I remember the first time I met Michael Jayston, we were chatting about this and that, and for some reason I mentioned that sometimes I fear having trouble being taken seriously as a professional, as I do tend to look a bit young for my age.
“Really?” he said. “Because you honestly don’t look a day over 64.”
Oh Michael, you ol’ smoothie. I do enjoy a bit of ridiculous banter.
Who fans - and if you’re reading this, you probably are one - will remember Jayston’s understated, menacing performance as the ScrapyardBarnyardJunkyard Valeyard in the show’s Trial Of A Time Lord season, a role he has since reprises in the Big Finish audios He Jests At Scars and the recent Trial Of The Valeyard. He’s been in far too many other things to list them all; that said, I would be remiss if I failed to mention his performance opposite Alec Guinness in the fabulous BBC adaptation of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.
Then there was the time I mentioned being a lapsed academic, and he looked at me incredulously, and said “did you say you’re a lapdancer?” and I laughed so hard I could barely breathe. So thank you for that, sir.
See, get this, I would but Six has got a bit of a wild look right now. He’s staring into my soul. He’s looked into the void and the void looked at him and fled. He is the night. He is what Death fears. He will steal your soul.
Lol, I should have put up a warning when I first posted it, but yes, you’re right… that’s him in a nutshell.. *shivers*
Been doing some research while brainstorming for June’s short trip opportunity and…
Do we all agree that Ellie Martin almost certainly really is (blonde?) Sam Jones in-universe?
The new name is presumably part of an attempt to preserve her in the timeline after the Council of Eight’s alterations despite original!Sam’s fate in 2002 (and whatever happened to the timeline post-EDAs); a better solution than being kept on the time vortex airship in Repercussions.
In fact, given that Sarah Jane is different from the VNAs/EDAs too (eg. not being married, much closer to her new series status quo) and the connection with the He Jests at Scars world, I bet this is a Time War thing (likely making the latter another Time War spin-off timeline). Being in the time vortex, the airship was probably put under threat by the war so either Eight or War had to work out another solution for its occupants.
This is the reason why she seemingly out-of-nowhere becomes a companion of the Valeyard’s in the He Jests timeline and, despite never knowing him as such, insists on calling him the Doctor and assuming better of him.
Mind you, we don’t know how deep this ‘timeline witness protection’ goes though, so who knows how aware she is herself of any of this.
