10 False Doctor Who Facts You Probably Still Believe
6. John Lumic Was Rewritten Because Of A Broken Leg
It's not uncommon for Doctor Who scripts to be rewritten in response to backstage changes.
Take the scene in The Pirate Planet where the Fourth Doctor smacks his face off the TARDIS console. It was a late addition to the script to explain the substantial cut on Tom Baker's lip after he was bitten by a dog while filming The Ribos Operation.
Rumour has it that a similar rewrite was done on Series 2's Rise of the Cybermen to accommodate actor Roger Lloyd Pack, after he had broken his leg in an accident at home.
News of Lloyd Pack's injury emerged towards the end of 2005, with reports stating that the scripts for his performance as John Lumic would have to be rewritten.
Months later, while previewing the Cybermen two-parter in the pages of Doctor Who Magazine, writer Tom MacRae said that the character of John Lumic was always written as a wheelchair user, so no rewrites were necessary in light of Lloyd Pack's injury.
Perhaps the intent was to further emphasize the links between this particular genesis of the Cybermen, and the Daleks' notorious creator, Davros.