The Spare-Part People (unproduced TV story): Difference between revisions

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'''''The Spare-Part People''''' was an seven-part unproduced TV story written by [[Jon Pertwee]] and [[Reed De Rouen]] for [[Season 8]]. It was also known as '''''The Brain Drain''''' and '''''The Labyrinth'''''.
'''''The Spare-Part People''''' was an seven-part unproduced TV story written by [[Jon Pertwee]] and [[Reed De Rouen]] for [[Season 8 (Doctor Who 1963)|Season 8]]. It was also known as '''''The Brain Drain''''' and '''''The Labyrinth'''''.
 
The story was submitted in the summer of [[1970]],<ref>[http://www.shannonsullivan.com/doctorwho/lost/lost3.html#Sparepart Shannon Sullivan's A Brief History of Time (Travel): The Lost Stories (The Third Doctor)]</ref> but it was rejected after the production team decided they wanted [[the Master]] to feature in every story of that season. Rouen was attached to the original version and stepped down from the project when it was rejected. Pertwee tried to rework it but ultimately abandoned the script.


== Synopsis ==
== Synopsis ==
The [[Third Doctor]] poses as [[Cambridge]] don Dr John Madden to investigate celebrity disappearances. He is kidnapped by [[mummy]]-like creatures who take him to [[Antarctica]] where an alien ship is buried beneath the ice, containing a hidden civilization of aliens that had been kidnapping humans and using their organs to sustain themselves. He is then forced to take place in brutal games and fights a monster that hides in the labyrinth.
{{section stub|Missing info from [[DWMSE 2]].}}
There were several versions of the script with slight variations. In the first version, the Doctor investigates a series of disappearances at Cambridge University. This leads him to Antarctica, where he discovers a crew of dying aliens who have been replacing their own body parts with human limbs and organs. In this version, the Doctor would have faced a monster made from discarded body parts in a subterranean labyrinth constructed by the aliens.


The story ends with the Doctor using an artificial bacteria to make the aliens allergic to human [[DNA]].
In Pertwee's attempt at a second draft, the Doctor is drawn to Antarctica whilst searching for the Master, now stranded on Earth. This version of the script indicated that the Master was summoned to Earth by the alien crew, who hoped he would distract the Doctor and prevent their discovery. It also alluded to some familial connection between the Doctor and the Master.


== Production ==
Both drafts of the story contained a similar ending, as the Doctor uses an artificial bacteria to make the alien crew allergic to human [[DNA]] and forces them to leave Earth.
The story was submitted in the summer of [[1970]],<ref>[http://www.shannonsullivan.com/doctorwho/lost/lost3.html#Sparepart Shannon Sullivan]</ref> but it was rejected after the production team decided they wanted [[the Master]] to feature in every story of that season. Pertwee tried to rework the script, but Rouen was too attached to the original version and stepped down from the project.


== Footnotes ==
<!-- Unsourced information:
In the original version, the Doctor's bacteria killed the alien crew, but Pertwee thought this was out of character and rewrote the ending so the crew survived and left Earth.
In Pertwee's revision of the script to include the Master, the Doctor and UNIT were brought to Antarctica by a hunt for the Earth-stranded Master, and it was suggested that the aliens were the ones who called the Master to Earth to begin with, as a distraction for the Doctor. This version may also have hinted at some familial connection between the Doctor and the Master.
-->
== References ==
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[[Category:Unproduced Doctor Who TV stories]]
[[Category:Unproduced Doctor Who TV stories]]

Latest revision as of 19:20, 22 April 2024

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The Spare-Part People was an seven-part unproduced TV story written by Jon Pertwee and Reed De Rouen for Season 8. It was also known as The Brain Drain and The Labyrinth.

The story was submitted in the summer of 1970,[1] but it was rejected after the production team decided they wanted the Master to feature in every story of that season. Rouen was attached to the original version and stepped down from the project when it was rejected. Pertwee tried to rework it but ultimately abandoned the script.

Synopsis[[edit] | [edit source]]

This section's awfully stubby.

Missing info from DWMSE 2.

There were several versions of the script with slight variations. In the first version, the Doctor investigates a series of disappearances at Cambridge University. This leads him to Antarctica, where he discovers a crew of dying aliens who have been replacing their own body parts with human limbs and organs. In this version, the Doctor would have faced a monster made from discarded body parts in a subterranean labyrinth constructed by the aliens.

In Pertwee's attempt at a second draft, the Doctor is drawn to Antarctica whilst searching for the Master, now stranded on Earth. This version of the script indicated that the Master was summoned to Earth by the alien crew, who hoped he would distract the Doctor and prevent their discovery. It also alluded to some familial connection between the Doctor and the Master.

Both drafts of the story contained a similar ending, as the Doctor uses an artificial bacteria to make the alien crew allergic to human DNA and forces them to leave Earth.

References[[edit] | [edit source]]