10 Doctor Who Moments That Were Improvised

9. The Synchronised Turn (Pyramids Of Mars)

Doctor Who New Earth Billie Piper Rose Tyler
BBC

Pyramids Of Mars is one of the most entertaining classic serials to rewatch. Not only does it have a fantastic villain in Sutekh The Destroyer, but the chemistry between Tom Baker and Elisabeth Sladen is electric, and they're a joy to watch from start to finish.

You can just tell that Baker and Sladen had a really fun time while making this one, and that might be because they were given a lot of freedom to improvise, when the moment called for it.

The best example of this is in episode four, where the Doctor and Sarah Jane emerge from their hiding spot, see a mummy, do a quick synchronised turn, and dart back into cover, hoping to remain unseen. Supposedly, Baker got the idea for the turn from a Marx brothers comedy routine, and decided to do it while filming Doctor Who.

It's a throwaway moment in the grand scheme of things, but regardless, he and Sladen managed to make it one of the most memorable, hilarious bits in the entire serial.

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Danny has been with WhatCulture for almost nine years, and is currently Doctor Who Editor and WhoCulture Channel Manager, overseeing all of WhatCulture's Whoniverse coverage. He has been writing and video editing for 10+ years, and first got a taste for content creation after making his own Doctor Who trailers and uploading them to YouTube (they're admittedly a bit rusty by today's standards). If you need someone to recite every Doctor Who episode in order or to tell you about the making of 1988's Remembrance of the Daleks, Danny is the person to ask.