Part II, Chapter LVII: "Pray That There's Intelligent Life Somewhere Up in Space"
“I’ve never quite forgiven NBC for what they did there. Sure, in hindsight, Andrew was digging his own grave by outright ignoring the wishes of the executives, but they didn’t need to bring the cast into it. Us on the writing crew may have had our gripes with Andrew, but kicking him out like that was just disrespectful for what he’d done for the franchise. A lot of people weren’t sure if the show was going to continue after John Nathan-Turner left, and Cartmel really saved the show. Sure, the aftermath had positive effects, but you can’t help wonder what could have been.”
- Russell T. Davies on the events behind the scenes of the twenty-ninth season of
Doctor Who.
The crew of
Doctor Who were divided as to what had caused the drop in ratings in the show during Season 28. Some claimed it was franchise fatigue, others said it was a natural drop as a result of a new Doctor, and that viewers would soon return. But by far the most vocal group was that which believed that it was due to the direction that Andrew Cartmel had decided to take the show. The last time he had done the same, in Season 25, the results had been much the same.
More divisive than this however, was Cartmel’s decision to continue down the same story arc as the previous season, making large changes to scripts that had been written by other members of the writing crew. This was by no means a popular move, not least when the franchise’s main competitor had just had their head ousted for doing much the same. NBC were not happy to hear that Cartmel had not taken their suggestions to change the show on board. Partway through production, Cartmel was informed that he was going to be out of a job soon, that Season 29 would be his last. [1]
Season 29, as Avery Brooks’ second season, also brought contract renegotiations. Unlike many similar shows, due to the ease of replacing cast members, the contracts tended to be two or three years in length, and renegotiated as needed. Seeing Brooks as an emblem of the “failing Cartmel era”, they elected not to renew his contract, effectively firing him from the role. Upon hearing that Brooks would not be returning for Season 30, Winona Ryder elected to not renew her contract with the show. [2]
Far sooner than fans had expected or hoped, the search for a new Doctor and companion was on once more.
But business needed to continue. As this season would be his last, Cartmel decided to try to wrap the story up by the end of it. The effect of this was to produce a season that is often considered to be rushed by fans. As the “The Other” arc had been designed to last for at least two more seasons, many of the stories in this season would tie into the arc in some way. [3]
The trend of previous actors and actresses reappearing would continue, taken to an even greater degree. Leela, K9, Susan Foreman and Peri Brown would all reappear at some point in the season, as would Romana. The story surrounding Jennifer’s education would take a back seat, while the Doctor’s past would be given a large focus, with many of the recurring characters appearing in stories involved with that particular plot thread.
Both Sir Derek Jacobi’s Master and Eric Idle’s Monk would reappear this season, both in stories related to the “Other” arc and stories unrelated to it. The Monk would make an appearance in “The Crooner”, a story which would feature the singing talents of Avery Brooks. Brooks would, during the season, record a cover of Eric Idle’s “The Galaxy Song”, which was released as a promotional single ahead of the season, and would be included on “Someone to Watch Over Me”, his debut solo jazz album. [4]
Season 29’s release would be hotly anticipated, as fans were eager to see the end of the “Other” arc, to see who the Tenth Doctor would be, and to enjoy what precious little time they had left with the Ninth Doctor. [5]
[1] I actually regret choosing to do this in my plan, but I've had it planned like this for so long that it would be too difficult to change it now. I'm sorry that the Brooks era is being cut short, but I will make it up to you, even if only a little.
[2] Very few companions in the modern era stick around for more than one Doctor, and I see this NBC-Who as becoming more similar to new-Who, but still distinct, as time goes on.
[3] Actually, from an out of universe standpoint, this season is proving to be a lot easier than I thought it would. We've got stories by @The Chimera Virus, @tornadobusdriver and @Drorac this season.
[4] Two things. One: this is why Peri is back, just for "Whenever life gets you down Mrs. Brown". Two: While it doesn't actually appear in the story, but other songs do. If you haven't, I highly recommend Avery Brooks' album "Here".
[5] Now you know why Part II is coming to a close. New franchise head and direction for Star Trek, and a new showrunner, Doctor and companion(s) for Doctor Who. Things hit a bit of instability in TTL's '94 and '95, and we'll see the outcome of that throughout Part III.