"Where Are We Going This Time": The Golden Age of Science Fiction

[Timelordtoe]

Part II, Chapter LX: "The End of an Era"​

1993
1993 saw the release of the seventh season of Star Trek: The Next Generation and the twenty-seventh of Doctor Who.

The fourth Red Nose Day took place in 1993, raising £19 million for various charities.

Eurovision 1993 was held in Millstreet, Ireland. Notably, this would be the first time that there was a pre-qualifying round for the contest, limited only to countries who were participating for the first time. This was done primarily to stop the main contest from becoming too long as more former Warsaw pact countries entered the competition. Ireland would win the competition for the second time in a row, with the entry “In Your Eyes” by Niamh Kavanagh.


1994
1994 saw the release of the eighth and final season of Star Trek: The Next Generation, the first of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and the twenty-eighth of Doctor Who.

Eurovision 1994 was held in the Point Theatre in Dublin, Ireland. This year would feature the now legendary “Riverdance” interval act. Ireland won the competition for an unprecedented third time in a row, with the song “Rock ‘n’ Roll Kids”, by Paul Harrington and Charlie McGettigan. This would be the only time in the history of the show that any country won the competition that many times in a row. For the first time, the voting would be done by satellite, rather than telephone, meaning that the viewers at home could see the representatives of the various countries on screen.

Rather than a pre-qualifying round, the EBC decided that the seven lowest scorers from the previous year would not qualify for this year, intending to continue the practice going forward. However, Italy and Luxembourg both dropped out of the contest, meaning only the lowest five would not compete. To date, Luxembourg has still not participated in the contest again.


1995
1995 saw the release of the second season of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and the twenty-ninth of Doctor Who.

1995 would also see the release of Star Trek VI: Generations, the final film in that franchise to feature the cast of The Original Series. The film would perform well at the box office, but its being released on the same day as Goldeneye, the first James Bond film to star Sean Bean in the iconic role, did hamper its profits.

Goldeneye would see James Bond face off against an old colleague, Alec Trevelyan, played by Paul McGann. The film would premiere just over a week after McGann’s first appearance as the Tenth Doctor, at the end of “The Other”, Doctor Who’s 29th season finale. McGann had been the second choice for the role, had Bean turned it down. The producers were so impressed by his audition that he was offered the role of the villain.

The fifth Red Nose Day took place in March 1995, raising £24 for various charities.

Eurovision 1995 was held in Belfast, Northern Ireland, after RTÉ announced that it was unable to host for a third time in a row. The hosting was a joint venture by the BBC and RTÉ. Norway won the contest with the song “Nocturne”, performed by the group Secret Garden, breaking Ireland’s three year long winning streak.

But in popular culture, 1995 would have a lasting impact as a time of great change. With the future of DC Comics in jeopardy, and major shakeups in both the Star Trek and Doctor Who franchises, it looked as though there could be major changes to popular culture in the future. But in the eyes of many, the best was yet to come.

END OF PART II​

I know that this is sort of an odd update to end Part II on, but thematically, it works better. Part III will definitely have a different feel to it, and that will be apparent from Part III, Chapter I: "The Best is Yet to Come". See you tomorrow.

 

[Unknown]

Hope butterflies spare Selena Quintanilla-Perez (here's more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Selena); the 25th anniversary of her murder is coming up, BTW...

 

[Timelordtoe]

Hope butterflies spare Selena Quintanilla-Perez (here's more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Selena the 25th anniversary of her murder is coming up, BTW...

I didn't have any plans for her, but I could easily spare her, and try to work her in somewhere. Just as a little note, the link you posted didn't work, I think the bracked and semicolon got caught in the link.

On an unrelated note, I've started work on the Star Trek Prose writing for the Fandom AH forum. I'm using Kelly as the point of view character, for now at least. I'll probably put out the first part soon, at which point I'll pop a link here to that thread, and in the original post here too.

 

[Unknown]

Wonder if Mila Kunis (aka Jackie Burkhart from That '70s Show) will make an appearance on Doctor Who at some point ITTL...

An interesting fact about Kunis: The producers of That '70s Show required that all actors auditioning be 18 when auditioning. When Kunis auditioned, the producers, naturally, asked her if she was old enough. She said that she would be 18 on her birthday--she just didn't say which birthday; by the time the producers figured it out, they also realized that she was a natural fit for the role of Jackie, so they kept her...

 

[Ogrebear]

Since you said they survived, what where Queen up to during this part of the 90's please @Timelordtoe ?

