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Doctor Who (TV story): Difference between revisions
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It was under this script that [[Paul McGann]] later would audition. His brother Mark would as well. | It was under this script that [[Paul McGann]] later would audition. His brother Mark would as well. | ||
A third producer joined the Doctor Who team in March, much to the surprise and, at the time, the dismay of Segal. This was Jo Wright, assigned by the BBC to represent their interests. Around the end of March, Doctor Who was offered to the four American networks. NBC and ABC were completely uninterested. CBS president Peter Tortorici tentatively offered Segal a two-hour pilot and six one-hour episodes (presumably to serve as mid-season replacement series), but this was retracted by network head Howard Stringer in mid-May. | A third producer joined the Doctor Who team in March, much to the surprise and, at the time, the dismay of Segal. This was [[Jo Wright]], assigned by the BBC to represent their interests. Around the end of March, Doctor Who was offered to the four American networks. NBC and ABC were completely uninterested. CBS president Peter Tortorici tentatively offered Segal a two-hour pilot and six one-hour episodes (presumably to serve as mid-season replacement series), but this was retracted by network head Howard Stringer in mid-May. | ||
That left Fox, at the time still the youngest American network. Led by head of series Robert Greenblatt, Fox was interested in ''Doctor Who'', but was only willing to commit to a two-hour movie with the possibility of a second. It appeared Segal's dreams of producing a new Doctor Who series were fast disappearing. Despite this, he agreed to an offer made by'' Doctor Who'' historian [[Jean-Marc Lofficier]] and his wife Randy to become unofficial consultants on the project. | That left Fox, at the time still the youngest American network. Led by head of series Robert Greenblatt, Fox was interested in ''Doctor Who'', but was only willing to commit to a two-hour movie with the possibility of a second. It appeared Segal's dreams of producing a new Doctor Who series were fast disappearing. Despite this, he agreed to an offer made by'' Doctor Who'' historian [[Jean-Marc Lofficier]] and his wife Randy to become unofficial consultants on the project. | ||
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The Lofficiers would advise the production team on continuity and act as liaisons with the fan community. On [[28 June (production)|28 June]], Fox indicated they were interested in having the initial movie serve as a "backdoor pilot"; if ratings were good, the property might shift from their Movie of the Week department to the series department.{{fact}} | The Lofficiers would advise the production team on continuity and act as liaisons with the fan community. On [[28 June (production)|28 June]], Fox indicated they were interested in having the initial movie serve as a "backdoor pilot"; if ratings were good, the property might shift from their Movie of the Week department to the series department.{{fact}} | ||
At the suggestion of Trevor Walton, Fox's vice president in charge of movies, Segal and Wagg met with [[Matthew Jacobs]], who had written for ''The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles''. (Jacobs was the son of Anthony Jacobs, who had played Doc Holliday in The Gunfighters, and had been present on the set.) The selection was approved by the other interested parties and Jacobs set to work on 5th May. Unlike the DeLaurentis iteration, it was decided to essentially discard all the work done to date, with Jacobs starting afresh on an entirely new script. Only the idea of the Doctor having a human mother would be retained. | At the suggestion of Trevor Walton, Fox's vice president in charge of movies, Segal and Wagg met with [[Matthew Jacobs]], who had written for ''The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles''. (Jacobs was the son of [[Anthony Jacobs]], who had played [[Doc Holliday]] in ''[[The Gunfighters (TV story)|The Gunfighters]]'', and had been present on the set.) The selection was approved by the other interested parties and Jacobs set to work on [[5 May (production)|5th May]]. Unlike the DeLaurentis iteration, it was decided to essentially discard all the work done to date, with Jacobs starting afresh on an entirely new script. Only the idea of the Doctor having a human mother would be retained. | ||
By 19th May, Jacobs had composed a storyline; unlike the earlier Leekley and DeLaurentis versions, this continued from the end of the original series, starting by introducing [[Sylvester McCoy]]'s Seventh Doctor. The Doctor arrives on modern-day Earth in either San Francisco or New Orleans. | By [[19 May (production)|19th May]], Jacobs had composed a storyline; unlike the earlier Leekley and DeLaurentis versions, this continued from the end of the original series, starting by introducing [[Sylvester McCoy]]'s Seventh Doctor. The Doctor arrives on modern-day Earth in either San Francisco or New Orleans. | ||
