List of unmade Doctor Who serials
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
During the long run of the British science fiction television programme Doctor Who, a number of stories were proposed but, for a variety of reasons, never fully produced. Below is a list of unmade serials which were seriously considered for production by the BBC, submitted by recognized professional writers, or have been the subject of a feature in Doctor Who Magazine or other professional periodicals or books.
Contents |
[edit] First Doctor
[edit] The Giants
The first serial of the series was originally to be written by C. E. Webber,[1] and would concern the four main characters (at that point named as the Doctor, Cliff, Lola and Biddy) being shrunk to a "miniature size" and attacked by giant animals. The episode would have revealed that the Doctor had escaped from "his own galaxy" in the year 5733, seeking a perfect society in the past, and that he was pursued by agents from his own time who sought to prevent him from stopping their society from coming into being.[2]
The story was rejected in June 1963 on the grounds that the story was too thin on characterisation and that the giant monsters would be clichéd and too expensive to produce. Much of the setup was retained for An Unearthly Child, though the details about the Doctor's home were removed. The story's premise was reused for a submission by Robert Gould which was to be the fourth serial, but this story was was dropped in January of 1964.[3] The third attempt to use a miniaturisation story was accepted for the second season opener, Planet of Giants.[4]
[edit] The Hidden Planet / Beyond The Sun
The Hidden Planet AKA Beyond The Sun by Malcolm Hulke was at one point to be the second serial of the second series.[1] The story would have concerned a planet in an orbit opposite Earth's, with a parallel but in some ways opposite society to ours; for example, women were to be the dominant sex. The original script was sent back for rewrites, and due to a pay dispute the rewrites were not made until after Susan had left the series; this necessitated further rewriting. A third submission was similarly rejected as Ian and Barbara were due to leave, and the script was dropped. The idea of a "twin planet" for Earth was used in The Tenth Planet, which was another suggested title for this story.
[edit] The Masters of Luxor
The Masters of Luxor by Anthony Coburn was a six-episode script submitted for the first season, but never produced, in which the Doctor and his companions have to stop a legion of robots. Titan Books published the teleplay in 1992.[5]
[edit] Farewell Great Macedon
Farewell Great Macedon (also known as Alexander the Great in the script's early stages) was a story planned for the first season and was written by Moris Farhi. Moris Farhi completed the script for a full six-part serial in which the Doctor and his companions are framed for murder as part of a conspiracy to kill Alexander the Great and must pass a number of trials, including walking on hot coals, to gain the trust of his bodyguard, Ptolemy.[6][7]
[edit] Second Doctor
[edit] The Imps
Planned as the fifth or sixth serial of the sixth series, The Imps by William Emms was to concern a space station overrun by Imp-like aliens and aggressive alien vegetation.[1] Again, the script had to be rewritten to accommodate a new companion, in this case Jamie. Due to sickness on the part of Emms, this took so long that further rewrites were needed to explain the loss of Ben and Polly. Emms eventually reused elements of the story to write Crisis in Space, a Choose Your Own Adventure story featuring the Sixth Doctor.
[edit] The Prison in Space
The Prison in Space by Dick Sharples returned to the idea of a female-dominated planet.[8] The Doctor and Jamie were to be imprisoned, and Zoe was to start a sexual revolution and then be brainwashed. The story was intended to inject humour into the show, and was to feature Jamie in drag and end with the Doctor deprogramming Zoe by smacking her bottom.
[edit] Third Doctor
[edit] The Final Game
The Third Doctor's final story was to be The Final Game by Robert Sloman.[6] The story was to feature the Master, and to reveal that he and the Doctor were two aspects of the same individual: the Doctor being the ego - the intellectual part - while the Master was the id - the instinctive, violent part. The story was to end with the Master dying in a manner which suggested that he was trying to save the Doctor's life. However, Roger Delgado was killed in a car accident in Turkey on June 18, 1973, while on his way to shoot footage for the French comedy The Bell of Tibet. The story was replaced by Planet of the Spiders.
[edit] Fourth Doctor
[edit] Shada
Shada was a six-episode serial written by Douglas Adams that was to have concluded the 17th season in 1980. Production was halted due to a strike and never resumed, although a reconstruction of the serial using narration and existing footage was later released on VHS, and the story was later remade as a webcast production featuring Paul McGann's Eighth Doctor.
