"Mary Whitehouse will never accept this" : A Dr Who Production History (Inspired by Guajolote)

Nyssa: My father is dead, my homeworld has been destroyed, everything that I have known has gone and you stand there with your coolness and your arrogance. What gives you the right to do nothing!

Doctor: Anger is a powerful emotion Nyssa. Used correctly it can build used improperly it can destroy. Its arrogance that has led to Traken being destroyed and Tremas dead. I am so sorry for what has happened. But I know what can happen when anger and arrogance are misused. Ive seen it across time and space. And I'm not simply doing nothing as you say. I could have left you on Traken and let you die with everyone else.

Your father was a good friend of mine and I feel his loss almost as much as you do but blind rage isn't going to solve anything. I promise you now Nyssa I...we will find the Master and we will make sure he pays for everything he has done. But for that to happen I need you to trust me...

(The Keeper Of Traken Episode 4 21st March 1981)
 
"The start of the decade was a very conservative (with a small c) time. The Tories had come to power in '78 with the motto of "Putting Britain Right" and that was interpreted by many as a return to old fashioned values, respect for law and order and not questioning the order of things. Its hard to imagine now but that view was immensely popular in the country at large, many people were disgusted by the chaos and disorder of the late 1970's and that the new decade was one of telling the mavericks and troublemakers to 'watch it'

The BBC was so often the focus of much of this aggravation. The corporation had been rocked by industrial disputes marked so memorably by the 4th Doctor Who Graham Chapman ending his time at at the helm of the TARDIS by breaking the nose of a shop steward. His hastily found successor the estimable Tom Conti took the role down a more back to basics route of finding and defeating evil"

(Dominic Sandbrook: The Great British Dream Factory: The Strange History of Our National Imagination. London: Allen Lane. 2015)
 
"The atmosphere on set was one of utter joy. Tom and Lalla were not just superb professionals but wonderful individuals. The chemistry between them was brilliant and it made such a change to the tension that was abound when Graham was around....I hadn't spoken to Graham since he left and to be frank I didn't want to ever see him again"

(Hinchcliffe)
 
Audience Member: Good afternoon Mr Conti, may I first say that it's an honour and a pleasure to speak to you. Your tenure as the fifth Doctor was regarded as 'pedestrian and restrained' Can you give any illumination on that?

Tom Conti: Good afternoon to you and thank you for your opening remark. I'll respond by saying that the destruction of an entire world and the murder of a companion certainly weren't restrained...
 
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Adric. The Twat in the TARDIS is one of the nicer titles given to the runt. If Sarah Jane was the most popular than Adric was the polar opposite. Joining in the first story of Series 16 in October 1981 "Conundrum" saw the TARDIS fall through a hole in time into E-Space. Conundrum along with Warriors Gate and Darkness Arise saw the team attempt to return to their own space including a irate and totally unpleasant Adric who spent the rest of his time badgering the Doctor to return him to E-Space.

For eight stories Adric was the fly in the ointment constantly demanding his way. In his last story "Moonshock" he allied himself with the Master to kidnap Nyssa and crash the Moon into Earth unless the Doctor agreed to help. Obviously The Master would turn on Adric which he did and shot him dead which supposedly garnered cheers across the country. Nyssa in turn blasted the Master with his own tissue compactor which led to even greater cheers.

Moonshock was a turning point in the show's history. It led to the departure of Anthony Ainley who had been cast as Khan in the new Star Trek series "Enforcer" as well as Mark Strickson as Adric who emigrated to New Zealand and became a well regarded director and that of Lalla Ward as Nyssa. It also ended a period of uncertainty for the show. Tom Conti's portrayal had helped to settle nerves and by series 18, the 30th anniversary year the show was re-established as one of the BBC's best.
 
How about some details on this series ?
In good time.

SERIES 16
Conundrum, Warriors Gate and Darkness Arise roughly follow the E-space trilogy
Mawdryn Undead

SERIES 17
Mindwarp
Adric starts to fall under the Master's control while the TARDIS is repaired

Enlightenment
As OTL

The Greatest Show In The Galaxy
As OTL

Moonshock.
 
