"Phil won't leave his room" - A Doctor Who Production History
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You've mentioned the accent Cuthbertson uses. Could it have sounded something like this?
(Start around 22:00 and 32: 40 for some good samples of Cuthbertson's dialogue, and his subtle emotional range)
(Start around 22:00 and 32: 40 for some good samples of Cuthbertson's dialogue, and his subtle emotional range)
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Okay, so... I'm curious now as to what you dislike about the classic incarnations! The criticism of the modern Doctors I get, but the classic ones I don't usually hear too much criticism about these days (we've come a long way since "the Sixth Doctor was a mistake and Colin Baker should be ashamed of associating with us," thank goodness).
Are there any fan Doctors you've liked?
Are there any fan Doctors you've liked?
The first two Doctors are total character actors. A sci-fi action show has as its hero a weird old academic. It was as if Lost In Space had kept going long enough for Dr Smith to become the hero. The 3rd, 4th and 5th Doctors compromise that with more traditional leading man qualities in varying levels. I like the Columbo-ness of the original concept. Any issues I have with McCoy would be a thread in itself.
When you say fan Doctors do you mean fan films? I don't think I've seen enough of them for any to make an impact on me.
Tell you what. Let's crack into Colin Baker ITTL. I'll dust off the next part presently.
When you say fan Doctors do you mean fan films? I don't think I've seen enough of them for any to make an impact on me.
Tell you what. Let's crack into Colin Baker ITTL. I'll dust off the next part presently.
Oh dear. Well, if you ever feel inclined to make those known, I'm happy to hear them.
Part 16
"When one starts a new series, there's always that possibility it's going to run and run. I felt a little bit secure when it got commissioned for a second series and pretty confident when it got a third. Little did we know that ITV was going to put Doctor Thorndyke against us? There was a fourth series, but too many people had lost the habit of watching us. I suppose it's not a bad run.
"Typecasting wasn't too bad but I was delighted when I got invited to do a Jackanory and once I'd done one, I was on the call-back list and did one every couple of years. Of course, it was there that I got spotted and then offered the role of a lifetime. So thanks, Doctor Thorndyke. By derailing my career a little, I got to play The Doctor."
- Colin Baker, What We Used To Watch: The Brothers, BBC2 1998 [1]
There really isn't another story like The Six Doctors. There are multi-Doctor stories before and after it. There's at least one, at the time of writing, feature-length regeneration story after it. There's one other story after it that ends with the new Doctor in-costume and giving us an idea of his persona so the next series can start as a soft relaunch. But The Six Doctors is the only feature-length, multi-Doctor, regeneration story that ends with the new Doctor in-costume and giving us an idea of his persona so the next series can start as a soft relaunch. What is more, it's the only story credited to two producers. It's a unique collaboration between outgoing and incoming production teams.
On the one hand, it reminds us just why the Fifth Doctor was so wonderful. Calm, methodical and above the comic exchanges between his other incarnations. But it also reminds the Fifth Doctor of who he used to be, mercurial, witty and avuncular.
It fully deserves the dual producer credit. George Gallaccio demonstrates his style was right and Colin Cant shows why a return to an earlier approach will be refreshing, without running down his predecessor. The last few scenes make an appeal to the fans on behalf of both production teams as the first four Doctors give their approval to both the Fifth and Sixth. It calls to mind the transition between the more traditional Socialism of Jim Callaghan and David Owen's "Programme for Change". Both Prime Ministers frequently pictured together smiling, acknowledging each one's approach was right for their time however different it was from his own.
- Andrew Barbicane, The Complete Fifth Doctor
"I had a whole plan for what I wanted to do with The Doctor. I wanted a black costume, which I got and I wanted to explore the darker side of the character, which I very much didn't get. I asked the producer why I wasn't going to get to play a spikier Doctor and his reply took me aback. "I cast you because you're lovable". Lovable! Me? But he assured me that was always a twinkle in my eye and he wanted to use that.
