The Dark Dimension (unproduced TV story)

The Dark Dimension was a planned direct-to-video film commissioned by BBC Enterprises that was to have been released in 1993 to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Doctor Who, written by Adrian Rigelsford (a 'fan scholar').

According to Rigelsford, 'Tom Baker went to the BBC and said "I would like to be Doctor Who again", and that's the reason why it happened.' Apparently Baker even suggested Douglas Adams as the script writer.

Initial Production

The Dark Dimension (later known as Lost in the Dark Dimension ) ran into obstacles which prevented it from being produced. Large among which was that BBC Enterprises was in charge of generating revenue, not producing films. It therefore lacked facilities, staff and experience in producing something like The Dark Dimension.

...November 1992, BBC1 Controller Jonathan Powell heard of the project and objected to Enterprises making the production on the grounds that it was a marketing wing of the BBC and not a drama production unit.

Actor availability was another of the problems which faced the production which began at some indeterminate time in 1992 (with an aimed release date of November 1993). Scheduling all the surviving actors who played the Doctor (Jon Pertwee, Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy) up to that point would have been incredibly challenging and almost impossible considering the set date of release. Finally when Philip Segal (then part of Amblin Television) joined with Universal Television to co-produce a new TV series of Doctor Who (for the American Market), BBC Enterprises had to pull out of the project due to a conflict of interest.

Some of the actors, particularly Jon Pertwee and Colin Baker were not pleased that their roles were so small (the script featured the fourth Doctor prominently while the others had cameos).

Central Characters and Ideas

The Dark Dimension would have featured all surviving actors who played the Doctor plus Ace and a slew of monsters (in particular Cybermen, Daleks, Ice Warriors and Yeti). Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart would also have appeared along with a character named Summerfield (who would have been then Virgin Publishing's Bernice Summerfield).

The central idea to the story was that a creature prevented the Fourth Doctor from dying when he fell off the Pharos Project (at the end of Logopolis), however his future incarnations did survive (some how), but, in doing so, the creature created a 'Dark Dimension'.

Monsters

Along with the inclusion of almost all the 'classic' monsters, many of them were to be redesigned or feature totally new developments of the original design.

"'The Cybermen were not like any we've ever seen before,' says Rigelsford. 'There was a specific Cyberman who was being made by the people at Henson's Creature Workshop. The guy who designed it was Chris Fitzgerald . It had holes in its knuckles and there was a point where it held up its hand, made a fist, and six-inch blades shot out of its knuckles! It was like Wolverine out of the X-Men comics; Cyberrine!'"

The Daleks also were to have featured a redesign featuring a new special weapons Dalek.

"'The Daleks were going to have laser-guns that were going to be done with computer animation so the laser bolts would be in 3-D rather than just going 'Zap!' with a blue line. The bolts were going to be like spears coming out in 3-D.'"

Production

Graeme Harper was scheduled to direct The Dark Dimension.

"About three weeks worth of test filming was done including model and titles effects, and some location filming was also undertaken. 'We were going to go down to Shepperton film studios,' says Rigelsford, 'and have it shot on film on one of the largest sound-stages on Shepperton.'"

Further Development

Adrian Rigelsford wrote a book entitled The Making of the Dark Dimension which contained scripts and concept drawings. However, it repeatedly ran into release problems and has never been released. The Dark Dimension and its production were briefly mentioned in Rigelsford's Classic Who: The Harper Classics.

External Links

• Short Synopsis taken from The Nth Doctor of The Dark Dimension
• NZDWFC - TSV 44: Inside the Dark Dimension By Jon Preddle