Inspirations - Trial of a Time Lord (1)

 

Before we take a look at the stories which went to make up Doctor Who's 23 Season, let's consider what might have been.

Plans were well underway for the season, with stories commissioned and, in some cases, the cast and director were already lined up. 

From what we can see, the template was clearly going to be the same as the 22nd Season, with a heavy nostalgic influence. Season 22 had comprised 5x two-part stories, and 1x three-parter, which was the equivalent of the old Tom Baker seasons, allowing for double length episodes.

Season 22 had seen returns for the Cybermen (in a story full of references to past Cyberman adventures), the Daleks (in a sequel to their last three outings), a reintroduction of an alien not seen for many years (the Sontarans), and the Master (along with a brand new rogue Time Lord, the Rani).

Season 23 was to have seen rapid returns for the Rani and Sil, plus reintroductions for characters not seen for many years - the Autons, the Ice Warriors, and the Toymaker. The Master was also due to make another appearance, as well as a more recent monster - the Tractators.

Four of the six planned adventures would have involved some element from the show's past.

Revelation of the Daleks had ended with Peri asking to be taken somewhere fun for a change, and the Doctor had hit upon a place he knew which began with the letter "B". This was to have been Blackpool - the Lancashire holiday resort, famed for its Tower and Pleasure Beach theme park, as well as every other seaside holiday cliche going. It had, for many years, also been home to a permanent Doctor Who Exhibition of props and costumes. Colin Baker had been called upon to help open a new space ride, run by the company behind the Pleasure Beach, which had inspired JNT to arrange for a story to be set at the theme park.

The writer was to be Graham Williams, JNT's predecessor as producer of the series, and the theme park setting had inspired a return appearance for the Toymaker, last seen way back in 1966's The Celestial Toymaker. He would once again be portrayed by Michael Gough, and the director was to be Matthew Robinson, who had helmed Resurrection of the Daleks and Attack of the Cybermen over the last two seasons. Gough's involvement would have had to be negotiated with the BBC upper echelons, as it was generally frowned upon to have an actor make too many guest appearances in a TV show unless playing a recurring character. Gough had only recently appeared as Councillor Hedin in Arc of Infinity.

Specific Pleasure Beach rides would have been incorporated into the narrative.

Next up would have been "Mission to Magnus", from writer Philip Martin. He would have reintroduced his character Sil from the previous season's Vengeance on Varos, in a story which would have seen the return of the Ice Warriors after an eleven year absence. A Grand Marshal / Ice |Lord would have featured. The story would also have given us yet another "rogue" Time Lord - a male one named Anzor whom the Doctor greatly disliked as he used to bully him at school. Ron Jones was likely to have been the director.

The third planned story was to have been one of the ones without an element from the show's past. Titled "The Ultimate Evil" it would have been written by Wally K Daly. It revolved around a character known as the Dwarf Mordant, who was an alien arms dealer trying to foment a war between two planets. The director was to have been Fiona Cumming.

As with Season 22, the fourth story was likely to have been the three-parter. Provisionally entitled "Yellow Fever and How to Cure It", it was to have been another "shopping list" assignment for Robert Holmes. 

JNT and his partner Gary Downie had been on holiday to Singapore and came back thinking it would make a great location. The story would have seen a return for the Rani and the reintroduction of the Autons, after an even longer gap than that for the Ice Warriors. It has been suggested that the Master might also have featured, but he was also pencilled in for the fifth story - Christopher H Bidmead's "The Hollows of Time". This would have been set in a small English village, and seen the return of the Tractators. The Master would have been acting under an alias - Professor Stream. When it came to adapting this story for audio, Big Finish retained Prof Stream as a separate character.

A number of other scripts were under consideration for the final slot of the season, and once again Eric Saward might have wanted to contribute something himself.

A serious situation then arose whilst Season 22 was in mid-broadcast. Head of BBC 1, Michael Grade, did not like the programme. He thought it amateurish and long overdue for retirement. The Corporation was planning on a new soap opera (EastEnders) which would be broadcast two evenings per week, and this would require funding. Savings had to be made from other areas of the Drama Department, and Doctor Who was one of the programmes earmarked for cancellation. Other issues were involved in the decision, including concerns about the levels of violence which had crept into the show - especially with the then current season.

JNT was informed that the series was going to be "rested", but the plan was always that it would be cancelled outright. JNT deliberately leaked the news to the media, and there then followed a massive campaign by newspapers and fan groups to save the programme. The depth of feeling caught the BBC on the back foot, and so they hurriedly released a statement that the show was merely being rested for 18 months, and it remained one of their key programmes. The BBC lied.

Advised to make some changes, especially with regards the violence, JNT and Eric Saward elected not to proceed with any of the planned stories outlined above. The programme was now on trial with their BBC bosses as far as they were concerned, and so Saward hit upon the idea of including a trial as a major theme for the 23rd Season when the show returned. It was also Saward who decided that the season should follow the pattern of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol - with stories reflecting the Doctor's past, present and future.

It has never been satisfactorily explained why none of the proposed stories could have been amended to fit the new format, and why they all had to be dropped in their entirety, despite some being at an advanced stage of development. Budget cuts would obviously have put paid to any trips to Singapore.

As Season 22 came to a close, the Doctor's mention of Blackpool was cut by a freeze frame.

It was later decided that Season 23 would comprise a single storyline - making it the longest story in the series' history at 14 episodes long (two more than The Daleks' Master Plan). It had been decreed that Season 23 would have a shorter running time. News of this leaked and fan / unofficial continuity adviser Ian Levine raised this with JNT at a convention, only to be told this was not the case. The producer lied.

Next time: the trial gets underway, and Robert Holmes once again revisits one of his old stories...