TLIAFD: The Doctor Is Who?
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I really liked The Omega Factor - shame they never made a second season.
Brian Blessed was one of the potential candidates for the Second Doctor. Of course, how he would have played the Doctor in the Eighties is a lot different from how he'd have played the part in the Sixties.
At least Hazeldine didn't take part in this.
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It had an ending but felt oddly truncated - there were loose ends left at the end. Here, it has three extra episodes and the plot is resolved satisfactorily.
Cyril Luckham plays the Great Intelligence opposite Christopher Neame's Fourth Doctor; he played the villain Drexel in The Omega Factor but was unavailable for the role ITTL. Did you notice who they cast in his place?
Of course - and Liz Sladen instead of Louise Jameson. I have to admit, it took quite a while before I realised that Dr Anne Reynolds was played by the same actress as Leela. I guess I didn't recognise her with her clothes on.
7. Going For Broke: The Seventh Doctor
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THE SEVENTH DOCTOR
Art Malik
(1987 – 1991)
Art Malik
(1987 – 1991)
After a year in the wilderness, Doctor Who was back with new vigour, new ideas, a new production staff and, most importantly, a new Doctor. Concluding that the show was very likely on borrowed time even if it pulled off a return from its hiatus, [1] extensive and careful consideration had been given to how best to restructure the struggling series and the decision was made to, as former producer Graham Williams put it, "go for broke", and effectively "regenerate the series itself".
Despite initial concerns that certain factions in the BBC were determined to ensure the hiatus became permanent, the production staff found an unexpected ally and advocate in the form of Michael Grade, who succeeded Jonathan Powell as Controller of BBC1 in late 1985. Having previously spent two years employed as a television executive in the United States, Grade was appointed with a mandate to "overhaul" the flagship channel's output and decided that Doctor Who, by now effectively a blank canvas inviting a rebuild from the ground up, would serve as a suitable template for success.
It was first agreed that cuts would be made; this was the chief condition for ensuring the series' return. Overseas filming, once a hallmark of the JNT era, was to be substantially reduced and seasons would be shortened dramatically with the number of episodes in each to be almost halved, from 25 to 13 per season. As compensation for this decrease, it was correspondingly decided that rather than broadcasting stories comprising four 25 minute episodes, individual episodes would last one hour and tell a single story; far from alien to British television but in effect more along the lines of the television dramas with which Grade had become familiar working in America. Nathan-Turner had previously mooted such a change in the hope that it would help to sell Doctor Who in America, but had never followed through on the proposal.
Next, a new producer and script editor (Johnny Byrne having opted to leave alongside JNT and James Hazeldine) were to be appointed. Here, a suggestion made by Verity Lambert and former script editor Christopher Bidmead resulted in the hiring of a onetime teacher turned TV writer writer named Eric Saward, who would earn a controversial place in the history of Doctor Who. Saward had been involved in writing for almost 10 years when he was brought aboard the series. Having received some early attention as a scriptwriter in radio (a medium to which his writing style, in which fast-paced action-packed scenes were prioritised at the expense of narrative coherence), Saward had long been an admirer of Doctor Who and of former script editor Robert Holmes in particular. His first television work was a spec script entitled "Invasion of the Plague Men" – although conceived during the waning months of the Fourth Doctor's tenure and clearly written with Christopher Neame in mind, Saward would only submit his proposal to Bidmead in March 1980.
Accepting "Plague Men" on the recommendation of a higher-up in the BBC drama department, Bidmead was impressed by the script and lobbied hard for a more reluctant John Nathan-Turner to agree to produce it. Ultimately, he prevailed upon the producer by convincing him (correctly, as it transpired) that the serial had the potential to spawn a spin-off and Saward's story was broadcast as the premiere of the 1981 season. [2] "Plague Men" had the trappings of a Fifth Doctor historical, but was one of the relatively few to feature an overt science-fictional dimension in the form of (as Colin Baker would reminisce in latter day DVD special features) "some fantastic creepy-looking gentlemen in outer space surgical gear, and their chief heavy, this kind of disfigured reptile man who I had to turn against them to stop the Great Fire of London; I managed the first half!"
