Part I, Chapter V: "Lightning Never Strikes Twice"
“I mean, the films sold well and all, but I don’t think anybody came out of the production of those feeling that we’d made an instant classic like we had with the first part. Plenty of people involved with the making of those two films have thrown blame around, but I don’t think that it was any one thing really. How could we really have followed that up?”
- Steven Spielberg on the production of the second and final Amblin
Doctor Who films, taken from
An Adventure in Space and Time.
The production of the second
Doctor Who film got off to a rough start. It seemed that nobody had a clear idea as to what the story should be. Zemeckis and Gale had pitched a few ideas, but most had been shot down by Spielberg and the BBC, who wished for a return to a more classic feel. [1]
Over time, more rifts would appear between those who wished for a film more akin to an episode of
Doctor Who with a much higher budget, and those who wanted to go in a new direction. Eventually, the so-called “classicists” would win out, and the scripts would be chosen soon after.
For the first film, the script would be written by
Doctor Who veteran Robert Holmes. Holmes had written the final episode of the television series, and had gained a reputation amongst the producers for being one of the better writers to grace the franchise. [2]
The first draft of the script was liked by most, though it was requested that more humour be put in, to ensure that family audiences would get more enjoyment out of it. Zemeckis and Gale were asked to do the rewrite, but were encouraged to leave the story as intact as possible. The result was a script both camps were happy with, the story was more in line with the television series, but it had much the same humour that had given the previous film its charm. Following this, all three of Holmes, Zemeckis and Gale would be credited as writers for the film.
The script involved The Doctor, Marty and Elyse going to the future, where they find that the Cybermen are launching an invasion, attempting to take control of the Earth. Their base of operations is at Hill Valley, which is situated on top of a “rift”, a weak point in space and time that can be harnessed as a source of power. [3]
It soon became apparent that the release would mean that
Doctor Who: The Cyber Invasion was up against stiff competition. Its main competitor would be
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. This clash would prove to be only the first in what would become known as one of popular culture’s greatest rivalries. The release of
Doctor Who would also push back
An American Tail to late 1987, rather than November 1986 as planned. [4]
The third film would also be up against some other contenders, this time, another British franchise in
The Living Daylights, which was to be Timothy Dalton’s first outing as James Bond. [5]
Both 1986 and 1987 would prove to be big years in film, and perhaps even more important for
Doctor Who.
Production of
Doctor Who: The Cyber Invasion began in April of 1986. The schedule would once again mean that filming needed to be done quickly, but this time, casting and locations had been arranged beforehand, meaning that there was little chance of delays in production. In addition, the BBC producers, who were becoming a more and more frequent sight on set, had much experience with producing effects with lower budgets and time.
Production would go smoothly, for the most part. It soon became apparent however, that Lloyd was increasingly not enjoying his role, and was just in it to fulfil his contract. While Lloyd had enjoyed the making of the first film, the rising tension between the Zemeckis and the BBC executives made for a more stressful workplace.
One notable thing about the making of the second Amblin
Doctor Who film was the involvement of The Jim Henson Company, which would produce the costumes and puppets for the Cybermen to be used in the film. Originally, a greater involvement had been planned, but The Jim Henson Company was heavily involved with the making of
Labyrinth, a film that was to be released around the same time as the second
Doctor Who film. This would prove to be just the first of many collaborations between the two franchises. [6]
But soon, developments would come that would result in
Doctor Who changing drastically once more... [7]
[1] The BBC is going to want more creative control now that it sees that Doctor Who can work with an American audience.
[2] He lives for a bit longer here, allowing him to work on the films.
[3] A more classic style epsiode. This isn't based on anything, so in the next part, which will detail the release of the second film and the drastic change, you'll get to see how bad I am at actually writing a story.
[4] The Cyber Invasion gets An American Tail's release date here. At this point, Doctor Who is the bigger franchise, so it wins. Also, this will be the first of many appearances of another certain franchise to come. As previously stated, things will be a bit more broad when Part II hits.
[5] We'll see increasing collaborations "across the pond", and while we're a ways off with Bond yet, the franchise will change.
[6] The Jim Henson Company was involved with a proposed special for Doctor Who IOTL, but it never saw the light of day. That's not what this story is, but it will make an appearance down the line.
[7] The change won't be quite as drastic as the initial television to film move, but it's going to be perhaps the next most important thing for the franchise ITTL