"Phil won't leave his room" - A Doctor Who Production History
- Thread starter Guajolote
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Guajalote, I apologize for stepping on your thread. If you are offended, then I will delete this post. I hope that you will not mind though, as I think you'll enjoy...
Hi there. Mostly a lurker on this thread.
But I just wanted to come in and toot my own horn... someone else's horn actually.
Some of you may know my work - I did Change of Life, about an alternate Doctor Who series featuring Barbara Benedetti (a real life fan Doctor in the 80's), and The New Doctor, about David Burton, about a Nelvana Doctor Who, and even a couple of shots at an extended Peter Cushing movie and audio Doctor Who universe. I enjoy Doctor Who alternative histories.
Anyhow, what I want to direct you to is this....
Here's the basics: In real life, around 1990/1991, a fellow named David Burton, a local actor, started driving a car around announcing, among other things, that he was the 'New Doctor Who.' Well, everyone got really excited about that. Burton was interviewed a few times, told a story about a mysterious group recruiting him to play the Doctor for a pilot. But nothing ever materialized, and it was eventually dismissed as a hoax.
It probably was. But what if it hadn't been? This was an era when all sorts of groups - Terry Nation, Adrian Riglesforth, Verity Lambert, and others were pitching for private licenses to re-launch Doctor Who. This was when the BBC was looking at actively privatising production. So even if it wasn't real, it might have happened. I wrote an Alt History where David Burton ends up in a cadre of ex-Who producers and directors, fans, all of them undercapitalized, disorganized, in over their head, struggling against impossible odds not to murder each other, and get a season out. I was quite happy with it - it's nice, compact, funny and poignant. Included in it were detailed outlines of the five stories of the David Burton series.
Okay, fast forward - a guy named James Kyle comes along, and decides that these outlines, and the whole idea of the Burton Doctor would make good scripts. So he started writing them. They were wonderful. They were genius. He brought the Burton Doctor to life, fleshing out stories that were funny, poignant, sad, witty, profound, exciting. He breathed life into the Burton Doctor, creating a vivid unique personality.
And then he kept on doing it. At the end of my first season, he inserted the Burton Doctor into dimensions in time. He wrote a second catastrophic season of Burton stories. Then a third. Then a couple of BBV low end videos. Then a Big Finish Audio series. It's an alternate universe history of actual 1990's Doctor Who, featuring a whimsical, mournful Doctor who gets no respect. He brought in Autons, did a backdoor sequel to Blake's 7, got Stephen Fry to play an evil version of Tom Baker, brought the Colin Baker Doctor in two different incarnations, crossed paths with Missy, more Sontarans, a truly unique Dalek story, and even French Surrealists.
I've talked him into putting his stories up on my thread, because I want it to be read.
So excuse me for hijacking this Alt history thread. You don't have to read my stuff on the Burt thread. But I want to invite you to read Kyle's AH stories.
Hi there. Mostly a lurker on this thread.
But I just wanted to come in and toot my own horn... someone else's horn actually.
Some of you may know my work - I did Change of Life, about an alternate Doctor Who series featuring Barbara Benedetti (a real life fan Doctor in the 80's), and The New Doctor, about David Burton, about a Nelvana Doctor Who, and even a couple of shots at an extended Peter Cushing movie and audio Doctor Who universe. I enjoy Doctor Who alternative histories.
Anyhow, what I want to direct you to is this....
Pop Culture: The David Burton 'Doctor Who'
THE BATTLE FOR THE NEW DOCTOR, Dreamwatch Bulletin, summer issue, 1998 The idea of replacing David Burton as the Doctor appears as early as Paul Saltzman’s exploratory memos brainstorming ideas for the prospective project. It was surprising, since it had been Burton had brought the project...
www.alternatehistory.com
Here's the basics: In real life, around 1990/1991, a fellow named David Burton, a local actor, started driving a car around announcing, among other things, that he was the 'New Doctor Who.' Well, everyone got really excited about that. Burton was interviewed a few times, told a story about a mysterious group recruiting him to play the Doctor for a pilot. But nothing ever materialized, and it was eventually dismissed as a hoax.
It probably was. But what if it hadn't been? This was an era when all sorts of groups - Terry Nation, Adrian Riglesforth, Verity Lambert, and others were pitching for private licenses to re-launch Doctor Who. This was when the BBC was looking at actively privatising production. So even if it wasn't real, it might have happened. I wrote an Alt History where David Burton ends up in a cadre of ex-Who producers and directors, fans, all of them undercapitalized, disorganized, in over their head, struggling against impossible odds not to murder each other, and get a season out. I was quite happy with it - it's nice, compact, funny and poignant. Included in it were detailed outlines of the five stories of the David Burton series.
