‘MYTH MAKERS: SARAH SUTTON’

Please feel free to comment on my review.

Tim Bradley’s DVD cover of ‘Myth Makers: Sarah Sutton and Peter Grimwade’ signed by Sarah Sutton

Sarah Sutton and Tim Bradley at ‘Pandorica 2015’, Bristol, September 2015

Tim Bradley and Sarah Sutton at ‘Pandorica 2015’, Bristol, September 2015

Sarah Sutton’s ‘Myth Makers’ interview was the first one I came across in the series. It is, of course, my absolute favourite! 😀 I first purchased Sarah Sutton’s ‘Myth Makers’ with Peter Grimwade‘s in 2012. I later had the feature in ‘The Doctors: The Peter Davison Years’ DVD compilation in 2020. 🙂

I also purchased Sarah’s ‘Myth Makers’ in its own DVD in early 2021. That was the 2015 re-issue of Sarah’s ‘Myth Makers’, since the one I purchased with Peter Grimwade was presented as a double-feature DVD in 2005. I’m still happy to have many versions of Sarah Sutton’s ‘Myth Makers’ on DVD.

I know. I’m crazy, aren’t I? 😀 I first came across Sarah Sutton’s ‘Myth Makers’ when I once looked through the pages of ‘Doctor Who Magazine’ in 2012. When it came to purchasing ‘Wirrn: Race Memory’ on CD from Galaxy 4, it was an opportunity for me to purchase Sarah’s ‘Myth Makers’ on DVD too. 🙂

As you can tell, I’m a massive Nyssa of Traken/Sarah Sutton fan. I didn’t want to miss out on this ‘Myth Makers‘ interview that featured Sarah. I’m glad I checked out the interview. It got me to learn more about Sarah and what she was like as a person when she was interviewed in 1986 and 1994. 😀

Sarah played Nyssa in ‘Doctor Who’ first with Tom Baker’s Fourth Doctor and then with Peter Davison’s Fifth Doctor. She was in the TV series from 1981 to 1983. In recent years, Sarah has reprised her role of Nyssa in the Big Finish audios of ‘Doctor Who’. She has greatly enjoyed them! 🙂

I sometimes watch Sarah Sutton’s ‘Myth Makers’ interview before seeing her at conventions. In September 2015, I had my ‘Myth Makers: Sarah Sutton/Peter Grimwade’ DVD cover signed by the lovely Sarah Sutton at the ‘Pandorica 2015’ convention in Bristol. I’m pleased Sarah signed the DVD cover for me!

The Sarah Sutton ‘Myth Makers’ interview, on its own or with Peter Grimwade on DVD, is given an introduction by producer/director Keith Barnfather and interview host/Dalek voice artist Nicholas Briggs. Nick Briggs did most of the ‘Myth Makers’ interviews with the stars of ‘Doctor Who’ during the 1980s, the 1990s and the 2000s.

Sarah’s ‘Myth Makers’ is of course with Nick Briggs. It was very eerie but great to see Nick Briggs looking so young when he’s interviewing Sarah in the 1986 and 1994 segments of her ‘Myth Makers’. There are two segments of Sarah’s ‘Myth Makers’. The first is when Nick is chatting to Sarah at Harrison’s Rocks in 1986.

Harrison’s Rocks was the location used in Tunbridge Wells to film some scenes of ‘Castrovalva’. The second segment of Sarah’s ‘Myth Makers’ is when Nick interviews her at a London studio in 1994. I enjoyed revisiting Sarah’s ‘Myth Makers’ interview recently when I went through January 2021 itself.

And Sarah always comes across as a nice friendly person in the interview segments, as she does in real-life. Having met Sarah already at conventions, I was pretty excited and nervous to watch this interview when I first saw it on DVD. Eventually, I grew to really liking the nature of these interviews.

According to Nick Briggs in the introduction, the 1986 interview was the first time that he had met Sarah. Lately, Sarah has worked with Nick on the Big Finish audios and they’re clearly very good friends today. I recall Nick sharing with me how she found Sarah a ‘lovely’ person and I agreed with him.

I loved seeing Sarah being interviewed by Nick at Harrison Rocks in 1986. It was fun to watch them both walking around the Harrison’s Rocks location of ‘Castrovalva’, as they made jokes and remarks during the interview. Sarah shares some fascinating insight on her working on the TV show as well as what happens for her at conventions. 🙂

At the end of the 1986 interview, Sarah gave Nick a very strange challenge. She asked him to climb up Harrison’s Rocks like she and Janet did. Nick took on the challenge, but as revealed in the 1994 segment, it was all a mean trick by her. I did ask Sarah why she got Nick to climb up Harrison’s Rocks.

