Industrial Action Industrial Action was a 2 | entertain DVD documentary on the making of " Silver Nemesis " . As a general overview of production it covered many topics . It opened with Andrew Cartmel explaining that , as the twenty - fifth year or silver anniversary , the central theme should be silver . This was followed by Sylvester McCoy commenting that you can ' t have silver without the Cybermen . He called them " wonderful " . Next , Kevin Clarke recalled how he had phoned up Andrew Cartmel to ask if he could write a script . He was told that only the twenty - fifth anniversary slot was left and so he took it , claiming to have a story in mind . The next day he met with John Nathan - Turner and proposed an answer to the question : who is the Doctor ? With his answer being : he is God . John gave him the job , saying he could do it , but couldn ' t say it . One thing Nathan - Turner insisted on was the return of the Cybermen . Sophie Aldred told how , as a child , her mother had stopped her watching " Doctor Who " around the time of " The Tomb of the Cybermen " as she was having nightmares and the Cybermen were her greatest fear . Clarke considered how the only tape he had available of the Cybermen was " The Moonbase " , but Nathan - Turner promised him they would look completely new , having been updated . Cartmel noted that , as well as the Cybermen , the production team wanted a " monster of the week " . This came in the form of Nemesis with de Flores being a further addition . Next , the humour of the script was examined . Clarke claimed to always include comedic elements in his script but director Chris Clough though that there was perhaps too much of it in " Silver Nemesis " . As she had been filming " The Greatest Show in the Galaxy " , Aldred had not been at the read - through and the assistant floor manager Lynn Grant had read her part . This led to some confusion among the guest cast as to who she was . Casting was examined . The role of de Flores was initially offered to Charles Gray before Anton Diffring was asked and accepted . Lady Peinforte was offered to a succession of actresses including Billie Whitelaw and Penelope Wilton before being accepted by Fiona Walker . As he had been previously considered for the role of the First Doctor , Clough saw some justice in Leslie French finally appearing on the show , albeit in the small role of the mathematician . The character of Mrs Remington was originally a man called Milton P . Remington , but Nathan - Turner requested that it be changed to a woman as he though it would be " more fun " . Dolores Gray was in London playing a role in . Chris Clough went to see it , found her wonderful and asked to play the role . She accepted but could only film for one day . When her limousine came to take her to the location , her case containing thousands of pounds worth of precious jewels was left on the pavement . However , it had been safely recovered and so filming continued . Clarke explained how he wanted to include jazz in some way and so Courtney Pine was asked to appear and he accepted , having long been a fan of the show . They spent a day at Blackjack ' s Restaurant , having travelled there from BBC Television Centre , and spent a day in the sun listening to jazz , something Sylvester McCoy particularly enjoyed . The last theme Nathan - Turner wanted in the story was royalty . It was originally intended that filming should take place at Windsor Castle but in the end , only a long - shot was used to set the scene . The rest of the filming took place at Arundel Castle , which was built in the same period . Nathan - Turner was interested in getting royalty involved and even sent a letter to , asking him is he wanted to make a guest appearance . Cartmel suggested that the reply was interpreted by John as saying Edward would like to appear , but the Queen would not allow it . A number people associated with " Doctor Who " turned up at the castle , including Vere Lorimer , Nicholas Courtney , Fiona Cumming , Peter Moffatt and Kevin Clarke . They all appeared as tourists on a package tour . In contrast to the greenery of Arundel , a derelict gasworks in Greenwich , South London was used for the hanger scenes . Nick Gillard explained how the stuntmen had to put their trust in the special effects as pyrotechnics and the like were going off at close - range . Paul Heasman acted as Sylvester ' s double in the river as he had flu and so was not allowed to go in . Clarke noted that the whole thing was wrapped up as it began , with Ace questioning who the Doctor was .