Dr Who: Time's Champion

The Third Doctor 1970-1975

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Victorian Fop

The Third Doctor was not an Edwardian fop, he was a Victorian Fop.

With his trusty sidekick, Mrs. Peel, and Brigadier Steed providing support from The Ministry, the Third Doctor waged a never-ending war against the forces of Un-Britishism.

This version of The Doctor was known for his catchphrases, "Make it so", and "Engage", the latter usually just before he would whip out an epee and stab at a Cyberborg or Daleklingon.

After an endearing seven year run as The Doctor, this Third Variant finally succumbed to the effects of Galifreyan Radiation and transmorphed into The Fourth Doctor, an incarnation of Oscar Wilde who ended the franchise.
 
A Picradian Doctor? I would like to see that. :cool:

I'll try my best.

POD:

The final story of the Troughton years is still "The War Games" and is still 10 episodes long but is very different.

While the first five are still canon i.e. the Doctor etc finding out about the War Lord and the kidnapping of soldiers from Earth's different time zones, the second five portray an attempt by the War Lord and his cronies to invade Gallifrey to steal the Time Lords technology and improve the "SIDRATS"

The Doctor is aware what this would mean and is determined to stop the invasion even though he knows what this would mean...

The TARDIS materialises inside a SIDRAT which is on course for Gallifrey.

In the final five episodes soldiers from the timezones and the Gallifreyan troops battle each other and the War Lord's forces across both Gallifrey and the war planet.

The finale is as OTL. The war lord is killed and Jamie and Zoe are returned to their own time and space as part of the Time Lords plan to repair the damage.

The "trial"of the doctor is as OTL except the Doctor makes a rousing speech...

"This universe is teeming with evil. Daleks, Cybermen, Krotons, Yeti. Each of which has threatened everything and everyone. Yet you, each and everyone of you have sat back and done nothing.

It has taken an invasion, led by one of your own kind to shake you out of your arrogance and indolence. You know now what is happening and what are you going to do now...NOTHING!

If the Time Lords are destroyed. If Gallifrey falls. If our technology falls in to evil hands then the fault will be yours."


While the doctor awaits his verdict the Time Lords discuss what to do...

TIMELORD "Doctor, we are now aware of the threat you speak of...Our power has not been met with responsibility...There are many challenges and we need to prepare for them"

DOCTOR "That seems reasonable"

TIMELORD "To that end we will spare you...but with one condition. You will act as our agent to warn us against these threats...We will give you a new TARDIS which we can control when needed in order to send you to new threats.

DOCTORThat is outrageous!

TIMELORDYour appearance will also change. Your current incarnation has drawn attention

DOCTOR"I will not submit to such an atrocity....what are you doing...

The doctor fades from screen..
 
From the Radio Times 3rd-10th January 1970:
 

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STORY ONE
“Full Fathom Five”

The Tardis materialises in Fremantle, Australia in 1942. The town is the biggest allied port in the country and troops are on alert constantly.

The Doctor who has been through a forced regeneration collapses onto the beach and is spotted by two Australian naval police. Taken to the local hospital under armed guard the Doctor fades in and out of consciousness.

The local authorities are suspicious of the newcomer thinking he's some kind of Japanese spy. The only person who sympathises with the Doctor is nurse Alice Hargreaves.

The arrival of the doctor has coincided with the disappearence of several personnel and the Navy think the Doctor is in some way responsible.

It turns out that the intense naval activity has triggered the awakening of a race of creatures known as the Aqua-Silurians who have attacked and killed the personnel who they see as a threat.

The Doctor recovers and is able to persuade the authorities that he is able to persuade the creatures that the Australians are not a threat.

The doctor returns from the undersea home of the Aqua-Silurians convinced he has stopped the attacks but the base is destroyed by a Japanese fighter.

The Doctor replies with noble fury:

“What win I, if I gain the thing I seek?
A dream, a breath, a froth of fleeting joy.
Who buys a minute's mirth to wail a week?
Or sells eternity to get a toy?
For one sweet grape who will the vine destroy?
Or what fond beggar, but to touch the crown,
Would with the sceptre straight be strucken down?”

Angered and despondent the Doctor returns to the TARDIS and receives a message from the Time Lords stating that the Doctor is not to blame and that time will show that his deeds will not be forgot.