"Don was dressed as the Great British Eccentric with his tweed jacket, large bow ties and pink trainers, but he played the part against that type. I saw that I'd been cast as the opposite of that and it was then I realized that I could play with the role. Instead of darkness or having The Doctor be unpleasant, I thought about pain. Someone who's lived that long must have seen some terrible things. My Doctor is trying to keep people at arm's length, so they can't hurt him. He dresses in black, he tries to be aloof, but his enthusiasm for life keep showing through."
- Colin Baker, DVD Extra, The Time Centre
"I was pulled in all directions when I became producer. I'd been sought out because of my work with the BBC Children's Department, but some people in the Drama Department were unhappy because they thought they might lose Doctor Who to the Children's Department. I managed to get a brief meeting with Alan Hart and asked him what I was meant to be doing. He told me they were thinking of giving Doctor Who an extra push in the export market. He said my job was to 'make the best drama you can that can keep children as part of the audience'. I think I had a lot of practice at doing that.
"Some shows in the BBC were seen as prestige assignments, some were nightmare assignments, Doctor Who was the black sheep of the whole department. It was a cheap children's show that somehow pulled off effective productions and attracted some fairly impressive guest stars. I think Peter Hammond's approach to the stories onscreen leaked into the ethos behind the cameras. The Doctor Who production office was a terrible mystery from beyond time. You'd pass some famous face in the corridor dressed like a pirate from the planet Flange and ask a colleague 'how the hell did they get so-and-so?' And the reply would be 'it's Doctor Who, they do things like that'. I do wonder if Alan put me in there to demystify it. [1]
"I don't think I was brought in to appeal more to the US market and I certainly don't believe I was brought in to fix anything George had done wrong. George's ratings were exactly what you'd expect for that timeslot and his AI [2] numbers were pretty enviable.
"I know I came from the Children's department, but I think I was brought in because of my experience with dramas for the older end of that demographic. I don't think I was brought in to sell toys.
"I'm not going to second guess Alan, but I think it was the 20th anniversary that influenced him. When he moved it to weeknights and had George in charge, Doctor Who had been in the same place in the schedules for 18 years. It was at risk of vanishing due to over-familiarity. As plans were being made for the 20th anniversary, I think a lot of us at the BBC took another look at it and realized just how deeply people felt about it. George told me that the clippings he was being sent had started to refer to the show as a 'British institution'. So I think the powers that be thought it was a good time to give it an extra push. Put it back on Saturdays and make sure it appealed to the whole family.
"But George was not a caretaker producer. He had kept the show fresh when it easily could have gone stale."
- Colin Cant, DVD Extra, The Time Centre
Alan Hart has somehow ended up with a poor reputation among Doctor Who fans and it's one of the most wrong-headed things in fandom.
The fact was that that the producer and lead actor were stepping down, a natural time to consider any changes to the direction of the show. While that was happening, the US fandom was expanding and it was clear that the Fourth Doctor's stories were the most watched. It's sensible to take that into account. Also, I doubt Hart took all the decisions entirely by himself. His job first and foremost was to manage BBC1. Director of Television Bill Cotton will have had a great deal of input.
Alan Hart was the man who put things in place for the more mature, early-80s stories. If he changed course in the mid-80s, broadening the shows appeal and putting it back on Saturday nights, maybe it's because he recognized the show had different needs than it had at the start of the decade. But there are still people who'll have you believe he ruined Doctor Who.
- Supreme Power: BBC Management and Doctor Who, Doctor Who Magazine, 2002
The Six Doctors and Season 21 are the point that Doctor Who became acutely aware of its own past and started to look inward and backward.
The new agenda the BBC forced on the show was clearly an attempt to return to the days of the Fourth Doctor, with a more ebullient and upper-class Doctor than we'd had in Seasons 18-20. This, as well as the lighter tone and change of format to 13x50min were something of a selling out to the US TV industry.
Not only that, but the approach was applied inconsistently. Season 21 gave us a "soft relaunch", in which we are introduced to a situation, the companion and The Doctor in that order so as to acclimatize new viewers to the show. If that was the plan for Season 21, how absurd is it for Season 22 to feature a backward looking story called "The Four Doctors"?
