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| Since 1963 these eleven men have played the Doctor. What will BBC do for the 50th anniversary in 2013? |
In the past, major anniversaries of the show were a chance to bring the actors who played the Doctor together in a common adventure. For the 10th anniversary, "The Three Doctors" brought together the original three actors to face the Time Lord Omega in a black hole. (This was the last performance by William Hartnell who passed away a few years after the show aired.) For the 20th anniversary, "The Five Doctors" brought the first five Doctors together. (William Hartnell was replaced by Richard Hurdnell, and Tom Baker participated through clips of an unaired story named "Shada.") In this story, the Doctors (as well as some past companions) faced off against Rassilon and the "Death Zone" on Gallifrey. The show was having issues or off the air for the other major anniversaries.
So what about the 50th anniversary? There's no chance of getting all eleven (or possibly twelve depending on what Matt Smith decides to do in the future) Doctors together since Hartnell, Troughton, and Pertwee have all passed away. I also don't like the idea of trying to find replacements for all of those Doctors. What about a different approach?
The new series has worked hard to have individual stories with a storyline that ties the whole season together. So what if the writers of Doctor Who take a page from the past to help them out. In 1978-1979, the fourth Doctor (played by Tom Baker) went on a quest with his new companion Romana to find the Key of Time. This story took over the entire season over 6 story arcs. What if the Doctor has to go on a quest that requires him to reconnect with previous companions? Let's consider some story ideas.
In 1964, the first Doctor left his granddaughter, Susan, behind in 22nd century London after the events in "The Dalek Invasion of Earth." The Doctor promised to check up on her some day. That still hasn't happened. Why not fix that problem?
Whatever happened to Scottish Highlander Jamie McCrimmon? The Time Lords returned him to 1746 after sentencing the second Doctor for interfering with the universe, but what happened after that?
The list could go on and on, but I think you get the idea. Not only would this make for an interesting storyline, but it would also be great for the BBC. They have been working hard to promote DVD sales of the older shows, and what better way to do that than to make a real connection with modern viewers and the older characters?
That's my idea. If you liked it, share it around. I'm hoping someone at BBC that is involved with Doctor Who sees it and at least considers the possibility. It's my opinion, feel free to comment below, and to check out more of my opinions on this site.
Hi there!
ReplyDeleteYour idea sounds very good to me. As a new viewer, I would welcome this opportunity to find out about past companions and to share in the excitement over the return of old familiar faces. However, do you mind if I play devil's advocate for a minute and share with you the few problems I see arising? Once again, I am new to the fandom and might be mistaken in my assumptions, so please take the following comments with a grain of salt.
You seem to say many companions had their storyline severed without much explanation; surely, it would be impossible to bring them all back. Which ones would return? Who would make this decision?
Would the afore-mentioned companions be played by the original actor of by someone else? It's easy enough to change actors playing Time Lords, but humans both keep the same features and age. What if the old companions don't want to return/are not available? (How did the Whovians react to the first Doctor being played by another actor in The 5 Doctors? Did they wish the 1st Doctor had been written out of the storyline since Hartnell couldn't play him? If no, it means they can suspend their judgement enough to accept a new actor. Either way, the issue of casting always needs to be taken into account)
What of the old timers' expectations? Since anniversaries have always involved reuniting all the Doctors, wouldn't the fans be disappointed if they don't all return?
What of the newbies' expectations? Would they really care to see the old companions?
Wow, I hope I don't sound too harsh, 'cause I really don't mean to. I just hope my comments might be constructive. And you're the fan really, I'm just being a nitpicker.
Good luck, let me know if I can help!
Lots of questions, and I have answers for some of them. My concern about the Doctors is that I don't think that all of the living Doctors will be available or interested. Tom Baker has had very little to do with the show since his departure, Christopher Eccleston and David Tennant may not be free to participate. They might do a show this the Doctors that are available, but it also gets difficult with too many Doctors.
ReplyDeleteI don't know where I implied that companions were severed without a reason. Each character that left had a reason, but some of the incidents were very sudden. One example is Sarah Jane Smith. She had to be returned to Earth because the Time Lords had summoned the Doctor, and at that point humans weren't allowed on the planet.
I'm not exactly sure how the selection process would work. I would not bring in a new actor for the role of any companion. (In answer to the question about the different actor for the first Doctor, I think that Hurdnell played it in such a way that those who knew the difference felt he'd been true to the part.) Some companions could not come back. Adric died during the 5th Doctor's run, and the fourth Doctor left Leela behind on Gallifrey so she is probably dead. Some of the actors and actresses have passed away and would also not be available, however, based on interviews on the DVDs, I think there would be enough interest on the remaining possible companions to make it work.
As for how to make the idea work, I would probably contact the living actors and actresses to see what interest there was in dong this. Since it is spread over the season, each companion would only need to commit to one or two episodes. There are also over 30 possible candidates so it shouldn't be too hard to find enough interest to make it work.
As far as expectations, I don't know if anyone has specific expectations for the 50th. The other anniversaries were missed so they may not expect anything this time.
As far as the newbies go, I think it would really depend on how the stories were done. The episode where we saw Sarah Jane Smith and K-9 again was a very popular episode and led to the spin-off of the Sarah Jane chronicles.
Hopefully that will answer all your questions. If you have other thoughts, feel free to add them.
Thanks for your long answer!
ReplyDeleteI didn't express myself properly when I said the companions had left without a reason, what I really meant what that they had probably gone a bit too fast and left their fans wondering what had become of them. But one thing I had completely misunderstood is that your idea is to bring them back throughout the whole season, and not just in one episode? This sounds even better if you ask me. The whole year would be a celebration then, how exciting!
I really hope there's someone at BBC with enough good sense to listen to your idea. Speak to you soon!
This sounds amazing! I really hope that you can get the word out there, the BBC would be idiotic to shoot it down without at least considering it!
ReplyDeleteI like it. I wish I could say more about it, but trying to please everyone on my blog has left me a bit desensitized to the idea of the companions. It would be interesting, though. I do like the idea of seeing how New Who would interact with Old Who characters, I thought bringing back Sarah Jane Smith, bless her soul, worked out extremely well. So well that she had her own spinoff. Plenty of Doctors did leave companions with trailing storylines, so I could see it working very well, and the more I read, watch, and listen to Old Who, the more I think it would be a great idea and the more I want to see of the old companions. Probably not their original actors/actresses, but definitely the characters of the companions...
ReplyDelete