While well-received at the time and still enjoying popularity among Doctor Who fans, the most significant legacy of "Plague Men" was perhaps the character of Richard Mace, a dashing highwayman played by Shakespearean actor Alan Rickman, who proved to be so popular that, just as Bidmead had promised, he became the subject of the first official Doctor Who spin-off, a supernatural period drama entitled The Extraordinary Exploits of Richard Mace, Esq. Saward was script editor, wrote several episodes and even received an executive producer credit. The series' producer was none other than original Doctor Who producer Verity Lambert, whom Saward would later credit as his single most important mentor in the television business. On Lambert's death in 2007, Saward commented, "I can't imagine what I may have done on Who if I hadn't had the opportunity, at that stage in my career, to learn so much from Verity when I did." [3]
Following the conclusion of Richard Mace, a more seasoned Eric Saward was keen to return to Doctor Who but, having received advice that taking work there in the dying days of the John Nathan-Turner era would likely amount to rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic, instead found himself working on a variety of series. When the reorganisation of Doctor Who was announced, Saward had planned to apply for job of script editor, but was surprised when Lambert recommended him to replace Nathan-Turner as producer (a role to be shared with a returning Graham Williams [4]).
The script editor, and indeed much of the writing staff, were to be predominantly new blood (Terrance Dicks and Philip Martin were the only Who veterans tapped to contribute new episodes), many of them former fans in their own right: some, such as the new script editor, 29-year old Ian Briggs, Kevin Clarke and Andrew Cartmel, had some previous experience; others, such as Marc Platt, Ben Aaaronovitch, Gary Russell and Paul Cornell (who would have his first work produced in 1989 at the age of 22) were less seasoned, but compensated with enthusiasm and creativity. Saward himself would write several scripts which Williams alone produced; his style of writing was considered well-adapted to the new format. An innovative collegial approach to plotting the series was adopted, with the script editor acting as head of a "writer's room" (another American concept uncommon in British television) in which all were invited to suggest ideas while retaining sole credit for their own screenplays.
With the production and creative teams in place, the difficult question of who could play the Seventh Doctor was carefully considered. Securing a reasonably high-profile lead was expected to be a challenge in light of the strained circumstances of the series but deemed necessary to draw attention and justify keeping the programme going. Furthermore, in the absence of a proper regeneration scene (James Hazeldine had filmed the beginning of a regeneration at the end of his final episode and had no desire whatsoever to come back to finish it), the new actor would need to be able to jump straight into the role, without a the usual "transition" period immediately post-regeneration. [5] As usual, thought was given to a wide range of actors and many were solicited, among them Paul McGann, Bob Peck and David McCallum. No one involved in production at the time can recall exactly who suggested Pakistani-born actor Art Malik (although consensus suggests that it may have been Ben Aaronovitch), who had earned plaudits for his starring turn in The Jewel in the Crown on television and a performance in David Lean's 1984 epic A Passage To India.
Like many of those approached, Malik was hesitant to commit to what may still looked like a less-than-certain enterprise, but was eventually persuaded after encouragement from his agent and a meeting with Verity Lambert. As the first non-white actor to step into the TARDIS (a factor which Malik later explained was significant in his decision to take the part), Malik's casting turned heads and raised some more conservative eyebrows. For the first time in almost three years, people were talking positively about Doctor Who once again. Things were looking up.
