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

Timelordtoe · Jul 13, 2020

Overview of Season 31 of Doctor Who

“It’s been a while!”

“It has, Doctor. I see you’ve picked up some new friends.”

“You know me, I like to keep company. I see you’re a woman again, Minister.”

“Ever observant, Doctor.”

- The Minister and the Doctor discuss their changes since they last met.

The Happiness Patrol adapted by @The Chimera Virus

Upon catching up with the Master’s TARDIS, Lucie and Kahn-Tineta find it hanging dead in the time vortex. The doors have been blown out and neither Time Lord is anywhere to be found. The TARDIS picks up on a faint artron energy signature and follows it to the planet Terra Alpha. A miserable place to live, Terra Alpha is the isolated black sheep of its system and former seat of the Terra Alphan Empire. The current ruler, Helen A., is obsessive about happiness. She has outlawed all negative emotional expression, dubbing those who feel such things “killjoys” and driving them literally underground into the planet’s vast sewers. The keys to her rule are the garishly pink-and-pastel Gestapo force known as “the Happiness Patrol” and her private executioner the Kandyman, a psychopathic robot made of liquorice allsorts and boiled sweets.

Escaping the Happiness Patrol, the companions finally locate the Doctor… or, rather, they locate John S., head of the Happiness Patrol and Helen A.’s right-hand man. The Doctor has been brainwashed. It’s now up to Lucie and Kahn-Tineta, with the help of their new friend Earl Sigma, to figure out how to restore the Doctor’s memory and take down Helen A.’s fascist regime.

Guest Stars: Sheila Hancock as Helen A., Rob Paulsen as the voice of the Kandyman, and Paul Winfield as Earl Sigma

The Last Type 40 by @The Chimera Virus

The Doctor’s memory on how to fly the TARDIS is rusty after his brainwashing on Terra Alpha. So much so that he ends up being unable to escape when a giant, wriggling red hand lurches into the vortex and plucks the TARDIS out. The travelers find themselves in a strange museum devoted to one-of-a-kind time machines. The TARDIS is the last Mark I Type 40 Time Capsule left in existence, and the owner of the museum, Mr. Crimson, “simply must have it.”

The TARDIS crew is informed by the docent, Wells, that Crimson is far too busy to deal with their protests. His need to own one-of-a-kind time machines outweighs their need to have home and transport. Outraged, the travelers set about trying to meet Crimson, only to find the museum is laced with traps. Additionally, most of its exhibits are replicas except for a few. Grabbing onto one as it’s taken for “restoration,” the travelers find that the time machines are being eaten by Mr. Crimson. In actuality, there is no “mister,” just Colony Crimson – a gestalt mind comprised of trillions upon trillions of tiny, red, wriggling creatures. The same ones that plucked the TARDIS from the vortex. They feed on artron energy, which kills the drained time machines. Worse, they aren’t above trying to eat the time travelers to gain their artron energy, too!

Special Guest Star: James Earl Jones as the voice of Colony Crimson

Guest Star: John Posey as Docent Wells

The Offer by @The Chimera Virus

Attempting to recover the lost TARDIS from the fourth moon of Shempexel Grenexel, the crew hitches a ride aboard the Master of Luxor, a planet-hopper owned and operated by Gerard Luxor. Luxor is a well-to-do businessman who prefers to do things on his own rather than employ servants. While en route to the moon, the Master of Luxor accidentally becomes embroiled in a vicious dogfight and is damaged. It plummets to the uncharted, autumnal planet below. The stranded crew ekes out a living amidst the ruins of a once-great civilization.

Soon, a strange pair arrives. They are enormous, lumbering creatures draped in pelts of numerous species with skulls for heads and an ever-present stench of ammonia and formaldehyde. Dar Traders is what they call themselves. They harvest the dead and give knowledge in exchange. On this occasion, they’re here for the Doctor and Lucie. Sensors aboard their ship indicate that she has never been alive in the first place, yet she demonstrates quite the opposite. The Doctor has died nine times before and lived to tell every tale. The Traders believe them to be essential to their species-wide endeavor of achieving a state of existence teetering on the precipice of life and death. In exchange for those two, they will save Kahn-Tineta and Luxor.

Luxor hates this, but suggests that it may be their only way offworld. Lucie is even willing to go with them, but only if the Doctor goes free. She has faith in the Doctor’s ability to save her once he has the TARDIS back, and this may uncover the mysteries surrounding her very existence. However, the Doctor and Kahn-Tineta are quite opposed to the idea. The Traders inform them that they will remain around for several days… but even if they leave, they’ll be back one way or another. Everyone dies, and the Traders are very, very patient.

With the offer hanging like a bad stench in the air, tempers begin to flare as the survivors argue over what the best course of action is.

Guest Stars: James Avery as Gerard Luxor, Richard Cetrone and Doug Jones as the Dar Traders, and Dee Bradley Baker as the voice of the Dar Traders

The Memory Hole by @The Chimera Virus

The Doctor realizes that to get back to the TARDIS at any sort of good clip, the travelers are going to have to use 51st Century rail travel… Well, “rail” is perhaps an archaic holdover. This train simply sails through the stars along a general course. Leaving Luxor to get his own train home, the TARDIS crew purchase tickets for the Outer Rim Limited, which ought to get them to the same system as the fourth moon of Shempexel Grenexel. As they wait, they overhear a porter discussing with the driver, Fraxol, if “it will happen again.” Fraxol assures him with her in charge, it won’t. With Trains-Galactic, Inc.’s reputation and the stability of the entire galaxy on the line, she can’t afford to say otherwise.

Investigating, the crew finds that many people – including several prominent politicians, scientists, athletes, and performers – have left the ORL with large chunks of their memories missing. At least one important galactic power, the Si’ilgaana Confederacy, has fallen as a direct result of this. The Doctor is intrigued and perturbed. This has to be looked into.

Aboard the train, a bevy of bizarre characters all make themselves known. The extravagant and somewhat androgynous Monsieur Roué along with his meek, abused houseboy Malcolm Aguirre with their special coach at the end of the train. The conductor, Ratalogge, who is actually a Quintelaracc (a barnacle-like hive mind) secret agent attached to the back of a cloned humanoid conveyance looking for information on the missing UEFS Lashley. Fraxol herself, a Petruchion who is immune to memory wipes due to her complex brain structure. The pièce de résistance, however, is Na’a’auch – a female Arbusa, a hairy, ten-foot-long lobster with a wolf spider’s face, scythed mantis-like forelimbs, and a voracious appetite. She is relentlessly searching for Kliyrcu’uhz, a male that spontaneously regenerated himself from the soft spot on her groin, becoming a renegade hermaphrodite.

When the train enters the Outer Rim’s highlight, the Revelation System’s wormhole, it stops dead in the middle, which shouldn’t be possible. Looking outside drives most people except the Doctor, Roué, and Malcolm mad. But there are strange, hagfish-like mouths sucking the glass from the windows, and tendrils wrapping around people’s heads… Whatever is happening, it seems that only Fraxol has an inkling to the secret, and she’s vanished along with Kahn-Tineta.

Special Guest Star: Eddie Izzard as Monsieur Roué

Guest Stars: Dante Basco as Malcolm Aguirre, Anjelica Huston as Fraxol, Colin Salmon as Ratalogge, Beatrice Arthur as the voice of Na’a’auch, and David Warner as the voice of Usilarax Prime

The League of Extraordinary Time Lords by @The Chimera Virus

Having solved the mystery of the Outer Rim Limited, rescued the stranded crew of the UEFS Lashley, and recovered the TARDIS, the travelers find it immediately ensnared by another TARDIS’s tractor beam. This TARDIS belongs to Monsieur Roué - who is really the renegade Time Lord known as the Libertine, one of Azmael’s contemporaries, and a former Prydonian Academy instructor. It had been his “luxury coach” at the end of the train. His TARDIS is towing theirs through time to an uncertain destination. With both Lucie and Kahn-Tineta’s help, the Doctor tries to sever the link, but fails.

The Libertine begins to drag them close enough that the tractor beam will be inescapable, so the Doctor tries an admittedly risky manoeuvre involving the fuel cells, attempting to overload the Libertine’s TARDIS. This fails spectacularly. The Doctor’s TARDIS is drained of all power, while the console in the Libertine’s explodes, killing him. Due to a medical condition, his body doesn’t regenerate immediately. Malcolm is rescued by the Doctor and the girls, only for the Libertine’s TARDIS to be drawn to a massive extra-temporal bastion (a conglomeration of TARDISes suspended outside of time) via recall signal.

The Libertine’s body vanishes and upon exiting the TARDIS, an immense man levels a laser machine gun at the Doctor’s head and informs them that they will follow his orders or the Doctor’s brains will be pulped. The man - another renegade Time Lord known as the Veteran - takes one look at Malcolm, sneers, then tells him to go find the Libertine in the med-bay. Malcolm’s shoulders slump, defeated, and he obeys. Lucie and Kahn-Tineta are to follow him. The Doctor is taken away by the Veteran.

As the Doctor comes to find out, this is the base of a shadowy cabal which has dubbed itself the League of Extraordinary Time Lords. “How extraordinary can your little club be? I’m not a member,” the Doctor snarks. The Veteran introduces the Doctor to their new leader… the Monk, freshly regenerated into a new incarnation. This is actually where the Master was bringing him. The Monk invites the Doctor to join the League, replacing the Master, and preventing “a horrible future where death comes to time,” as predicted by the group’s supercomputer, the Ingenium. The offer is tantalizing, almost too good to be true….

The question is: what’s the catch?

Special Guest Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger as the Veteran and Willie Rushton as the Monk

Guest Stars: Leslie Jordan as the Libertine, Dante Basco as Malcolm Aguirre, Adjoa Andoh as the Clinician, Anne Haney as Hylavivandess AKA “Vivian” AKA the Bibliognost, and Josette Simon as the voice of the Ingenium

The House Always Wins by @tornadobusdriver

The Tardis lands in a vast casino in the hope of some rest and relaxation. While there, they befriend a strange woman. The Doctor realizes she is the Corsiar, an old freind of his from back home who has had multiple incarnations. A group of hired thugs storm into the casino looking for the Corsair, she's stolen artifacts from a holy Draconian temple and their owner wants them back. Now the Doctor and freinds must help the Corsair evade capture while discovering the dark secret behind the object that she has stolen.

Guest Stars: Claudia Black as the Corsair, Michael Dorn as Ajax, Ron Perlman as Jedrek.

The Man with All the Toys by @The Chimera Virus

“Even waiting to see who will blink first can be an enjoyable game, my dear Doctor.”

Lucie has been becoming more distant and spacey lately. Malcolm wonders if this is somehow his fault, but the Doctor and Kahn-Tineta assure him otherwise. Taking a holiday at the Eye of Orion, the crew attempts to decompress after their marathon ordeal as of late. Lucie still is out of sorts. In fact, she descends into a trance and attempts to hijack the TARDIS. By the time the others notice and pull her away from the console, the course is already laid in and they’ve taken off. They leave time and space, ending up in the Celestial Toyroom.

The Doctor demands to know what the Toymaker wants and how he took control of Lucie. “It was simple enough,” the Toymaker explains, “considering I’m the one who made her. I merely called her back home.” With that truth laid bare, the Toymaker continues: he’s dying, and he’s convinced the Doctor is the only suitable replacement. He challenges the Doctor to best each of his companions in a game, then triumph over the Toymaker himself. If he doesn’t comply… well, he and his companions will simply be held captive until the Toyroom ceases to exist upon the Toymaker’s ultimate demise, taking them with him.

Special Guest Star: Michael Gough as the Celestial Toymaker

The Backbone of Night

The TARDIS lands on a completely dark space station. There is no clear indication of what has happened to the station, but it appears to be uninhabited. As the Doctor goes to activate the auxiliary power, they find warnings written on the wall to “stay out of the light”. They try to find any information as to what happened, but any object that could emit light, computer monitors, logging devices, seem to have been destroyed. Kahn-Tineta becomes paranoid that something is following them, and as the group round a corner, she is attacked by an unknown force.

The Doctor, Lucie, and Malcolm realise she is gone all too late, but the space station is vast, and splitting up to find her would only endanger each of them even more. Kahn-Tineta comes to, being attended to by Violet, who explains that she is the last survivor. She refuses to go into any further detail, simply saying that “the light is hungry”. The Doctor continues his search for answers, deciding that they need to go to the central computer core, to get clear answers as to what has happened. What little signs can be seen with the Doctor’s torch do lead the way to the core, but as they continue, they start to find bodies in various states of decomposition.

Upon reaching the core, the Doctor is able to reactivate the main computer with what little auxiliary power remains. A log plays explaining that this is the Wendus V Research Station. The Doctor instantly recoils; Wendus V was a famous unsolved mystery, a station mysteriously goes silent, then two days later, explodes with no explanation, and they’re in the middle of it. Another log plays, referring to a “lumix crystal” they have mined, that seems to have special properties. Yet another log follows, saying that the light from the crystal was “hungry”, causing those in its light to rapidly decompose. Worse, anything the light touched was “infected”, and if an infected object emitted light, that light was infected too. The researcher explains that as far as he can tell, all light on the station is infected. To their horror, the Doctor, Lucie, and Malcolm realise that they are in the light of a surviving computer monitor that has been activated. And Malcolm is a hologram projector.

As Violet and Kahn-Tineta begin to search for the Doctor and the rest of the companions, lights begin to activate across the station, as the auxiliary power comes back online…

Guest Cast: Kate Winslet as Violet

Fantasmagorie by @tornadobusdiver

The Doctor, Lucie, Malcolm, and Kahn-Tineta land on a space ship carrying a cargo through a section of the galaxy that is home to a black hole. They are introduced to Captian Joelle Kagin and her crew, including her half alien daughter, Allana. The crew claim to see ghosts every night, Allana speaks of an imaginary friend who plays games with her, and the Doctor can't help but shake the feeling he's been here before. As the ship begins to fall into disarray, the Doctor will discover the secret of the black hole, and the beings sealed there by his people long ago.

Guest Stars: Terry Farrell as Captain Joelle Kagin, Scarlett Johansson as Allana.

