10 Doctor Who Stories That Had Troubled Productions
5. Partners In Crime (2008)
The Episode: The Doctor is reunited with Donna as they investigate a sinister weight loss drug that is actually facilitating an alien birthing plan. The Problem: The illness of Howard Attfield. Donnas father Geoff (Howard Attfield) had first appeared in her first episode The Runaway Bride (2006) and the plan was for him to return in a recurring role alongside Donnas mother Sylvia (Jacqueline King), being the sympathetic and inspirational figure to Donna that Bernard Cribbins eventually played. But sadly, Attfield had been ill and was undergoing chemotherapy during filming (with his illness being written into the script and scenes from future episodes being brought forward to be filmed at the same time), and later broke his leg after filming his scenes with Donna on the hill where they look at the stars. After this, Attifields wife suggested that it was time for Attfield to step down. Rather than recast the character, Russell T. Davies created the new character of Wilfred Mott and retroactively made the newspaper seller played by Bernard Cribbins in the preceding episode the same character. Initially, Attfields illness posed a budgetary problem as the BBC could not claim any insurance on scenes that had to be reshot (having knowingly employed Attfield despite his illness) but Attfield breaking his leg provided an insurance payout that enabled the reshooting those scenes with Bernard Cribbins. Attfield later passed away on the 31st of October 2007 and the episode was dedicated to his memory. Although he was edited out of the episode, the scenes he shot are included on the Series 4 DVD boxset.
JG Moore is a writer and filmmaker from the south of England. He also works as an editor and VFX artist, and has a BA in Media Production from the University Of Winchester.
