Daily Inspiration Quote by Lalla Ward

Ward is talking about clutter, but she’s really talking about authorship. The “totally mixed up… eclectic group of personal props and bits of costume” is an actor’s quiet power move: a way to smuggle character-building into a machine that can easily swallow individual taste. On Doctor Who, where budgets were often tight and aesthetics could veer from inspired to improvised, that grab-bag quality wasn’t a flaw. It was the texture of the show. Ward frames it as “fun,” but the subtext is craft: play becomes a method for finding a character’s inner logic when the universe around you is deliberately inconsistent.

The phrase “personal props” matters. She’s not just describing wardrobe; she’s describing ownership. Props are usually departmental, institutional, anonymous. Calling them “personal” hints at how actors anchor themselves inside sprawling, fast-moving productions: you build a private toolkit of objects, gestures, and quirks that make the performance feel specific even when the script is doing cosmic backflips. “Bits of costume” suggests modularity, a character assembled from fragments rather than a sleek, finished package.

Then there’s the line about being “very lucky with Doctor Who.” That’s gratitude, but it’s also a nod to freedom. Not every set welcomes that kind of eccentric tinkering; many enforce continuity, branding, polish. Doctor Who, especially in Ward’s era, thrives on a permissive chaos that lets an actor’s odd choices become canon. Her intent is affectionate, but the context is revealing: a cult institution where bricolage isn’t just tolerated, it’s the aesthetic argument.