Eek! A Spouse! by @The Chimera Virus

The Doctor is stopped by Iris Wildthyme, self-proclaimed “trans-temporal adventuress, righter of wrongs, wronger of rights, five-time winner of the coveted Perkiest Bosom Award from the Chestulators of Ansmers D, and all-around glamorpuss.” The Doctor knows her as another renegade Time Lord who’s a major pain in his backside and the epitome of an abhorrent admirer. To his companions’ bemusement, Iris insists that the Doctor has to help her. She’s gotten into some trouble with interdimensional debt collectors and due to the bizarre laws on their side of reality, she can get out of this if she’s married to a rich significant other. The catch is that they want to observe her and the Doctor being domestic with “their adopted kids and servant Claudine” (Malcolm, Kahn-Tineta, and Lucie, respectively) for a few days. The Doctor very reluctantly agrees and a comedy of manners and errors ensues, ending with the debt collectors revealed to be transdimensional scam artists in human skin-suits.

Special Guest Star: Rue McClanahan as Iris Wildthyme

Guest Stars: Mark Gatiss and John Goodman as the Debt Collectors

Crossing Wires

The TARDIS is sucked into a “temporal fissure” originating from the planet Oseidon. The Doctor, Lucie, Kahn-Tineta, and Malcolm exit the TARDIS, finding the landscape shifting between a harsh irradiated desert and a lush forest. They walk for a little while, finding a Kraal settlement, where the Doctor encounters the Minister. After a short while catching up, the Minister explains what is going on.

The Minister explains that she is trying to help the Kraal recover by restoring their planet’s ecological system, but that her attempts to change the planet’s history so far have been hit-and-miss. The Doctor reveals that they have had major effects throughout the local star systems, and that any further meddling with the timeline could have devastating repercussions. The Minister agrees to end her experiments if the Doctor helps her to stabilise the timeline.

They find a particularly good branch, where Oseidon’s ecosystem is largely restored, and damage to local space is negligible. The ecosystem will collapse if the Kraal do not intervene withing the next century or so, but overall, it is a major improvement. The Doctor and the Minister use their TARDISes to “fuse” the timeline, so that it cannot change. However, what actually happens is that the timeline branches, with the Doctor, Kahn-Tineta and Malcolm in the “fixed” timeline, and the Minister and Lucie stuck in the “barren” timeline.

The Minister and the Doctor are able to communicate in a limited form, as their TARDISes are still linked from the fusing. The Minister calculates that she and Lucie have about three days before the radiation kills them, and the temporal fissure, which has still not been resolved, is preventing either TARDIS from leaving or entering the other timeline. The Minister and Lucie shelter in the Minister’s TARDIS while the Doctor tries to find a way to reconverge the timelines.

The Doctor comes to the realisation that the only way to reunite with the Minister and Lucie is to “revert” the planet to how it was before the Minister interfered. His TARDIS is still able to perform some small time jumps, in part due to its outdated architecture lacking particular safety features. He, Kahn-Tineta, and Malcolm travel back to when the Minister had initally altered the planet’s ecosystem, reverting the changes.

The timelines are re-integrated successfully, though Oseidon is barren once more. The Doctor reunites with Lucie and the Minister, giving the latter a brief lecture on the Laws of Time. Before the Doctor leaves, the Minister gives him one last message.

“The Web of Time is weakening. I’ve been trying to strengthen it here and there, but I’m not sure if I can stop it from collapsing entirely. Most of the time, I just make it worse.”

“How do you know this?”

“I’ve been back home. There’s panic. People are starting to remember things that haven’t happened yet. A war is coming, and it could be the end of Gallifrey.”

“A war?”

“A terrible war. Of unfathomable scope. I’ve seen it too. They’re sending back many of the young to earlier in our history, to keep them safe.”

“But doesn’t that-”

“Contravene the First Law of Time, yes. The Web is breaking down, and so too are the laws. But people are getting desperate. Nothing’s more terrifying than the unknown. And hey, Doc?”

“Yeah?”

“Do me a favour, would you? Pay the family a visit. We may not have long left, and they all deserve to see you again before whatever is coming is here.”

“I, uh, will do. Thank you for telling me.”

"It’s the least I could do for you. I’ll see you soon Doctor. Well, soon for me at least.”

“Any details?”

“We meet when death comes to time, Doctor. Until then.”

“Until then.”

Guest Star: Catherine Zeta-Jones as the Minister

Where Time Runs Thin

To the locals of Great Bookham, the Falsham Manor is the place that nobody ever goes. It is allegedly the most haunted building in Britain, and there are no shortage of stories about the house within the village. An expert on hauntings, Professor Raleigh (though what he is a professor of he refuses to disclose), visits the village to see if there is any truth to the hauntings. He is accompanied by his assistant, Katie.

Before they enter the house in the evening, they meet with many of the locals, hearing stories of ghosts of the last owners of the house, from 1908, and their mysterious visitor known only as “the Doctor” that disappeared under mysterious circumstances. As twilight falls, they travel into Falsham Manor and set up their equipment. As night falls, they start to hear voices, and Katie searches through the house for more information on the Doctor. She finds the diary of one of the scullery maids, which mentions the Doctor staying after he was stranded.

As the night goes on, the voices become louder, and pale figures begin to manifest. One of the figures seems particularly interested in Katie, and it begins gesturing to the diary she is holding. New writing appears at the end of the book, saying “Hello, I’m the Doctor.” Unfortunately, communication is not possible in both directions, and as a result, many of Raleigh’s questions go unanswered. As the clock strikes 11PM, the voices become clearer and louder again, and the figures come further into focus.

The Doctor explains through the diary that his “vehicle” is stuck further in time that he is, and that using their equipment, they will be able to pull him through at midnight, when the “convergence” is at its peak. He gives them the details to alter Raleigh’s equipment, and the two rush to apply them before the chimes of midnight.

As the clock strikes midnight, they finish the modifications, and Raleigh activates the equipment. The figures come fully into focus, and they are able to converse completely. The Doctor instructs Katie to hold onto him, and as midnight passes, the figures dissipate, but the Doctor remains. He leads the confused Raleigh and Katie down to one of the basement rooms, where he finds the TARDIS. He explains his side of the story.

The Doctor: “This house, time runs thin here. The boundaries between the past, present, and future are weak. Your equipment projected you back in time, and pulled me forward. Believe it or not, but you’re the cause of all the ghost stories here.”

Katie: “Why did you need to come to now? Aren’t your family and friends still in 1908?”

The Doctor: “Not really. I’m something of a wanderer. I thought I’d pay a visit to see if the ghost stories were true, while my friends have a bit of R&R. I landed, stepped out of the TARDIS, and then your equipment started interfering with it. Something of a perfect storm to be honest.”

Raleigh: “I’m sorry we caused you so much trouble.”

The Doctor: “Oh, not at all. Something of a bootstrap paradox, really. By going to investigate the ghost stories, we became them. You know, Professor, you remind me a lot of me. I don’t generally go looking for trouble, but it does seem to find me.”

Katie: “What will you do now?

The Doctor: “I’ll probably go back to check on my friends. Tell you what, though, should I have any ghosts that need busting, you’ll be my first port of call.”

Guest Cast: Kenneth Branagh as Professor Raleigh, Kate Beckinsale as Katie

Just War adapted by @The Chimera Virus

“Tomorrow belongs to us, not you. If you were really from the future, Miss Miller, you would be a proud Nazi.”

March 1941: Britain’s darkest hour. The Nazis have taken over the Channel Islands and British citizens are being deported to European concentration camps. Those who do not cooperate with the Germans are shot without a second thought. Six thousand people a month are dying in air raids on London. The United States show no sign of entering the war.

According to the Doctor, this isn’t a parallel universe, this isn’t an alternate timeline. The Nazis really did occupy Guernsey and, in fact, everything is running according to schedule. But now something, somewhere, has gone wrong. The Nazis are building a secret weapon, one that will have a decisive effect on the outcome of the War. Khan-Tineta thinks it’s a captured UFO, while Malcolm believes that the Luftwaffe have developed the largest bomber ever built. Only Lucie may have seen the mysterious craft — but she’s disappeared off the face of the Earth. The Doctor must save his companions and put the timeline to rights, but that may be easier said than done.

Special Guest Stars: Angela Lansbury as Ma Doras and Udo Kier as Oberst Oskar Steinmann

Guest Stars: Zach Grenier as Standartenführer Joachim Wolff and Stephanie Beacham as Nurse Rosa Kitzel

Bellwether by @The Chimera Virus

The TARDIS arrives on a temperate moon, with a huge planet hanging in the sky. The instrument panel has gone haywire, leaving the crew with no idea where they are. This isn’t a huge deal for them. As Malcolm puts it, “As long as there aren’t any Nazis, I’m sure we’ll all be happy!”

While exploring, the group meets Doctor Ramla Cheboi, a stately archaeologist who is investigating the local ruins with her team from Ventamba University. None of the TARDIS crew has heard of it. Dr. Cheboi is shocked - it’s only the most prestigious and exclusive university on Minerva. The Doctor suddenly becomes very concerned, even more so when he learns this is Hestia, moon of Minerva. Realizing where they are, the Doctor tries to usher his companions and the team back to the TARDIS, but only succeeds in getting them locked up under suspicion of being a rival team from Creshpil Polytechnic.

The Doctor explains that this can only mean one thing: the time loop containing the fifth planet of the Solar System - that is, Minerva - has been broken. But by whom, and for what reason? Who would release the Fendahl from their prison? As the archaeology team begin to vanish one-by-one, the Doctor begs to be released. Only he can save them now, but they won’t listen….

Guest Stars: Janet Hubert-Whitten as Doctor Ramla Cheboi and Maggie Cheung as Mirrell Brannet/the Prime Fendahl Core

Timelordtoe · Jul 31, 2020

Part III, Chapter XX: "The Unsinkable"

“A lot of people ask me about Titanic, and what it could have been. I honestly think that it could have been a great film, but with everything that happened on set, I don’t blame those who thought it was cursed. I wish it had been a success, and that Gwyneth, god rest her soul, could have been here to see it. I do feel somewhat sorry for Jim, too. I’m glad that his career is starting to recover now.”

- Bill Paxton speaking about the production of “Titanic”, taken from the 2017 documentary: The Unsinkable Film: Titanic 20 Years On.

James Cameron had had a very successful decade so far, with Terminator 2: Judgement Day and True Lies furthering his reputation as a highly skilled director, and his work on the X-Men franchise was considered innovative. While only a producer, Cameron had brought his history of special effects innovation with him. As a result, the franchise had been visually stunning, even if many of the effects seem unimpressive by modern standards. However, he had his sights on a greater prize, one which would see him step away from the franchise.

James Cameron had long had a fascination with the underwater, perhaps most obviously showcased in his 1989 film The Abyss. The discovery of the wreckage of the RMS Titanic over 10 years prior had re-ignited interest, and Cameron was certain that a film set around the sinking of the Titanic would be a great success. In his eyes, the story of how the Titanic sank had become too much of a moral tale, and that the public deserved to be reminded of the fact that those involved in the disaster had lives as full as anybody else.

20th Century Fox were initially sceptical of the script, what was effectively a three hour romantic epic, but given their prosperous history with Cameron, decided to fund it. In preparation, Cameron not only travelled to the wreckage, but also spent six months researching the crew and passengers, so as to make the film as realistic as possible.

Cameron already had a reputation as a perfectionist, and the production of this film, simply titled “Titanic” would be no different. The production took place primarily at the Fox studios in Rosarita, Mexico, where he had a full-scale replica of the RMS Titanic constructed, with machinery in place so that the sinking could be simulated for the relevant scenes.

While initially promising, the production soon ran into many problems. Firstly, the film was almost certainly going to go over its original maximum budget of $130 million. Secondly, the use of cold water on set had led to many complaints of colds, flu, and even kidney infections from cast and crew, including star Gwyneth Paltrow. In a rare case where he caved in to crew demands, Cameron agrees to raise the temperature of the water on set. [1]

Cameron’s perfectionist nature on set was the cause of many issues. Many crew members left and had to be replaced, and in one notable incident, a disgruntled crew member spiked the soup given out to those working on set one day with PCP. This incident resulted in Bill Paxton and Cameron both being hospitalised, and the production was halted for two days. The perpetrator was never caught, though rumours have been aplenty. Jared Leto, the prospective male lead, suffered multiple injuries on set, including a bone fracture, though this would soon prove to be the least of the crew’s worries.

One of the scenes involved part of the ship being lowered into a water tank, as Rose (played by Gwyneth Paltrow) would run towards an elevator while water filled the corridor she was running through. However, when the scene was filmed, Paltrow unexpectedly tripped, and the crew were unable to stop the mechanism before she was submerged. Though she would be recovered, she was suffering greatly from hypoxia.

Though much of the crew had been trained in first-aid for drowning, panic overtook many of them, and Paltrow was not given first-aid properly. She was rushed to a hospital, where her hypoxia resulted in her slipping into a coma. A scan revealed that Paltrow had suffered brain damage as a result of her drowning. Almost three weeks after the incident, Paltrow would pass away, not having awoken from her coma. [2]

The death of prospective star Paltrow threw the remainder of the production into doubt. The film was being financed by Fox and Paramount, and if either pulled out, the film would effectively be cancelled, and all the work done would be for nothing. Paltrow, at the time of the accident, still had many scenes left to film, so if the film was to continue production, a new lead would need to be found, and all previous scenes would need to be reshot.

In addition, the Screen Actors Guild announced that they would be investigating the set, to determine if it was unsafe to work on. Though they found that the set itself was not “inherently dangerous”, they declared that Cameron’s film-making technique was “needlessly endangering”. In the days after this announcement, Paramount withdrew further funding, and abandoned ties with the film, cutting their losses, which now amounted nearly $100 million. Titanic was already gearing up to be the most expensive film production ever, and now, it was over.

Fox withdrew funding and left the film one week later, when it became clear that the negative press around the film meant that a box-office success, however unlikely to begin with, was now impossible. Cameron was forced to abandon the film. His own reputation was completely gone, and his prospective projects, which included a Spider-Man film, were cancelled by the studios he was working with. His career as a director, at least for the near future, was over. [3]

The prospective Spider-Man film also earned Cameron some criticism, as after the film was cancelled, the script was leaked to the press. Newspapers capitalised on a scene where Peter Parker would have performed a “spider mating dance” at Mary-Jane, and the finale, where he would swear profusely. This, coupled with other internal changes at Marvel later in 1997, would result in the film being canned completely, though talks of a live-action television show were soon abound. [4]

In the end, Titanic proved to be a $200 million project that amounted to almost nothing. Many documentaries have been made about the production, though much of the cast and crew refuse to take part in them. To many, the question of “What if the James Cameron Titanic film was finished?” is just as, if not more, interesting as “What if the Titanic never sank?”.

