Journey into Time (unreleased audio story)
Journey into Time was the first audio drama based upon Doctor Who, though it was never given official release.
A pilot made for a planned 52-instalment radio series, it was never broadcast, nor did it lead to a series. Since all recordings were lost, and the work was never broadcast so that fans could have potentially recorded it, little beyond the script and a few trade advertisements remain. The first publication of the Malcolm Hulke script was in a 2012 Nothing at the End of the Lane publication.[2] Richard Bignell discovered the script in a routine perusal of the BBC Archives in the early 2010s. The BBC's note of rejection, written by Martin Esslin, head of sound drama in the late 1960s, was:
- "As a typical commercial production for unsophisticated listeners in Australia or even some parts of the United States, it stands up quite well. As a piece of science fiction, however, it strikes me as extremely feeble."[2]
Although the story was advertised as starring Peter Cushing, and he had played the theatrical film version of Dr. Who before, it's decidedly certain that he would not actually have been playing the same version of the character in this series. Certainly, there is no precedent in either film or television of the time for a character called "Mike". However, as it was never officially released, this story does not pass Rule 4 of this Wiki's four little rules and is consequently considered invalid.
Along with Absent Friends and City of the Saved, both of which were also in the audio play medium, this is one of only three performed DWU stories known to have been fully recorded, but never given an official release of any kind.
Synopsis
Dr. Who travels back in time to the American Revolution with Susan and Mike.
Cast[3]
- Dr. Who - Peter Cushing
- Susan - Unknown
- Miss Jennings - Unknown
- George - Unknown
- Mike - Unknown
- Mr Logan - Unknown
- Inspector - Unknown
- Launder - Unknown
References
The backstory of the Dr. Who character in this story is somewhat a mix of the 1960 films and that of the original TV series. Dr. Who and Susan are from the far future of Earth, where time travel is possible, but a malfunction in their machine makes it so they cannot choose where to land. They decide to spend some time in the '60s to investigate the issue, where Susan begins going to school and meets Mike.
Notes
David J. Howe tracked down a number of leads in about 1989, trying to get more information about this production. Amongst the attempts were:
- Contacting the address of Stanmark Productions given on trade advertisements for the series
- Sending letters to all of Stanmark's overseas distributors
- Tracing Stanmark through the companies register
- Writing to Peter Cushing, and his agent
All these were dead ends.[1]
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Howe, David J., "The Lost Radio Plays". The Frame #10. May, 1989. p. 17.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Chuck Foster (Sunday, 15 January, 2012). Missing Radio Script Discovered. Doctor Who News. Retrieved on 29 May 2013.
- ↑ Cast list based upon a fan attempt at making the drama from the Nothing at the End of the Lane-published script
External links
to be added