Saward, Williams and Briggs (the undisputed nucleus of the backstage staff, along with Cartmel, whose risk-taking ambition and stated desire to try and take Doctor Who in a more "dangerous" and "morally ambiguous" direction appealed to Saward's own creative sensibilities) agreed that, to try and retain the sense of week-to-week continuity provided by the older serial format, they would attempt to introduce a loose ongoing story, which would unfold over the course of the Seventh Doctor's episodic adventures. Their plan was to try to cultivate a sense of loyalty akin to that of soap opera viewers who could be relied upon to tune in regularly, to talk and speculate, and thus rebuild and expand the fan base. This would require a suitable villain and the Master was the logical choice. Peter Davison had no desire to reprise the role regularly but agreed to make a one off appearance to regenerate into a new form, now played by Miles Richardson. At the conclusion of the first Malik season (in the Briggs-penned "Planet of Ice"), the long-debated fan theory that the Master was the Doctor's "evil secret brother" was seemingly confirmed. [6]
Cartmel went further and proposed a "master plan" to try and develop a renewed sense of mystery around the Doctor which zeroed in on the frequently-debated regeneration of Christopher Neame almost a decade earlier, in which Valentine Dyall's Great Compassion had appeared to "merge" with the Doctor to help him to restore his regenerative energies. Cartmel proposed that this experience had fundamentally changed the Doctor and made him "so much more" than "just" a Time Lord. While this concept would be revisited in later years, it never made it further than hints during the Seventh Doctor's run on television: Saward personally nixed the idea, not out of any principled objection to such an intrinsic change to the nature of the character, but more because he was jealous for having not thought of it first. [7]
At the same time, the producers and writers were interested in using the series to explore relevant issues and present (occasionally clumsy but always well-meaning) down-to-earth critiques of social ills; few, if any, of them were fans of Norman Tebbit, nor was the prime minister much of an admirer of Doctor Who, as would soon become abundantly clear. [8] In service of this aim, Ian Briggs and Ben Aaronovitch created a new kind of companion for the Doctor in the form of Dorothy "Ace" MacShane, a juvenile delinquent from 20th century Glasgow (cast as an 18 year old and played by 22-year old actress Michelle Gomez in her first major role).
This creative ethos (which the unashamedly opinionated lead strongly supported, as he never failed to make clear in and interviews and meetings with the press) and the nature of his first companion would strongly influence Art Malik's portrayal of his character. In his hands, the Seventh Doctor evoked Le Mesurier's second Doctor of the 1960s; a cultured and even-tempered professor, and a protector and educator who saw the entire human race in his companion, whose vast potential and implied special destiny he judged it his moral duty to unlock. [9] He could be suave and genial in one moment before adopting a steely intensity when faced with danger or injustice. Importantly for Malik, the Seven Doctor was hailed as a key example of positive ethnic minority representation on British television ("My Gallifreyan heritage notwithstanding," he often quipped).
Subject to occasional stinkers, the Seventh Doctor enjoyed a run of strong episodes which made up for a more limited budget by being creative. Malik's second year in the role fell in Doctor Who's 25th anniversary year, and was home to several stories widely recognised as bona fide stone cold classics of the programme's entire run. Marc Platt's "The Silver Death" (a two-part story which had previously borne the working title "Spare Parts") explored the origins of William Hartnell's penultimate adversaries, the Cybermen, and was widely praised (and in more conservative quarters roundly criticised) for its dark and uncompromising portrayal of the horror of cyber-conversion. More celebrated still was Ben Aaronovitch's "Doom of the Daleks" (likewise a two-parter, and occasionally co-credited to Andrew Cartmel), which featured the first and significantly more successful of the Seventh Doctor's two encounters with his most wicked enemies.
Reuniting the Doctor with the BREXIT organisation previously featured in the Christopher Neame years against the backdrop the summer of 1968 in the wake of the former Prime Minister Enoch Powell's so-called "Rivers of Blood" speech, Aaronovitch's script and Malik's performance surprisingly became the first in Doctor Who to be nominated for BAFTA awards for writing and acting. The plot, laced with wry allusions to the notorious Powell's "future" ascension to No. 10, involved human agents mind controlled by Daleks infiltrating British society (requiring no interpretation to be recognised as a clear comment on the government of the day's ongoing "overrun by other cultures" rhetoric) and featured the Seventh Doctor's first experience as a victim of human racial prejudice, prompting his reflection on whether his commitment to humanity was truly worthwhile, which would be confirmed when he witnessed Ace rebuke a racist BREXIT soldier. [10] While the overtly political tone of this story was met with a deep sense of unease among some of the production staff, both Aaronovitch and Malik (both well-known for their left-wing views) were adamant that it was a statement that needed to be made. [11]
Following her casting in the lead role of Julia Day in Steven Moffat's CITV children's comedy-drama Stop the Presses, Michelle Gomez announced that she would depart the series after the season finale for 1988, an Andrew Cartmel script entitled "The Cradle of Time". In keeping with the anniversary celebrations of the season, the episode featured another return of Miles Richardson's Master and served as a (although not necessarily the) conclusion to the ongoing storyline which Cartmel, Briggs and Saward had developed since the beginning of the Seventh Doctor's tenure.