Chapter 7: Hellos and Goodbyes
"By the Autumn of 1982 we were beginning to think about the 30th anniversary .The logistics alone were a story in itself. We initially thought of having a stand in for the first doctor and had thought of Richard Hurndall but we decided against because it wouldn't have seemed right. That's no disrespect to Richard. We would use existing footage of William Hartnell and decided to pair Susan with the Fifth Doctor and Mel.

Pat and Jon were up for it as was Tom. The issue was Graham. He had been sober for the best part of five years and had been superb in Life Of Brian but I have to admit that I was reluctant at first to talk to him. I still remember him breaking that trade unionist's nose and was concerned that he would act up again. So I called John Cleese who by this time had patched things up with Graham and asked him to act as a interlocutor.

John said to me "Philip, He needs to do this, he wants to do this. So I agreed to meet Graham and his partner David at their home. Graham looked at me with his intense blue eyes and said '"yes". I asked him if he was still sober and he said yes.

Then he said something to me that I'll never forget.


"Philip, I was a total bastard and It cost me so much....I promised myself in 1977 that if I returned I would apologise to everyone that I upset. Please let me have this chance"

He was crying, David was crying and I was crying. I stood up and shook his hand

(Philip Hinchliffe, 2018)
 
1fda58092a9c43e2a43e0370f1f688d6--rani-enemies.jpg
Kate O'Mara as Melanie Bush in "The Five Doctors"
 
If Star Trek is a family then Defiant is the red-headed stepchild. Roddenberry wanted nothing to with the series. He had written the original series as a hopeful and positive look at the future. Defiant was nothing of the sort.

(Judith and Garfield Reeves Stevens :The Making of Star Trek: Defiant, 1994)
 
If Star Trek is a family then Defiant is the red-headed stepchild. Roddenberry wanted nothing to with the series. He had written the original series as a hopeful and positive look at the future. Defiant was nothing of the sort.

(Judith and Garfield Reeves Stevens :The Making of Star Trek: Defiant, 1994)
This sound interesting .
A darker Star Trek?
 
The year is 2001. Earth is struggling to recover from the devastating Eugenics wars which have left over 3 billion dead. Khan Noonien Singh and his followers have escaped from the planet and have fled across the galaxy to escape justice.

What is left of Starfleet and the UFP have put together a team of enforcers to track Khan down and either execute him or bring him to justice. To do so Starfleet has built a one of its kind ship. A dedicated combat class cruiser equipped with the latest defensive and offensive technology. The USS Defiant.
 

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Adric. The Twat in the TARDIS is one of the nicer titles given to the runt. If Sarah Jane was the most popular than Adric was the polar opposite. Joining in the first story of Series 16 in October 1981 "Conundrum" saw the TARDIS fall through a hole in time into E-Space. Conundrum along with Warriors Gate and Darkness Arise saw the team attempt to return to their own space including a irate and totally unpleasant Adric who spent the rest of his time badgering the Doctor to return him to E-Space.

For eight stories Adric was the fly in the ointment constantly demanding his way. In his last story "Moonshock" he allied himself with the Master to kidnap Nyssa and crash the Moon into Earth unless the Doctor agreed to help. Obviously The Master would turn on Adric which he did and shot him dead which supposedly garnered cheers across the country. Nyssa in turn blasted the Master with his own tissue compactor which led to even greater cheers.

Moonshock was a turning point in the show's history. It led to the departure of Anthony Ainley who had been cast as Khan in the new Star Trek series "Enforcer" as well as Mark Strickson as Adric who emigrated to New Zealand and became a well regarded director and that of Lalla Ward as Nyssa. It also ended a period of uncertainty for the show. Tom Conti's portrayal had helped to settle nerves and by series 18, the 30th anniversary year the show was re-established as one of the BBC's best.
:biggrin: Do I detect a subtle dislike of the character of Adric?
 
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