Any changes to the Manufactured Boy/Girl Band culture?

 

[MatthewFirth]

RLE? Are you sure it's not RTE?

 

[Timelordtoe]

RLE? Are you sure it's not RTE?

I do mean RTÉ I'll correct it.

 

[Timelordtoe]

Wonder if Mila Kunis (aka Jackie Burkhart from That '70s Show) will make an appearance on Doctor Who at some point ITTL...

An interesting fact about Kunis: The producers of That '70s Show required that all actors auditioning be 18 when auditioning. When Kunis auditioned, the producers, naturally, asked her if she was old enough. She said that she would be 18 on her birthday--she just didn't say which birthday; by the time the producers figured it out, they also realized that she was a natural fit for the role of Jackie, so they kept her...

Kunis may make an appearance. I have a list of well known people who are known to be fans of certain shows or franchises, and where possible, I'm trying to work them in every now and then. That was the case with Virginia Madsen.

Since you said they survived, what where Queen up to during this part of the 90's please @Timelordtoe ?

Any changes to the Manufactured Boy/Girl Band culture?

Thanks to Wayne's World, Queen enjoy a boost to their popularity in the early-mid 1990s. As of right now, they've just released another album, titled "A Winter's Tale". They're continuing pretty much as they were after they got back together, occasionally releasing albums. Mercury's avoided contracting HIV, or at least, it isn't affecting him yet.

As for boy and girl band culture, it is somewhat different. Given the continuing success of Queen, the resurgence of the careers of the various members of the Traveling Wilburys and groups like Pink Floyd, boy and girl groups are a little less prevalent. At least, in the form we got them. There are still plenty of those type of group, NKOTB and Take That will still exist, but more modern (ITTL) ones will be a little less manufactured, with a bit of an emphasis on actual musical talent, rather than just being attractive and alright at singing or dancing.

 

[Timelordtoe]

Part III: "The Golden Age of Science Fiction"​

“I was sceptical at first, being on the show. But the people I got to work with more than made it worthwhile. And the fans too. That’s one of the reasons why I’ve love going to conventions, just to see the fans. I think you’d be hard pressed to find a fandom as devoted as that of Doctor Who.”​

- Paul McGann, taken from An Adventure in Space and Time.

“The McGann era is definitely my favourite of the revival series. Combined with the fact that it was released around the time of Odyssey and when DS9 really hit its stride, I really wish I had been alive back then to have watched those shows as they came out.”​

- allohistory.com user GallifreyHands, commenting on a post titled “AHC: Kill the ‘Golden Age of Science Fiction’”.

“Just on the border of your waking mind, there lies another time where darkness and light are one. And as you tread the halls of sanity, you feel so glad to be unable to go beyond. I have a message from another time...”​

- Opening monologue to the 1996 film Time.

“It was odd, working all of those years under such heavy makeup. It certainly wasn’t what years of British television had prepared me for. But in the end, I rather enjoyed it. I know that a lot of my cast-mates get recognised on the street, but I don’t get that so much. The prosthetic pieces really do wonders to hide your true appearance.”​

- Nigel Havers, on his role as Gul/Commander Evek in Star Trek: Odyssey.

 

[Ogrebear]

@Timelordtoe While this is all going on for sci-TV what’s happening in the books market for fantasy and sci-fi? Does the success on screen translate to paper?

Any chance of a Dragonriders of Pern TV show? I believe Anne McCaffery was touting it around this period.

 

[Timelordtoe]

Part III, Chapter I: "The Best is Yet to Come"​

“The audition experience was unlike any other I’d had up to that point. Normally, they know what the character is like, and they’ll give you some lines or a scene to act out in character. But with Doctor Who, they gave me a few pointers, and set me off. They were looking more to see what I could bring to the role, and evidently, they liked it. I got the call while we were filming Goldeneye. I was working with Sean [Bean] at the time, who had screen tested for the role in the past, as we moved in the same circles as far as roles went, and he urged me to take the opportunity.”​

- Paul McGann on his being cast as the Tenth Doctor.


The future of Doctor Who was, in many ways, in the most jeopardy it had been since the initial cancellation in 1984. With Cartmel fired from his showrunning role, and neither Brooks nor Ryder’s contracts being renewed, Doctor Who found itself without a main writer, or main cast. A sigh of relief came when NBC announced that it was tentatively renewing Doctor Who for a ninth season on their network. Though the BBC did still technically own the show and all characters on it, NBC was providing the money, and as a result, was the network that called the shots.


