Doctor Who: 20 Things You Didn’t Know About The Waters Of Mars
2. Helen Mirren Almost Played Adelaide
Yep, you read that right.
The role of Adelaide Brooke was originally considered for Academy Award-winning actress and all-round badass, Dame Helen Mirren. Just imagine!
Before the episode even had its proper name, RTD wanted Mirren to play the older woman who was teamed up with the Doctor. This is why Adelaide wasn't Russian, as RTD worried that this was too similar to Mirren's Soviet character in the film 2010: The Year We Make Contact.
In the end, the stars didn't align, and Mirren didn't appear in the episode. But The Waters of Mars would undoubtedly be remembered very differently today had the team managed to pull off this casting coup.