Presaged in the preceding episode by the Doctor's warning that his companion would soon face her greatest challenge, the episode took place in a possible near-future Earth where industrial pollution has poisoned the planet, Ace is mortally wounded by a laser blast fired by the Master and meant for the Doctor. As the gloating villain flees, the Doctor uses some of his "regeneration energy" (although not explicitly stated in the episode, Cartmel would subsequently explain in a tie-in novel that this had been made possible by the Great Compassion merging with the Doctor more than a decade earlier in Christopher Neame's final adventure), before explaining that he will take her to Gallifrey where she will be enrolled in the Time Lord academy.
Unexpectedly, Eric Saward announced his resignation between the 1988 and 1989 seasons as well. No doubt threatened by the increasing confidence demonstrated and acclaim earned by the young guns he and Williams had hired to write the series and disgruntled that the sole producer status he had expected had never materialised, he may have intended to "pull a Nathan-Turner" and force the BBC to accede to his demands or lose his services. If this was indeed his intent, he would be sorely disappointed. Script editor Ian Briggs would be promoted to co-producer, and would be joined in 1990 (after the tragic death of Graham Williams in a shooting accident that August) by none other than the woman who started it all, Verity Lambert, then riding high on the success of the that summer's addition to the BBC's line of soaps, the wildly successful Eldorado.
For a time, Doctor Who was enjoying its greatest success since the halcyon days of Philip Hinchcliffe (who publically praised the direction of the series at every opportunity), Bob Holmes and Christopher Neame. Viewing figures remained modest in comparison to the programme's peak, but had rallied from the troubled days of the Sixth Doctor and improved with each season. Art Malik had become one of the most recognised and beloved actors on television and many stories enjoyed almost unprecedented acclaim (a 1990 script by author Neil Gaiman entitled Time and Relative, based on an idea by close friend, journalist and film critic Kim Newman, became the second Doctor Who episode to receive a BAFTA nomination for writing). As the series prepared to enter its landmark 28th season in late 1991, it seemed that Doctor Who could be on track to reach higher heights than ever before as the new millennium beckoned.
And then, they bit off more than they could chew, and the rug was pulled from under them.
"I always tried to tell those jumped-up little anarchists," a thoroughly disenfranchised Eric Saward would later grumble, "Never talk about religion or politics…"
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[1] The embarrassing fiasco of the twin departures of James Hazeldine and John Nathan-Turner and revelations of the shambolic state of the series behind the scenes had been plastered all over the news in 1986 and even invited comment during a session of Prime Minister's Questions at which the recently-appointed Mr Tebbit's remark that, "It might be time for Mr Who [sic] to get out of his police box and get on his bike," received little rebuke from Opposition MPs.
[2] In later years, Saward would lament that the title of his first Doctor Who serial was "rubbish", remarking on the DVD commentary for "Plague Men" that, "I remember there was one line in the script, something like, 'What is this unholy visitation?' and it was only when I actually saw the bloody thing on TV that it occurred to me that 'The Visitation' would've been a far better title for it."
[3] This series ran for three seasons of 10 episodes each between 1982 and 1984, earning respectable ratings and generally positive – if not world-beating – critical notices. Alan Rickman returned to headline the programme and was joined by newcomer Nicola Bryant in her first professional acting role as his light-fingered apprentice, an aspiring pickpocket named Merry Bown. Of particular note was the performance of a young Liverpudlian actor named Paul McGann, whose recurring guest role as a woodsman would help to land him his breakthrough role as the title character in ITV's international cult hit Robin of Sherwood, which ran for five seasons from 1984 to 1988.