James Cameron would spend the next fifteen years working on camera technology, becoming a member of NASA’s Advisory Council, working on the technology in the Mars Ingenuity rover. In recent years, his film career has begun to recover, though many studios are still wary of working with him. [5]

Next Time: "The Storm", 1997 for Marvel and DC. [6]
[1] Basically all OTL up to here, minus the X-Men stuff. The casting is different, but for a couple of reasons, I won't be doing a full cast breakdown for the film.
[2] So, yeah. I've tried to shy away from killing anyone off in the timeline, unless it's really necessary. Given Kate Winslet's NDE on set, something like this isn't completely out of the question for happening. As for why Paltrow rather than anyone else? Well, I looked through the people who were considered for the role, and Paltrow was the only one I didn't really have any ideas for. I needed Cameron not only out of the picture, but his reputation pretty much destroyed. This isn't a "Brandon Lee shot as a result of a prop mishap" deal. A lot of people really blame Cameron for Paltrow's death ITTL.
[3] It's important to remember that basically nobody but the people on-set thought that Titanic would be successful until its release in North America. With this, the goodwill that Cameron was burning through is gone. The film is dead in the water.
[4] Both actual things from the prospective Cameron Spider-Man film from OTL. A little hint towards the future, too.
[5] Ingenuity is TTL's Curiosity equivalent. I'm quite interested in space exploration (I'm a Physics/Astronomy student, after all), but I reckon it will probably be tackled on the political side, as it's a governments thing. Also, I wanted Cameron to have some reprieve, and he did work on Curiosity, even though his tech wasn't done in time.
[6] I've been doing this on the political timeline (which will be getting an update in the coming days), and I like it a lot, so I'm bringing it over.

This update is what I'd describe as a turning point for the timeline. No more pulling punches. Things are about to get interesting.

Timelordtoe · Aug 11, 2020

Part III, Chapter XXI: "The Storm"

"I don't think that anybody saw 1997 coming, certainly not me. When the deal was done, we all had this sort of 'Okay, what now?' feeling. I think it's telling that it took us a while to get the characters right. In the end, we just had to bring over a lot of the writers. I think it's turned out okay in the end, but there's a part of me that misses the old days. There's no going back now."

- Stan Lee on the 1997 Marvel-DC deal.

The market for comics was not a good one by 1997. The speculator bubble bursting was still having many knock-on effects, and sales were still down to a fraction of the pre-bubble levels. Though some corners of the market were beginning a recovery, many smaller comics companies had folded among the ever-shrinking market.

While DC was making an overall loss, this was not to say that all of their comics were unprofitable. In fact, most of DC’s losses came from their main imprint, featuring superheroes such as Batman, Superman, and Green Lantern. Fans had moved away from those lines, which many felt were emphasising quantity over quality. On the other hand, imprints like Milestone Media and Vertigo were highly successful, with many of the comics in those lines selling better than before.

To Warner Bros, the main imprint was beginning to look more like a burden than a boon. Clearly, the other imprints were proof that comics were still a profitable industry in the modern market. The main imprint’s one major benefit was that the characters within it were still among the most recognisable in the entire comics industry. Merchandising was still somewhat profitable, as were films based on the characters.

However, the most recent film in their franchise, Batman Continues, was something of a disappointment. Though making a profit on paper, once advertising was taken into account, Warner Bros had actually lost money. Merchandise from the film had recouped much of that cost, but it was clear that their money could have been used far better. By mid-1997, it was clear to the company that something drastic was needed.

Though many in the company pointed to the success of the animated shows as proof that the characters were still worth keeping, the more adult-oriented themes of the shows limited the viewership, and though the WB was doing well, it was far from the “fifth network” that they had hoped. Put simply, as nice as it was, critical acclaim alone did not keep the lights on in the offices.

And so, in August 1997, DC decided to sell the rights to their main imprint, the DC Universe. A similar situation had come just over a decade prior, with Marvel turning them down, seeing the characters as the reason the comics were failing, not the writing. But many things had changed for Marvel in the interim. They had a serious opportunity to absorb their biggest competition, and dominate the comics market. It was, to Marvel at least, clear that DC’s failures were the fault of the writers rather than the characters having lost their appeal. [1]

Marvel’s purchase of the DC Universe was, to many, a complete surprise, and there were many questions. Firstly, the fact that the main imprint shared a name with the company caused some confusion in the press as to whether DC Comics themselves had been bought by Marvel. Secondly, the status of the unfinished Superman Lives and Green Lantern films were thrown up in the air.

One of the provisions in the sale was that the films would continue to be made, though Marvel would foot much of the costs. Warner Bros would still distribute the films, but the profits would be split between the two. This left Marvel in a perplexing situation, where they were somewhat competing with themselves. However, the two new films, one of which was already shooting, did well to replace the now cancelled Spider-Man film.

Marvel would also take over the animated television shows, though it would soon be clear to the writers thereof that Marvel had little intention of continuing the shows beyond their next seasons.

For the comics themselves, many of the current runs would end suddenly, though Marvel stressed that the DC Universe would remain separate for the immediate future, at least until there was a clear way to join the two comic imprints into one continuity. [2]

DC Comics would be rebranded as Warner Comics, so as to avoid any confusion. With the largely unprofitable DC Universe now gone, Warner would spend their time focussing on their remianing imprints.

The two main imprints left, Vertigo and Matrix, were both rather successful. Matrix had been launched the year prior, and was primarily a sci-fi imprint, but was already a large success. Sci-fi was “having a moment”, and Matrix was a way to profit from that. Shortly after the DC sale, Warner would acquire the rights to produce magazines based on the Doctor Who TV series. The magazines, which featured all ten Doctors, would prove instantly popular.

Another Matrix acquisition would be the Combat Evolved comics, written by former game developer Jason Jones. Jones had worked on the successful Marathon series of games, but the release of Marathon Infinity only on Apple computers had hurt sales significantly, as Apple’s own sales faltered significantly. With Bungie now defunct, Jones was looking for new work, and had a concept that he wanted to work on. Apple itself would declare bankruptcy later that year.

Combat Evolved, though a sleeper at first, would prove to be an incredible successful franchise in the coming years, helped by its many famous fans, including director Peter Jackson. [3]

Marvel had, at long last, conquered their oldest enemy. Now, the question was what to do with their newly purchased characters. The success of the Reborn Universe spurred them on to re-launch the DC Universe, with the New Year’s Revolution arc which began in January 1998. The “Revolution” would reboot many of the characters, and attempted to smooth over any issues with continuity. Though unpopular at first, the Revolution would bring in many new fans, as the lack of “required reading” was no longer a daunting task for anyone wishing to start reading the comics.

Marvel also now had a stake in the success of Superman Lives and Green Lantern. Superman Lives had begun filming, though it had been suspended in the immediate aftermath of the Marvel deal, as it was unclear as to whether the film would be cancelled. It was in this time that star Christopher Reeve would announce his retirement from acting to run for Congress in his home state of New York. The Democratic Party had reached out to him a few years prior about running, but he had turned them down at the time. In the meantime, Reeve had very few major roles, and had spent more time in activism. By running for Congress, he had an opportunity to make a real difference on a national level. [4]

Superman Lives would see Reeve reunited with Margot Kidder, though Gene Hackman would not return. Instead, rather than facing off against Lex Luthor, Superman would face Brainiac, who would be portrayed by Christopher Walken. [5]

Green Lantern was far earlier in development, with casting still ongoing. With a late 1999 release planned, very little had been done so far beyond arranging a script and director. Brett Ratner was attached to direct, with Ted Tally writing the script. Warner had insisted on using Kyle Rayner, to keep with the current comics continuity, and Keanu Reeves was in talks to take up the role. The story would be a loose adaptation of the “Emerald Twilight” storyline, with Parallax being the main villain, though the Green Lantern Corps would still be intact. [6]

X-Men: Days of Future Past was shaping up to be a different type of film. Pay disputes had arisen with some of the more major names in the cast, mainly Tom Cruise and Sharon Stone. Pay would be increased for the entire cast, with Cruise being given a percentage of the profits. Filming began in early 1997. The story would be an adaptation of the comic story of the same name, though Rogue would replace Kitty Pryde.

The size of the cast had been the source of some criticism for the previous films, and as such, while nobody was outright fired, many were given smaller roles. Robert Downey Jr., who played Bobby Drake/Iceman, was given a much smaller role. This smaller role enabled him to star as Jonathan Harker in Kenneth Branagh’s 1998 film Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Once more, Bob Hoskins and Ann Yen would take a reduced role, with more screen time given to Cruise and Bassett. [7]

By the end of 1997, the film would be in post-production, where the loss of Cameron was felt strongest. James Cameron’s influence had resulted in a great deal of groundbreaking special effects, however costly. With him no longer involved, the innovations stopped, though the effects used were still impressive for the time.

So, as 1997 came to a close, comic fans were facing a completely different landscape. The industry had changed almost completely, and only time would tell if it would be for the better. [8]

Next Time: “What NeXT?”, The Computer Industry Changes Forever.

[1] Alright, I'm not 100% certain that the offer was actually made in the 1980s, but I haven't found anything concrete disproving it. This is the "missed opportunity" I mentioned so long ago. And yeah, this is probably going to be an unpopular move, but it gives me a lot to work with. DC were in a better place then than they are now ITTL, so I think them selling the imprint is more than possible. They're actually keeping most of the more profitable stuff.
[2] No crisis event just yet. And probably not for a while.
[3] This is what happens to Halo ITTL. With what's about to happen to Apple, it's unlikely Bungie would survive past '97.
[4] Reeve was actually offered a change to run in '94, which is what was mentioned here. With his injury nowhere not as serious, it's given him some time to re-evaluate.
[5] Elements of Kevin Smith's Superman Lives project will be present in the film.
[6] For the casting, I really have @Pyro to thank. I'm not too familiar with the Green Lantern Corps, but he's given me some good pointers to work with.
[7] Dracula will be expanded on in another update, which will tackle RDJ's addiction problems as well.
[8] Another probably controversial update here. Next one may be too, though probably not to the same level. DC won't be "Marvelised", they'll keep their own feel, but it will definitely change.

Timelordtoe · Aug 15, 2020

Chapter XXII: "What NeXT?"

“Microsoft’s breakup really changed the whole computer industry here, but it’s more than recovered since then. Of course, the industry has had its fair share of ups and downs since then, but the computer industry is still very much one of the things that we in Washington do better than anybody else.”

- Senator Lonnie de Soto (D-WA), in an interview concerning the dominance of Washington-based information companies in a 2017 interview. [1]

Microsoft’s woes were not over yet. Already having been forced to stop including Internet Explorer as part of their operating system, greatly reducing their market share, and hurting their attempt to gain a major foothold in internet services. But they had what they thought was one last trick up their sleeve. While they had been ordered to distribute a version of Windows that no longer came with Internet Explorer bundled with it, they had asserted that doing so would cause issues with the Windows operating system. So, they told the computer manufacturers that they had a choice, either use an outdated, unsupported version of Windows, or use a new one that would not work properly.

It did not take long for news of this to reach the Department of Justice. To say that they were not pleased was an understatement. When confronted, Microsoft insisted that it was effectively the fault of the court for forcing Microsoft into such a situation. However, during the trial, Microsoft’s evidence that removing Internet Explorer caused issues with the Windows operating system had been shown to be falsified. [2]

This was only the latest in a series of gaffes for Microsoft related to the trial. During deposition, CEO Bill Gates’ interview had proven meandering, with Gates arguing over the definition of various words. While it avoided incriminating Microsoft, or outright perjury, Gates’ attitude was not a good look for the company. Media coverage had been almost entirely negative towards Microsoft, though they had paid for ads, most notably “An Open Letter to the President On Antitrust Protectionism”.

The DOJ had, quite frankly, had enough of Microsoft. They had lost two anti-trust cases now, and showed no signs that they were going to change their actions. There was, in their eyes, only one solution. Break Microsoft up. [3]

On May 6 1998, the court ordered that Microsoft be split up, with one company holding the rights to the Windows operating system, and the other holding the rights to all of Microsoft’s software, including Internet Explorer. Though Microsoft would appeal this decision, the D.C. Court of Appeals upheld the decision.

Microsoft would not fully be broken up until the end of 1998, but by then both Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer had jumped ship. Microsoft’s successors, Windows Systems (which inherited the Windows operating system) and Microsoft Corp. (which retained the software rights), were left largely rudderless without either of the two men who had built the company up from the beginning. [4]

The Microsoft case had hurt the computer industry considerably, though some did profit. Apple’s stock recovered somewhat, leading them to abandon the deal which would have had them purchase NeXT. However, this rebound was short-lived, and by the time they realised as such, there was not enough time to strike a deal with NeXT. In June 1997, Apple declared bankruptcy. [5]

Much of Apple’s staff moved on to other sectors in the market, with many going on to make a name for themselves elsewhere. Apple’s place in the market was swiftly taken by NeXT, who continued their work on innovating in the market. Steve Jobs was in the limelight once more, and he intended to make sure that the next NeXT computer would not have only a limited release. In the years to come, NeXT would make a name for themselves as the go-to high-end computer company. [6]

With a major player out of the game, and another left in chaos, the market for operating systems was wide open to new competitors. By 2000, the market for OSes was completely different, with some new players having stepped up to the plate.

NeXT Time: "You're Looking Animated", Doctor Who: The Animated Series's first season.
[1] Yeah, the character's name is a reference. To what, I won't quite say, but she'll be making an appearance in the political timeline around 1995.
[2] The second Microsoft anti-trust trial kicks off two years early, but the story beats are pretty much the same. Gates is very arrogant, and isn't too co-operative.
[3] Very nearly happened in OTL. It got reversed on appeal, but here, it doesn't.
[4] I think these names are plaudible. Anyway, the industry is really shaken up by this.
[5] Again, a company gets arrogant and pays the price. The stock recovery is attributed to their changes in the company, rather than Microsoft being attacked from all sides. The NeXT deal doesn't go through, because a lot of the board still really don't like Jobs, and if they don't need to deal with him, they won't.
[6] There's a couple of former Apple employees that will be making appearances later on, but NeXT certainly won't have the same aesthetic as Apple under Jobs. NeXT is about innovating the market, being the most powerful, rather than being chic.
I've hit a bit of a groove recently, and I'm really enjoying writing these again. I'll probably put an update out on the political timeline before the next one here, and there's a hint as to what might be coming up soon there in this here update.

Timelordtoe · Aug 28, 2020

Part III, Chapter XXIII: "You're Looking Animated!"