During this time the Doctor and Alice have grown close. Like the Doctor the nurse is appalled by violence and when the Doctor asks her to travel she readily agrees.

TRANSMISSION DATES 3rd January to 14th February 1970 BBC 1

The Doctor: Patrick Stewart
Alice Hargreaves: Pamela Stephenson
Director Barry Letts
 
STORY ONE
“Full Fathom Five”

A hint of Doctor Who - Unbound there.


TRANSMISSION DATES 3rd January to 14th February 1970 BBC 1

The Doctor: Patrick Stewart
Alice Hargreaves: Pamela Stephenson
Director Barry Letts


IOTL, Pamela Stephenson was still at University in Australia in 1970. How did she end up moving to England and launching her acting career so much earlier ITTL ?


Cheers,
Nigel.
 
John Peel "Spotlight On Doctor Who: The Stewart Years"

The switchover to colour in 1969/1970 was problematic for the BBC especially in financial and industrial terms.

Colour TV in the UK was at the time the most considerable change and the enhanced technology was inevitably expensive.

This was seized upon by the trade unions who at the time dominated British industry and they sought what they believed was fair payment for their services.

The BBC made it clear that the financial impact of the colour changeover made it impossible for them to accede to the pay demands.

Therefore the major trade unions of the time said that they would take industrial action meaning the colour debut of Dr Who was jeopardised.

But the BBC were expecting this and had prepared an alternative plan. The BBC had always had a strong relationship with the Australian public service broadcaster the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation).

Realising that the industrial action would cause chaos in London a series of secret talks between BBC and ABC senior management from the spring of 1969 resulted in what was later considered to be the first major international television agreement.

In return for the BBC using Australian resources and staff the BBC would create Australian-centric versions of their programmes.

Therefore the BBC would get their programmes made and the ABC would would have an outlet for their staff to expand their knowledge.

This news caused a lot of excitement across Australian media and educational establishments. There were two major ramifications of this

One was corporate. The technical expertise of the BBC was soaked up by their Australian counterparts and led to Australian TV starting colour broadcasts in 1972, some 3 years earlier then plan

The other was the response of a drama student of Australia's National Institute of Dramatic Art who read a notice saying that the BBC and ABC were looking for actors and actresses for the new tie-up.

Her name was Pamela Stephenson who would go on to play the Third Doctor's first companion Alice Hargreaves...
*

NB the book mentioned above is real: http://www.timelash.com/tardis/display.asp?2139
 
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STORY TWO
“Fury”

The TARDIS materialises near Uluru, (Ayres Rock) Australia in November 1988 as part of the Doctor showing alice how her home country develops over time.

During the sightseeing the pair encounter a minor earth tremor. Puzzled the doctor remarks:

“That should not have happened, not here”

Returning to the TARDIS the Doctor consults the Library-Computer Database (LDB)* and discovers that there is geological turbulence nearby. Someone is digging down.

“Digging where? Asks Alice.

“I don't know” replies the Doctor.

That night the Doctor and Alice land the TARDIS closer to the source of the turbulence. Exploring the area the pair are astonished to see a scientific research station at the base of the rock.

Suddenly the pair are captured by armed security guards and manhandled inside the station where there are met by Security Chief Anderson. A mean, cruel man. Anderson takes an instant dislike to the doctor.

Alice protests against their capture. Anderson lunges for her but the Doctor employs his knowledge of Ju-jitsu * to floor Sanderson. This leads to the other guards aiming their guns at the pair.

A tannoy demands to know what is happening. Sanderson says that there are two intruders and is ordered to bring them to “control”.

The Doctor and Alice are escorted to a central complex inside the rock. There a huge laser drill is burning its way down through the Earth.

The operation is being overseen by Professor Thorn. A small, bespectacled arrogant man, he demands who the intruders are and what they are doing there.

The Doctor corrects him saying that he and Alice are sightseers and that the intruders are Thorn etc.

This riles Thorn who orders Anderson to restrain the pair. The doctor takes up a defensive stance and Anderson backs down.

The Doctor then asks Thorn what is the purpose of the drilling. This placates the scientist who informs the Doctor that they are drilling through the Earth's surface to tap the huge resources of Geothermal energy.

