Inspirations - Trial of a Time Lord (5)

 

The final section of Trial of a Time Lord, comprising two episodes, is generally referred to as The Ultimate Foe. This plus the preceding four part Vervoid adventure were produced as a single block, under the same director.

Whilst Parts 9 - 12 had seen a number of writers approached, these last two episodes were always going to be written by Robert Holmes, who had set the whole story up with the opening four episodes. Sadly, this would be his final work on the programme, and he only completed rough notes for the 13th instalment before his death (from Hepatitis C complications, brought on by eating dodgy seafood). Eric Saward worked closely with him, so it made sense for him to complete the story in the manner which Holmes had intended. The title Holmes had in mind for this final instalment of the Trial was "Time Inc".

The relationship between Saward and his producer had been deteriorating for some time. Saward wasn't happy with the casting of Colin Baker, and disliked JNT's attitude towards the writing and the writers. He hated how JNT favoured his annual pantomime and convention attendances over production of the show. Saward had taken to working more and more at home, rarely venturing into the production office.

Holmes' illness added extra stress to the script editor.

Saward submitted the 13th episode, and got agreement from JNT for the 14th. This was to have ended on a cliffhanger, with the Doctor and the Valeyard tumbling into a time vent, potentially trapped forever. JNT had agreed to this, but then got cold feet. Knowing that the BBC had only grudgingly kept the programme going, placing it on trial, JNT fretted that the Corporation might take a cliffhanger ending as an excuse to end the series all together. He asked for the resolution to be changed. This went against Holmes' intentions. As this was his cherished mentor's final work, Saward felt honour-bound to protect his vision. After a short stalemate, Saward felt there was nothing he could do but to withdraw his 14th episode. he also delivered the hostile interview to Starburst Magazine, as mentioned last time, getting all his frustrations with the producer off his chest.

JNT was left, very late in the day, with no ending to the series. He met Pip and Jane Baker, who had contributed Parts 9 - 12, at the BBC, and asked them to come to his office. There he explained that he needed a final episode in double quick time. He knew that they could write quickly and competently, with little need for supervision. The script for episode 13 was taxied over to them to read, then they were invited into the BBC the next day. A lawyer was present, to ensure that JNT did not give them any details about the now withdrawn Part 14.

Most of the big developments take place in Part 13. It is here that we discover that the Valeyard is actually a future incarnation of the Doctor, originating between his 12th and final selves, and is an amalgamation of all the darker aspects of his personality. The secrets sought by Glitz and Dibber in The Mysterious Planet are really extracts from the Time Lord Matrix, stolen by agents from Andromeda.

The whole trial was established by a corrupt High Council of Time Lords to cover these thefts up. The Master knew about them, as he has been hiding in the Matrix the whole time - observing the trial. If he has to have a nemesis, he would much rather it was the soft Doctor than an evil version of him. If the Doctor loses his trial he will be executed, with his remaining regenerations given to the Valeyard, who seeks his own existence. His identity unmasked, the Valeyard flees into the Matrix - so the Doctor gives chase.

This is all Holmes so far. He first introduced the Matrix back in The Deadly Assassin, where the idea of the Time Lords having a propensity towards corruption and underhand behaviour also first arose. Holmes came up with the idea that the Matrix could be entered, and whoever controlled it could make it a surreal, nightmarish environment. The Deadly Assassin also had a basis in political conspiracy thrillers. There is some of that here as well, as we have agents stealing information, corrupt regimes, spying on people (the Time Lords monitor the Doctor surreptitiously via his own TARDIS) and manipulating people (messing about with the Matrix).

The Doctor finds himself in a nocturnal Victorian-themed place. This again goes back to Holmes' literary obsessions, most notably seen in The Talons of Weng-Chiang. Holmes had wanted a large, cylindrical building, like the interior of a cooling tower, but the director hit on the idea of the potteries of Stoke-on-Trent, with their distinctive bottle-shaped kilns. The cooling tower interior may have been inspired by the Terry Gilliam movie Brazil, which opened in February 1985.

Holmes' intended cliffhanger conclusion is obviously inspired by The Final Problem, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, which saw Sherlock Holmes and arch-enemy Professor Moriarty plunge into the Reichenbach Falls.

In this Victorian realm, we come across an office clerk named Mr Popplewick, who derives from the sort of quirky characters created by Charles Dickens. His insistence on bureaucratic procedures are reminiscent of the Circumlocution Office, which features in Little Dorrit, where an inheritance case has been going round in circles for decades.

Dickens is also referenced when the Doctor is taken to his execution on a tumbril - it's Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities. Mel specifically refers to Sidney Carton, the anti-hero of the book, and the Doctor goes on to quote his famous "It is a far, far better thing that I do than I have ever done..." speech.

If JNT chickened out on the conclusion of the story, he also chickened out with the death of Peri - as we get a coda wherein the Doctor learns that she never died on Thoros Beta, but is now happily living with King Yrcanos. We also learn that the Valeyard has escaped death in the Matrix, though JNT ordered future writers never to include the character.

The story / series proved unpopular with fans (including future showrunner Chris Chibnall), but the BBC did decide that the show could continue. JNT was told to prepare for Season 24, despite him believing that he was going to be released to pursue other projects, and having no script editor or stories lined up, but first he had to let Colin Baker know that his services would no longer be required...