A tribute for Lis from Graeme Harper, Director on Doctor Who and The Sarah Jane Adventures. Lis and I were the same age, but of course she was much prettier than me ! The first time I met her was on ‘Planet of the Spiders’, when I was the assistant floor manager. Lis was wonderful in that story and I could see that Jon Pertwee loved her. They got on ever so well. They were the Steed and Emma of Doctor Who. Lis and I were together again on ‘The Seeds of Doom’, when Duggie Camfield directed. It was a fabulous story, with a fantastic cast in a glorious location. It was a unique time, and I could see she loved being there. There was a great rapport between Lis and Tom Baker. Tom is one of our great actors, and I think she recognised that she could learn from him. And I think he loved her for the support she gave him. All the other girls had fantastic emotional moments, but there was something special about the way the character of Sarah Jane was written. I think the writers used her background as an investigative journalist and cast her as a Dr. Watson figure. I was thrilled to be reunited with Lis, this time as a director on ‘ The Sarah Jane Adventures’. I thought it was brilliant that she had been given a series of her own. - quite right too. I hadn’t seen her for many years but I knew what she could do. Lis was a great natural beauty and a very talented actress who, by this time, had gained a vast amount of experience. She had also gained a huge amount of real life experience as a wife and mother, and all that was brought to ‘The Sarah Jane Adventures’. Despite this she was very humble, and always wanted to be absolutely perfect. When actor say to you “Was that all right?” I think a lot of them actually know in their hearts when they’ve got it good. But she never did seem to know. Lis was a worrier, and she was never convinced she was terrific. She always felt there was something better to be got. At the end of the day we would sometimes head to the bar to unwind and discuss what went right and wrong with the shoot. She wasn’t the sort to join in on those occasions. We were very close when we were working, but in the evening she would always like to head back to see her husband and daughter. She was very family-oriented. I’m so please I was able to work on ‘The Sarah Jane Adventures’. Sarah Jane was so iconic - how could I have resisted ? And now could I have resisted working with Lis again, after all those years ? I’ve got many wonderful memories, but I thing the best tribute I can pay to her as an actress is thes: whatever the lines, or whatever the scene she was playing, Lis always gave you the absolute, honest truth. - Doctor Who Magazine #440, p.31
Posted on: Mon, 11 Aug 2014 00:20:00 +0000