- Why You're Wrong About Doctor Who's Second Golden Age, Banana Split fanzine
"Well, yes and no. I've read both articles and Alan Hart was a nice man, but BBC1's fortunes declined on his watch. I don't want to get all finger wagging, I'd better watch what say given where I am, but…well. Present company excepted, shall we say, Doctor Who fans too often see the history of the BBC in terms of Doctor Who. Doctor Who muddled through in the early 80s. It was a bit isolated from some of the office politics because the production office rarely kicked up a fuss. It was a steady stream of ratings and income and people enjoyed working on it."
- Andrew Barbicane, Convention appearance, 2003
[1] In Richard Marson's biography of John Nathan-Turner, he details how IOTL Doctor Who was seen as a problem show, with many tales of behind-the-scenes nightmares. But ITTL, there isn't the matter of Tom Baker arguing with directors or Philip Hichcliffe's overspend. I think a certain snobbery will ensure the show isn't beloved by the BBC execs, so a show that's relatively smooth-running has to develop another reputation. Doctor Who is made by weirdos.
[2] Appreciation Index, a measure of how much the viewers enjoyed the show, rather than how many watched.
"Typecasting wasn't too bad but I was delighted when I got invited to do a Jackanory and once I'd done one, I was on the call-back list and did one every couple of years. Of course, it was there that I got spotted and then offered the role of a lifetime. So thanks, Doctor Thorndyke. By derailing my career a little, I got to play The Doctor."
- Colin Baker, What We Used To Watch: The Brothers, BBC2 1998 [1]
__________________
There really isn't another story like The Six Doctors. There are multi-Doctor stories before and after it. There's at least one, at the time of writing, feature-length regeneration story after it. There's one other story after it that ends with the new Doctor in-costume and giving us an idea of his persona so the next series can start as a soft relaunch. But The Six Doctors is the only feature-length, multi-Doctor, regeneration story that ends with the new Doctor in-costume and giving us an idea of his persona so the next series can start as a soft relaunch. What is more, it's the only story credited to two producers. It's a unique collaboration between outgoing and incoming production teams.
On the one hand, it reminds us just why the Fifth Doctor was so wonderful. Calm, methodical and above the comic exchanges between his other incarnations. But it also reminds the Fifth Doctor of who he used to be, mercurial, witty and avuncular.
It fully deserves the dual producer credit. George Gallaccio demonstrates his style was right and Colin Cant shows why a return to an earlier approach will be refreshing, without running down his predecessor. The last few scenes make an appeal to the fans on behalf of both production teams as the first four Doctors give their approval to both the Fifth and Sixth. It calls to mind the transition between the more traditional Socialism of Jim Callaghan and David Owen's "Programme for Change". Both Prime Ministers frequently pictured together smiling, acknowledging each one's approach was right for their time however different it was from his own.
- Andrew Barbicane, The Complete Fifth Doctor
__________________
"I had a whole plan for what I wanted to do with The Doctor. I wanted a black costume, which I got and I wanted to explore the darker side of the character, which I very much didn't get. I asked the producer why I wasn't going to get to play a spikier Doctor and his reply took me aback. "I cast you because you're lovable". Lovable! Me? But he assured me that was always a twinkle in my eye and he wanted to use that.
"Don was dressed as the Great British Eccentric with his tweed jacket, large bow ties and pink trainers, but he played the part against that type. I saw that I'd been cast as the opposite of that and it was then I realized that I could play with the role. Instead of darkness or having The Doctor be unpleasant, I thought about pain. Someone who's lived that long must have seen some terrible things. My Doctor is trying to keep people at arm's length, so they can't hurt him. He dresses in black, he tries to be aloof, but his enthusiasm for life keep showing through."
- Colin Baker, DVD Extra, The Time Centre
__________________
"I was pulled in all directions when I became producer. I'd been sought out because of my work with the BBC Children's Department, but some people in the Drama Department were unhappy because they thought they might lose Doctor Who to the Children's Department. I managed to get a brief meeting with Alan Hart and asked him what I was meant to be doing. He told me they were thinking of giving Doctor Who an extra push in the export market. He said my job was to 'make the best drama you can that can keep children as part of the audience'. I think I had a lot of practice at doing that.