Okay, fast forward - a guy named James Kyle comes along, and decides that these outlines, and the whole idea of the Burton Doctor would make good scripts. So he started writing them. They were wonderful. They were genius. He brought the Burton Doctor to life, fleshing out stories that were funny, poignant, sad, witty, profound, exciting. He breathed life into the Burton Doctor, creating a vivid unique personality.
And then he kept on doing it. At the end of my first season, he inserted the Burton Doctor into dimensions in time. He wrote a second catastrophic season of Burton stories. Then a third. Then a couple of BBV low end videos. Then a Big Finish Audio series. It's an alternate universe history of actual 1990's Doctor Who, featuring a whimsical, mournful Doctor who gets no respect. He brought in Autons, did a backdoor sequel to Blake's 7, got Stephen Fry to play an evil version of Tom Baker, brought the Colin Baker Doctor in two different incarnations, crossed paths with Missy, more Sontarans, a truly unique Dalek story, and even French Surrealists.
I've talked him into putting his stories up on my thread, because I want it to be read.
So excuse me for hijacking this Alt history thread. You don't have to read my stuff on the Burt thread. But I want to invite you to read Kyle's AH stories.
Liz Shaw - Caroline John 1970
Jo Grant - Gabrielle Drake 1971 - 1973
Kay Gee - Jenny Twigge 1973 - 1975
Audrey Pierce - Vicky Williams 1976 - 1978
Deelix Nove - Nicholas Lyndhurst 1977 - 1978
Tina Gibson - Dawn Hope 1978 - 1982
Maxine Clegg - Lesley Dunlop 1982 - 1983
Sophie Chen - Sarah Lam 1983 - 1985
Zerreck - Rebecca Lacey 1986
Flip Driver - Jennifer Calvert 1987 - 1989
Koryn Jath - Seeta Indrani 1990 - 1992
Kate Montez - Leah Remini 1996 - 1997
Linda Manzetti - Camilla Power 1998 - I haven't decided
Jo Grant - Gabrielle Drake 1971 - 1973
Kay Gee - Jenny Twigge 1973 - 1975
Audrey Pierce - Vicky Williams 1976 - 1978
Deelix Nove - Nicholas Lyndhurst 1977 - 1978
Tina Gibson - Dawn Hope 1978 - 1982
Maxine Clegg - Lesley Dunlop 1982 - 1983
Sophie Chen - Sarah Lam 1983 - 1985
Zerreck - Rebecca Lacey 1986
Flip Driver - Jennifer Calvert 1987 - 1989
Koryn Jath - Seeta Indrani 1990 - 1992
Kate Montez - Leah Remini 1996 - 1997
Linda Manzetti - Camilla Power 1998 - I haven't decided
I was just confused about the seventh doctors companions, specifically when Koryn enters and Flip leaves
Part 40 - Politics and more important things, the late 90s
When we were here 10 years ago, the story of British politics in the 80s was the story of David Owen. The story of British politics in the 90s should be the story of someone else, but Owen has been so much the spectre at the feast, it's hard not to see this decade as being his story yet again.
The irony of British politics in the 1990s is that as successive governments found a new consensus in finishing the Owenite project of establishing Britain as a European-style social democracy, it couldn't participate in the increasing political union sweeping through Europe. No matter how different their reasons, a sizeable number of both Labour and Conservative MPs were against greater involvement in the EU. Owen himself felt that the UK's position since 1972 was perfect as it was and no further development was necessary. His successor, Robin Cook (remember him?) and the man who defeated him after a mere one year in office, Michael Heseltine, were both seen as suspiciously pro-European by their parties and ended up paying the price.
David Owen, stood down as PM in 1991 to seek a role in world politics. This process had started in the mid-80s when the American media apparently fell in love with him. Handsome, by the standards of the political world, and with an American wife, it was perhaps inevitable that he would recieve such attention and equally inevitable the attention would go to his head. Perversely, his hunt for an international role would deliver him right back to the British Isles as the UN envoy to Northern Ireland.
It was a very strange move to send a former UK Prime Minister as a peacemaker to Northern Ireland, but Owen, in an uncharacteristic moment of self-deprecation, knew he could be accepted because he was "disliked equally by all sides".
