Farewell Great Macedon (unproduced TV story)

2009 publication of the teleplay.

For the book collecting this script and other material, see Farewell Great Macedon (book).

Farewell Great Macedon is an unproduced six-episode First Doctor serial by Moris Farhi which was commissioned by David Whitaker for the first season of Doctor Who in 1964.

The story would have featured the Doctor and his companions encountering Alexander the Great.

The story was never produced, but in August 2009 the publisher Nothing at the End of the Lane published the script for the first time, in an omnibus collection also entitled Farewell Great Macedon. It was the first time since the script for The Masters of Luxor was published by Titan Books in 1992 that a lost First Doctor script had been released in this way.

Plot summary

From the official website:

"When the TARDIS arrives outside the gates of Babylon the Doctor and his friends find themselves in the presence of Alexander the Great. But there is treachery at work as generals plot to overthrow the king and his men. When the travellers stand accused the Doctor and Ian must face trials while still trying to uncover the real murderers."

Episode titles

As was the norm in the early seasons, each individual episode would have carried a separate title, with no overall title given on screen for the serial. According to Farhi's script, the individual episodes would have carried these titles:

1. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon
2. The Wrath of the Greatest Grecian of Them All!
   (Farhi also suggests an alternate title: O, Son! My Son!)
3. A Man Must Die
4. The World Lies Dead at Your Feet
5. In the Arena
6. Farewell, Great Macedon!

Note: the punctuation present in the episode 6 title is not present in the actual title of the script.

Major characters

• The Doctor
• Ian Chesterton
• Barbara Wright
• Susan Foreman
• Alexander the Great
• Hephaeston
• Calamus
• Cleitus
• Ptolemy
• Roxane
• Seleucus
• Antipater
• Iolla
• Glaucias

Story notes

• According to the article "So Near, So Farhi" in the Farewell Great Macedon omnibus, after the script was ultimately rejected for Doctor Who in 1964, Farhi submitted them to the BBC as a potential springboard to a series on Alexander the Great, but this idea was rejected. In 1966, Farhi resubmitted the scripts to new Doctor Who script editor Donald Tosh, but was once again turned down.
• Farhi also wrote a single-episode script for the series entitled The Fragile Yellow Arc of Fragrance, which is also included in the Farewell Great Macedon (it's unclear whether it was ever intended for broadcast, however). He was also commissioned by Graham Williams to write a Fourth Doctor teleplay, The Divided, in 1977, but this unfilmed script no longer exists.
• Farhi also wrote an unproduced script for The Prisoner which was published in the mid-2000s.

Continuity

As the script was never produced, it's impossible to tell if it can be considered part of continuity, especially as it contains numerous character elements not retained in the televised series. However, in DW: Robot the recently regenerated Fourth Doctor does reference once meeting Alexander the Great.

Upcoming Audio Production

It has been reported that Big Finish will be producing an enhanced audiobook of this story for release in 2010. It will star William Russell and Carole Ann Ford.

See also

• The Masters of Luxor
• The Fragile Yellow Arc of Fragrance

External links

• Official website