[4] Saward privately intimated to colleagues that he expected to be offered sole responsibility for production in the event that things went well; he was evidently unaware of an unspoken agreement that Doctor Who would be managed by co-producers for the remainder of its run as an unofficial rule. In light of the manner of his eventual departure from the series, it may be surmised that he was not impressed when he found out.
[5] The first Seventh Doctor episode ("Revenge of the Rani") was premised on the idea that the Doctor had been having adventures on his own between his regeneration and his arrival in present-day Earth, which would promptly prove fertile ground for future tie-in novelists and the producers of Audio Visuals' radio dramas.
[6] This concept was widely attributed to Saward and included by Briggs only under duress. Indeed, the characters would call the idea into question after Saward's temperamental egress from Doctor Who in 1989 (specifically in Briggs's own "The Curse of the Rani", in which Mary Tamm's villainous Time Lady hinted that she had tricked the Master into believing a fraternal relationship with the Doctor in revenge for a previous encounter between the squabbling villains) and quietly discarded in the future, although the debate still rages across the Internet today.
[7] A fixation on byzantine references to obscure continuity minutiae – and developing morally ambiguous mercenary gunslinger characters at the expense of the Doctor himself – remained hallmarks of Saward's writing, although in the scripts he contributed while also working as producer, they were generally tamped down by Ian Briggs, who listened to Cartmel and was listened to by Williams. Doctor Who fans aware of such backstage trivia are said to shudder to think of what such tendencies may have come to had Saward ever served as script editor himself.
[8] In a 1995 interview with DWM, James Hazeldine would say that he imagined he "still would have been playing the Doctor today" (i.e. in 1995) if he had been able to work with the Malik era creative team rather than JNT. By then, the onetime Sixth Doctor had once more become a fixture of television through his appearances as a long-time regular on the medical drama Casualty.
[9] Some writers, such as Cartmel, put a darker twist on the partnership between Doctor and companion, casting the Seventh Doctor as a manipulative Svengali in whose secret plans and intrigues Ace was simply a pawn, which was also a popular (if decidedly controversial) interpretation, even if Malik privately admitted to some discomfort with it.
[10] Clips from this episode remain popular on YouTube, and the episode was said to have privately incensed the Tebbit government then in office. Between them, "Doom of the Daleks" and "The Silver Death" have since their broadcast in 1988 never ranked below the top ten in historical listings of the programme's best stories published by Doctor Who Monthly.
[11] Another legacy of "Doom" was the introduction of an Aaronovitch original character whom he had hoped would be a new travelling companion for the Seventh Doctor – a tough, no-nonsense Woman Police Constable named Lesley May Rivers, played by Pamela Salem. Although she would never accompany the Doctor in the TARDIS (the producers were adamant that the budget would not stretch to a third regular, and while they were probably correct, it is interesting to observe that scripts contributed by Saward had a strange tendency to feature similar "companion auditions", typically for tough, Clint Eastwood-style mercenary gunslingers who frequently seemed poised for more on-screen attention than either the Doctor or Ace), Salem would later reprise the role in a series of Aaronovitch-penned radio dramas for Audio Visuals set in the Doctor Who universe entitled Rivers of London.
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Press Gaga without Julia Swalaha? An El Dorado that lasts more than a handful episodes?
I thought you said this was wish fullfillment not a dystopia?
I thought you said this was wish fullfillment not a dystopia?
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Banned
I know there's a few. I've chatted with @skaven and @Sonus Silentii and @Thande about the series elsewhere.
I don't know if anyone has used Art Malik as an alternative Doctor before. I'm reasonably content that I've generally managed to pull off some surprises.
He's the first Doctor I've never actually heard of before, so you succeeded on that front.
Also Rivers of London, aaaaaaaaaaa, etcetera.