Michael Heseltine was happy for Owen to steer Northern Ireland towards some kind of peace. It should be surprising for a Conservative PM to be so sanguine at the prospect of a Labour politician carrying off such a diplomatic miracle, but Owen and Heseltine had similar personalities and their relationship was a cordial one. Unfortunately, it was seen by a number of Tory back benchers as another reason to suspect a Prime Minister they already distrusted for his Europhile tendencies. It was this instability that would cost the Conservatives the 1996 election and the eventual agreement in Northern Ireland would take place under another Labour-Liberal coalition headed by Charles Kennedy.
- Understanding Politics, BBC3 1999
I've had a few comments on the blog about how the last few entries have been "small-p political" as if my usual stuff is partisan polemic. I did have a whole thing in mind for 90s politics and 90s Who, but they don't really synch up. Doctor Who being an in-house BBC production or a public/private co-production doesn't entirely line up with the agenda in Westminster. The BBC seems to have been trying to anticipate changes to the political landscape, rather than follow them. Mind you, it's worth noting that Heseltine's privatization of Channel 4 actually freed up more licence fee money for the Beeb.
So how did Doctor Who end up leaving the Cinema Verity and go back to being a solely BBC production? Good question.
- Andrew Barbicane, Dimensions Of Doctor Who blog, August 2017
As TV audiences started to fragment more and more in the 90s, Doctor Who's role as a show for all the family became an anachronism. There were many great SF and fantasy TV series in the 90s, but they were "cult" TV. They had a select and dedicated audience. There was some movement that way between Seasons 24 and 28, audiences shrank a little, but more noticeably, the audience for Doctor Who got older. The Amblin series had a more broad appeal, being more action-orientated in line with other US shows, but it seems that Doctor Who's course towards cult was set.
Another factor is that Doctor Who ceased being made in BBC Television Centre. Up until the late 80s, Doctor Who was part of the great television factory and the constant proximity to the rest of the Corporation's TV output must have helped keep other producers aware of the show and its cast's availability for guest appearances. Doctor Who was almost part of the BBC's variety output, with Doctors and companions popping up on The Generation Game, Dick Emery, Morecambe and Wise and Jim'll Fix It (presenter Jimmy Young always seemed utterly bemused by "fix-its" involving the show). When Doctor Who was a US show these opportunities more or less dried up. By the time of the Cinema Verity series, not only was Doctor Who being made at a remove, but the BBC was less comfortable with a jolly, variety-based entertainment schedule. A guest spot on a light entertainment show, particularly the Saturday night shows, meant appearing with one of the various hosts BBC1 employed to tempt viewers away from ITV's schedule of expensive movies. Noel Edmonds, Chris Tarrant and Danny Baker all went through the revolving door and they went in for a less warm, more ironic style that didn't suit the suspension of disbelief that Doctor Who required.
Adrift in the television culture of the 90s, Seasons 30-32 that saw Doctor Who become a cult show for teenagers and adults. Ironic, as you'll see in this issue's Archive feature, it's the series that makes the best case for the show not to worry itself with being grown up.
- Niahm Bakewell, What's Wrong With Being A Children's Show?, DWM 2005
__________________
You've been honoured by the industry, honoured by your country, what's next?
Realistically, I'm going to slow down. I'll keep working, but not at the same pace.
After all these accolades?
I'm eighty-one years old. I'd like to be eighty-two, so I think I'll take it easy.
What do you think of the current series of Doctor Who?
I haven't seen it. Isn't that terrible? Now you see why I need to slow down.
Would you appear in it if they asked you?
[smiles] I know I'm sentimental about Doctor Who, but I'd do it just to work with Selina again.
- A Few Words With Roger Delgado, DWM, 1999
The irony of British politics in the 1990s is that as successive governments found a new consensus in finishing the Owenite project of establishing Britain as a European-style social democracy, it couldn't participate in the increasing political union sweeping through Europe. No matter how different their reasons, a sizeable number of both Labour and Conservative MPs were against greater involvement in the EU. Owen himself felt that the UK's position since 1972 was perfect as it was and no further development was necessary. His successor, Robin Cook (remember him?) and the man who defeated him after a mere one year in office, Michael Heseltine, were both seen as suspiciously pro-European by their parties and ended up paying the price.
David Owen, stood down as PM in 1991 to seek a role in world politics. This process had started in the mid-80s when the American media apparently fell in love with him. Handsome, by the standards of the political world, and with an American wife, it was perhaps inevitable that he would recieve such attention and equally inevitable the attention would go to his head. Perversely, his hunt for an international role would deliver him right back to the British Isles as the UN envoy to Northern Ireland.