This new ninth season, or rather thirtieth season, would mean one major thing. There would be a new actor in the role of the Doctor. As with their three predecessors, there would be major speculation over who would play the Tenth Doctor. Fan circles went into a frenzy when Ian Richardson was spotted on set, with rumours leaking that he would be playing a version of the Doctor in the Season 29 finale. This turned out to be the role of “the Other”, a past version of the Doctor.

As they were casting the role with little knowledge of who would be writing the show, the producers made the auditions more open than in the past. They would provide the actors with a few ideas to act out, but would mainly be looking to see what the actor could bring to the role. As each Doctor was different, they wanted something new, that could bring the audience in.

The auditions narrowed the large pool down to two candidates, Richard E. Grant and Paul McGann. Both were well known for the film Withnail and I. McGann was offered the role, as the producers felt that his portrayal was more “alien” than Grant’s. While McGann was involved with the ITV production Sharpe, this involved only three stories a year, and could easily be made to work with the Doctor Who schedule. Indeed, the role of Sharpe was what most Brits would associate McGann with, though Americans would be more familiar with his appearances in Alien 3 and Goldeneye.


So, the producers had a Doctor, but no writer. Numerous names from within the current writing staff were suggested, with Russell T. Davies, Paul Cornell and Nicholas Briggs being common suggestions. However, NBC wanted something new, and decided to hire someone from outside the show as the new showrunner.

The somewhat controversial (at the time) decision to hire English writer Neil Gaiman as showrunner had many effects for the show. Gaiman notably had no screenwriting credits prior to his work on the show. He had however, written the highly successful Sandman comics and co-written Good Omens.


For companions, Gaiman did have control over the casting, though McGann had been cast before he was hired. He decided that the Doctor should have two companions, one from the present, and another from the past.

The first companion was a creation of Nicholas Briggs’. Lucie Miller would be a girl that is placed in the TARDIS by the Time Lords, in order to protect her. This would allow for an arc to find out why she was in danger, and who she was in danger from. Initially, she was envisioned as being from Blackpool, but the NBC executives insisted on making her North American. [1]

Canadian actress Nicole de Boer was cast as Lucie Miller, with the character being written as from Toronto, rather than Blackpool. De Boer had had multiple roles in Canadian television movies prior to her casting, but was unknown to most American and British audiences. [2]

The second companion was envisioned as a Native American character named Kahn-Tineta . Auditions were slightly complicated by the relative lack of Native American or First Nations actresses. However, an actress would be found in the form of Canadian First Nations model Alex Rice. Rice had only recently travelled to California when the casting call went out, and despite her lack of acting experience, was cast due to her chemistry with de Boer and McGann. In recognition of Rice's heritage, the character was made a member of the Mohawk tribe. [3]

It was hoped that although neither of the companions’ actresses were well known, casting a more well known actor like McGann in the main role would help to bring in new audiences, as well as convince some of the audience that had abandoned the show to come back.


1996 was going to be a bold new year for Doctor Who, and only time would tell if this trio would be a success.


[1] This era will borrow a bit from the Big Finish Productions, but not too much, for reasons that will soon become clear. This is mainly due to the fact that a lot of the people involved with it are working on the show here.
[2] When one of you asked a few weeks ago about Nicole De Boer, and I said that I had plans for her, this was it.
[3] She's young and fits the role, as well as being a not terrible actress. This is me indulging my fascination with Native American culture once more.

 

[Timelordtoe]

@Timelordtoe While this is all going on for sci-TV what’s happening in the books market for fantasy and sci-fi? Does the success on screen translate to paper?

Any chance of a Dragonriders of Pern TV show? I believe Anne McCaffery was touting it around this period.

I wasn't aware of a Dragonriders of Pern show, but looking it up, Ronald D. Moore of all people was involved in the early 2000s, and it was cancelled days before the pilot started filming. The rights were sold around this time, and I am planning on having a look into fantasy at this time, so I may give it a look. As for books, that deserves an update of its own, which I will do soon.

Next chapter is titled "A Big Start", and it will see some old faces return. Three guesses as to what it entails. After that, we're going back into Star Trek, with Season 3 of DS9, and Season 1 of Odyssey.

 

[jolou]

Do you have any plans for stargate and other sci-fi show ? ^^

Keep up the good work !

 

[SuperFrog]

I'm also curious if you're going to ever touch on Stargate and/or Battlestar Galactica. As well as any shows that didn't exist IOTL but could gain a cult following like Firefly and Farscape. Did Quantum Leap happens ITTL?