"I think that out of all of the different Doctors in all of the canons, the Sixth has to have had the roughest time of it. Think about it, he had to spend decades on Earth without a functioning TARDIS, and even when he fixed it, it rarely hit the right time period. And to top it all off, the poor sucker got killed off twice. Talk about a run of bad luck."

- comment taken from a video titled "Which Doctor had the Roughest Time?"

The creation of Doctor Who: The Animated Series was primarily due to the shifting demographics of the main Doctor Who show. Under Cartmel and Gaiman, the audience had shifted from being primarily families to being mainly teenagers and young adults. While the viewing figures remained rather stable, many of the executives at NBC felt that they were losing out on some of the potential audience.

Concept art for the proposed NBC-Nelvana Doctor Who animated series.

Nelvana had some interest in creating a Doctor Who show, and their pitch involved a version of the Doctor that was somewhat ambiguous with regards to the incarnation, taking inspiration from multiple different incarnations of the Doctor, particularly the Fourth and Sixth. Nelvana had had some success as of late with the The Magic School Bus series, starring Lily Tomlin, and there were some executives at NBC that worried that their Doctor Who series would bear too many similarities.

Concept art for the "Nelvana Doctor".

In addition, Amblin and Universal still held the rights to the Sixth Doctor and his companions, and amidst a market that seemed to be clamouring for more Doctor Who, there was an interest in putting them to use. Therefore, the decision for NBC, Universal, and Amblin to work together in creating a new animated show aimed primarily at family audiences was an obvious one. By making the show animated, they would not only reduce much of the cost of creating it, but would also give them opportunities for stories that the live-action show did not have.

Production of the show was handed over to Greg Weisman and Dwayne McDuffie. Weisman was fresh off of the Gargoyles TV series, one of Disney’s few financial successes of late, while McDuffie was one of the main writers for the upcoming Warner Comics Doctor Who line. Both would write stories for the show, but two people alone did not a writing staff make.

Thankfully, due to the high profile nature of the franchise, getting in writers was no issue. Weisman tapped husband-and-wife team Michael and Brynne Chandler Reaves, with whom he had worked on Gargoyles. McDuffie contacted John Semper, who had been the primary writer of the now-finished Spider-Man animated series. Soon enough, sixteen stories had been penned for the twenty-six episode first season. Of particular note were the first and last stories, Identity Crisis and The Doctor Must Die!, both of which were given limited theatrical releases.

In addition, it was far easier to bring in more high profile actors to the franchise, especially as now, all that they needed to do was come in and record their lines and get paid. David Bowie would join the cast of Identity Crisis, playing William Shakespeare, joined by Tim Curry and Miriam Margolyes. Bowie’s presence in the cast would help to build some hype around the series, as would the return of Christopher Lloyd and Michael J. Fox.

Marty in his room aboard the TARDIS, taken from Conglomerate, Part One.

Of course, the circumstances around Lloyd and Fox’s returns were more complex. In truth, they would only be voicing their characters in the first and last stories, their roles filled by Dan Castellaneta and David Kaufman in the remainder of the episodes. They would be joined by Pamela Segall-Adlon as Marty’s girlfriend Elyse Parker, and Kate Mulgrew as Agnes Hortensia of Ravenna, the first Doctor Who companion to be from the audience’s past since Victoria Waterfield in the classic series.

Neither Lloyd nor Castellaneta were interested in a second season, so the decision was made to recast, with an alternate Seventh Doctor, firmly establishing the animated continuity as being separate from the live action one.

Marty and his cousin Ernie, taken from Through the Looking Glass, Part One.

A notable return would be Carole Ann Ford, who played the Doctor’s granddaughter Susan at the start of the show, and Peter Purves, who played Steven Taylor. Neither would be reprising their role. Ford would be playing a fashion designer called Zorelle and the Rutan Host’s Great Mother in the story Shakedown, which would also see Terrance Dicks’ return to the show. Purves would be voicing a terrorist in a prequel to one of the serials he featured in, The Ark.

Marty and the Doctor navigate with a lantern, taken from The Brownout. Note the very literal sonic screwdriver.

The series was able to be produced far faster than its live action counterpart, in no small part due to the reduced runtime of the episodes (25 minutes animated vs. 45 minutes live action). The stories were ready for release in the 1997-1998 US television season, making up for Doctor Who’s awkward mid-season placement due to the BBC’s insistence. In fact, the BBC had little to do with the show beyond giving it the green light, and broadcasting it in the UK.

Marty is confused, taken from Educating Agnes.

Season One of Doctor Who: The Animated Series was first broadcast on September 20th, 1997. It received positive reviews.

List of Episodes of Season One of Doctor Who: The Animated Series: (all stories by @The Chimera Virus)

Identity Crisis, Part One
Identity Crisis, Part Two
Identity Crisis, Part Three
Starcrossed
The Will of Cernunnos
Shakedown, Part One
Shakedown, Part Two
The Fossilist, Part One
The Fossilist, Part Two
The Solar Sailors
Disciples of Hercules, Part One
Disciples of Hercules, Part Two
Medical Mystery
Educating Agnes
Through the Looking Glass, Part One
Through the Looking Glass, Part Two
The Plant That Knew Too Much
Batter Up!
Conglomerate, Part One
Conglomerate, Part Two
The Brownout
All the Stars in the Sky, Part One
All the Stars in the Sky, Part Two
The Doctor Must Die! Part One
The Doctor Must Die! Part Two
The Doctor Must Die! Part Three

Voice Cast of Season One of Doctor Who: The Animated Series:

The Sixth Doctor – Dan Castellaneta (Christopher Lloyd for episodes 1-3 and 24-26)
Marty McFly – David Kaufman (Michael J. Fox for episodes 1-3 and 24-26)
Elyse Parker – Pamela Segall-Adlon
Agnes Hortensia of Ravenna – Kate Mulgrew

The generally positive reviews of the show led to a second season being commissioned, though major cast changes were abound. Though the viewing figures were perhaps not quite as high as NBC or Universal had hoped, they had succeeded in both diversifying the franchise and bringing back much of the family audience that they felt that they had lost. The show was a success.

Timelordtoe · Aug 28, 2020

Overview of Season 1 of Doctor Who: The Animated Series
by @The Chimera Virus

Identity Crisis

While taking Marty and Elyse to the Wild West, the Doctor realizes they don’t know who Shakespeare is – something that ought to be impossible. There’s a glitch in time, one that can’t be unintentional. The Doctor course-corrects to Elizabethan England, where he and his companions find that the real Shakespeare has been killed in a duel that should never have happened. Unable to budge the TARDIS back down the timeline to avert this, the Doctor must salvage the timeline before things become irrevocably changed.

Special Guest Star: David Bowie as the Monk and William Shakespeare

Guest Stars: Brian George as Kit Marlowe, Maurice Denham as Francis Bacon, Tim Curry as Edward de Vere, and Miriam Margolyes as Queen Elizabeth I

Note: Also released as a 75-minute animated film by the same name.

Starcrossed

The Doctor blows something out in the console while trying to fix the fault in the TARDIS preventing backwards time travel. Marty and Elyse end up on Starcrossed, a Dating Game-style game show hosted by the nefarious Slim Strange. The game is rigged in favor of a gelatinous blob of a predator, a Plenduthan named Krt’nyl’krryx. With a nervous wreck of an Ice Warrior as their only ally, Marty and Elyse may be in for more than they expected. Can the Doctor save his companions before they’re devoured by the voracious ’Kyrrx?

Guest Stars: Jim Lange as Slim Strange and Corey Burton as Sseskor

The Will of Cernunnos

New York City, October 1999. The Doctor intends to visit the Museum of Modern Art to meet with an old friend of his, Whitmore Alstein. “Whitsy,” as the Doctor calls him, turns out to be very fond of Elyse despite their age difference. He invites her to a gathering he’ll be attending with his friends the next evening. Elyse, currently angry with Marty, accepts. She finds that Alstein is a Wiccan, as are all his friends. They intend to summon the horned god Cernunnos that evening and require one outside observer for the ritual to take effect. However, none of them realize why the observer is really needed – Cernunnos needs a body, and Elyse’s will do nicely….

Special Guest Star: Peter Boyle as Whitmore “Whitsy” Alstein

Guest Star: Kevin Conroy as the voice of Cernunnos

Shakedown

For millions of years the Sontarans and the Rutan Host have fought each other across the Milky Way. Now the Sontarans have a plan to strike at the heart of the Rutan Empire, and utterly exterminate the Host. The Doctor has his suspicions, but the information regarding this secret plan is contained in the mind of one Rutan spy who has been trained to think independently. It is being pursued from planet to planet by Marty, augmented Ogron private detective Garshak, and by a Sontaran hit-squad. After a confrontation aboard the racing space-yacht Tiger Moth, the chase culminates on the library planet Sentarion – home of Rutan-uplifted insects and where Elyse’s research into the history of the Sontaran/Rutan War turns into explosive reality.

Special Guest Stars: Michael Wisher as Chief Engineer Robar and Carole Ann Ford as Zorelle and the Great Mother

Guest Stars: Tony Jay as Detective Garshak, Toby Aspin and Charlie Adler as the Sontarans, and Dee Bradley Baker as Karne the Rutan

The Fossilist

When she was a little girl, Mary Anning hunted for fossils on the beach, both for fun and to sell for a few extra pennies. When she grew up, she became one of the best-known paleontologists in the world – all from the rooms of her little fossil shop. In a time when humanity is just beginning to learn of the vast prehistory of its own world, Mary is swept up in an adventure with the Doctor, Marty, and Elyse. One that takes her further into the past than she could ever have believed, to meet creatures she could never have imagined.

Guest Stars: Jane Leeves as Mary Anning and Corey Burton, Dee Bradley Baker, and Lauren Tom as the voices of the Sea Devils

The Solar Sailors

The TARDIS lands on an intergalactic cruise-liner in the year 2091 – the MSC Vita. The Vita is a repurposed solar sail ship whose captain is the prideful and stubborn Marta McFly, Marty and Elyse’s great-great-granddaughter. While enjoying their time on the ship, the TARDIS team finds that the solar sail ship has been sabotaged. As the Doctor attempts to repair the solar sails, Marty and Elyse try to reason with their descendant that it may be necessary to abandon ship and tarnish her spotless record.

Guest Star: Mary Kay Bergman as Marta McFly

Disciples of Hercules

The TARDIS is having issues with its chronometer, and lands at Herculaneum, a settlement near Pompeii. Marty and Elyse are concerned that the nearby Mount Vesuvius is due to erupt, but the Doctor dismisses them. The chronometer has only been a few years off so far and it currently says it’s 69 A.D. It could only be 75 A.D. at the latest. The Doctor sends them into town while he affects repairs. To the companions’ surprise, Hercules himself is roaming Herculaneum, turning men into his muscular disciples. He claims that Vulcan is working to forge a new race to replace humanity and Hercules needs an army to stop him.

Turning Marty into one of the swollen disciples, they leave for Vesuvius. Assisted by vacationing Agnes Hortensia of Ravenna, whose husband Felix has been turned into a disciple, Elyse runs to find the Doctor for help. Meanwhile, the Doctor finds that the chronometer is 10 years off when Pliny the Elder arrives to inspect the ship - he only came to the area in 79 A.D. It’s Volcano Day after all, and it seems the cause may very well be an epic fight between Hercules and Vulcan. But how are literal gods walking around? Who are these people really?

Special Guest Star: Leonard Nimoy as Vulcan

Guest Stars: John O’Hurley as Hercules, Ernest Borgnine as Pliny the Elder, and Scott McNeil as Felix Cato of Ravenna

Note: Kate Mulgrew joins the regular cast as Agnes Hortensia of Ravenna following Felix’s death at the hands of Vulcan.

Medical Mystery

After being transformed by Hercules, Marty is still a muscular meathead. The Doctor isn’t sure how to fix him and elects to go to the Varkliktian Central Medical Station in the 51st Century. Once there, Marty is taken away by Doctor Yoraf Gred to be returned to normal. However, while waiting things out, the Doctor, Elyse, and Agnes find that something more sinister is happening in another wing. Mx. Gorgsen Calturnica has a very strange condition, and they’re now growing at an alarming rate, spreading across the walls, floor, and ceiling like a disgusting sort of mold!

Guest Star: Alan Oppenheimer as Dr. Yoraf Gred

Educating Agnes

Returning to Hill Valley so Marty can recuperate, the Doctor takes it upon himself to help Agnes adjust to the 20th Century. She’s receptive, but things still proceed more like a comedy of errors rather than a well-oiled machine. Things grow complicated when, while chaperoning a field trip to the museum, temporal terrorists come back to rewrite history. Worse yet, Mr. Strickland won’t let the Doctor near the field trip, meaning the companions must save the day on their own.

Special Guest Star: James Tolkan as Gerald Strickland

Through the Looking Glass

Marty’s young cousin Ernie has come to visit and is obsessed with Harry Houdini. After breaking much of Lorraine’s good china in an effort to perform tricks, he’s sent to stay in the back yard all day. While exploring, Ernie accidentally finds the TARDIS and begs to be taken back in time to meet his idol. Marty tells the Doctor it’s useless to argue as Ernie always gets what he wants, so the Doctor, Anges, and Ernie head back in time. Upon arriving in Detroit circa 1926, there’s just one problem. Harry Houdini is dead, and his widow, Bess, claims that she keeps seeing him standing just behind her in the mirror, beckoning for her to come through. However, she’s not sure it’s him and wonders if the recent gift of a dybbuk box might have something to do with all this…

Special Guest Star: Lea Thompson as Lorraine Baines McFly

Guest Stars: Eddie Deezen as Ernie Baines, Barbara Goodson as Bess Houdini, and Phil LaMarr as Harry Houdini/The Dybbuk

The Plant That Knew Too Much

With the Doctor, Agnes, and Ernie in the past, Marty helps Elyse in her mother’s garden. While there, they find a strange plant has taken root and seems to be growing bigger with each passing day. It then begins to psychically inform them of things it couldn’t possibly know. It also begs them to dig it up so it can “begin its great work.” As it asks this, Marty gets a vision of the world overrun and enslaved by the plant. While trying to fend off his aunt and uncle’s hysteria over their missing son, Marty must scour the Doctor’s handwritten logs to find out what this plant is before it convinces Elyse to help it take over the world.

Special Guest Stars: Lea Thompson as Lorraine Baines McFly and June Foray as the Plant

Guest Stars: Corey Burton as Toby Baines and Tress MacNeille as Janet Lamont Baines

Batter Up!

