“One expects that being in Doctor Who would be a lot of fun, and sometimes it was. But a lot of the time it wasn’t at all.”
Matthew Waterhouse, star of Doctor Who who played Adric between 1980 and 1982 (with a brief re-appearance in 1984), has spoken about difficulties he faced when first filming the series.
Speaking with this month’s SFX magazine, which is available to buy from 12th July, Waterhouse said that it was “absolutely amazing how little preparation there was” after he was cast, saying: “I had lunch with [producer] John Nathan-Turner and then I was straight into rehearsals.
“I wasn’t even introduced to Baker. Tom arrived late, actually, for the first read-through. I remember him looking the worse for wear.”
Waterhouse also admitted that he found Fourth Doctor star Tom Baker to be “a very difficult man” to work with, and that his first three stories as Adric were “depressing to make”.
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Waterhouse continued: “I don’t like to be negative – I think the E-Space trilogy is absolutely wonderful. But there is no point putting a fake gloss on it now, all these years later.
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“One expects that being in Doctor Who would be a lot of fun, and sometimes it was. But a lot of the time it wasn’t at all. I was completely unprepared for it. It was a shock.”
Waterhouse explained that Baker’s relationship with his co-star Lalla Ward contributed to the frosty atmosphere, as he found their dynamic together to be “very hostile, row-y and fight-y”.
While Waterhouse’s character Adric was killed, the actor has continued to return to the role for Big Finish audio dramas, including ones alongside Baker.
This year, Big Finish is releasing an eight-part audio story called Once and Future, which will see original TV leads Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy, Paul McGann, Christopher Eccleston and David Tennant all back as their respective Doctors.
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The new issue of SFX will be on sale from Wednesday 12th July, with subscriber copies becoming available from Saturday 8th July.
Doctor Who is available to stream on BBC iPlayer with episodes of the classic series also available on BritBox – you can sign up for a 7-day free trial here.
For more, check out our dedicated Sci-Fi page or our full TV Guide and Streaming Guide.
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