Fiona Walker

Posted on by Tony CrawleyCategories:Actors

 

  1. Sheila Ruskin, Doctor Who #114: The Keeper of the Traken, TV, 1981.    Walker declined the elderly Keeper’s wife Kassia in good company: Francesca Annis, Glenda Jackson, Helen Mirren and Avengers Joanna Lumley and Diana Rigg!  They all decided against visiting the Traken Union empire of peace and harmony, with Doc4 Tom Baker.    Fiona had actually made her TV debut with Doc1 William Hartnell in #5: The Keys Of Marnius in 1964.  She also played Lady Peinforre/Nemesis in #150: Silver Nemesis, 1988, with Doc7 Sylvester McCoy .Her 50 other roles include Mrs Bute Crawley in a1987 Vanity Fair. And like I always say, you can’t go wrong with a Crawley!

  2. Colette O’Neill, Doctor Who #124: Snakedance, TV, 1982.      Judi Dench and Carry On star Joan Sims up for the same part  – kidding, right? Nope! Producer John Nathan-Taylor loved rocking the boat. He suggested 14 ladies as Lady Tanha, for when Doc5 Peter Davidson landed on Manussa. The others were Walker, Jill Bennett, Eleanor Bron, Elspeth Gray, Sheila Hancock, Jean Marsh, Anna Massey, Kate O’Mara (the future Time Lady Rani), Barbara Shelley, Elizabeth Spriggs and Wanda Ventham (the mother of Benedict Cumberbatch). The Scottish O’Neill had scored 77 mainly UK credits by 2016.

  3. Tara Ward, Doctor Who #130: Warriors of The Deep, 1984.     For Doc5 Peter Davison’s finale, 18 stunners were shuffled for Preston… Walker, Ward, Lynda Bellingham, Sarah Berger, Isla Blair, Suzanne Danielle, Patricia Finnegan, Jenny Hanley, Diane Keen, Rula Lenska (aka Dr Styles in #133: Resurrection of the Daleks, TV, 1984), Susan Penhaligon (Lakis in #64: The Time Monster, 1972), Bond Girl Pamela Salem, Susan Skipper, Catherine Schell (Countess Scarlioni in #105: City of Death, 1979), Primi Townsend (Mula in #99: The Pirate Planet, 1978), Wanda Ventham … and two Ken Russell favourites: Georgina Hale and Helen Mirren.

  4. Ingrid Pitt, Doctor Who #130: Warriors of The Deep, 1984.    The nine potential faces of Dr Solow were: Pitt, Walker, Honor Blackman, Eleanor Bron, Diane Keen, Rula Lenska (she became Dr Styles in #133: Resurrection of the Daleks), Maureen Lipman, Pamela Salem, Sylvia Syms and Wanda Ventham (mother of Benedict Cumberbatch). Not the happiest of Whovian shoots – and not just because Doc5 Peter Davison beyed Doc2 Patrick Troughton’s golden rule. Three seasons and out.

  5. Polly James, Doctor Who #131: The Awakening, TV, 1984.    Imagine Glenda Jackson and Helen Mirren up for the same Whoverse role. Plus Bond ladies, Honor Blackman, Judi Dench, Diana Rigg and Pamela Salem. Well, producer John Nathan-Taylor had a female casting/dart) board, as well as one for the guys.   As proved by his 18 choices for Jane Humpden in Doc5 Peter Davison’s four-parter… The others were Walker, James, Lynda Bellingham, Eleanor Bron, Pauline Collins, Diane Keen, Jean Marsh, Sheila Ruskin, Barbara Shelley, Sylvia Syms, Wanda Ventham, , Penelope Wilton.

  6. Rula Lenska, Doctor Who #133: Resurrection of the Daleks, TV, 1984.     Fourteen ladies, including three Bond Girls and a future M (Honor Blackman, Jenny Hanley, Joanna Lumley, Pamela Salem and Judi Dench) were in the melting pot for Dr Styles. Also listed: Walker, Polly Adams, Eleanor Bron, Rachel Davies, Diane Keen, Maureen Lipman, Kate O’Mara, Jacqueline Pearce, Sheila Ruskin and Penelope Wilton. Walker had made her TV debut as Kala in #5: The Keys of Marinus, 1964, opposite Doc1 William Hartnell. She was also Lady Peinforte, aka Nemesis, opposite Doc7 Sylvester McCoy in the 25th (silver) anniversary story, #150: Silver Nemesis, 1988.

  7. Joan Sims, Doctor Who #143: The Trial of a Time Lord, TV, 1986.      When Joan Sims is competing with Sylvia Syms… not to mention Ingrid Pitt, Beryl Reid versus Honor Blackman, Billie Whitelaw… you realise a certain desperation has entered the casting process. Indeed, never had so many women – 20 – been flagpoled for one part… The other Katcyra contenders were Walker, Linda Baron, Isla Blair, Jill Bennett, Brenda Bruce, Adrienne Corri, Sheila Hancock, Janet Henfrey, Rosemary Leach, Jean Marsh, Sian Phillips, Dinah Sheridan, Elizabeth Spriggs, Wanda Ventham. The winner was, inexplicably, Sims. She didn’t enjoy it one bit. So she did not… carry on.

 Birth year: Death year: Other name: Casting Calls:  7