The Doctor asks Thorn if he is aware that the drilling has caused an earth tremor? Thorn dismisses him saying “these things happen all the time”

The Doctor is angered by this response calling this “an abomination”

This is too much for Thorn who orders Anderson to imprison the duo.

The Doctor and Alice are taken to a cell where they encounter a young aboriginal man called Billy. Billy tells the Doctor and Alice that he has been imprisoned by Thorn for several days for trespassing.

The Doctor devises an escape plan. Using his Sonic Screwdriver his overrides the key lock on the electronic alarm and the trio creep out of the cell. On the threshold of escape the doctor is captured telling Alice and Billy to run.

Alice tries to help the Doctor but is restrained by Billy who says they need help.

The doctor is escorted back to “control” and another confrontation with Thorn. This time however Thorn is intrigued by the Doctor's interest in the project. Recognising another scientist. Thorn explains to the Doctor that he is trying to solve the world's energy crisis.

The doctor seeing a chance to sabotage the project offers his “services”. Thorn is mollified by this and accepts.

Meanwhile Alice and Billy escape to a nearby aboriginal town where Billy is reunited with his family. Alice explains what is going on and asks the villagers for help. The town elders are very suspicious of Alice and her story. Yet Billy is able to persuade them by showing the villagers where the entrance is to the complex.

Back at the complex The doctor pretends to assist Thorn on the drilling. Thorn then tells the doctor that the next stage of the plan is to go ahead immediately. The drill is to bury 15 feet into the earth's surface.

The doctor realising the enormity of the damage uses his sonic screwdriver to short circuit the machinery. His is spotted by Anderson who pulls a gun on him. At the same time a band of villagers break into the complex.

Thorn activates a manual override and the drill starts again at speed but the doctor's fears are realised. The complex starts to shake and fall apart. He disarms Anderson and races up to the control gantry.

There Anderson pulls another gun on The doctor and decrees that no-one will stop him. As he does so the planet reacts in rage. The Doctor reacts by saying.

“Do you hear that? Thats the planet erupting in fury! Thou art become the destroyer of worlds!”

As Anderson's plan falls apart he tries to kill the Doctor but is himself killed by a shot from one of the villagers who have entered the control room.

The Doctor, Alice, Billy, the villagers and many of Anderson's cronies flee the complex which is destroyed in a huge fire causing considerable damage to Ayres rock.

By this time Australian authorities have been alerted and the Army and Police have arrived outside.

During the hubbub The Doctor and Alice dpart in the TARDIS after saying goodbye to Billy and thanking him.

On board the TARDIS Alice asks the doctor why would people want to do such horrible thing. He quotes Gandhi:
“Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's needs, but not every man's greed.”

He then goes on by saying that Thorn wasn't driven by good but by greed and that greed inevitably with destruction.

As we see the TARDIS fly through space-time we hear the doctor lament on the project by quoting Roosevelt:

“To waste, to destroy our natural resources, to skin and exhaust the land instead of using it so as to increase its usefulness, will result in undermining in the days of our children the very prosperity which we ought by right to hand down to them amplified and developed.”


Transmission Dates: 21st February to 14th March 1970
 
Is one of POD a move to Australia to film the earthbound episode of the Third Doctor?

That would explain Pamela Stephenson appearing in the show and the film around Ayres Rock.
It unlikely since the reason that the third doctor was earthbound was that the BBC thought that it would be cheaper to film earthbound stories.
So it would be very unlikely to move the production to Australia.

Long shot would be if they contracted the show to a Australian Production company but then we would not have Berry Lett involved in the show.
 
Is one of POD a move to Australia to film the earthbound episode of the Third Doctor?

That would explain Pamela Stephenson appearing in the show and the film around Ayres Rock.
It unlikely since the reason that the third doctor was earthbound was that the BBC thought that it would be cheaper to film earthbound stories.
So it would be very unlikely to move the production to Australia.

Long shot would be if they contracted the show to a Australian Production company but then we would not have Berry Lett involved in the show.

Thats right. in this TL the BBC was experiencing industrial action in London. The Beeb has a lot of money and resources in the new who so the ABC tie up is the answer:)
 
Thats right. in this TL the BBC was experiencing industrial action in London. The Beeb has a lot of money and resources in the new who so the ABC tie up is the answer:)

Sorry I some how miss that part.
Interesting timeline.
I looking forward to see what you are going to do with it.
 
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