Agnes is trying to move past her late husband Felix. To this end, she has a date with a local expert on Roman culture. Elyse is still recovering from her bout with the Plant. With it being just him and the Doctor for the first time in a long time, Marty asks to go back to the 1897 National League Pennant Race. He’d like to see his ancestor, Pee-Wee McFly – the pitcher for the Boston Beaneaters – win the Series. The pair finds that Pee-Wee is unable to pitch. Using the Doctor’s pair of glasses that helps the batter to hit like a major leaguer, Marty “steps in” for Pee-Wee and wins a critical game. Instead of being thankful, Pee-Wee is terrified – he has been being pressured to throw the games by Diamond Jim Tannen, a major gangster. With Elyse and the Doctor’s help, Marty helps Pee-Wee win the Pennant and Diamond Jim is arrested. Written by John Hays.

Special Guest Star: J.J. Cohen as Diamond Jim Tannen

Conglomerate

Instead of returning to Hill Valley, the TARDIS arrives in an empty subway station. Curiously, the empty trains are still running – and perfectly on time at that – despite no apparent operators. The city above is equally devoid of life… save for a voracious, oozing slime that overtakes the Doctor before slithering off again. Now unconcerned with Marty, the Doctor descends back into the subway to head for corporate headquarters. He acts as if he’s a corporate executive who’s running late for an important meeting. Marty tries to follow, but is cut off and pursued by Conglomerate, Inc.’s patented drudger robots. As the Doctor is brought to a boardroom to redesign the city in a more efficient and profit-maximizing manner, Marty tries to reach the TARDIS. However, the Chairman of the Board (the slime creature from before) is intent on making the Doctor the crowning achievement of the Conglomerate School for Promising Talent. To do that, however, the Doctor must use the collapsing city to destroy his TARDIS and murder the “subversive anti-capitalist” Marty in the process.

Guest Star: Greg Weisman as the voices of the P.A. system and the drudgers

Note: Weisman, the show’s producer, stepped into the two other roles to cut on costs. Other than him, this is a character-focused two-hander between Dan Castellaneta as the Doctor and David Kaufman as Marty.

The Brownout

Finally returning to Hill Valley, Marty and the Doctor find that Agnes’s date ended with her becoming frustrated with the historical record’s many faults and her date’s inability to grasp that he’s wrong about quite a lot. Elyse is feeling much better and she and Marty go on a date to the Founders’ Day celebration. The Doctor returns to his lab to tinker and his experiment causes a brownout in Hill Valley, ruining the celebration. In trying to keep the peace, Marty and Elyse run afoul of Biff, who butts heads with Agnes. She does a lot more to him, and he ends up with a black eye and several missing teeth. Still reeling, Biff rallies the townsfolk and they storm the Doctor’s laboratory to run him out of town. Just as they do, the Doctor gets the power back on. Everyone is suddenly much less inclined to do Biff’s bidding and the Doctor chides them for being so easily manipulated. In the end, Biff and his family are run out of town instead.

Special Guest Star: J.J. Cohen as Biff Tannen

All the Stars in the Sky

The TARDIS lands on the planet Refusis. The Doctor is keen to see how the humans and Monoids are getting along with their Refusian hosts, but is informed that the locals have never heard of humans or Monoids. Realizing this is long before the arrival of the Ark, the Doctor is keen to leave so as not to possibly rewrite his own history (and that of Steven, Dodo, and humanity). Things become complicated when Elyse and Agnes are kidnapped by off-world terrorists – Spiridons who are violently unhappy with recent harsh economic sanctions against their homeworld. They plan to detonate the nearest stars to Refusis as revenge with special equipment. The Doctor and Marty rush to save their friends, with the former growing concerned that they might not be able to accomplish this. The gears of history are turning, and the “solar flare” explanation for the Refusians’ later invisibility may not be so far-fetched after all….

Special Guest Star: Peter Purves as Vaskat, the lead terrorist

The Doctor Must Die!

Inescapably drawn to a planet called Hideaway, the Doctor is aghast to find Daleks hiding deep in the many caverns criss-crossing the planet’s mountainous north. Marty has heard the Doctor mention the Daleks before and is ready to fight, as is Agnes, but Elyse implores everyone to listen to the Daleks before doing anything rash. As it turns out, these are the Human Factor Daleks from long ago. The resultant civil war never actually finished, though Skaro has allegedly been destroyed by the Doctor. Of course, the Doctor has no idea when he could’ve done that, nor any inkling as to why he would.

The Human Factor Daleks explain they’ve hidden themselves on Hideaway to ensure the Daleks remain preoccupied with hunting them down, sparing at least some of the rest of the universe. However, a group of Movellans discover them and covertly inform the Dalek Empire of the Human Factor Daleks’ location, and that of the Doctor, in exchange for their own lives. The Movellans plan to leave this universe for another soon, and if they can do that unmolested, they’ll help the Daleks get rid of both their problems.

Further complicating matters are the Thals, who all blame the Doctor for the destruction of Skaro. They will stop at nothing to make him pay. Faced with enemies on all sides, can the Doctor, Marty, Elyse, and Agnes save the Human Factor Daleks and not die trying?

Special Guest Stars: Michael Wisher, Roy Skelton, and Nicholas Briggs as the Daleks, Sandy Duncan as Sarilla, the chief Thal, and David Warner as Rinnes, the eldest Thal

Guest Stars: Phil LaMarr as Commander Crylak, leader of the Movellans, and Dawnn Lewis as Lieutenant Eleste, Crylak’s adjutant

Note: First appearance of the Animated Seventh Doctor, as played by Avery Brooks.

Timelordtoe · Sep 7, 2020

Part III, Chapter XXIV: "Not Disney's Decade"

"I don't think most people realised how close we were to falling apart back then. When Apple went bankrupt, Sidney [Poitier] said to me 'if we're not careful, that's us'. The feeling among the board isn't what I'd call panic, but definitely hightened concern. Nobody wanted to be part of 'the Group that Killed Disney'."

- Michael Eisner in the 2004 documentary "The Happiest Place on Earth".

Disney was not in a great place. While the leadership duo of Eisner and Katzenberg seemed to be a winning combination on paper, it had brought problems. The only remaining Disney family member on the board, Roy E. Disney, did not like Katzenberg at all, and had started a proxy war to replace him and Eisner.

Furthermore, the animated feature films, what should by all means have been Disney’s heavy hitters, were experiencing diminishing returns. Following Robin Williams’ less than amicable departure from Aladdin, there was some difficulty in getting big names in the cast for the films.

Perhaps most importantly, despite early successes with The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast, Disney was having real trouble finding a formula for their animated films that worked consistently. The Lion King had been a big success, but subsequent films Pocahontas and The Hunchback of Notre Dame had been underwhelming.

By this point, much of the company’s revenue came from the theme parks they owned and operated. However, this too was faltering, in no small part due to the presence of competing parks near to theirs. Their main competition came from Universal, who operated parks in both Orlando, Florida and Hollywood. Universal Studios Florida, in particular, was hurting DisneyWorld’s revenues, as the creation of many rides based on popular franchises of the time brought in new visitors. Particular note was given to the Doctor Who: The Ride, which was highly successful.

So something new was needed for Disney, and fast. At least, that was if Eisner and Katzenberg wanted to keep their jobs. Already, the ABC deal had fallen through, and as time went on, Roy Disney was able to sway more of the board to his cause.

Katzenberg had taken note of a particular phenomenon in entertainment at the time, namely, the success of science fiction material, not on film, but rather on TV. With the huge successes of both the Doctor Who and Star Trek franchises, with Star Wars about to enter the fray, he felt that Disney would be missing a trick by not staking their own claim to that market before it dried up.

Disney had dipped its toe into sci-fi before, but never in a way that was highly successful. There was, however, a certain cult classic film that he felt would lend itself well to the TV. TRON. [1]

CBS, likewise, were struggling. NBC, Fox, UPN, and The WB all seemed to have “killer apps” in their schedules, while they did not. Their viewing figures were dropping, and the “CBS Block Party” was not bringing in the number of people that they wanted. They needed a hit show, and fast. So, when the offer came in from Disney to help produce TRON, they jumped at the opportunity.

They would be on the back foot to begin with, no doubt, as the show would be ready for the 1999-2000 season at the absolute earliest. However, they were counting on the cult following that the film had to watch, and by aiming for family audiences, they could stand out more easily.

Bruce Boxleitner, who played Tron in the original film, was quick to sign on, as was David Warner, who played and voiced the main antagonists. The early scripts were set to focus on a new worldwide “grid”, in which a sinister force is lurking and slowly taking control.

But one TV show alone would not save Disney. Over the past decade, they had made numerous acquisitions, many of which were not tailored towards their traditional family audience, such as Hyperion Books, Hollywood Records, and Miramax Films. Rather than trying to tailor these to the family audience, there was some push from the board to diversify, and create a new image of Disney as a company for everyone, not just the family. [2]

As profits continued to falter, with them now dangerously close to the “break even” point, Disney seemed to have a basic plan as to how they were to recover. Still, the future was uncertain, but there was at least a sense of optimism in the board.

Next Time: "The Times, They Are A Changin", 1996-1997 in Music. [3]

[1] TRON is going to stand out among the "big four" of sci-fi. For one, it's not actually set in space, and aims for a different audience.
[2] It's a little difficult to get clear information about what was happening with Disney around this time in OTL, but with the changes that have happened elsewhere in the timeline, it's definitely not looking good for them. They need big change, and even this may not be enough to save them.
[3] More on this in a post that will be going up right after this.

Timelordtoe · Oct 7, 2020

Chapter XXV: "The Times, They Are A-Changin'"

The Traveling Wilburys
After a nearly four year long break, in 1996 the Wilburys were back. All five members had spent some time on solo work or other projects, but were always eager to work together. Once more, the songwriting process was very smooth, with all members participating. The continuing success of the various members meant that there was somewhat more hype around the release of this album than had been around the previous three.

The album’s name, Traveling Wilburys, Vol. 5, did cause some confusion, as it was the fourth album. The name, which was Harrison’s idea, referenced the release of a bootleg “fourth album” in the space between Volumes 3 and 5. The bootleg album, which was titled Traveling Wilburys, Vol. 4, was comprised of various songs the members had released in their solo careers. [1]

The lead single from Vol. 5, “Back on My Own Two Feet”, was a commercial success, though it narrowly missed hitting No. 1 on the Billboard Top 100. The album was released on October 31st internationally, and was also a success. Despite the success, there were no solid plans for a fifth, with Petty commenting: “If it happens, it happens. We work together because it’s fun, not because it makes money.”

A second “Wilbury Tour” took place shortly after the release of the album, albeit a truncated one. All five Wilburys had busy schedules, and frankly, it was something of a miracle that they were able to tour at all.

Unfortunately for the fans, this would be the last time that all five Wilburys appeared in public together. In March, while recording material for a new album, Dylan would suffer a heart infection which would claim his life.

Tributes came in from across the musical world, and soon, a tribute concert had been planned. “The Concert for Bob” saw many of his old collaborators join forces, singing songs from Dylan’s repertoire. “Blowin’ in the Wind”, perhaps Dylan’s best known song, was chosen to be the final song which would see all the performers on stage together. Many of Dylan’s singles would chart again in the aftermath.

Speaking shortly after the concert, Lynne confirmed what many fans had been dreading. The Traveling Wiburys were done. Lynne explained that he and the rest of the group felt that it would be disingenuous to make another album without Dylan, though each of them would continue to perform the songs on their own tours.

The Pony Express by @Drorac [2]
Following the success of The Woman in Me, Shania Twain was making a huge name for herself in the music industry, no thanks in part to the production techniques and cowriting with Mutt Lange. However Shania felt that she wasn’t ready to go on tour yet, despite the success of album due to her belief that the music wasn’t strong enough. Mutt Lange, despite not agreeing with his wife, came up with the idea with working with some up and coming country singers to form a group. Both of them agreed that it would be a good idea to work with some up and coming artists who were at the same stage in careers as Shania, and thus see if they could break into the big leagues with a combined group.

As it turned out, Faith Hill had been having a good year. Her second album “It Matters to Me” had gone double platinum, and all her singles had charted in the top 10 of the Billboard Country charts. Much like Shania, she felt somewhat uncomfortable about the fame that had been thrust on her following her most recent album. The two women had happened to bump into each other when they had both been recording their previous albums in Nashville, and had struck up a friendship. Both of the women also agreed that Mutt should remain as a producer in this group due to his expertise with a whole range of bands.

The next person they agreed on was Allison Krauss. Allison Krauss had also recently had huge success with her solo career, with her single “When you Say Nothing at All” reaching the top 5 of the Billboard Country charts and selling over 2 million copies. Krauss, while being a more established live performer, was keen for a change of atmosphere and try playing/working with people other than the Union Street Band.

The next performer they thought of was Belinda Carlisle. Belinda had experienced a bit of downwards trend in sales in records during the 1990’s but was still able to write some great music. She eagerly accepted the role, keen to work with both Shania and Lange. The final member of the group was Bekka Bramlett. Bekka, the daughter of Delancy and Bonnie (a famous group in the late 1960’s) had been a backing singer in some of Belinda’s Carlisle’s albums, and had worked with some big names including Billy Joel. She had also been one of the lead vocalists for the newly revamped Fleetwood Mac, where she had been drafted as a replacement for Stevie Nicks.

With everyone decided to work together, they decided to keep Lange as their producer, and that they would aim for an equal distribution of songs on their new album. This group would be called The Pony Express.

Daft Punk
Daft Punk, one of the first acts to be signed on to the Wilbury Records label, had a huge hit with Homework. Though Lynne had been involved with some elements of production, it was effectively all Bangalter and de Honem-Christo’s work. It soon became clear that the two were more than capable of producing a hit record without external influence, and the duo were given a large amount of autonomy to work with. While the duo would largely spend the remainder of 1997 on the “Dafendirektour”, they did have plans for more albums, even if their immediate plans were to focus on solo work.

They would get even more work when Lynne was given an offer to write the soundtrack to the upcoming TRON television series. Lynne had agreed, provided that he could bring in Bangalter and de Honem-Christo as consultants. The duo were excited to be given the offer of working on the series, though they were careful to not end up neglecting their solo work. [3]

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and Stevie Nicks by @Drorac, edited by @Timelordtoe
Following the success of Look Me in the Eye in 1996, the Heartbreakers and Stevie Nicks did a joint tour of North America and Europe, playing to some of the strongest crowds of their respective careers. With the success of the album, both artists had a significant increase in solo album sales, with Full Moon Fever reaching 23 on the Billboard 200, 7 years after it had been originally released. With playing Wembley stadium being one of the magnum opuses of the tour, it was a huge success. The concert was split in three parts; the first being Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers songs, the second being Stevie Nicks solo works, and the third being songs from Look me in the Eye, plus the duets “Insider” and “Stop Draggin My Heart Around”.

