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Carole Ann Ford: 'Doctor Who? It destroyed my acting career.'


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Old 11-03-2016, 22:12
tiggerpooh
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I've just found this news report online, and quite honestly, it is a bit of a shocker!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/t...ng-career.html

It says in one part that after she left DW originally, she slumped into a depression, and went down to five stone, losing her voice also.

She found it quite hard to get other work, too.

I wonder what Carole is doing, now that the Classic DVDs have stopped and she can't record any more commentaries?

Apologies if this has already been mentioned on here, but I've never noticed this on any other threads before.
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Old 11-03-2016, 22:47
Tom Tit
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Carole has always said that. Of course you can see her perspective but one can also see that it's jaundiced: who is to say she would have had any success as an actress without that role? She cannot say for certain her career would have been more accomplished without that one role. And in later years it's really given her a very nice financial benefit from conventions, work like Big Finish, royalties and so on.

In any walk of life it's easy to look at external or incidental factors and blame them for the course your life takes but it's much more difficult to examine yourself and your own actions and analyze where oneself could have made things different. If Carole had the talent to be a successful actress then she is the person who failed to capitalize on that talent. It's only her responsibility. If she's spent decades (5 of them! Half a century) taking an opportunity she received (big role in a major TV series) and regarding it as an albatross, as a negative factor, then it's fairly clear that her own perceptions, her own mindset were what held her back in her career.

Carole always complained that her character was badly handled by the writers and perhaps it was but the truth is (and I like her but I'm being honest) she really wasn't very good in the role of the 'unearthly child' and I can sympathize with the production team changing her role to the 'ordinary teenage girl'. If Carole had been excellent in that role of 'unearthly child' they would have gone with that and they would have used her more in the stories, it's a simple as that. But again, it's much easier for an actor to blame the writer / the director / the producer / anyone rather than their own performance.

Again, I like Carole, I like hearing her talk, but bottom line: she achieved in her career what she had the tools (talent and mentality) to achieve.
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Old 12-03-2016, 00:18
tiggerpooh
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Again, I like Carole, I like hearing her talk, but bottom line: she achieved in her career what she had the tools (talent and mentality) to achieve.
So you're saying she hasn't got that anymore?

She was saying that if she could go back in time, if there was a real TARDIS, then there are things that she would do differently, to achieve more out of her life. Like getting proper work on TV and possibly movies, too.

I do like Carole a lot, and am sad to know that she hasn't had much success in the Entertainment business since Doctor Who in late 1964.

I must say, I am also sad that she went down to a dangerously low weight.

I'm glad that she's doing okay these days and that she can look back at her DW days with a certain amount of glee.
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Old 12-03-2016, 00:39
POTD
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It's interesting how few Doctor Who assistant actors, especially the women, went on to have meaningful careers afterwards, whereas New Who seems have been beneficial for actor CVs!
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Old 12-03-2016, 00:56
DICKENS99
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It says in one part that after she left DW originally, she slumped into a depression, and went down to five stone, losing her voice also.
No, it says that in the seventies, ie ten years or so after leaving the show, she had some very specific serious health issues that led to her losing weight and her voice....the word depression does not appear in the article that I can see
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Old 12-03-2016, 00:59
tiggerpooh
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It's interesting how few Doctor Who assistant actors, especially the women, went on to have meaningful careers afterwards, whereas New Who seems have been beneficial for actor CVs!
It’s like a role reversal in a way, isn’t it? The women getting lots of TV and film offers after being in Classic Who, and the men getting more of the offers after their time in New Who.

One such example is, Matt Smith for one, who has had a reasonably good career since Doctor Who. I saw him ten days ago in Pride and Prejudice and Zombies at my local Odeon. He was excellent in that.

Also, David Tennant, who I have to say has been excellent in both Jessica Jones and Broadchuch.
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Old 12-03-2016, 06:19
Pull2Open
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So you're saying she hasn't got that anymore?