She told me rather cheekily that it was because she was ‘a mean person’. 😀 I’m sure Sarah’s not a mean person in real life, since she comes across as nice and friendly. She certainly hasn’t asked me to do any strange challenges like climbing up Harrison’s Rocks or something. At least, not yet anyway! 😀

I equally loved seeing Sarah being interviewed by Nick in the 1994 segment of her ‘Myth Makers’ at the London studio. There, they had displays of familiar monster costumes connected to the stories that Sarah was in on TV, including a Terileptil’s head, a Cyberman suit and a Vanir suit. It’s impressive! 🙂

The 1994 interview segment with Sarah was recorded a year after ‘Dimensions In Time’ was made. I liked it when the 1994 segment cuts to and from the 1986 segment, as Sarah and Nick watched the 1986 segment on a little TV monitor in 1994. And it’s a Sony TV monitor, as I discovered watching this. 😀

Incidentally, the 1984 segment was directed by Gary Russell, whilst the rest was produced and directed by Keith Barnfather. It was nice to see Sarah’s ‘Doctor Who’ TV career chronicled from its beginning to its ends in 1984 and 1994. This includes stories from ‘The Keeper to Traken’ to ‘Terminus’. 🙂

I also liked the mentions of her other TV works, such as ‘Menace: Boys and Girls Come Out To Play’, ‘Alice Through The Looking Glass’ and ‘The Moon Stallion’. They’re brief mentions, but I’m glad they got mentioned. I’m pleased I’ve seen ‘Alice Through The Looking Glass’ and ‘The Moon Stallion’ already.

It was interesting to see how Sarah’s personal life was touched upon in her ‘Myth Makers’. This includes her marriage to her husband and having her daughter Hannah at various points in her life. It was nice to see a photo of Sarah and her daughter Hannah as a little girl during the ‘Myth Makers’ feature.

One of my favourite moments that Sarah shares in her ‘Myth Makers’ is when her daughter Hannah watched ‘Dimensions In Time’. Hannah’s favourite bit is when she sees her ‘mummy being chased by monsters’, which I liked. I wonder if Hannah still says ‘mummy being chased by monsters’ nowadays. 😀

I also like how Sarah mentions her hobbies, interests and the aspirations she would like to achieve. This includes flying a hot air balloon and flying a Tiger Moth plane (which she did recently according to a photo shown at ‘Pandorica 2015’). Sarah also loves her holidays in Africa. Sometimes she goes to Kenya.

In both interview segments, Sarah demonstrates her honesty, especially when it comes to talking about conventions. She enjoys going to conventions, but she makes it clear that she doesn’t go to every convention when invited and she often turns some down. That could be US conventions than UK ones. 😐

Sarah mentions enjoying working with fellow actors like Peter Davison, Janet Fielding, Matthew Waterhouse and Mark Strickson. She clearly found it hard work working with Tom Baker in the TV series. I liked it when Sarah once described Stafford Johns in ‘Four to Doomsday’ as being ‘marvellous’. 🙂

I also liked it when Sarah mentioned her favourite TV stories in ‘Doctor Who’,  including ‘The Keeper of Traken’, ‘Earthshock’ and ‘Black Orchid’. She clearly didn’t like ‘Time-Flight’, since she didn’t understand what the story was about. That’s fair, although I like ‘Time-Flight’ more than her.

The Sarah Sutton ‘Myth Makers’ interview has been a treat. I liked it when Nicholas Briggs was interviewing her in both segments. Sarah is clearly a lovely person, both in real life and on screen when interviewed. I’m pleased I got to see this classic ‘Myth Makers’ with Sarah and it does cheer me up.

I’ve seen more ‘Myth Makers’ interviews with ‘Doctor Who’ stars, including ones with Katy Manning and Wendy Padbury. Sarah Sutton’s interview will always be my favourite and if you’re a massive Sarah Sutton/Nyssa fan like me, I highly recommend purchasing it on DVD and seeing it for yourself. 🙂

As well as watching her ‘Myth Makers’, I recommend seeing Sarah Sutton at a convention in the UK or in the USA. I’ve seen Sarah at conventions and she’s always very kind-hearted and friendly to meet and chat to. I always look forward to the next convention I attend and hope that I will see Sarah Sutton there. 🙂

As well as the introduction and the interview with Sarah, there’s also a biography of Sarah given on the DVD, both in the Sarah Sutton/Peter Grimwade double-feature 2005 DVD and on the Sarah Sutton 2015 reissue DVD. The biography provides more insight into Sarah on her career and her life.

It’s enjoyable to read. Incidentally, I’ve noticed the ‘Myth Makers’ theme music for Sarah’s interview on both ‘The Doctors: The Peter Davison Years’ DVD and the Sarah Sutton 2015 re-issue DVD is different to the one for Sarah’s interview on the Sarah Sutton/Peter Grimwade double-feature DVD.

Just to close off, I’ve seen Sarah in more interviews, including one for the ‘Wine & Dine’ series on YouTube, which I’ve enjoyed. I’ve also conducted interviews with Sarah over the years, including one at the ‘Bournemouth Film and Comic Con’ in August 2015. I’m very fond of Sarah’s ‘Myth Makers’ though.

‘Myth Makers: Sarah Sutton’ rating – 10/10