However the strain between the members offstage was astronomical; Stevie Nicks struggled to find the energy to perform after the North American tour, and having only done shorter tours previously, turned very strongly to alcohol and cocaine to cope with the stress. During one performance in Europe, she overdosed which meant the rest of the European tour was postponed, and later on fully cancelled. Over this period her relationship between Petty and Campbell broke down, with both men trying desperately to help her not slide too far back into her old ways, even offering to cancel some tour dates and give her time to recover. She even turned down a prospective offer from Fleetwood Mac for a reunion tour with Buckingham, despite the desperate pleas of her bandmates Christine McVie and Mick Fleetwood.

Given how tumultuous it had been, the Heartbreakers came off the tour being very unsure on what should happen next. The drugs arguments between Petty, Campbell and Nicks had also hit very close to home as Howie Epstein, their bass player was also a very heavy user, with his usage increasing over the course of the Look Me in the Eye tour. This had led to almost every band member having a talk to Howie about his drug use. Eventually Petty publicly announced the Heartbreakers would be taking a break while they helped Howie overcome his addiction. This was particularly necessary given the problems they had with Stevie; they did not want to lose Howie from the group.

Nicks went back into the studio to record a new solo album, titled Semper Femina. The making of this album was fraught with troubles, namely that Mike Campbell refused to write any songs for her after one particularly vicious argument early on in the recording process. and none of the Heartbreakers would work with her as session musicians. Rupert Hine was bought back in as producer, which caused ugly arguments between the two ex lovers. Eventually the album was finished in the spring of 1999, but considerably over budget because of the extensive rerecording of Nicks vocals and her ever spiralling cocaine addiction.

Semper Femina was released in the spring of 1998, only to reach to a disappointing #107 on the Billboard 200, even worse that Street Angel. This was all the more shocking considering the hype that had been built around her following Look Me in the Eye. The critics gave scathing reviews, with the Washington Post saying “The crowning glory of this album is that it wasn’t ruined any further by Nicks’s vocals, which previously had been considered a strength, now only emphasise how unsuitable her range is for the type of trashy pop she has produced”. Following these reviews, Nicks’s drug use continued further, causing her to experiment further with other drugs, namely heroin.

On August 16th, 1998 Paramedics were called to Nicks address, to find she had overdosed on heroin. She was pronounced dead on the scene. In the following days tributes poured in from all corners of the industry, from Petty and Campbell, her former bandmates Fleetwood and Buckingham and from other artists who had been influenced by her. In tears at her funeral, Fleetwood tearfully said “Our sweet Stevie has died. Joining her in the afterlife is Fleetwood Mac.”

Other items of note in the Music Industry
The continued success of Nirvana, despite their frontman Kurt Cobain’s messy ongoing divorce with Courtney Love. Their popularity has, in the eyes of many, helped to keep the riot grrrl movement alive, with the Pacific Northwest seen as the capital of punk. [4]

Punk has also seen something of a revival in the UK, with bands like The Drive making a name for themselves. The riot grrrl movement also saw some popularity in Europe, though it was markedly smaller. The Drive’s frontwoman, Fiona Bruce, would collaborate with noted activist Billy Bragg on an album aptly titled “Bruce and Bragg”. The lead single “Big Benn (The Clock Strikes Again)” was a moderate success, though it failed to chart outside of their native UK. [5]

Queen would continue to be highly successful through the 1990s. Though the time between album releases would increase, they would continue to be big successes. Frontman Freddie Mercury’s high profile friendship with Princess Diana would, at the time, also be credited as one of the reasons why she had started spending her time fighting for LGBT rights across the world. [6]

Next Time: “We’re On The Road To Nowhere”, the Production of Season 3 of Star Trek: Odyssey. [7]

[1] A little nod to the two albums from OTL being Vol. 1 and Vol. 3
[2] Full disclosure, I'm not sure how much of the stuff in this update is going to get too much follow-up. I'm basing this all on notes I was given about a year ago, and Drorac and I just don't speak so much anymore. I'll do my best to keep the music updates going every now and then.
[3] A bit of a nod to TRON: Legacy here, but in a much reduced capacity. Things like this are a little more common for TV since Lindsey Buckingham did two seasons of Doctor Who scores.
[4] Cobain's suicide is averted.
[5] So yeah, it's that Fiona Bruce. You know, the one that presents Antiques Roadshow. ITTL she keeps with her punk phase in university, and is even moderately successful.
[6] So two things here. One: Mercury lives longer. He's still HIV positive, but that's not public knowledge as it's progressing more slowly. Two: little spoiler, but this isn't the reason why Diana becomes something of an activist for LGBT rights ITTL.
[7] We've got the seasons planned for both ODY and DS9, though we do still need to write the stories. TBOTEOH is still getting the bulk of my writing attention right now, as it's getting really difficult not mentioning the political changes here, and there's a lot of ground to cover over there still.

Timelordtoe · Jan 11, 2020

Appendix

Welcome to the Appendix. This is where I will put Character Profiles, Meta Updates, and the like. This is to provide me with a clear place to put updates that I want to write, but have no good place in the timeline. Some guidelines for what will appear here and when:

An update will be put here if it does not "take place" at a specific time. As a result, the "supplemental" updates, of which there is only one at the time of writing, will not be placed here, as they report on the state of something at a particular point. However, Meta updates such as retrospectives will appear here, as will Character Profiles. In time, the profiles will likely be expanded to beyond just characters, also covering ships in the Star Trek universe that are substantially different from OTL or particular concepts that become important.

To prevent spoilers, or unifinished updates, Character Profiles will not be released until the character has made their final appearance, apart from the various Doctors, and other places where I deem it necessary.

This post will be updated periodically with links to the various updates within the appendix:

Doctor Who

The Sixth Doctor - Profile

The Seventh Doctor - Profile

The Eighth Doctor - Profile

Star Trek: The Next Generation

Ensign Leslie Crusher - Profile

Timelordtoe · Jan 16, 2019

The Sixth Doctor (1985-1987)

Christopher Lloyd

The casting of an American for the traditionally British character of the Doctor was not an uncontroversial one. Many fans were outraged that their beloved franchise appeared to be being sold out to an American company. On the release of the film however, opinion changed sharply. Critics praised his portrayal for balancing the dramatic and comedic sides of the character.

Christopher Lloyd stayed for the three Amblin produced films, though left afterwards. Through the films, he was accompanied by Martin "Marty" McFly, portrayed by Michael J. Fox. Marty filled the role that many of his predecessors had, namely in being the "everyman" that the audience could identify with. The Amblin films brought in a large American audience, especially families and young people. The first film in the series was also credited with the popularisation of the skateboarding subculture.

Modern critics and other commenetators often list Lloyd's portrayal as a key reason for the strength of the franchise of Doctor Who becoming popular in the Americas. It is often argued that other actors would not have portrayed the Doctor with the same level of semi-insanity that lent him an air of genius, but also made him fun. Indeed, John Lithgow, who had originally been cast as the Sixth Doctor, once stated in an interview that he was glad that things did not end up working out between him and the studio, as he felt that he would not have been able to capture the essence of the character.

Behind the scenes, Lloyd was always in two minds about the character. While he enjoyed portraying him, Lloyd was worried about being typecast, especially following the advice of Peter Davison, whom he had met on the set of Doctor Who: Back to the Future. As a result, it was not for many years after leaving the role that he would begin to engage fully with the fans, many of whom had been introduced to the franchise with his portrayal. [1]

In the canon of Doctor Who, the Sixth Doctor first appears in Doctor Who: Back to the Future, which shows the Fifth Doctor regenerating after crashing the TARDIS in Hill Valley of 1952, following his being poisoned during the story The Caves of Androzani. Little was known about the Sixth Doctor's early life until after the films had been aired, barring the events that transpire during Back to the Future.

With the lowest amount of screen time of any of the Doctors, it is no surprise that most of the detail that is known about the Sixth Doctor comes from stories or books that are not strictly confirmed as canon. This, paired with Lloyd's eventual acceptance of the character, leaves many fans eager to see more Sixth Doctor media produced, even though such an endeavour has been confirmed as "unlikely" by the BBC. [2]

The Sixth Doctor is a great deal more unkempt and wild than his predecessors, and was the first to be portrayed by a non-Brit. His demeanour was done as such to allow for him to be a 'fun' character that all of the family could like. Lloyd's Doctor is so iconic and important in the history of Doctor Who that his face is the first to spring to mind when many are asked to picture the Doctor. [3]

Despite this, great effort was made to ensure that the character would still come across as the Doctor to those who had been fans for longer. This included the darker side hinted at at certain points in the film, such as the fact that the Doctor had been dealing with terrorists. In order to confirm that this was a continuation of continuity, rather than a reboot, the regereation scene was included, as well as many throwaway lines throughout the films including "at least I'm not wearing that celery anymore" when a character criticises the Doctor's dress sense. [4]

The Sixth Doctor's tenure was decidedly the most musical since that of Partick Troughton. Though the Doctor himself did not play any instruments, his companion Marty was in a rock band, and the films each saw singles released alongside them, from groups such as 'Huey Lewis and the News' and 'Electric Light Orchestra'. [5]

Christopher Lloyd would stay until the end of 1987, with the release of the third, and last of the Amblin trilogy of films. Citing a wish to avoid typecasting, he left the role, and had little interaction with the franchise until 1993, even then only participating minimally. [6]

[1] Lloyd was like this with Back to the Future, with how busy his schedule will be over the next two years, he will be even more eager to leave than in OTL. He will eventually, as hinted, return to the franchise, though more minimally.
[2] The BBC will eventually adopt a policy similar to the one IOTL, that no franchise owned by them can require fans to pay money to keep up with the story. That's why Big Finish and the like are in a grey area of canonicity.
[3] These films will be how the most audiences are introduced to Doctor Who for the next 15-20 years or so.
[4] Every Doctor has their look, and the Sixth Doctor will eventually settle on one almost identical to that seen in BTTF II, I just couldn't find a good picture to use.
[5] ELO didn't make music for BTTF IOTL, but they will for Doctor Who here. While they will break up at around the same time as OTL, Lynne will have a bigger part to play. He will be the focus of the "musical interlude" that I've alluded to before.
[6] Good old Troughton rule. We've not skipped to 1987 by the way, this is just an overview of Lloyd's time as the Doctor. Part I should last another 5-6 updates at least. Next update will be late 1985/early 1986, with the production on the sequels beginning.

Timelordtoe · Feb 13, 2019

The Seventh Doctor (1988-1990)

Hugh Laurie
Hugh Laurie as the Seventh Doctor, taken from That Sinking Feeling.

The Seventh Doctor was portrayed by the British actor Hugh Laurie. Before taking up the role, he was much less well known, his most notable role being the Prince Regent on the British television show Blackadder the Third.

Critical response to the Seventh Doctor was generally favourable, with many comparing him to the Fifth Doctor, both being young and action seeking. The Seventh Doctor maintained a generally positive outlook and was often nicknamed by the fans as “the wacky Doctor”, as many of his scenes called on Laurie’s comedic background. Despite this, the Seventh Doctor occasionally showed signs of a darker side, and a history he wished to forget. While glimpses of this side would be fleeting with the Seventh Doctor, it set a precedent for Doctors to come. [1]

The Seventh Doctor served as a “jumping on point” for many fans, as the producers at NBC wished to create a television show that was not overly reliant on prior canon, as most Americans had not seen the classic series. The Seventh Doctor proved very popular among fans, and his episodes remain some of the most watched in syndication.

Most of the time, the Seventh Doctor was seen in blue trousers, with a darker blue waistcoat, accompanied by a cravat and overcoat matching the shade of his trousers. Similar to his fifth incarnation, the white shirt he wore had question marks sewn into the points of the collar on either side. [2]

This attire would set him apart from his surroundings, though he would occasionally opt for other clothing when required, most notably in the season 23 story Seven Pillars of Wisdom, where he opted for a look more similar to that of the stereotypical “English Gentleman”. [3]

Laurie would often be seen at fan conventions with his co-stars Denise Crosby and Tom Hanks, who portrayed his companions Ace and Jim. They would be his only on-screen companions for his tenure.

The Seventh Doctor first appears in the final Amblin film The Mad Dog Gang, though when exactly this appearance occurs in the Doctor’s timeline is never explicitly stated. As he is not suffering from the effects of post-regenerative trauma, it is clear that this occurs some time after New Beginnings. Various “expanded Whoniverse” material has attempted to explain this, though no one definitive answer has been given. [4]

With 26 forty-five minute episodes per season, the Seventh Doctor quickly became one of the Doctors with the most screen time. His ranking among fan circles tends to be high, with his grouping with Crosby and Hanks being seen as one of the most iconic in the show’s history.

[1] I'm using elements of the Seventh Doctor of OTL here, though not nearly to the same degree. Think it a bit more like the Tenth or Eleventh Doctors of OTL, fun exterior, but a dark interior that occasionally sees the light of day.
[2] The Sixth Doctor's Big Finish outfit.
[3] Why yes, this is a Jeeves and Wooster reference.
[4] Me covering my tracks somewhat. But also out first hints at the larger Whoniverse that we will come to see more of as time goes by. At the moment, it's pretty much just magazines, but we'll see more as time goes on.

Timelordtoe · Jul 11, 2019

The Eighth Doctor (1991-1993)

Siddig El-Fadil
Siddig El-Fadil as the Eighth Doctor, in his usual garb. [1]

The Eighth Doctor was portrayed by British actor Siddig El-Fadil (later known as Alexander Siddig). With only two on-screen roles prior to his casting, one of them on the Season 23 story Seven Pillars of Wisdom, the casting of Siddig was controversial to many fans of the show.

Critical response to the Eighth Doctor was, at the time, mixed, in part due to Siddig’s darker take on the character of the Doctor. More modern reviews have, however, been much more favourable, citing the outward darkness of the Eighth Doctor as a cornerstone of the character from that point onward. The stark contrast from the Seventh Doctor was jarring to many audience members at the time, though the Eighth Doctor has become more popular among fans in the years since Siddig’s departure from the role.

The Eighth Doctor’s first season would see a large drop in ratings that would begin to recover over his later seasons. This was, in large part, due to the lack of chemistry between Siddig and Teri Hatcher, who portrayed his companion Isabella. Despite this rocky start, his later seasons were much better received. [2]

The Eighth Doctor’s attire was much more simple than his predecessors. The majority of the time, he opted for a grey suit with a blue and black tie. Despite his forgoing of the question mark motif of previous incarnations, the Eighth Doctor was, in many ways, a more mysterious character.