[edit] Doctor Who Meets Scratchman
During spare time in filming, Tom Baker and Ian Marter wrote a script for a Doctor Who film, Doctor Who and the Scratchman. The script, sometimes titled Doctor Who and the Big Game,[9] saw the Doctor meet the Devil, and at times Vincent Price and Twiggy were associated with the production.[10] The finale of the film was to have taken place on a giant pinball table, the holes in the table being portals to other dimensions. During his tenure as the Fourth Doctor, Baker repeatedly tried to attract funding for the film. At one point, he received substantial donations from fans, but after taking legal advice he was forced to return them. The plans were eventually dropped.
[edit] Doctor Who and the Krikkitmen
Future Doctor Who script editor Douglas Adams at one point prepared a submission for a Doctor Who film, Doctor Who and the Krikkitmen.[11] Elements of Krikkitmen were used in the Key to Time story arc, and the story was reworked as the third Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy book, Life, the Universe, and Everything.
[edit] Fifth Doctor
[edit] The Song of the Space Whale
The story which was originally to introduce new companion Vislor Turlough in the third episode of series twenty, The Song of the Space Whale, was to concern a group of people living in the belly of a giant whale in space.[12] The script was originally pitched by 2000 AD author Pat Mills and his writing partner John Wagner in 1980 as a Fourth Doctor story. Although the script editor at the time, Anthony Read, was not interested in the story, Mills and Wagner continued to update the script. The script was commisioned as a Fifth Doctor story in December 1982, but Wagner left the project and Mills' disagreements with new script editor Eric Saward led to the script being delayed until it was too late to serve as Turlough's introductory story. The script was considered for series 21 and 22, and was at one point in competition with the script that would be televised as Vengeance on Varos,[13] but it was ultimately rejected in July 1985.
[edit] Sixth Doctor
[edit] Planned 1986 serials
When Doctor Who was put on hiatus following the 1985 series, several scripts were already being prepared with others in the story-outline stage. All of these scripts were abandoned to make way for The Trial of a Time Lord when the series resumed, but three of them - The Nightmare Fair, The Ultimate Evil and Mission to Magnus - were subsequently novelized by Target Books. Two other stories, Yellow Fever, and How to Cure It and Gallifrey were commisioned and the few details known about them are given below.
Other stories put forward for this series included In the Hollows of Time, a two-part story by Christopher H. Bidmead;[14] a two-part script of unknown title submitted by Bill Pritchard;[14] and The Children of January, a two-part script by Michael Feeney Callan which was submitted in competition against Pritchard's script for the final available serial of the season.[14]
[edit] Yellow Fever, and How to Cure It
This three-part story by Robert Holmes was to have taken place in Singapore and featured the Autons as the monsters with either The Rani, The Master, or both appearing. Holmes reportedly only completed a story outline before the season was cancelled.[15]
[edit] Gallifrey
A Pip and Jane Baker script was commissioned that reportedly would have dealt with the destruction of Gallifrey; this script was replaced by the Trial of a Time-Lord arc.[14] The concept of Gallifrey's destruction would be incorporated into the Doctor's back story beginning in the 2005 season.
[edit] Trial of a Time Lord candidates
Several scripts were commissioned for possible use as the third, four-episode segment of the Trial of a Time Lord story arc, a position ultimately taken by the serial Terror of the Vervoids. These included Attack from the Mind by David Halliwell, set on the planet Penelope, which went through several drafts in consideration of becoming a segment of the Trial arc but was ultimately dropped;[16] Pinacotheca (a.k.a. The Last Adventure) by Christopher H. Bidmead;[16] and Paradise Five by P.J. Hammond, creator of Sapphire and Steel. Paradise Five would have seen the Doctor and new companion Mel going undercover to expose sinister doings on a holiday pleasure planet.[17]
[edit] Mel introduction story
According to his book Doctor Who: The Companions (published at about the time Trial of a Time Lord was broadcast) series producer John Nathan-Turner states he intended to chronicle the Doctor's first meeting with Melanie Bush in a later episode, presumably during Season 24.[18] The subsequent dismissal of Colin Baker from the role of the Doctor rendered this potential storyline moot, although the later novel Business Unusual would attempt to fill in this gap in the show's continuity.
