13 Actors Who Almost Died Filming Major TV Shows

11. Doctor Who - Sophie Aldred & Elisabeth Sladen

For a family show, Doctor Who has tried to kill not one but two of its actors. Firstly, in the "Battlefield" serial from the 26th series, from 1989, there is a sequence in which Ace is trapped in a water tank, and during filming the glass tank cracked and broke, causing Sophie Aldred injuries to her hands (the moment remained in the final screened version of the episode) and sending water flooding onto the studio floor. Realising the impending threat of electrocution, Aldred was lifted out of the tank as the water poured out, narrowly averting a gruesome conclusion.

The second case of near accidental death came during filming for "Revenge Of The Cybermen," which took place within a cavern at the Wookey Hole Caves. The scene required Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen) to drive a boat in a whirlpool, but thanks to a filming curse brought about when the production staff tampered with a small rock formation that the locals called "The Witch". The curse led to a series of injuries on set, and culminated in the boat scene when the boat went wild and forces Sladen to jump free and tread water in heavy boots, before longtime stuntman Terry Walsh dived in to save her from drowning.