His attire would earn him the nickname “the businessman of time and space” from his companion Isabella. Despite the occasional mockery, the attire of the Eighth Doctor would set a trend for many future Doctors, who also opted for similar suits.

Despite his eventual success in the role, his experience on Doctor Who would lead to Siddig avoiding roles where he would be the main character, instead opting for more supporting roles. In part due to the initial backlash against his portrayal, Siddig would not appear at many conventions, though this would change later in his career. [3]

The Eighth Doctor would first appear in the final part of Season 24 story The Valeyard, though his first major outing was in Action at a Distance the following season.

The Eighth Doctor would have two main companions in his time on-screen: Isabella and Rachel, portrayed by Teri Hatcher and Gillian Anderson respectively. Expanded Whoniverse material gives additional companions, but many exist in a state of grey-canonicity. While Isabella would leave after the first season, Rachel would remain for the remainder of Siddig’s tenure as the Eighth Doctor.

The Eighth Doctor, due to the length of the seasons, would end up quickly becoming a Doctor with higher screen-time. Due to his somewhat divisive portrayal, his position in rankings of the Doctors varies greatly, though devoted fans tend to rank him higher. [4]

[1] Unsurprisingly, this still is actually taken from Our Man Bashir, because there's so few images of Siddig in a suit.
[2] While the Seventh Doctor of TTL is much more of an original character, I'm trying to make each of these Doctors distinct from any OTL Doctor (with two or three exceptions). Despite this, Eight of TTL is quite clearly inspired by Seven of OTL.
[3] This is a little hint for the future.
[4] I'm not sure that "more devoted fans" is exactly the right phrase, but I'm sure that you can all see what I'm getting at. Casual fans tend not to like his episodes so much, in much the same way that Capaldi is for some.

Timelordtoe · Jan 22, 2020

The Ninth Doctor (1994-1995)

Avery Brooks
Avery Brooks as the Ninth Doctor, taken from Season 29 story "The Man Behind the Mask". [1]

The Ninth Doctor was portrayed by American actor Avery Brooks, only the second non-British actor to play the role. Before his casting, he was best known as Hawk from the franchise Spenser: For Hire. Despite the fact that he was not the first, the casting of an American actor in the role of the Doctor was controversial.

Response to the Ninth Doctor was more mixed than his predecessors. In this incarnation, the Doctor would in many ways, seem more alien, and had far fewer action scenes, with the show taking a more subdued but darker approach to the story. As a result, some fans felt alienated by this shift in tone, and viewing figured dipped accordingly. In more recent times, the fan reaction has been more positive, and has become a more “cult classic” type of Doctor. [2]

Avery Brooks would admit in later interviews that he was surprised by the reaction to his portrayal at the time, as while he received praise for his acting, may disliked the characterisation. Nonetheless, Brooks said that it was one of his favourite roles to portray, and has returned to reprise it on many occasions, both officially and unofficially. [3]

The Ninth Doctor would see the Doctor take on a more sedentary role, as during the entirety of his run, he also worked as a professor of nuclear physics at the University of Washington, in order to keep an eye on the Rift nearby for UNIT. Accordingly, his attire was different to any of his predecessors, and tended to blend in better with other humans, though not in personality. The majority of the time, he wore a white collared shirt with a black waistcoat, though he would occasionally be seen in a longer brown shirt with a Mandarin collar.

In contrast to many of his previous incarnations, the Ninth Doctor had no real desire to appear human, making no secret of his alien heritage to people that he encountered. His sometimes impersonal and unfeeling demeanour would, at times, put him at odds with his companion, Jennifer, but he would open up more with time.

Due to his work at the University of Washington during this incarnation, the TARDIS would undergo a major redesign from the more simplistic designs of the Seventh and Eighth Doctors, with the console room being much larger, and doubling as an office for the Doctor. This larger console room would be carried over to the Tenth Doctor and later, though the furnishings would be different in each incarnation. [4]

His first “full canon” appearance was at the beginning of “A New Semester”, though where exactly this occurs within this Doctor’s lifetime is never explicitly stated, as the Doctor does not experience any post-regenerative trauma. Many “grey-canon” sources would flesh out the time before this, showing new companions and adventures. During his time on-screen, the Ninth Doctor would have only one companion, Jennifer, played by Winona Ryder.

Brooks’ run as the Doctor would see his other skills put to use, as he had an opportunity to showcase his musical talents, particularly his past work in opera, in the Season 29 story “The Crooner”. He would also become the first, and to date only, actor to both portray the Doctor and direct an episode of the show. [5]

Following his time on the show, Brooks would make relatively few television or film appearances, working on stage and on documentaries. In addition, he would continue to teach theatre at Rutgers University, a job he would draw on his experiences during his time on the show. [6]

Many years after his departure from the role, the Ninth Doctor still remains a divisive figure among fans, often appearing at the extremes of rankings of the incarnations. [7]

[1] Why yes, that photo is from "Our Man Bashir", the same episode of DS9 I got the photo for the Eighth Doctor profile from.
[2] I don't like making strict equivalences between OTL and TTL Doctors, but there's a decent pattern to TTL's 7, 8 and 9. They mirror a run of three Doctors from OTL, but telling you which would be a bit spoilery.
[3] There's nothing quite like BBV in TTL, but things like Devious will still be made. Expect it to be a bit like how Star Trek used to be with New Voyages, Renegades and the like, they're tolerated by the BBC provided they don't try to pass themselves off as official work.
[4] An answer to a question by @Ogrebear, which I had alreadyanswered. I just wanted to make it "canon" by putting it in an update.
[5] I like his music and directing work, so why not include both, I thought.
[6] This is one of the reasons I made the Doctor also a professor here, because the actor is also a professor. This sort of mirrors his post-Trek career from OTL.
[7] Sort of like the Twelfth Doctor. A lot of fans really like him (as will TTL's version of me), but some just don't like him and were a bit turned off.

Timelordtoe · Mar 21, 2020

Jennifer Marsh - Profile

Winona Ryder as Jennifer Marsh, taken from Season 28 story "When You Go"

Jennifer Marsh, played by American actress Winona Ryder, was a companion of the Ninth Doctor. Ryder was best known for her appearance in the 1988 Tim Burton film Beetlejuice. Since then, she had largely taken smaller roles, though she did audition for some other films (most notably Heathers (1988)and Edward Scissorhands, the latter of which featured Doctor Who alumnus Tom Hanks in the title role).

In contrast to the Ninth Doctor, Jennifer proved to be popular among fans from the beginning, providing a more clear audience surrogate than any of the other revival companions to that point. Her popularity is further compounded by being the first cast member to win a BAFTA from her work on the show, winning in the Best Actress category during the 1995 awards for her work on the twenty-eighth season. That same year, the show won its first Best Drama Series award.

The portrayal of Jennifer as being a female studying for a degree in a traditionally male-dominated discipline was praised by many, especially many institutes of higher education. Her time on the show is associated with a marginal increase in applications to the University of Washington, the institution she attended.

Unlike many previous companions, Jennifer’s time with the Doctor did not see her “moving into” the TARDIS, as she continued her studies alongside her adventures. In addition, her relationship to the Doctor was very different to previous Doctor-companion relationships, as the Ninth Doctor and Jennifer had more of a mentor-mentee dynamic.

Often in her travels with the Doctor, she would act as a middle-man between the Doctor and the people they encountered, as he had a tendency to act more impersonal. Though this would sometimes put the two at odds with each other, over time the Ninth Doctor would begin to open up more with her.

Eventually, during the events of “The Other”, the Season 29 finale, Jennifer would decide to leave the Doctor, in order to properly focus on her studies and live “a human life”. Jennifer would not appear in main canon again until 2007, when she reunited with the Doctor, as they land at the University of Washington once more, where she now lectures.

Grey-canon sources after her departure from the show would often feature her teaming up with Dr. Rachel Vance, a companion of the Eighth Doctor, and tended to feature UNIT heavily. Ryder did not make any appearances in the Big Finish audios until relatively recently, making her debut in the Ninth Doctor’s fiftieth anniversary story in 2013.

Doctor Who reinvigorated Ryder’s career in many ways, as she began appearing in more films and television shows, having clearly broken her image of being “the goth girl from Beetlejuice”. In addition, it launched a career in production, as she began working in more behind-the-scenes roles. Most notably, this would include the 1998 film Bram Stoker’s Dracula, directed by Kenneth Branagh, a script she brought to Branagh’s attention in the first of many collaborations.

Ryder has often spoken fondly of her time on the show, though is critical of the circumstances surrounding hers and Brooks’ departures. Jennifer Marsh remains a popular companion to this day, especially given Ryder’s position as one of many people to have received their “big break” from the show.

Timelordtoe · Mar 11, 2020

The Tenth Doctor (1996-) - Profile

Paul McGann
A still from the story "Underneath", showing the Season 30 costume.

The Tenth Doctor was portrayed by British actor Paul McGann. McGann was well known to British audiences for his role as Richard Sharpe in the ITV series Sharpe, a role he retained for the majority of his time on Doctor Who. To international audiences, however, he was more well known for his roles in Withnail and I, Alien 3 and more recently, as villain Alec Trevelyan in Goldeneye.

McGann was well received as the Doctor. His portrayal of a friendly, often comedic Doctor was mixed with a significant darker streak, in keeping with his two previous incarnations. The shift of the show’s tone to a more Gothic approach was largely praised, as many felt that it suited McGann’s acting style well. McGann is considered by many fans to be the “defining” Doctor of his era, with all following incarnations being clearly influenced by the Tenth.

McGann has, in interviews following his departure, stated that he greatly enjoyed his time on the show, which has resulted in the large volume of material involving his version of the Doctor in the Big Finish audios, second only to Avery Brooks’ Ninth Doctor. [1]

The Tenth Doctor would be a far more action-oriented Doctor than his immediate predecessor, as he moved away from his position at the University of Washington, and took Lucie and Kahn-Tineta aboard. In contrast to how the Ninth Doctor could blend in with humans as an “eccentric professor”, the Tenth Doctor enjoyed standing out, opting for a Victorian-inspired outfit, moving to a more rag-tag militaristic costume later on in his time, though occasionally wearing a tweed outfit. Though initially he had longer “puffy” hair, he soon “cut” it after McGann complained about the wig being uncomfortable. [2]

Much like his immediate predecessor, the Tenth Doctor was not secretive about his alien heritage. His more energetic portrayal did give this Doctor an unfortunate habit of speaking without thinking, a habit many fans dubbed his “foot-in-mouth disease”.

The Tenth Doctor’s TARDIS was similar to the Ninth’s, though he opted for a change in furniture, giving the TARDIS a “lived-in” feeling, as it has many comforts in the console roon, as opposed to Nine’s more study-like TARDIS. More of the inside of the TARDIS would be seen at this time, with Lucie and Kahn-Tineta being shown to have “moved aboard” the TARDIS, having their own rooms. [3]

The Tenth Doctor first appeared in “The Other”, though his first main appearance would be in the Season 30 opener “Confederacy”. This story introduced his first two companions, Lucie and Kahn-Tineta. While Kahn-Tineta was a Mohawk woman from the mid-1700s, Lucie was more of a mystery, especially as it was revealed that there seemed to be no record of her anywhere in history prior to her travels with the Doctor.

Two decades after his departure from the role, McGann is still considered to be one of the best Doctors by many fans. Comparisons to the Fourth Doctor are common, with both Doctors’ times being seen retrospectively as “Golden Ages”. [4]

[1] Both he and OTL's Nine will have "Eighth Doctor Adventures" style audios down the line.
[2] A little nod to OTL's Eight, and how he changed. I don't see the longer hair sticking around.
[3] Another nod to OTL's Eight. One of my favourite TARDIS designs. I really like the ones where you really get the feeling that the TARDIS is inhabited. Up there with OTL's Twelfth Doctor's TARDIS.
[4] Following from the TLIAW, I think I'm going to do a little more "teasing" for the future of the timeline from now on. Nothing too major, just a little something to pique your interest.

Timelordtoe · Jan 11, 2020

Ensign Leslie Crusher - Profile

Ensign Leslie Crusher was played by American actress Carla Gugino. [1]

Leslie Crusher was a regular character for the first six seasons of Star Trek: The Next Generation. She was the daughter of Jack and Beverly Crusher, and was portrayed by Carla Gugino.

Initial critical response to the character of Leslie Crusher was negative, with many considering the character to be a “Mary Sue”. Later seasons toned these characteristics down, and Crusher became a more popular character among the fan base.

In-universe, Leslie Crusher initially comes aboard the Enterprise-D with her mother, Dr Beverly Crusher, who is to be the ship’s Chief Medical Officer. Initially, Picard has trouble dealing with the younger Crusher, as he is uncomfortable around children. Eventually, Picard realises the level of Leslie’s skills and appoints her as an Acting Ensign. This is made into a full field promotion following the events of The Best of Both Worlds. [2]

Initially, much of Leslie’s character was defined by her relationship to her mother. When Dr Crusher leaves to head up Starfleet Medical following the first season, Leslie decides to remain aboard. In this time, she becomes more friendly with Data, La Forge and much of the engineering crew. From the third season onwards, she strikes up a friendship with new tactical officer Ensign Andrew Kelly (Christian Slater). This quickly proves to be her most solid friendship on board the ship, as the two begin appearing together more and more often.

Had Gugino and Slater stayed beyond the sixth season, Rick Berman revealed that the writing would have hinted at a romantic relationship between the two of them. However, Leslie Crusher was written out of the show when Gugino decided to focus on her film career. Her character was seemingly killed when the Enterprise-D crash landed during All Good Things…, though beta canon would suggest that she had been rescued by the Traveller, hence her body never being found. [3]

Although All Good Things… (Part I) would be Carla Gugino’s final appearance in the franchise, her death would prove to be an important moment for the franchise, marking the moment where it began to take a darker turn, straying from the idealism of Gene Roddenberry. Her death would greatly affect Ensign, later Lieutenant, Kelly during his time at Deep Space Nine.

The fact that she had died under Captain Picard’s command, as her father had, would be of importance during the seventh season story The Departed, where Picard is reunited with Dr Beverly Crusher.