[edit] Seventh Doctor
[edit] Series 27
When the original Doctor Who series was cancelled, some plans had been made for the following season. One story, provisionally titled Ice Time, was to feature Ice Warriors in 1960s London, and would have seen the departure of Ace to the Prydonian Academy to become a Time Lord.[19]
In the following story new companion Kate, a cat burglar and safecracker, was to be introduced and her father, an underworld boss, was to become a recurring character similar to the Brigadier.[19] The story was to be written by Andrew Cartmel and titled Crime of the Century, and was to feature animal testing,[citation needed] a theme which he later used in the novel Warlock.
Other stories planned for the series were Earth Aid by Ben Aaronovitch, a space opera featuring insect-like aliens[citation needed] and Alixion by Robin Mukherjee, in which the Doctor would be lured to an isolated asteroid to play a series of life-or-death games and in which the Doctor would be driven insane, leading to his regeneration.[citation needed]
[edit] The Dark Dimension
For the series' 30th anniversary in 1993, BBC Enterprises planned a direct-to-TV film titled The Dark Dimensions. The film was to feature an alternative timeline in which the Fourth Doctor never regenerated, and involve cameo appearances for the other remaining Doctors.[20] The writers intended Rik Mayall to play the part of the villain, Hawkspur.[21]
The production did not occur, in part due to problems between the BBC and BBC Enterprises, and the difficulty in coordinating the short appearances of the other actors. Instead, the anniversary was celebrated with the light-hearted and non-canonical charity special, Dimensions in Time.
[edit] Tenth Doctor
[edit] Stephen Fry script
The revived Doctor Who series was to feature a script by Stephen Fry, set in the 1920s. Rumours appeared on BBC's websites shortly after the airing of the first new series[22] and the episode was pencilled in to be the tenth episode of the second series.[8]. According to a video diary entry by David Tennant, Fry attended the very first cast read-through for the 2006 season, indicating his script was still under consideration at that time.[23] However, due to budgetary constraints the episode was moved to the third series, being replaced by "Fear Her", and subsequently abandoned as Fry did not have spare time,[24] in particular for the rewriting necessary to replace Rose with Martha.[8] Fry said, "They asked me to do a series and I tried, but I just ran out of time, and so I wrote a pathetic letter of 'I'm sorry I can't do this' to Russell Davies."[25]
[edit] Cushing Doctor
[edit] The Chase
In the mid-1960s, Peter Cushing played a version of the Doctor (now a human named Dr. Who) in two films, Dr. Who and the Daleks, which was a major box-office success in America (years before the television series aired there) and was based upon the televised serial The Daleks and Daleks - Invasion Earth 2150 AD, based upon the serial Dalek Invasion of Earth. This second film failed to replicate the box office success in America of the first film, and as a result plans for a third Cushing film, this time an adaptation of the serial The Chase, were cancelled.[26]
[edit] Spin-offs
During its run, several Doctor Who spin-offs have been proposed, including one featuring Professor Litefoot and Henry Gordon Jago from The Talons of Weng Chiang,[27] and a childrens' show featuring "Young Doctor Who" which was vetoed by Russell T. Davies and replaced by The Sarah Jane Adventures.[28]
[edit] The Destroyers
In the mid-1960s, Daleks creator Terry Nation wrote a 30-minute teleplay entitled The Destroyers as a possible pilot episode for an American-produced spin-off of Doctor Who. Like Doctor Who, the untitled series would have had a serial format and focus on the adventures of the SSS, an organization that finds itself battling the Daleks. Lead characters included agents Captain Jack Corey, David Kingdom, his sister Sara Kingdom and an android named Mark Seven. Although never produced, elements of this teleplay (and in particular the character of Sara Kingdom) would later be used in the serial The Daleks' Master Plan[29]
[edit] Rose Tyler: Earth Defence
When it was learned that Billie Piper planned to leave the series at the end of the 2006 season, executive producer and head writer Russell T. Davies considered giving her character Rose Tyler her own 90-minute spin-off production, Rose Tyler: Earth Defence, with the possibility of such a special becoming an annual Bank Holiday event. The special was officially commissioned by Peter Fincham, the Controller of BBC One, and assigned a production budget. Davies changed his mind while filming Piper's final scenes for the series, later calling Earth Defence "a spin-off too far" and deciding that for the audience to be able to see Rose when the Doctor could not would spoil the ending of Doomsday, and the production was cancelled. Davies said Piper had been told about the idea, but the project ended before she was formally approached about starring in it.[30]
[edit] References
- ^ a b c The Lost Stories (G-L). A Brief History of Time (Travel). Retrieved on 2007-02-27.
