Part II, Chapter II: "Across the Pond"
“I only really stuck around because nobody else wanted the job. Everyone who had worked on the show before saw how stressful it was, and the new guys didn’t want to take the reins as the producer. I wasn’t about to leave Doctor Who with no producer, so I stayed. That might have been one of the best decisions of my life.”
- John Nathan-Turner on why he chose to remain as head writer for Season 22 of
Doctor Who. [1]
John Nathan-Turner,
Doctor Who veteran, was to be the hproducer for the new season, and instantly started planning out a way to keep the older fans entertained, while not overwhelming the newer fans. He chose to allow the writers to come up with many new ideas for “monster of the week”, while also encouraging them to incorporate some villains from the Classic era. [2]
Of note was that while the Cybermen had appeared in the Amblin films, so were well known to the newer American fanbase, those who had not seen the Classic series in syndication would be unfamiliar with perhaps the most iconic enemy of the Doctor, namely the Daleks.
Nathan-Turner was also eager to get ex-
Star Trek writer David Gerrold on board, as he not only had far more experience with writing American television than most of the writers, but that he also wished to see LGB representation in the science fiction world. He had written a script for
The Next Generation, titled “Blood and Fire”, which was to incorporate an allegory for the AIDS epidemic. While the script had been purchased, it had not been produced, and so when he came to work on
Doctor Who, Gerrold pitched the idea again, where it was accepted. [3]
Most Classic
Doctor Who stories consisted of two to four (occasionally more) 25 minute episodes per story. With the move to 45 minute episodes, and 26 episodes per season, the writers were encouraged to write for two episodes per story. Many stories that had been floated for the planned BBC Season 22 were pitched once more, and adapted to fit the larger budget.
In addition, by having encouraging multi-episode stories, the cost to produce each episode would tend to be reduced. This allowed the producers to invest in better practical effects and special effects that they had not been able to before. Many of the British crew commented that working on the show seemed to feel more like being on a film set than the television sets that they were used to.
While most stories would be multi-episode, there would also be more so-called “bottle episodes”, named for the “ship in a bottle” episodes that occasionally took place in
Star Trek: The Original Series. These stories primarily used sets and props that had been used in other stories, and often saw the lead characters in a reduced role.
Doctor Who had played about with this idea before, though not often. [4]
As the season began filming, producers quickly noted the dynamic that had formed between Laurie, Crosby and Hanks. The three seemed to be getting on very well, and often met up off set. During interviews where all three were present, there was often much joking around, something that was often commented upon by the reporters. [5]
The writers were, while encouraged to write stories involving old villains, would be discouraged from using Cybermen in their stories, as it was feared that their reputation had been sulliev by
The Cyber Invasion.
The Daleks were to return in the 25th Anniversary story
The Two Doctors, which would also feature the return of Patrick Troughton and Frazer Hines as the Second Doctor and Jamie McCrimmon respectively. [6]
The Master would be reintroduced, alongside a new Time Lady, known as the Rani. After much negotiation, it was decided than Anthony Ainley would retain his role as the Master, and Madeline Kahn was cast as the Rani. While neither had much, if any, experience with American television, their performances on set removed any doubts in the producers’ minds. [7][8]
Doctor Who was to be broadcast on Sundays on both NBC and the BBC, though the BBC would air the latter half of the season a month later. This was done in part to avoid too much competition with rival show
Star Trek: The Next Generation, which was airing during the production of Season 22. As
Star Trek had been part of American popular culture for much longer than
Doctor Who, it was felt that in a “one on one” battle,
Star Trek would likely win out. [9]
As May 1988 approached, all that now remained was to wait to see what the audience would think of the new series. [10]
[1] Nathan-Turner has a gread deal of say in how the series is made at this point. He's basically the showrunner.
[2] A bit of old and a bit of new. That'll be Doctor Who for a while. Some older ideas recycled as writers have stayed on, others repurposed, and some pretty much completely original.
[3] LGB (what the LGBT community was known as at the time) representation will be much better in Doctor Who and Star Trek ITTL. This is sort of the catalyst.
[4] Most notably, Mission to the Unknown (sort-of). The BBC crew will be very good at shaving dollars off of the budgets of episodes, as they're used to far more limiting circumstances.
[5] I don't know if any of these three have actually worked together, but it strikes me that they would be friends off of the set as well as on screen.
[6] This won't be written by Robert Holmes. While he's still alive ITTL, he won't be given the 25th anniversary episode (also the season finale)
[7] Very nearly recast the Master. But for now, I can't think of an actor to portray the master as a good foil to Laurie, who will be quite similar to Davison, at least outwardly.
[8] I'm not sure what I think of Kahn as the Rani, as she's a more comedic actress. But given the slightly campy edge that will inevitably hit Doctor Who, I think it might just work. I really just don't think that O'Mara, as brilliant an actress as she was, would be cast in such a recurring villain role for an American production, given that she wasn't even that well known in Britain.
[9] Something is Out There doesn't happen ITTL. While Doctor Who is a strong franchise in the US here, I still see NBC, and especially the BBC playing it safe.
[10] Next update will cover the release of S22, and reveal the titles. Next two updates after that will be supplemental ones giving summaries of each story, and a profile of the Seventh Doctor, as I did with the Sixth. I'll try not to make the wait four days this time.