She was saying that if she could go back in time, if there was a real TARDIS, then there are things that she would do differently, to achieve more out of her life. Like getting proper work on TV and possibly movies, too.

I do like Carole a lot, and am sad to know that she hasn't had much success in the Entertainment business since Doctor Who in late 1964.

I must say, I am also sad that she went down to a dangerously low weight.

I'm glad that she's doing okay these days and that she can look back at her DW days with a certain amount of glee.
Who wouldn't want to go back and change things about their lives?

CAF was not a good actor Imo, I always found her difficult to watch, and her acting in the five doctors was just awful. Sounds to me like she is looking for someone/something to blame for just not being very good. There are plenty of other better doctor who actors who managed to secure other acting work after DW. Her not getting any success outside of DW since 1964 says more about her I would say.
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Old 12-03-2016, 06:23
Pull2Open
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It's interesting how few Doctor Who assistant actors, especially the women, went on to have meaningful careers afterwards, whereas New Who seems have been beneficial for actor CVs!
I've seen other DW assistant actors is other things since DW but I agree, not many secured meaningful roles. However, DW actors of the classic era were hardly employed because they were of Shakespearean quality. They were just jobbing actors, most were average at best.
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Old 12-03-2016, 07:59
Sam_Gee1
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Who wouldn't want to go back and change things about their lives?

CAF was not a good actor Imo, I always found her difficult to watch, and her acting in the five doctors was just awful. Sounds to me like she is looking for someone/something to blame for just not being very good. There are plenty of other better doctor who actors who managed to secure other acting work after DW. Her not getting any success outside of DW since 1964 says more about her I would say.
Agreed, no offence to CAF, but the jobs you got afterwards represent your acting ability. And also shaped Susan's character for the simpler.
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Old 12-03-2016, 10:06
be more pacific
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It’s like a role reversal in a way, isn’t it? The women getting lots of TV and film offers after being in Classic Who, and the men getting more of the offers after their time in New Who.

One such example is, Matt Smith for one, who has had a reasonably good career since Doctor Who. I saw him ten days ago in Pride and Prejudice and Zombies at my local Odeon. He was excellent in that.

Also, David Tennant, who I have to say has been excellent in both Jessica Jones and Broadchuch.
New Who appears to have been beneficial for all the main cast members. Chris, Billie, John, David, Freema, Catherine, Matt, Karen, Arthur and Jenna are all getting a load of high-profile work.
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Old 12-03-2016, 10:38
POTD
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It’s like a role reversal in a way, isn’t it? The women getting lots of TV and film offers after being in Classic Who, and the men getting more of the offers after their time in New Who.

One such example is, Matt Smith for one, who has had a reasonably good career since Doctor Who. I saw him ten days ago in Pride and Prejudice and Zombies at my local Odeon. He was excellent in that.

Also, David Tennant, who I have to say has been excellent in both Jessica Jones and Broadchuch.
I'm not sure it's true that the women of Classic Who did better than the males. Peter Purves and Frazer Hines for example are arguably better known for their roles after leaving the show, I can't think of ANY major female Companions where that applies, other than Louise Jameson.

All the main stars in New Who have had decent careers after leaving the show, with many starring roles. The Companion parts are much meatier now (and hence show off acting ability much more), and the show not written off as "kid's TV".

Indeed it could be argued that Karen Gillan has had better roles than Matt Smith since leaving!
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Old 12-03-2016, 11:02
daveyboy7472
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Carole has always said that. Of course you can see her perspective but one can also see that it's jaundiced: who is to say she would have had any success as an actress without that role? She cannot say for certain her career would have been more accomplished without that one role. And in later years it's really given her a very nice financial benefit from conventions, work like Big Finish, royalties and so on.

In any walk of life it's easy to look at external or incidental factors and blame them for the course your life takes but it's much more difficult to examine yourself and your own actions and analyze where oneself could have made things different. If Carole had the talent to be a successful actress then she is the person who failed to capitalize on that talent. It's only her responsibility. If she's spent decades (5 of them! Half a century) taking an opportunity she received (big role in a major TV series) and regarding it as an albatross, as a negative factor, then it's fairly clear that her own perceptions, her own mindset were what held her back in her career.

