If you have information that truly states that she was specifically told that she was Vicki's mother, I'd be interested in seeing that.
Actually, Joan Bennett stated it on numerous occasions at the DS Fests. Perhaps someone who taped her appearances captured at least one such occassion. I don't know because I don't own any of the tapes - but I do know what I heard.
I would like to know what Francis Swann had to say on the matter since he wrote the episodes I refer to. How much liberty would a writer have in developing aspects of a storyline? The producer? How trustworthy is memory years after the fact? Have we seen evidence that memories of various DS personalities are always trustworthy and accurate?
Trustworthy memory is always at issue years later (the slips in some of the early PomPress books are legendary!
). But I actually believe others have made the same comment that Costello did regarding the decision to make Liz Vicki's mother. Someday I'll have to look them up - but it probably won't be until sometime after we've switched to the new system and I begin to post articles in the Members' Archive again...
As for Swann, I don't think I've ever read an interview with him. I'm sure one would be fascinating. But if his experience working with DC was like the majority of the other DS writers, chances are he'd probably liken a good portion of his experience to slave labor.
Also, one has to remember that Swann was only an associate writer - DC had appointed himself as head writer, despite the fact that Art Wallace was far more qualified for the position and had developed much of the story. With DC and Wallace battling for story control much of the time, who knows how much Swann might have been able to influence the direction the storylines took?