"Some shows in the BBC were seen as prestige assignments, some were nightmare assignments, Doctor Who was the black sheep of the whole department. It was a cheap children's show that somehow pulled off effective productions and attracted some fairly impressive guest stars. I think Peter Hammond's approach to the stories onscreen leaked into the ethos behind the cameras. The Doctor Who production office was a terrible mystery from beyond time. You'd pass some famous face in the corridor dressed like a pirate from the planet Flange and ask a colleague 'how the hell did they get so-and-so?' And the reply would be 'it's Doctor Who, they do things like that'. I do wonder if Alan put me in there to demystify it. [1]
"I don't think I was brought in to appeal more to the US market and I certainly don't believe I was brought in to fix anything George had done wrong. George's ratings were exactly what you'd expect for that timeslot and his AI [2] numbers were pretty enviable.
"I know I came from the Children's department, but I think I was brought in because of my experience with dramas for the older end of that demographic. I don't think I was brought in to sell toys.
"I'm not going to second guess Alan, but I think it was the 20th anniversary that influenced him. When he moved it to weeknights and had George in charge, Doctor Who had been in the same place in the schedules for 18 years. It was at risk of vanishing due to over-familiarity. As plans were being made for the 20th anniversary, I think a lot of us at the BBC took another look at it and realized just how deeply people felt about it. George told me that the clippings he was being sent had started to refer to the show as a 'British institution'. So I think the powers that be thought it was a good time to give it an extra push. Put it back on Saturdays and make sure it appealed to the whole family.
"But George was not a caretaker producer. He had kept the show fresh when it easily could have gone stale."
- Colin Cant, DVD Extra, The Time Centre
__________________
Alan Hart has somehow ended up with a poor reputation among Doctor Who fans and it's one of the most wrong-headed things in fandom.
The fact was that that the producer and lead actor were stepping down, a natural time to consider any changes to the direction of the show. While that was happening, the US fandom was expanding and it was clear that the Fourth Doctor's stories were the most watched. It's sensible to take that into account. Also, I doubt Hart took all the decisions entirely by himself. His job first and foremost was to manage BBC1. Director of Television Bill Cotton will have had a great deal of input.
Alan Hart was the man who put things in place for the more mature, early-80s stories. If he changed course in the mid-80s, broadening the shows appeal and putting it back on Saturday nights, maybe it's because he recognized the show had different needs than it had at the start of the decade. But there are still people who'll have you believe he ruined Doctor Who.
- Supreme Power: BBC Management and Doctor Who, Doctor Who Magazine, 2002
__________________
The Six Doctors and Season 21 are the point that Doctor Who became acutely aware of its own past and started to look inward and backward.
The new agenda the BBC forced on the show was clearly an attempt to return to the days of the Fourth Doctor, with a more ebullient and upper-class Doctor than we'd had in Seasons 18-20. This, as well as the lighter tone and change of format to 13x50min were something of a selling out to the US TV industry.
Not only that, but the approach was applied inconsistently. Season 21 gave us a "soft relaunch", in which we are introduced to a situation, the companion and The Doctor in that order so as to acclimatize new viewers to the show. If that was the plan for Season 21, how absurd is it for Season 22 to feature a backward looking story called "The Four Doctors"?
- Why You're Wrong About Doctor Who's Second Golden Age, Banana Split fanzine
__________________
"Well, yes and no. I've read both articles and Alan Hart was a nice man, but BBC1's fortunes declined on his watch. I don't want to get all finger wagging, I'd better watch what say given where I am, but…well. Present company excepted, shall we say, Doctor Who fans too often see the history of the BBC in terms of Doctor Who. Doctor Who muddled through in the early 80s. It was a bit isolated from some of the office politics because the production office rarely kicked up a fuss. It was a steady stream of ratings and income and people enjoyed working on it."
- Andrew Barbicane, Convention appearance, 2003
__________________
[1] In Richard Marson's biography of John Nathan-Turner, he details how IOTL Doctor Who was seen as a problem show, with many tales of behind-the-scenes nightmares. But ITTL, there isn't the matter of Tom Baker arguing with directors or Philip Hichcliffe's overspend. I think a certain snobbery will ensure the show isn't beloved by the BBC execs, so a show that's relatively smooth-running has to develop another reputation. Doctor Who is made by weirdos.