Carole always complained that her character was badly handled by the writers and perhaps it was but the truth is (and I like her but I'm being honest) she really wasn't very good in the role of the 'unearthly child' and I can sympathize with the production team changing her role to the 'ordinary teenage girl'. If Carole had been excellent in that role of 'unearthly child' they would have gone with that and they would have used her more in the stories, it's a simple as that. But again, it's much easier for an actor to blame the writer / the director / the producer / anyone rather than their own performance.

Again, I like Carole, I like hearing her talk, but bottom line: she achieved in her career what she had the tools (talent and mentality) to achieve.
I disagree with you on this but it may well have been that she played Susan as she did from the beginning throughout her time in the show and she still well have ended up in the same position of being typecast.

Plus lots of characters have had their characters downgraded after their initial debut. Look at Zoe, Romana 1 and worst of Turlough. All of them had major character shifts as time went on. So it's not necessarily the actors fault if the characters get changed.

I'm listening to her audio documentaries at the moment and it always comes across that she enjoyed her time on the show, that she loved working with her co-stars and that she envied other actors for having more to do than she did.

Plus she has made lots of money from DVD and Big Finish and she does conventions, even I've met her once and she seemed quite nice about her time in the show.

So I don't think she hates Doctor Who, just obviously the impact it had on her career. She's by no means the only actor to have suffered typecasting, others have had it to, Tom Baker being a noticeable example of that.
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Old 12-03-2016, 20:55
tiggerpooh
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Who wouldn't want to go back and change things about their lives?

CAF was not a good actor Imo, I always found her difficult to watch, and her acting in the five doctors was just awful. Sounds to me like she is looking for someone/something to blame for just not being very good. There are plenty of other better doctor who actors who managed to secure other acting work after DW. Her not getting any success outside of DW since 1964 says more about her I would say.
I think Carole acted brilliantly throughout most of her time on the show. My favourite Susan moment is in Planet of Giants, when she sees a giant ant and then a giant black cat! Also during the last few minutes of Dalek Invasion of Earth, she was good.

I like her in Dimensions in Time too:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?featur...eMIQpFBc#t=386

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Old 12-03-2016, 21:08
Steve9214
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Several of the female companions became agents after giving up acting, some even representing the later actors playing the Doctor.

Wendy Padbury is reported to have "discovered" Matt Smith.

In the 60's and 70's a high % of actresses - like a lot of working women - gave up work to start a family.
That does not happen these days, so companions like Billie Piper and Catherine Tate can easily have careers whilst also having children.
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Old 12-03-2016, 21:29
Pull2Open
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I think Carole acted brilliantly throughout most of her time on the show. My favourite Susan moment is in Planet of Giants, when she sees a giant ant and then a giant black cat! Also during the last few minutes of Dalek Invasion of Earth, she was good.

I like her in Dimensions in Time too:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?featur...eMIQpFBc#t=386

Brilliantly? Carey Mulligan is brilliant, as is Catherine Tate! CAF doesn't even come close.
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Old 12-03-2016, 22:52
Westy2
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Surprised no one has tried to work out which politician she is refering to?
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Old 13-03-2016, 08:22
dave_windows
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I've just found this news report online, and quite honestly, it is a bit of a shocker!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/t...ng-career.html

It says in one part that after she left DW originally, she slumped into a depression, and went down to five stone, losing her voice also.

She found it quite hard to get other work, too.

I wonder what Carole is doing, now that the Classic DVDs have stopped and she can't record any more commentaries?

Apologies if this has already been mentioned on here, but I've never noticed this on any other threads before.
Thing is every other actor found work ok.
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Old 13-03-2016, 22:22
tiggerpooh
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I can't think of ANY major female Companions where that applies, other than Louise Jameson.
Yes, she has had a few roles since her days with Tom in Doctor Who; Tenko, Bergerac and EastEnders I can think of, off the top of my head. She has been back as Leela in a few DW audios recently, too. Most notably Energy of the Daleks, which I love! I believe it's Leela's first and only meeting with the Daleks.

