Part III, Chapter VIII: "Starting Anew"
“Their restrictions weren’t too bad, to be honest. They wanted a return to the ‘classic’ Doctor Who, one that was about gallivanting around time and space, while being entertaining, and also putting out a good message. I think we got that down pretty quick. We were really helped by how well Paul, Alex and Nicole worked together. I know that some of the groups from the show have kept close, and I don’t think it’s a surprise that we have.”
- Neil Gaiman on his first season running
Doctor Who.
One more,
Doctor Who found itself with a new showrunner, Doctor and companions. While for many shows, a complete change in main cast would spell disaster, for
Doctor Who, it was expected. What was more controversial, however, was the way in which this had come around. The unceremonious behind the scenes exit of Brooks and Ryder, coupled with the firing of Cartmel, meant that NBC had used up much of the goodwill they had earned with the fans.
But the announcement of Paul McGann as the Tenth Doctor was a popular one. McGann was relatively well known to American audiences, and very well known to British ones. Technically, although an American financed production, none of the main cast were American, as McGann was British, while de Boer and Rice were both Canadian.
Season 30 would not feature any major arcs in the way that Brooks’ run as the Doctor had, though there would be an underlying mystery to Nicole de Boer’s character of Lucie Miller. Rather than choosing to join the Doctor on his travels, she would have been placed in his custody by the Time Lords. Aarushi, the Doctor’s other companion, however, would choose to join him. [1]
Kahn-Tineta would be the first companion of the Doctor to come from the past since the Classic series. A member of the Mohawk tribe from around the time of the American Revolution, Kahn-Tineta would also be the first main series
Doctor Who companion to come from an ethnic minority.
Sir Derek Jacobi would reprise his role as the Master for this season, though admitted that it would be his last. Eric Idle also announced that he would be leaving the role of the Monk following this season, marking the end of a six-year run as the classic series character.
This season would see fewer “classic” characters returning than had done during Cartmel’s tenure as showrunner. It was the opinion of Gaiman that the show needed to distance itself from its past, forging a new, but faithful, identity for itself.
The production of Season 30 of
Doctor Who would be marred somewhat be the announcement that Avery Brooks was seeking reparation for wrongful termination. While Brooks’ contract was technically only for two seasons, it stated that he had right of first refusal for future seasons, provided that both NBC and the BBC were satisfied with his performance. However, he argued that since he had not been consulted, nor had he been informed that the producers were unhappy with his performance, NBC and the BBC had breached contract. [2]
While the BBC were willing to pay out, NBC were not. They chose instead to take the matter to a court, where they would insist that the contract allowed them to terminate Brooks’ employment at any time if they believed the show would do better without him. No settlement would be reached by the end of 1996, but there were murmurings of an agreement being hammered out.
Despite this, the future of
Doctor Who was looking to be more stable than ever, as Gaiman set about breathing new life into the show, and fans eagerly awaited properly meeting the new Doctor and companions.
[1] I'm using some of Lucie Miller's arc from OTL's Big Finish Adventures here. The character herself will be somewhat different, due to the differences between Nicole de Boer and Sheridan Smith, though.
[2] I'm no legal expert, but I think this holds up well enough.