[2] Appreciation Index, a measure of how much the viewers enjoyed the show, rather than how many watched.
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Excellent. I've realised that in this timeline, Colin is actually the youngest Doctor to date.
Will he have a longer run here? (Also would the 70's victorian detective boom that you've mentioned, have room for a longer series of Lord Peter Wimsey adaptations?)
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No. The images came first in this story. I think most of the images are new to this thread, but it all started with me noodling about in Photoshop. This came out of me watching the Classic Series with my wife and her proposing alternatives for five of the seven Doctors (1 and 6 stayed the same). That led to me doing a picture of my own choices for Doctor (just one image of 5 fake trading cards). The ones you see now are from a second attempt and one of the first and key images was a Radio Times cover from 1987 announcing the 7th Doctor (whose first name will be revealed next time).
I could have redone it, but sticking to the timeline laid out in the images gives this thread a backbone.
As for Colin, even though his run isn't longer, it's denser. By the end of his time, he'll have done nearly double the hours of TV he did IOTL.
I could have redone it, but sticking to the timeline laid out in the images gives this thread a backbone.
As for Colin, even though his run isn't longer, it's denser. By the end of his time, he'll have done nearly double the hours of TV he did IOTL.
As for Wimsey. YES! Let's have Carmichael get to do the whole canon on TV and the question of Petherbridge gives me an idea...
Thanks for the response. And speaking of canon... how many of the stories are adapted for the Cadell-Gaunt Holmes series?
Would you mind if I came up with a list of stories that could be adapted for the series?
Thanks, but I meant just coming up with an episode list for stories that I think could work well for your series. Incidentally thanks for reminding me about my own thread. I've been sorely neglecting it, I've just been trying to come up with things for another thread I have planned.
Here:
Series One (1979):
A Study in Scarlet: Part One
A Study in Scarlet: Part Two
The Solitary Cyclist
The Yellow Face
The Speckled Band
Silver Blaze
Series Two (1980):
The Gloria Scott
The Naval Treaty
Charles Augustus Milverton
The Sussex Vampire
The Beryl Coronet
The Hound of the Baskervilles: Part One
The Hound of the Baskervilles: Part Two
Series Three (1981):
The Illustrious Client
The Musgrave Ritual
The Greek Interpreter
The Abbey Grange
Black Peter
The Sign of the Four: Part One
The Sign of the Four: Part Two
Series Four (1982):
A Scandal in Bohemia
The Man with the Twisted Lip
The Dying Detective
The Red Headed-League
The Boscombe Valley Mystery
The Blue Carbuncle
The Bruce-Partington Plans
The Final Problem
Series Five (1983):
The Empty House
The Norwood Builder
The Problem of Thor Bridge
The Three Garridebs
The Six Napoleons
The Devil’s Foot
The Dancing Men
The Second Stain
Series One (1979):
A Study in Scarlet: Part One
A Study in Scarlet: Part Two
The Solitary Cyclist
The Yellow Face
The Speckled Band
Silver Blaze
Series Two (1980):
The Gloria Scott
The Naval Treaty
Charles Augustus Milverton
The Sussex Vampire
The Beryl Coronet
The Hound of the Baskervilles: Part One
The Hound of the Baskervilles: Part Two
Series Three (1981):
The Illustrious Client
The Musgrave Ritual
The Greek Interpreter
The Abbey Grange
Black Peter
The Sign of the Four: Part One
The Sign of the Four: Part Two
Series Four (1982):
A Scandal in Bohemia
The Man with the Twisted Lip
The Dying Detective
The Red Headed-League
The Boscombe Valley Mystery
The Blue Carbuncle
The Bruce-Partington Plans
The Final Problem
Series Five (1983):
The Empty House
The Norwood Builder
The Problem of Thor Bridge
The Three Garridebs
The Six Napoleons
The Devil’s Foot
The Dancing Men
The Second Stain