10 Most Unusual Demands Made By Doctor Who Guest Stars
3. Anton Diffring Preferred Tennis To Doctor Who - Silver Nemesis
Anton Diffring was a prolific German character actor who had fled Germany in 1939 to live and work in Canada, the US and Britain. Often playing Nazis in the movies following the end of the war. He appeared in genre classics like Where Eagles Dare and also starred in Jerry Lewis' infamous little-seen concentration camp clown film The Day the Clown Cried. By the late 80s, Diffring was in his 70s and very much still working.
Doctor Who's 25th anniversary special Silver Nemesis centred on a battle between the Cybermen, a Nazi and his private militia and a two Elizabethans to obtain the mythical Nemesis statue. It's up to the Doctor and Ace to stop them. And who did the Doctor Who production team have in mind for the ageing Nazi? Why Anton Diffring, of course!
Diffring was completely unaware of Doctor Who and had never seen an episode. He took the role on though, not because he was a late convert to the magic of the show, but because the shooting dates coincided with Wimbledon and he could watch the matches between shoots from his hotel room!