- ^ An Unearthy Child. A Brief History of Time (Travel). Retrieved on 2007-02-27.
- ^ The Lost Stories (Untitled stories). A Brief History of Time (Travel). Retrieved on 2007-02-27.
- ^ Planet of Giants. A Brief History of Time (Travel). Retrieved on 2007-02-27.
- ^ The Masters of Luxor. Doctor Who Reference Guide. Retrieved on 2007-02-27.
- ^ a b The Lost Stories (A-F). A Brief History of Time (Travel). Retrieved on 2007-02-27.
- ^ (2000-06-24 cover date) "". Doctor Who Magazine (294).
- ^ a b c The Lost Stories (M-Q). A Brief History of Time (Travel). Retrieved on 2007-02-27.
- ^ DOCTOR WHO MEETS SCRATCHMAN. Coelocanth. Retrieved on 2007-02-27.
- ^ (2006-02-28 cover date) "Up to Scratch". Doctor Who Magazine (379).
- ^ Gaiman, Neil; Dickson, David K; Simpson, M. J (2003-10-01). "Appendix V: Doctor Who and the Krikkitmen", Don't Panic: Douglas Adams and the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, 3rd Edition, Titan Books ltd. ISBN 1-84023-501-2.
- ^ Mawdryn Undead. A Brief History of Time (Travel). Retrieved on 2007-03-21.
- ^ Preddle, Jon. Script to Screen: Vengeance on Varos. Retrieved on 2007-03-21.
- ^ a b c d Howe, David J,, Mark Stammers, Stephen James Walker: (1993). The Handbook: The Sixth Doctor – The Colin Baker Years 1984-1986. London: Virgin Publishing. ISBN 0-426-20400-X. , p. 208.
- ^ Ibid.[?] , pp. 207-208
- ^ a b Ibid.[?] , p. 211.
- ^ Ibid.[?] , pp. 211-12.
- ^ Nathan-Turner, John: (1986). Doctor Who: The Companions. London: Piccadilly Press. ISBN 0-946826-62-5.
- ^ a b Ice Time. Melted Ice. Retrieved on 2007-02-27.
- ^ The Dark Dimension. Melted Ice. Retrieved on 2007-02-27.
- ^ (2006-03-28 cover date) "The Guvnor". Doctor Who Magazine (379): 29.
- ^ Stephen Fry rumours. Retrieved on 2007-02-27.
- ^ "David Tennant's Video Diary" (2006): Doctor Who: The Complete Second Series DVD box set (2|Entertain/BBC)
- ^ Lyon, Shaun. "Series Three Brief Updates", Outpost Gallifrey News Page, 2006-06-14. Retrieved on 2006-08-10.
- ^ Oatts, Joanne. "Fry denies 'Doctor Who' rumours", Digital Spy, 2007-03-16. Retrieved on 2007-03-16.
- ^ Peel, John and Terry Nation: (1988). The Official Doctor Who & the Daleks Book. New York: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-02264-6, pp. 99-100.
- ^ The Talons of Weng Chiang. Doctor Who Classic Episode Guide. Retrieved on 2007-03-19. “there was at one point some consideration given to according them their own spin-off series”
- ^ Russell, Gary (2006). Doctor Who:The Inside Story. London: BBC Books, 252. ISBN 0-563-48649-X.
- ^ Peel, John and Terry Nation: (1988). The Official Doctor Who & the Daleks Book. New York: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-02264-6, pp. 195-196.
- ^ Doctor Who spin-off 'cancelled'. BBC News Online (2006-08-21). Retrieved on 2006-08-21.