However, the dying Master has transmogrified himself into a shape-shifting slick of DNA, and attacks the Doctor, mortally wounding him. The Doctor's body is found by a street kid named Jack. Jack brings the Doctor to the hospital, where he is operated on unsuccessfully by Dr Kelly Grace (an obvious play on the name of actress Grace Kelly). In the morgue, the Doctor regenerates; meanwhile, the Master acquires a temporary human host body. Jack has gained access to the TARDIS using gloves he has pilfered from the Doctor's body. The Master raises Jack's father from the dead and through him uses Jack to take over the TARDIS. | However, the dying Master has transmogrified himself into a shape-shifting slick of DNA, and attacks the Doctor, mortally wounding him. The Doctor's body is found by a street kid named Jack. Jack brings the Doctor to the hospital, where he is operated on unsuccessfully by Dr Kelly Grace (an obvious play on the name of actress Grace Kelly). In the morgue, the Doctor regenerates; meanwhile, the Master acquires a temporary human host body. Jack has gained access to the TARDIS using gloves he has pilfered from the Doctor's body. The Master raises Jack's father from the dead and through him uses Jack to take over the TARDIS. | ||
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As Halloween approaches, the Master uses the TARDIS to unleash an army of the dead. With Kelly's help, the Doctor returns to the TARDIS and draws himself, the Master, Kelly, Jack and the dead into another dimension. He defeats the Master, returns Jack to Earth and leaves with Kelly. | As Halloween approaches, the Master uses the TARDIS to unleash an army of the dead. With Kelly's help, the Doctor returns to the TARDIS and draws himself, the Master, Kelly, Jack and the dead into another dimension. He defeats the Master, returns Jack to Earth and leaves with Kelly. | ||
Various changes were made by the time of the next draft, on June 27th. The date was shifted to the days leading up to New Year's Eve instead of Halloween, and San Francisco was specified as the location. After regenerating, the Doctor sees a vision of his mother. Jack uses the TARDIS key instead of a pair of gloves to enter the time machine. In addition to Jack's father, Kelly is also confronted by someone from her past, and an earlier suggestion made by Jacobs that Jack be killed only to be brought back to life via the power of the TARDIS was included. Kelly also reluctantly remained behind at the end of this version. | Various changes were made by the time of the next draft, on [[27 June (production)|June 27th]]. The date was shifted to the days leading up to New Year's Eve instead of Halloween, and San Francisco was specified as the location. After regenerating, the Doctor sees a vision of his mother. Jack uses the TARDIS key instead of a pair of gloves to enter the time machine. In addition to Jack's father, Kelly is also confronted by someone from her past, and an earlier suggestion made by Jacobs that Jack be killed only to be brought back to life via the power of the TARDIS was included. Kelly also reluctantly remained behind at the end of this version. | ||
=== A movie is formed === | === A movie is formed === | ||
Through mid-September, Leekley's script made the rounds of all the various organisations which had to approve it (Amblin, BBC Television, BBC Enterprises, the Fox network and Universal). Ironically, the death knell was sounded by Segal's own boss, Steven Spielberg. Spielberg was concerned that Leekley's script veered too closely to his own [[Indiana Jones]] franchise, and on 26th September asked Segal to start again with a new writer. This meant that principal photography would be delayed until at least February 1995. | Through mid-September, Leekley's script made the rounds of all the various organisations which had to approve it (Amblin, BBC Television, BBC Enterprises, the Fox network and Universal). Ironically, the death knell was sounded by Segal's own boss, Steven Spielberg. Spielberg was concerned that Leekley's script veered too closely to his own [[Indiana Jones]] franchise, and on [[26 September (production)|26th September]] asked Segal to start again with a new writer. This meant that principal photography would be delayed until at least February 1995. | ||
The BBC, particularly BBC1 Controller and longtime Doctor Who supporter [[Alan Yentob]] and [[Tony Greenwood]] of BBC Enterprises were still enthusiastic about ''Doctor Who'' Around the start of October, at the instigation of Universal, Segal met with veteran writer/producer [[Robert deLaurentis]]. DeLaurentis agreed to put together a new story proposal, using Leekley's script as a starting point but wanted to accentuate its "fun" aspects. | The BBC, particularly BBC1 Controller and longtime Doctor Who supporter [[Alan Yentob]] and [[Tony Greenwood]] of BBC Enterprises were still enthusiastic about ''Doctor Who'' Around the start of October, at the instigation of Universal, Segal met with veteran writer/producer [[Robert deLaurentis]]. DeLaurentis agreed to put together a new story proposal, using Leekley's script as a starting point but wanted to accentuate its "fun" aspects. | ||
