The Return Of Dr Who

This is a second attempt at a thread:

1986
Michael Grade axes Dr Who following the end of "Trial Of A Time Lord". The final seconds show the Doctor and the Valeyard trapped in the Matrix. Outrage from fans (including death threats)
is ignored by Grade.

1992
The BBC start to release the Sixth Doctor's adventures on VHS. The surprisingly high number of tapes bought coupled with the still simmering resentment of fans leads to the BBC deciding to reboot the show
 
"I'll admit it was a shock when John Birt called me. He said he wasn't a big fan of the show but he always felt the cancellation of the show was wrong. He sought to make it right"

Colin Baker speaking in 2003
 
The Sixth Doctor is left in something of a unstable state following his battle with the Valeyard. Unsure about what has happened he and Mel find themselves in the TARDIS and in flight. His mood has altered and his attitude has lightened. Its as if his battle has affected his mind.

At the same time there is something undefinable. Some kind of foreboding is in the air.
 
peter-mckinstry-mt-flat-as.jpg
New TARDIS:
 
What's the POD? How come Baker is popular enough in 1992 for the BBC to specifically bring it back with him rather than go for the publicity splash that would go with a new Doctor?
 
If you push it back a year, Alan Yentob became controller of BBC1 in 1993 and was pro-Doctor Who (he would have let The Dark Dimension have a BBC1 slot and the TV Movie was under his watch). He'd be more directly in charge of Doctor Who than the Director-General whose concern would be the, erm, general direction of the BBC.
 
Ok Here we go...

The Dark Dimension 22nd November 1993
1x 90 Minutes

The Doctor and Mel awake in a newly reconfigured TARDIS with no idea how they escaped the Matrix. The Doctor finds his clothes have been ripped so he goes to change. As he does so (dressed in a sober dark suit) he is convulsed by pain. His yells leads Mel to come and see what's happening. The Doctor replies that "something is ripping me apart. Something is destroying my soul"

The TARDIS starts to shake. The Doctor and Mel go back to the control room. Checking the settings the Doctor is dumbfounded. "Where are we" asks Mel. "We're inside a timestream"
"Who's"
"Mine
 
The Dark Dimension 22nd November 1993
1x 90 Minutes

The Doctor and Mel awake in a newly reconfigured TARDIS with no idea how they escaped the Matrix. The Doctor finds his clothes have been ripped so he goes to change. As he does so (dressed in a sober dark suit) he is convulsed by pain. His yells leads Mel to come and see what's happening. The Doctor replies that "something is ripping me apart. Something is destroying my soul"

The TARDIS starts to shake. The Doctor and Mel go back to the control room. Checking the settings the Doctor is dumbfounded. "Where are we" asks Mel. "We're inside a timestream"
"Who's"
"Mine

I can accept the BBC bringing back the Doctor for the 30th anniversary and the better than expected VHS sales, I can even accept them bringing back one Mr. C. Baker, but do they really have to pair him up with Melanie Bush? Surely, she could have been lost in the Matrix somewhere?
 
I can accept the BBC bringing back the Doctor for the 30th anniversary and the better than expected VHS sales, I can even accept them bringing back one Mr. C. Baker, but do they really have to pair him up with Melanie Bush? Surely, she could have been lost in the Matrix somewhere?


Had to have continuity.
 
The Doctor explains that every timelord has a timestream where every point in space/time that they visit remains active in a sub domain of time which normally cant be reached. This makes the Doctor realise that they're still in the Matrix and that the Valeyard is trying to wipe him from time.

The Doctor punches in a series of co-ordinates. He theorises that the Valeyard will try and destroy his first self. He tries to travel back to Earth 1963 but can't. Likewise when he tries to travel to 1967 the same happens. He guesses that somehow his first and second selves have been taken out of time. He then tries to travel to Earth in 1971 and thankfully is successful.

The TARDIS lands in UNIT's lab startling his third self, Jo and the Brigadier.
 
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Doctors 3 and 6 work together via telepathic conference to temporarily fix their stability and share information. Mel asks how the Valeyard is able to affect the timeline. Six explains that each timelord and each incarnation are telepathically linked not just to each other but also to the matrix. Three explains that the Matrix is able to create an alternate reality which stores their thoughts and experiences and keeps them in a sub-vacuole of space-time. Mel compares it to a file backup on the computer. Six smiles and says its a bit different.

Jo worries that 3 will be next to be affected. The Brigadier suggests a strike team to aid the Doctors. 3 declines saying that human weapons are no match for the Valeyard "it would be like using a bucket of water on an inferno"

6 then has an idea. He has been in the matrix before and has escaped. Mel asks how. Six says there's no time to explain. 3, 6 Mel, Jo and the Brigadier enters the sixth's TARDIS.
 
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