was the same problem
for Janet's character, for Matthew
Waterhouse and indeed for Mark as well, is
that we were, at some point, ail there
together," observes Sutton.

"Writing scripts for more than one companion, let alone three, is actually very complicated. And that's why in some stories,
like '[[broadwcast:Kinda|Kinda]],' I wasn't around very much at
all, simply so poor Janet could have a decent
story. Splitting the action up in half-hour episodes, dividing the action between four
people — the Doctor and his three companions — there just isn't the time to do that
and to develop subplots in any great depth.

"So in order that Janet could have one
good story, I was told to 'just lie down with
a headache,' from the top of the episode!"
she says with a chuckle. "The dissipation of
action, storyline, characterization, words
and everything between more than one assistant was a big problem."

Nevertheless, Sutton recalls her role fond-
ly. "Nyssa worked very well with Peter's
Doctor. I was quite lucky that Nyssa was
given a technical side to her character. She
was quite bright and in time of crisis, instead
of being told to just stand and scream, she
could actually do something practical — make something or mend
something — which was quite nice for me. I
enjoyed that side of it."

She also enjoyed the off-camera side to
being a companion to the Doctor — the conventions. "It's wonderful doing conventions, in the States especially. American fans
are super. Also, through conventions, I've
met assistants from 12-15 years back, and I
would never have met them before. And
yet, when you meet for the first time, you ail
have something in common.

"It's like being part of a big family. You
can't erase it even when you've left and have
gone off to do other things, you are part of
it, you're with it. It's quite nice going to
conventions and meeting up with people.
Although you may not have seen them for a
few years, it's like you've never been apart."

Sutton admits to having very little input
into the characterization of Nyssa, although
she feels that certain events in her personal
life during that time inadvertently altered the
character. "Two years is quite a long time
and I— Sarah Sutton— changed quite a lot,"
she explains. "I grew up in the two years
and I think it shows with Nyssa.

"In the beginning, she was quite snooty
and didn't seem to have a great deal of a
sense of humor. As the show went on, and
as Nyssa got older, she relaxed an awful lot
and had a little more sense of humor in the
end. I liked Nyssa."

Sexy new costumes prompted the British
press to label Nyssa and Tegan as "the Doc-
tor's Harem." Following an outburst of
laughter, the amiable actress contends, "I
thought it was rather good! I can remember
that phrase being used and we all thought it
was rather funny. With costumes and
things, we don't have much say. In my very
first story, I had that very fairy-like outfit,
and then for practical reasons, I went into
trousers. I believe there were quite a few letters saying, 'What happened to Sarah's
legs!?' Hence the skirt again. So, you see
that's why skirts go up and down and
trousers disappear!

"You're very torn between having something on that's practical in Doctor Who
because often when you're filming in the
middle of January or February, it's freezing
cold and skimpy little skirts, climbing up
rock faces, are not the most practical of
gear — and yet, you want to, as John
Nathan-Turner says, 'keep the dads happy.'
So, I quite enjoyed it, and I loved my last
costume in '[[broadwcast:Terminus|Terminus]].' I never had a part
before that was in a remotely pretty costume. Slightly sexy. I really enjoyed wearing
that costume because it was completely
new." Jokingly, she adds, "They were
beautifully made, lovely, lovely skivvies!"

Regarding "Terminus," her departing
story, Sutton recollects that "it wasn't the
jolliest of subjects.

"It was pretty grim and colorless and
dull — not in a script sense but in the whole
atmosphere of this spaceship." Smiling at
the thought, she adds, "I actually quite liked
it! I felt sorry for Janet and Mark because
they seemed to spend the whole time crawling through vents or something, and getting
sore knees. But I had quite a good story, and I was quite pleased."

The dramatic impact of Adric's departure
was a tough act to follow and Sutton con-
fesses being concerned about whether her
method of departure would be memorable
as well.

"Initially, I wanted to be killed off.
Adric's exit from the show was very
dramatic [he was killed off], and I thought,
'Ah, now that's a good way to go — you're
remembered when you're killed off.' But
then I thought, 'Well no, I don't think I do.'
Then, I thought, 'Oh, I bet they get me falling in love with some chap from some planet
and I have to walk off hand-in-hand with
this person! No, no, no, I don't want that to
happen because I can't see Nyssa doing
that.' So, in the end, I was quite pleased
with the way she was given to leave the
show. It fit her character very well. I particularly liked the final scene where she actually tells Tegan and the Doctor that she
won't be coming with them back to the
TARDIS. That was a lovely scene to
do. . ." Pretending to sob, she concludes,
". . .and quite the tear jerker!

"I still get my fan mail, unbelievably,"
she says happily. "Obviously not as much as
when I was doing the show, but I do still get
fan mail. There's a lot now from Australia,
although that has trailed off a bit, and
trickles from the United States, and lots
from England. Sadly, I'm a bit lazy about it.
1 feel so bad about my fans. I tend to leave it
for a few months and then do the 'Big Fan
Mail Answer,' a couple of sackfuls at a time
and then leave it again for a few months."

Sutton isn't easy to please when it comes
to her own career and the parts she is offered. "I'm actually quite fussy. I always
have in my mind the thing I would love to
do next and the job that comes up is often
completely different, and I think, 'Oh well,
at least that could be interesting.' I tend to
have things set in my mind — I would love to
play that part or a character like this and life
just doesn't work out that way. You get offered things you wouldn't have dreamt of,
and that's how it goes."

The former child actress admits that she
would like to be remembered for one of her
early performances. "Yes, Alice Through
the Looking Glass, which I did when I was
12. It was a production that the BBC did — it
was one of the first productions that used
color separation overlays totally as a trick
photography system. Very few productions
have used it throughout the whole program;
usually, it's used in snippets to get an effect.
It was quite cleverly done.

"So, if I never worked again — looking on
the pessimistic side — I would like to be re-
membered for that. But who knows? In the
future, I hope to do something more
memorable still." Forming a devilish smile,
Sarah Sutton quips, "It sounds as if they're
quite serious about the Doctor Who movie
this time. Perhaps there's a part in it for me!"

JUANITA ELEFANTE-CORDON is
writing Turning on the British Charm, a
book-length study of British TV. She profiled Sophie Aldred in STARLOG #135.
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Stranded by the Doctor - Revision history

John Lavalie at 14:45, 30 March 2017

John Lavalie at 01:24, 14 September 2014

John Lavalie at 22:57, 10 September 2014

John Lavalie: Created page with "{{Starlog|144}}{{article | publication = Starlog | file = | px = | height = | width = | date = 1988-09-01 | display date = issue 144 (July 1989) | author = Juanita Elefante-Co..."