It was a very strange move to send a former UK Prime Minister as a peacemaker to Northern Ireland, but Owen, in an uncharacteristic moment of self-deprecation, knew he could be accepted because he was "disliked equally by all sides".
Michael Heseltine was happy for Owen to steer Northern Ireland towards some kind of peace. It should be surprising for a Conservative PM to be so sanguine at the prospect of a Labour politician carrying off such a diplomatic miracle, but Owen and Heseltine had similar personalities and their relationship was a cordial one. Unfortunately, it was seen by a number of Tory back benchers as another reason to suspect a Prime Minister they already distrusted for his Europhile tendencies. It was this instability that would cost the Conservatives the 1996 election and the eventual agreement in Northern Ireland would take place under another Labour-Liberal coalition headed by Charles Kennedy.
- Understanding Politics, BBC3 1999
__________________
I've had a few comments on the blog about how the last few entries have been "small-p political" as if my usual stuff is partisan polemic. I did have a whole thing in mind for 90s politics and 90s Who, but they don't really synch up. Doctor Who being an in-house BBC production or a public/private co-production doesn't entirely line up with the agenda in Westminster. The BBC seems to have been trying to anticipate changes to the political landscape, rather than follow them. Mind you, it's worth noting that Heseltine's privatization of Channel 4 actually freed up more licence fee money for the Beeb.
So how did Doctor Who end up leaving the Cinema Verity and go back to being a solely BBC production? Good question.
- Andrew Barbicane, Dimensions Of Doctor Who blog, August 2017
__________________
As TV audiences started to fragment more and more in the 90s, Doctor Who's role as a show for all the family became an anachronism. There were many great SF and fantasy TV series in the 90s, but they were "cult" TV. They had a select and dedicated audience. There was some movement that way between Seasons 24 and 28, audiences shrank a little, but more noticeably, the audience for Doctor Who got older. The Amblin series had a more broad appeal, being more action-orientated in line with other US shows, but it seems that Doctor Who's course towards cult was set.
Another factor is that Doctor Who ceased being made in BBC Television Centre. Up until the late 80s, Doctor Who was part of the great television factory and the constant proximity to the rest of the Corporation's TV output must have helped keep other producers aware of the show and its cast's availability for guest appearances. Doctor Who was almost part of the BBC's variety output, with Doctors and companions popping up on The Generation Game, Dick Emery, Morecambe and Wise and Jim'll Fix It (presenter Jimmy Young always seemed utterly bemused by "fix-its" involving the show). When Doctor Who was a US show these opportunities more or less dried up. By the time of the Cinema Verity series, not only was Doctor Who being made at a remove, but the BBC was less comfortable with a jolly, variety-based entertainment schedule. A guest spot on a light entertainment show, particularly the Saturday night shows, meant appearing with one of the various hosts BBC1 employed to tempt viewers away from ITV's schedule of expensive movies. Noel Edmonds, Chris Tarrant and Danny Baker all went through the revolving door and they went in for a less warm, more ironic style that didn't suit the suspension of disbelief that Doctor Who required.
Adrift in the television culture of the 90s, Seasons 30-32 that saw Doctor Who become a cult show for teenagers and adults. Ironic, as you'll see in this issue's Archive feature, it's the series that makes the best case for the show not to worry itself with being grown up.
- Niahm Bakewell, What's Wrong With Being A Children's Show?, DWM 2005
__________________
You've been honoured by the industry, honoured by your country, what's next?
Realistically, I'm going to slow down. I'll keep working, but not at the same pace.
After all these accolades?
I'm eighty-one years old. I'd like to be eighty-two, so I think I'll take it easy.
What do you think of the current series of Doctor Who?
I haven't seen it. Isn't that terrible? Now you see why I need to slow down.
Would you appear in it if they asked you?
[smiles] I know I'm sentimental about Doctor Who, but I'd do it just to work with Selina again.
- A Few Words With Roger Delgado, DWM, 1999
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Are we to assume that the ATL Mr. Saville meets an unpleasant early demise? (or at least exposure?) Great post as always.
Per my own ideas for timelines, I had background for one where Savile was found dead in his Scarborough residence, c.1971, and that no one ever knows the truth. Was it the family of an alleged victim, local ice cream dynasties, criminals, Freemasons, silenced by MI6...