Shame she didn't see them on TV, though.

It has been implied that the TV version of Leela knows of the Daleks, as the Doctor mentioned them to her, just as was done with Zoe Herriot at the end of The Wheel in Space in 1968.

It mentions in one book about DW, that Leela has heard of the Daleks. Can't quite remember which one, though. I've got so many!
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Old 13-03-2016, 22:52
silentNate
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Surprised no one has tried to work out which politician she is refering to?
The story is too bizarre to be true but I'd love to know
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Old 13-03-2016, 23:52
tiggerpooh
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Thing is every other actor found work ok.
Not seen Anneke Wills and Michael Craze in anything since they left DW.

Saw Deborah Watling in Downtime on DVD last week. She was quite good, I thought. Some of the other acting leaves a lot to be desired though.

Shame the production team on DW Series 7 didn't ask Beverley Cressman whether she wanted to re-appear as Kate Lethbridge-Stewart.

As much as I like Jemma Redgrave in the role of Kate, I would have liked to have seen Beverley.
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Old 14-03-2016, 04:24
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Not seen Anneke Wills and Michael Craze in anything since they left DW.

Saw Deborah Watling in Downtime on DVD last week. She was quite good, I thought. Some of the other acting leaves a lot to be desired though.

Shame the production team on DW Series 7 didn't ask Beverley Cressman whether she wanted to re-appear as Kate Lethbridge-Stewart.

As much as I like Jemma Redgrave in the role of Kate, I would have liked to have seen Beverley.
Anneke Wills gave up acting after DW and moved to India to do the hippie thing. Later she met and married a Yank and moved to sunny California.
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Old 14-03-2016, 07:11
dave_windows
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Not seen Anneke Wills and Michael Craze in anything since they left DW.

Saw Deborah Watling in Downtime on DVD last week. She was quite good, I thought. Some of the other acting leaves a lot to be desired though.

Shame the production team on DW Series 7 didn't ask Beverley Cressman whether she wanted to re-appear as Kate Lethbridge-Stewart.

As much as I like Jemma Redgrave in the role of Kate, I would have liked to have seen Beverley.
Since Mike left who he was in

The Patient
1994 The Healer
1987 The Diary of Anne Frank
1986 The December Rose
1978 Terror
1970-1977 Z Cars
1976 Evil Heritage
1974 Intimate Strangers
1974 BBC Play of the Month
1974 Madhouse
1974 Crown Court
1973 Two Women
1973 Ooh La La!
1972 The Exorcism of Hugh
1972 The Pathfinders
1972 Holly
1971 Rules, Rules, Rules
1971 Bel Ami
1970 A Family at War
1970 Sentimental Education
1970 The Doctors
1970 Ivanhoe
1969 Detective
1969 ITV Sunday Night Theatre
1969 Journey to the Unknown
1967 Fantasy: A Long Spoon
1967 Sat'day While Sunday
1967 Send Foster

As for Anneke she was in The Avengers & Strange report so wouldnt say they did nothing after Who.
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Old 27-03-2016, 20:40
pferreira
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Later she met and married a Yank and moved to sunny California.
Do you mean...Alfred.
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Old 30-03-2016, 00:59
tszujme
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Surprised no one has tried to work out which politician she is referring to?
I think she must mean Bachir Gemayel, who was assassinated between his election and his inauguration in 1982. He was elected president (of Lebanon) not Prime Minister, but there is no PM who fits.
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Old 30-03-2016, 01:14
JDF
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New Who appears to have been beneficial for all the main cast members. Chris, Billie, John, David, Freema, Catherine, Matt, Karen, Arthur and Jenna are all getting a load of high-profile work.
Yes Arthur in Legends of Tomorrow And John is in Arrow.
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