Ok, Neil Gaiman showrunning a Doctor Who with Paul McGann and Nicole de Boer is the stuff out of my wildest dreams. I love it.

 

[Timelordtoe]

Do you have any plans for stargate and other sci-fi show ? ^^

Keep up the good work !

I'm also curious if you're going to ever touch on Stargate and/or Battlestar Galactica. As well as any shows that didn't exist IOTL but could gain a cult following like Firefly and Farscape. Did Quantum Leap happens ITTL?

Ok, Neil Gaiman showrunning a Doctor Who with Paul McGann and Nicole de Boer is the stuff out of my wildest dreams. I love it.

There will be an update on the other Sci-fi shows of the time soon, as CBS, ABC and Fox are all looking for shows to "kill" Trek or Who. There will be a few shows that didn't exist IOTL. There may be a Galactica show at some point, but elements of the newer franchise will be in Odyssey, in part due to Ronald D. Moore's involvement. Quantum Leap happens per OTL.

 

[Timelordtoe]

Part III, Chapter II: "A Big Start"​

“I was really surprised that we got the go-ahead to do it, but I think having a lot of the old actors involved helped out a lot in those earlier days. Nowadays, it seems like we end up working with people before they get involved with the show proper. The fans like the stuff that we put out, so we keep on making stories.”​

-Nicholas Briggs on the role of Big Finish Productions in the Doctor Who franchise.


Much like Star Trek, the fandom of Doctor Who was greatly influential on the franchise. However, unlike Star Trek (under Rick Berman at least), Doctor Who had no qualms about hiring fans of the show to work on it, and in fact, often encouraged it. One of these fans was Nicholas Briggs.

Before his joining the writing staff in 1994, Briggs had made a name for himself among the fan community, being involved with many fan video projects, and running the successful “Audio-Visuals” audio adventures in the 1980s. These productions were largely tolerated by the BBC, who permitted the fan adventures provided that they did not market themselves as being official productions. However, Nicholas Briggs wanted to do more, and with a number of the show’s former stars wishing to make a return, he realised that he had an opportunity.


In 1995, with the help of the then Doctor, Avery Brooks, and fellow Doctor Who Gary Russell, Nicholas Briggs founded “Big Finish Productions”, and set about acquiring the rights to produce audio adventures of the television show. Though Brooks’ contract was not being renewed, this was not an uncontroversial move, as many fans had come to like his portrayal of the Doctor. It was their hope that this would allow for them to make more adventures with the Ninth Doctor, without contradicting the canon of the show, or having to make alterations to the character to avoid a lawsuit. [1]


By early 1996, a deal had been struck with the BBC, who still held the rights to the characters, to produce a line of audio adventures. As the show was still being aired, there were certain provisos, however. Firstly, the audio adventures would exist in a state of “grey canonicity”, unless directly confirmed or contradicted by the television show. This was in line with the BBC’s policy that viewers should not have to pay to experience the story of Doctor Who as it was released, and Big Finish Productions was a commercial enterprise, after all.

Secondly, the productions could not use “main characters” until at least two years after they were last seen on screen, with exceptions being made for Brooks’ Ninth Doctor. This would allow for the writers on the show to use characters without having to worry that Big Finish would contradict their plans. [2]


Big Finish had little issue in bringing back many of the former actors to record. Firstly, recording a few hours of audio was far less demanding than days on set, and it could be done almost anywhere, with the tapes or recordings being sent off for mixing and production. Secondly, the presence of Avery Brooks and current writers from the show gave the audio adventures a legitimacy that most fan productions lacked.

Aside from Avery Brooks, Fourth and Fifth Doctor actors Tom Baker and Peter Davison came back to reprise their roles. Third Doctor actor Jon Pertwee expressed an interest in returning, but sadly passed away before he could record any audio, just weeks after Patrick Troughton passed. [3]

Briggs and Russell were also able to bring back some old companion actors to reprise their roles. Louise Jameson and Sarah Sutton, who played Leela and Nyssa in the Classic Series both returned, though the Ninth Doctor would receive a new companions, with his adventures being set before his travels with Jennifer. His new companion, Ellie, would be voiced by Lisa Bowerman, a British actress. [4]


The opening adventure, “The Sirens of Time” would feature all three Doctors teaming up to stop “Sirens of Time” from disrupting the Web of Time. The story would be a success, and kicked off “The Monthly Range”, which saw a new story released every month.