Gugino’s leaving the series left a space for a new series regular. This was taken up by Michelle Forbes, whose character of Ensign Ro Laren would take up Crusher’s position as Helmsman. [4]

Despite a rocky start, Leslie Crusher would become a well liked character, with many younger female fans cosplaying as her at conventions. Though not one of the fan favourites, she would become very important to the franchise, even after her death. [5]

[1] I had a really hard time making an image of Gugino in a Starfleet uniform, so you get this. I may come back and have another go later on in the timeline.
[2] As the events of Menage a Troi never occur, her promotion happens slightly later than Wesley's in OTL.
[3] A couple of things here. I wanted to mention that Kelly/Crusher was a big fan ship ITTL, but couldn't find a place to put it, so I just had this mentioned instead. Also, this is why they don't find her body. The producers wanted to leave a slight possibility that she had survived.
[4] A little reveal here. Kelly won't be getting a replacement on the ship, Worf will just get his job as tactical officer back as well as being Chief of Security. So while Michelle Forbes wasn't interested in Deep Space Nine, I could see her sticking around for the last two seasons of The Next Generation.
[5] And a little nod to the fans. Just after this update, I'll be putting up an "appendix" update and moving a few of the threadmarks around. As I'm starting to do non-Doctor Who character profiles, I needed somewhere to put them, and I've found a solution.

Timelordtoe · Jan 24, 2020

"Where Are We Going This Time?": One Year and One Hundred Thousand Words In

Well, a little over on both counts, but I wanted to make sure that I knew what I wanted to say, as this is the first “meta” update. I started posting this timeline on the 10th of January 2019, and one year and two weeks later, I thought I’d do a little retrospective. It’s pretty lucky that we recently hit 100k words in the timeline (the threadmarked posts, that is). Consider this like a director's commentary for the posts done so far. Well, for me, it feels like I’ve been working on this for more than a year, but that’s because I have. This all stemmed from a conversation I had with a couple of friends about how easy it would be to change Back to the Future into a Doctor Who story, and I thought I’d try my hand at writing it. Then, about a year later, I started putting it on this forum.

This may or may not come as a surprise to some of you, but at the beginning, I thought I’d be done writing it by now. There’s two main reasons why that hasn’t happened. 1. My mood and creative ability has been all over the place this past year, and I don’t like writing when it feels like I’m not going to be putting out good stuff. 2. The scope of the timeline has expanded significantly since its inception.

My first draft for this timeline, which remains unfinished, went up to the year 2001, and it was a purely Doctor Who timeline, more in the vein of “Who is the Doctor?” and “The Doctor is Who?”, both of which are great timelines I recommend checking out. Star Trek was going to play a peripheral role, only occasionally mentioned, and each Doctor would only have a couple of updates. Suffice it to say, the purview has expanded somewhat. The next two updates are focussing on the comics industry and Disney respectively, neither of which are things I was planning on tackling.

So, why the change? Well, I just really enjoyed writing the timeline, and when I began work on the second draft, I found that I wanted to flesh things out more, and we ended up with what we have now. I’m pretty happy with how it’s turned out so far, even if we’re not at the point I thought I’d be a year ago. As mentioned before, my mood and mental state has been all over the place (I’m pretty sure you could plot a graph of my mood based on how often I update this). But I’m in a much better place now than I have in years, though I don’t want to go too much into personal stuff here.

Originally, each part was going to be about the same length as Part I is, that is, somewhere between 10-20 actual “chapters”. As you can see, that’s no longer the case, as Part II is shaping up to be about 5x the length of the first one. We’ve been in Part II for almost a year now, but I intend to get us into Part III soon enough.

So, as a belated treat for the one year anniversary, I thought that I’d tell you, my loyal and fantastic readers, some of the places we didn’t go this time, so to speak. It’s primarily casting that I altered at various points, but there are a few other changes. So, fully aware of the fact that these parts of the updates are effectively ATLs of an ATL, let’s begin.

1: The Sixth Doctor’s films/the Amblin era
The first film, Back to the Future, is basically unchanged, but the second and third films are very different to how they were in my original plan. The second film, The Cyber Invasion, was initially going to be an adaptation of the classic series story The Dalek Invasion of Earth, but taking place in Hill Valley. The Doctor and Marty would be joined by a girl from this future, Eve, who would exist as a “temporal anomaly” after the events of the film were averted, and she was technically never born.

The third film, which ITTL is The Mad Dog Gang, was pretty much going to be the 1996 TV Movie Doctor Who. The Sixth Doctor would play a relatively small role, after being shot at the start. It wouldn’t be until the end that he regenerated. The film would have also seen the return of the Master, this time played by Peter Cushing. I decided against both the story and the casting in the end, at the insistence of my friend @Drorac, who read my first draft and gave me feedback.

2: The Seventh Doctor’s Actor
The actors for the Seventh Doctor’s companions have remained the same throughout all iterations of this timeline, though why and when Tom Hanks signed on varied a little. Despite this, who I had to play the Seventh Doctor changed a lot. Initially, I cast Sean Bean, until I realised another timeline had already done it better than I could, and that he was pretty much completely unknown at the time of his “casting”. So Sean Bean got the boot.

Then, it was Anthony Stewart Head, but after bouncing the idea off of another couple of people, it was clear that we thought he would work better in a villainous capacity, as he did in School Reunion. But that line of thinking got me onto the possibility of Hugh Laurie, who, as you all know, was the final choice ITTL.

3: The Eighth Doctor’s Arc and Companions
I can’t go into a huge amount of detail for these last two, as elements of them touch on things that I haven’t covered yet in the timeline. So, originally, the Eighth Doctor was going to have the arc that I’m exploring with the Ninth Doctor. But I realised that that left me with nothing really to do with the Ninth Doctor, at least, nothing I could think of. His companions were different too, as were much of the other cast. For starters, the Monk was not originally going to be a recurring villain.

Originally, the Eighth Doctor was going to have two companions, Alex and Jeremy, played by Courtney Cox and Matthew Perry respectively. The Ninth Doctor’s companion was originally going to be Bernice Summerfield, played by Lisa Boweman (I was pretty unoriginal with this one). Alex and Bernice were reworked into Isabella and Rachel respectively.

4: Benjamin Sisko’s Actor
A shorter one here, but originally, Benjamin Sisko ITTL was going to be Peter Capaldi. I decided against this because it meant that certain stories I really liked and planned to reuse or work in another way would have to be dropped or rewritten in a way that would, in all likelihood, have been pretty janky. So Laurence Fishburne became Sisko, and I kept Capaldi in as Captain Sheridan, one of the few Babylon 5 elements (though barely) that I included in the first season of DS9. (Again, that will be different from here).

So, there’s a few things that you probably didn’t know about the timeline. I apologise I this isn’t what you were hoping for when you saw that I’d posted a new update. This is something I’ve wanted to do for a while, to show you the roads we didn’t go down. There likely won’t be an update tomorrow, as I’m busy (but with some brilliant stuff, that I hope will mean I can get back to posting more frequently).

This is cliché, but I really wouldn’t have been able to get this far without all of you continuing to read and interact. This past month has been the best for me in terms of writing, with all of you sending me messages, and I’ve finally hit the stuff I’ve really been wanting to get into.

So, one year in, we’re at 1994, and I have plans up to 2023. Let’s hope it doesn’t take three more years to get there. I wish you all the best, and I’ll see you soon with some more actual canon update stuff. See you around.

Timelordtoe

Timelordtoe · Apr 5, 2020

(META) With Regards to the Turtledove

I’m sure you can guess what this is about from the title.

So, the timeline won a Turtledove! Specifically, you all voted for it as the Best Pop-Culture Timeline.
I was not expecting to win it at all, frankly, I was pleasantly surprised to see that this had been nominated. So I want to thank everyone who voted for the timeline in the poll, as well, it wouldn’t have won without you.

It’s important to also mention that this timeline is by no means a solo effort, and I must thank @tornadobusdriver, @Ogrebear, @Drorac, and especially @The Chimera Virus for the work they’ve put into this as well. (If you think you should be listed here too, please tell me, as I've probably just forgotten you.)

But I didn’t want to just thank you, I wanted to give a little something in return, so I’m making this an update like the one year anniversary one. So, this will be split into four parts: “What Was”, “What Might Have Been”, “What Will Be”, and “What May Be”. So yeah, it’s more of a “behind the scenes” update.

What Was
So, the last update took a little while. Both of us working on it hit creative blocks at points, and we changed a couple of stories after the update. But we discussed a few other things during our many talks, and I think we have a much better idea of where Odyssey is going to go in the future.

So, I’m going to touch on a couple of retcons that we’re pulling with the timeline, neither of which are massive changes, but I thought you deserved to know anyway.

Lt. Barclay will be played by Michael Jeter, not Dwight Schultz. Jeter is better for the type of characterisation we want to do with him. This will have a very minor effect elsewhere where we need change an actor in ODY season 1 (when Jeter guest starred originally).
Julian Amoros will become Julian Bashir. I’m having a very hard time getting his name right when I write, and Bashir works much better with the character’s ethnic background.

Generally, I try to avoid retconning, but these are a couple of cases where I think it will work in the timeline’s favour.

What Might Have Been
So, what with it only having been three months since the last update where I told you a couple of the ideas that I didn’t use, there’s not a massive amount here, but I thought I’d tell you all some of the other ones anyway.

1: The Other Captain Sisko
So, I may have lied a little last time, and this is mainly because I wasn’t sure whether I was going to do this or not. So, I wasn’t originally going to have Laurence Fishburne as Sisko after I decided against Capaldi, but rather Andre Braugher. I’d already settled on having Sheridan in the show at this point.

But I was seriously considering writing Sisko out at the end of Season 3 of DS9. I was going to lean into the Babylon 5 influences a little more, and have Sisko sent back into the past of Bajor, hence the description of the Emissary as being “A Bajoran not of Bajor”. Sisko was very much going to be a Jeffrey Sinclair-type character, and Sheridan would take his place as station commander. However, this gave me the problem of not being able to do a lot of the Sisko stories I wanted to, so I decided against it.

2: Dax Leaves Early
I won’t reveal my current plans for Dax, but suffice it to say that they are different to OTL. But for a while, Dax was going to be written out during Meridian. I was going to replace her with a male homosexual Klingon, to explore Klingon society. This was mainly because I wasn’t sure what to do with her character, especially since I had no plans for Worf to appear in the show.

As you might be able to guess, the male Klingon turned into K’Rene, and suddenly, I had more ideas for Dax. So, Dax stuck around. I don’t think it would be hugely surprising that many of my favourite characters from TTL are the ones that are either wholly or partially original to the timeline (Kelly, K’Rene, Evek (we saw very little of him in OTL, so much of his character is original).

3: The Other Captain Janeway
Sisko wasn’t the only captain I had some trouble casting. For a very long time, I had planned for Nicola Bryant to have the role, as I believe she was considered in OTL. This had the interesting side-effect that for a little while, all three “TNG era” captains were played by Brits. But I decided against her in the end, especially when I saw some of Claudia Christian’s acting, and saw that she was what I wanted for TTL’s Janeway.

What Will Be
So, here’s a little sneak peak at the plans for the future, specifically, the remainder of 1997.
The rough plan for the year is this:
1. ~~Season 2 of Star Trek: Odyssey~~ (done)
2. Season 4 of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
3. Star Trek VIII
4. Season 31 of Doctor Who
5. 1997 Big Finish
6. Merchandising 1997
7. Titanic
8. Marvel and DC 1997
9. Video Gaming 1997
10. Disney 1997
11. MYSTERY UPDATE
12. Music 1997

As you can tell, this is going to be a real bumper year. I make it about 14 updates still to come, and that’s not counting the various Appendix updates that will be coming in-between (DW companions for now, but more to come).

I’d previously shied away from touching on anything related directly to politics in the timeline (apart from diversity), but that will be changing a bit. There won’t be any strictly political updates, apart from maybe the MYSTERY UPDATE, but I will mention how politics has changed, or not, in updates where it is relevant. (Next season of Doctor Who will be a case of this).

Also, I’ve mentioned doing a thread set in the Star Trek universe of TTL in the past, and I’m still working on that. I have a good draft for the initial update, so hopefully I’ll put that out soon. That’ll be over in Fandom AH, but I’ll post a link here too.

It will use Kelly as the “POV” character, though I did run into some writing problems when I realised how close he is to being the archetypical Mary-Sue (fresh out of the academy and posted to the Enterprise), but I think I’ve managed to write him in a non-Sue way. As we get further into the timeline, I realise that I’ve done a lot of worldbuilding for TTL’s Star Trek in my head that we don’t get to see here. Hopefully, that thread should give me an outlet for that. It’s more of a “Lower Decks” style thing, focussed on characters rather than the plot of the episodes the updates will take place in. Effectively, it’s my headcanon for what’s happening in TTL’s Star Trek beyond the updates here.

What Might Be
Okay, I’m not going to give any of the timeline’s story away, but I’ll be talking about a couple of the creative choices I’m considering.

Firstly, I’d like to bring more media into the timeline. I know I enjoy timelines with pictures more (because I apparently am still a child), so I’d like to do something with that, just to make it feel more alive, rather than just words on a screen. This would be things along the lines of Wikiboxes for the seasons, photos from the sets of TTL, etc. It could be fun, and would give me a chance to explore something other than strict writing.

Also, I want to continue fleshing out the Appendix, which I’ve started doing with the various companions, but I’d like to cover some of the concepts from the shows of TTL. As aforementioned, I do a lot of worldbuilding in my head, and I’d like to put some of that onto a page. I’d like to explain how the Web of Time works ITTL, especially as I’m doing it a little different to what it was in OTL, but that won’t be until after S31 of Doctor Who, as that will introduce a related concept that I want to tackle with that too. If there isn’t any interest, I’ll leave them be, but I’d like to do them.

Right, hopefully we’ll be back to a more regular update schedule. I’m not sure whether the next update will be DS9 or an Appendix update, but it should be out either tomorrow, or the day after.

So, I thank you all again for continuing to read this, and for voting this Best Pop-Culture Timeline 2020. I’ll see you all soon.

Timelordtoe · Jun 29, 2020

Howdy,

So, I finally got around to making the political timeline I was talking about. If any of you want to read it, here's a link: [BEHOLD, A LINK]

If that's not your cup of tea, then fine. I'm going to avoid too much of a crossover between the timelines, except when it's really necessary. Still, I hope to see some of you over there! First update is out, and it covers how the Tiananmen Square protests end differently.

Timelordtoe

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

What should happen with the season summary updates?

Continue as is (might delay other updates)

Release them later, as supplementary material

Cut out the OTL bits, only say what you've changed (might only be a temporary solution)

Stop them completely

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