‘MYTH MAKERS: JANET FIELDING’

Please feel free to comment on my review.

The first ‘Myth Makers’ interview item featured in ‘The Doctors: The Peter Davison Years’ DVD set is with Janet Fielding, who played Tegan in the TV series and she currently plays her in the Big Finish audios.

There are two segments to this ‘Myth Makers’ feature. First, Janet is interviewed by Nicholas Briggs for a ‘Myth Makers’ interview, which was recorded after she had just left the TV show in 1985.

In fact, Janet had just reprised her role of Tegan in the ‘Jim’ll Fix It’ mini-episode ‘A Fix with Sontarans’. Janet does sound posh in her 1980s interview when she tried to go for a British accent. 😀

Like I said, the interview with Janet conducted by Nick Briggs was recorded in 1985. Janet and Nick first meet each other when walking on the location for ‘Resurrection of the Daleks’ at Shad Thames in London.

Nick later interviewed Janet inside her home. The 1980s segment of Janet’s ‘Myth Makers’ covers her memories of making her ‘Doctor Who’ TV stories from ‘Logopolis’ to ‘Resurrection of the Daleks’.

The second segment of Janet’s ‘Myth Makers’ is when Robert Dick interviews her in early 2020, I believe. At least I hope so anyway, since most of 2020 had been taken over by the Covid-19 pandemic.

It was nice to hear Janet share her latest thoughts about ‘Doctor Who’ in 2020 compared to when she shared them to Nick Briggs in 1985. Janet also does sound more Australian in the 2020 segment. 😀

Janet even talks about the ‘Project Motor Mouth’ events she ran in the 2010s. I of course attended ‘Project Motor Mouth 2’. I cherish fond memories of seeing many companions who attended that event.

I liked how Janet shared how the ‘Project Motor Mouth’ events came about with her getting cancer in 2012 before encouraging Peter Davison and David Tennant to do a ‘Project Motor Mouth’ event. 🙂

It was interesting to hear Janet share her memories of being an actors’ agent, including when she was an agent to Paul McGann. She shares how she didn’t like the negotiating side of being an agent. 😐

At the time of this ‘Myth Makers’, Janet shares her memories of working with most of the Doctors, barring William Hartnell, since the First Doctor in ‘The Five Doctors’ was played by Richard Hurndell.

As well as mentioning working with Colin Baker in ‘A Fix with Sontarans’, Janet also shares her memories of working with Sylvester McCoy for the audition tapes in order to be the Seventh Doctor.

There’s a segment of a ‘PanoptiCon’ convention panel with Janet in 1993 where she expresses her frustration at how companions were handled in the classic TV series, referring to herself as ‘crumpet’. 😐

It was funny when Nicholas Courtney, who was on the panel with her, eased the tension by calling her a ‘muffin’. 😀 It’s also intriguing how Janet compared companions of the classic series to the new series.

The story of Janet popping out of her boob tube being told at the ‘PanoptiCon VII’ event from ‘The Peter Davison Team Vol 1’ feature is repeated her in Janet’s ‘Myth Makers’, which is still amusing. 😀

It was also amusing when seeing Peter Davison, Janet Fielding and Sarah Sutton refusing to do an interview with the ‘Myth Makers’ team before their convention panel at ‘PanoptiCon VIII’ in 1987. 😀

I liked it when Janet shared her memories of doing ‘The Gathering’, which was Gary Russell’s last Big Finish audio of ‘Doctor Who’ as a director. She’s enjoyed doing more Big Finish audio stories since then. 🙂

I must emphasise that I’ve met Janet Fielding at quite a number of conventions over the years. I have enjoyed seeing her and whilst I prefer Sarah Sutton over her, she is still a pleasure for me to meet. 🙂

I know I give the impression I don’t like Tegan/Janet at times in some of the reviews I write, but I stress that’s not the case. I get frustrated by how Tegan’s character can sometimes be inconsistent.

That’s especially when you try to blend TV stories and Big Finish audios together. But I know how enthusiastic Janet is in playing Tegan. It comes across well when she’s interviewed for her ‘Myth Makers’.

Janet Fielding’s ‘Myth Makers’ is a pleasure to watch. I like how the ‘Myth Makers’ team combined Janet’s 1985 interview with a 2020 one. The two interviews do compliment Janet well in my opinion.

‘Myth Makers: Janet Fielding’ rating – 8/10

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