The initial releases were a huge success, and Big Finish set about expanding their range of audio dramas. [5]


[1] Originally, I wasn't going to do this until later, but I figured I had all of the pieces out already, and this was actually a better place than where I was originally going to place this update.
[2] A bit of a modification of the rules that Big Finish had when Doctor Who came back IOTL, this should make things a bit easier for them.
[3] So, of the six former Doctors that are alive as of right now ITTL, they currently have three. Lloyd isn't going to come back unless he's paid big; Laurie is having a relatively successful film career; Siddig is busy with Star Trek.
[4] This is a little nod to Bernice Summerfield.
[5] Big Finish is looking to emphasise the BIG in their name.

 

[Ogrebear]

Nice couple of chapters there. Thank you for the fantasy update too- hoping Moore does Pern instead of nBSG.

Question I think your POD is past this point, but did David Prowse get sidelined as Vader's face for the death scene in ITTL's Return of the Jedi? Prowse got a bad rap OTL for apparently leaking the plot twist of Empire to the press when he had nothing to do with it. Lucas/Marquand then kept him from filming the Vader death scene so he would not leak it and was always cold to Prowse after to the point he was banned from official Star Wars Cons. I am hoping you could give Prowse a better post Star Wars life here- Doctor Who perhaps or another sci-fi show?

 

[Clorox23]

So, since Big Finish Doctor Who is still ITTL, does that mean Doctor Who Unbound is too? Because a thought just popped into my head that relates to what started this whole thing:

"House of the Rising Sun: What if... Marty tried to abuse future knowledge?" (Or, in other words, the plot of OTL's Back to the Future: Part II; the TARDIS crew goes to 2015, not 2045, and Marty buys the Almanac, resulting in 1985A.)

 

[unclepatrick]

Any chance of a Dragonriders of Pern TV show? I believe Anne McCaffery was touting it around this period.

I saw in the early 2000's some test footage for the Dragonriders TV show at a Sci Fi Convention. I was not impressed with the footage.
And the guy who was talking about the show , said that the reason that the show failed to happen was due mainly to a disagreement over the show tone.
The Studio wanted a light comedy Xena Style program . McCaffery wanted a darker more serious style show.

 

[Timelordtoe]

Nice couple of chapters there. Thank you for the fantasy update too- hoping Moore does Pern instead of nBSG.

Question I think your POD is past this point, but did David Prowse get sidelined as Vader's face for the death scene in ITTL's Return of the Jedi? Prowse got a bad rap OTL for apparently leaking the plot twist of Empire to the press when he had nothing to do with it. Lucas/Marquand then kept him from filming the Vader death scene so he would not leak it and was always cold to Prowse after to the point he was banned from official Star Wars Cons. I am hoping you could give Prowse a better post Star Wars life here- Doctor Who perhaps or another sci-fi show?

I may have Prowse appear at some point. I could see him doing bit parts in some other shows. But yeah, Return of the Jedi is close to "butterfly-exempt" as the POD is early-1983. The only difference is that the last minute name-change for the film doesn't go through, so it's Revenge of the Jedi ITTL.

So, since Big Finish Doctor Who is still ITTL, does that mean Doctor Who Unbound is too? Because a thought just popped into my head that relates to what started this whole thing:

"House of the Rising Sun: What if... Marty tried to abuse future knowledge?" (Or, in other words, the plot of OTL's Back to the Future: Part II; the TARDIS crew goes to 2015, not 2045, and Marty buys the Almanac, resulting in 1985A.)

I'm a fan of Big Finish, and unsurprisingly, given that I'm, y'know, writing an ATL, I really like the Unbound stories. I could see Unbound stories being made for TTL's Big Finish, and that one you suggested is a clever idea.

I saw in the early 2000's some test footage for the Dragonriders TV show at a Sci Fi Convention. I was not impressed with the footage.
And the guy who was talking about the show , said that the reason that the show failed to happen was due mainly to a disagreement over the show tone.
The Studio wanted a light comedy Xena Style program . McCaffery wanted a darker more serious style show.

If I end up inclusing a Dragonriders show, I'll probably stray closer to the darker and more serious side, but I'd imagine that the reliance on GCI could hamper the show if the effects aren't up to snuff.


Also, a slight change in the schedule of updates: next up is the Time update, then Season 1 of Odyssey. Then there'll be a couple of these other updates, like the one focussing on other networks and the like, then we'll do Season 3 of DS9 and Season 30 of Doctor Who. That just gives me and @The Chimera Virus a bit more time to hammer out the exact details of the shows, and to work on the stories. I think you can all agree that while I've been better lately at the "quantity", I shouldn't sacrifice quality to maintain it.