Hello again!
The prolific and irrepressible James Kyle has gone above and beyond. He's written a second season of The New Doctor, which is just grand.
In the first season, the mismatched crew that was Millennium Productions had lucked out, and managed to produce a pilot that had gotten them a series order from the BBC. Inexperiences, idealistic, learning as they went, and fraught with difficult personalities, the production had lurched from crisis to crisis, somehow managing to finish its commitment while practically imploding, the various members unwilling to even speak to each other. Years later, there's reconciliation and redemption.
Well, James has taken up where Millennium ended up, with neither David Burton nor Ian Levine quite willing to give it up. The BBC offered to buy a reduced second series. Proceedings backstage were even more catastrophic, with Levine going from wildcard to full on disaster. But front stage, James has written another series of amazing stories, specifically:
David Burton is The New Doctor: The Pirates of Penance | The Doctor Who Forum at Gallifrey Base
1715, the Doctor and his Companions are having a 'vacation' working their way on a french galleon across the Caribbean, when they're captured by a pirate ship crewed by ....Autons? Meanwhile, a flashback story weaves in and out, revealing how the Doctor met Heart and Diamond, and how the Tardis changed its shape, while in orbit around Gauda Prime. Includes a Blake's 7 crossover.
David Burton is The New Doctor: Heartbreak | The Doctor Who Forum at Gallifrey Base
Mister Vise is back, played by a curly haired young Stephen Fry, wearing an all too familiar scarf.
David Burton is The New Doctor: Battle Toad | The Doctor Who Forum at Gallifrey Base
A small town in rural England has been protected for centuries by a strange guardian from another world.
David Burton is The New Doctor: Debts Owed | The Doctor Who Forum at Gallifrey Base
The return of Diamond, Heart, Benton Senior, the Primords from Volcano, the chameleons from the Faceless Ones and of course Mister Vise in his newest incarnation, facing off against the Doctor for the fate of the Universe.
Full scripts or transcripts, the dialogue and characters sing in your mind as you read them. It's almost like watching a Doctor Who series from some alternative universe. Kyle brings the Burton Doctor and his Companions to life and imbues them with genuine warmth and emotion. He gives us a unique Doctor, not the superhuman juggernauts of the classic era - Tennant, Smith and Capaldi. The Burton Doctor isn't as smart as he thinks he is, although he's the smartest one in the room, he relies on luck almost as much as charm, and his innate humour, decency and companions manage to carry him through the day. He's almost a less arrogant version of Tom Baker, a Peter Davison with the sulkiness, a Jon Pertwee without the anger. The Burton Doctor wanders amiably through the time and space always somehow managing to muddle through. It's brilliant.
If you're a Doctor Who fan, I recommend checking out James Kyle's work. Start with the Burton first season, read the Burton second season, then just go and read everything he's ever written. You won't be disappointed.
As for myself, I'm just about inspired to write the backstage of more of the The New Doctor.