WI Doctor Who got a 27th series

In 1989 Doctor Who was suspended by the BBC. But what if it got a another series? Do you think it would have stayed on for a few more years? What day and time would it have gone to?
 
Kamelion has replaced Michael Grade otherwise no chance by this time. He couldn't stand SF and lets be honest from his point of view El Dorado was a much better bet- Eastenders in Spain what could possibly go wrong it's a surefire ratings hit:D
 
There's a handful of Timelines that wrestle with that. I've got one or two myself.

The narrowest possible answer:

Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred were prepared to do one more year, so they'd be up for season 27, and then they were moving on. There was no obvious candidate for replacement.

Andrew Cartmel would have been the Script Editor, with all the mostly bad and some good that implies. John Nathan Turner would also have been the showrunner, although by that time he desperately wanted out.

As for the season itself - fourteen episodes, four serials, two 3-parters, 4-parters. The likely candidates would have been this bunch:

Before the original Doctor Who series reached its conclusion, some tentative plans had been made for a proposed 27th series under the assumption that it would maintain the then-current pattern of two four-part and two three-part stories. As noted in each entry, Big Finish Productions has produced audio adaptations of several scripts as part of their The Lost Stories releases. The safecracking companion introduced in Crime of the Century (see below), who was never named during the planning, has now been given a name, that of Raine Creevey, and she is portrayed by Beth Chalmers.[174]

Earth Aid[edit]
The opening three-part, studio-bound story[175] was to be by Ben Aaronovitch; a space opera featuring a race of samurai insect-like aliens called the Metatraxi.[176] Earth Aid was to open with Ace in the captain's chair of a starship,[176] and the story would concern the politics of humanitarian aid.[176] The Metatraxi were originally conceived as part of a stage play entitled War World.[176] The Metatraxi were later used in Lawrence Miles' spin-off novel Alien Bodies.[177] Earth Aid (a title invented by Dave Owen for his "27 up" article in DWM[178]) was later adapted by Aaronovitch and Cartmel for Big Finish's The Lost Stories range in July 2011. Cartmel is on record as preferring the title Bad Destination.[179]

Thin Ice[edit]
This four-parter, the second story of the proposed series,[178] was to have been written by Marc Platt and was due to feature Ice Warriors in a London of 1968.[180] It would have seen the departure of Ace[178] to the Prydonian Academy to become a Time Lord.[180][181] The story was to introduce a character with underworld connections who was intended to become a recurring character similar to the Brigadier.[178] The character would have a daughter born at the conclusion of the adventure who would be named by the Doctor.[180] The plot would have featured an Ice Warrior's armour in the London Dungeon[178] and two reincarnated Warriors continuing a long rivalry.[178] Platt also intended to have bikers being controlled by the Ice Warriors (and wearing similar helmets), scenes on a terraformed pastoral Mars, and a more mystical bent to the aliens while deepening their history.[182] Marc Platt has revealed that the name Ice Time was "only ever invented for an article in Doctor Who Magazine" (Dave Owen's "27 up" article).[183] It was later adapted by Platt for Big Finish's The Lost Stories range in April 2011.

Crime of the Century[edit]
Was to have been written by Andrew Cartmel, and would have introduced a cat burglar/safecracker as the next companion.[180] The character with underworld connections from Thin Ice would be featured as an older individual and the father of the new companion.[180] Crime of the Century (another title invented by Owen for "27 up") was later adapted by Cartmel for Big Finish's The Lost Stories range in May 2011. Cartmel would have preferred to call the story Action at a Distance.[179]

Animal[edit]
Cartmel had wanted to pen a story of his own.[171] Animal (another title invented by Owen for "27 up") was later adapted by Cartmel for Big Finish's The Lost Stories range in June 2011. Cartmel would have preferred to call the story Blood and Iron.[179]

Hostage[edit]
Written by Neil Penswick, this was a three-part[184] futuristic thriller in which a group of soldiers are hunting down two shape-changing criminals called Butler and Swarfe.[184] The cliffhanger to part one had Swarfe changing into a monster who then went on the hunt in part two.[184] Penswick later adapted some material from this for his Virgin New Adventures novel The Pit in March 1993.

Night Thoughts[edit]
Written by Edward Young, this is a horror story set in an isolated house.[171] It would feature a group of university staff, one who was a cripple, trapped in the house during winter.[171] One of the characters would turn out to be a murderer.[171] The story took its name and theme from the poem Night-Thoughts by Edward Young, namesake of the story's writer. It was later adapted by Young for Big Finish in February 2006. The adaptation featured the Seventh Doctor and Ace, as well as Big Finish-original companion Hex.

A School for Glory[edit]
Written by Tony Etchells & an unidentified writer, this was to be set during the Great War.[172] The narrative was planned to alternate between the trenches and a British country house doubling as an army academy.[172]
The time slot would have remained the same. The ratings would continue to have been in the dumpster, around three or four million. By this time, Sylvester McCoy had three years under his belt, the key personnel were all the same, we were not going to see the ratings shift or any dramatic new developments. Doctor Who was coasting on life support, and it wasn't going to change. Season 27 was just going to be more of same.

Season 28, that's up in the air. McCoy and Aldred were going to depart. The show would need a new Doctor and a new Companion. So there might be a boost there. It's a wild card.

John Nathan Turner wanted off, but he had nowhere to go. He was a lame duck showrunner, shackled to a failing show. That's not good for the resume. He might stick around for season 28, or 29, or 30. Or he might have quit for season 28, just for the hell of it. If he goes, then no idea who steps into his shoes. Does Cartmel step up to the plate? He's the only creative force, and only continuity left. Or do they bring in someone from outside.

Cartmel would have probably been a poor choice as showrunner. He was under-qualified as story editor, and he simply doesn't have experience with the show. I'd say as showrunner, he'd probably be disastrous, and the look and feel of the show in season 28 would suffer.

If a new showrunner comes in, Cartmel might be kept around for creative continuity. Or he might be shown the door. A new script editor? Again, unknown quantity.

Season 28 was probably going to be screwed by a reduced budget - it had been dwindling steadily, and by poor ratings, no reason to assume a change in time slot. A brand new Doctor who is really charismatic might tweak those ratings a bit, but only a bit. He's on opposite Coronation Street, the ratings pulverizer. But beyond that, the Cartmel/Turner Axis is probably going to leave a weak show leading with its chin creatively, and you can't do much with a crap budget.

There's going to be no chance of changing the budget substantially - not with ratings like that, and not with the BBC's other priorities.

So either the show limps into oblivion, or somehow it gets the hell out of that time slot, which would be a tough thing to do.

It's not getting out of the Time Slot with McCoy/Aldred/Cartmel/Turner. The only chance is a completely new crew, a new direction, and a BBC prepared to take a chance on them.

The eighth Doctor definitely won't be McGann.

You could try setting the POD back much further, and having different Doctors like Paul Denver, or Richard Griffiths.
 
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